My brother & sister-in-law's house after Katrina

My brother and sister-in-law's home in Lakeview--a photo of their sweet dog, JJ, lounging around as they packed up to evacuate prior to Katrina.

Their living room---wedding presents on the floor(again, prior to the hurricane). Mark and Katheryn got married the month before Katrina hit.

Outside their home in Lakeview on 10.1.05, over a month after Katrina hit.

My brother, Mark, and his friend surveying the damage.

Inside. There are no words, really. As you can see, the water flooded the entirety of the first floor.

Looking into the kitchen.

Mark pointed out the bottle of Crown on the hood. It settled there on its own, with the help of the floodwaters.

The water even managed to seep up to the second floor of their home.

Katheryn's car underneath a fence.

My younger brother, Mark, in his backyard. This photo crushed me. I felt helpless. I was precariously pregnant with the twins and my family basically refused to let me fly down to help. It was difficult watching them go through this and not being able to DO anything. Not that there was really anything I could have done.

I could talk about the waiting, the wondering, the wishing they could get back in to assess the damage, begin to clean up, and move on with their lives. I could talk about the anger, the tears, the depression and frustration. But it wouldn't really matter because I didn't experience it myself. The photos speak a thousand words, though.