This is part three of a series, please read Living Hurricane Ida: Part One: Devastation and Living Hurricane Ida: Part Two: Evacuation for the entire story. As I detailed in my first two posts, my family and I were caught in the onslaught on Hurricane Ida with massive high flood waters, teeming with the bayou natural wildlife, alligators and snakes, wind blowing water through the walls, knocking down trees and power lines and water leaking through the roof. My husband rowed us to safety and we evacuated, and lived for 31 days driving from Louisiana to Alabama, back through Louisiana, Texas, Louisiana, through Oklahoma to Arkansas, living in hotels.
But this isn’t the story of what we lost, or even our journey to how we got to where we are. It’s the story of what we gained.
My parents moved to the Ninth Ward in New Orleans, Louisiana when I was about three years old. If you aren’t from Louisiana you can never understand what it is really like. It’s like a foreign country set down in the deep south of the United States. I have always loved it, the culture, the natural environment, the mystery. I’ve written many posts here on Connect about Louisiana. I grew up in New Orleans. I met my husband at 15 years old in New Orleans, the only boyfriend I ever had. I got married at 18 years old in New Orleans. I had my little girl at 22 years old in New Orleans. I became a Registered Nurse in New Orleans. I’m an artist who paints Louisiana themed art. Later I moved to the Bayou regions of Louisiana. I thought I would never leave. But this was life and death. And so we went.
We ended up in Rogers, Arkansas . One day at the hotel, laying around, watching TV, and staring out of the windows as usual, we decided to go shopping for some necessities. We barely had any clothes, just what my husband rowed out. When we got out and explored, we fell in love. The Ozark Mountains , waterfalls, breezy weather, it DIDN’T RAIN EVERY SINGLE DAY! And the town and neighboring towns looked like main street Disney! People do drive VERY FAST. There’s a reason they call New Orleans The Big Easy .
So we began to research. And by that I mean Google of course! Where were the safest neighborhoods? Where were inexpensive apartments that people found enjoyable to live? What about tornados?! For that one I called city hall and random apartment managers, and found that this particular area is safer due to the mountain formation. We would need a new veterinarian, new bank, new car insurance, new drivers licenses, new doctors. Where to turn? Google Maps of course! We looked at the reviews and photos posted. We “drove” around using Street View. After all Google Maps is how we found our way while evacuating. I made a private list of all the places we found. Got to love Google Maps lists right?
We determined Centerton, Arkansas was the place for us. We made our home there October 1st and we love it. It is central to everything. I can’t wait to share everywhere we have been “adventuring” as my daughter calls it. For now, here are a few pictures of Eureka Springs, a town built into the mountain, with victorian buildings, the Thorncrown glass chapel, Christ Of The Ozarks statue, The Walmart Museum in Bentonville , Lake Centerton in Centerton, The Crystal Bridges Museum Of American Art, and more.
Thank you for reading my posts!
