“My 6-year-old son, Christopher, kept looking up at the sky and asking, ‘Momma, why are the helicopters taking so long? Are we gonna die?’” That’s what Lakiva Brady, 26, remembers her little boy asking day after day as they waited to be rescued from the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
    It had been five terrifying days since Lakiva and some members of her family had waded through chest-deep putrid water left by the hurricane to find temporary shelter at the New Orleans Convention Center. All they had were the clothes on their backs, a flashlight and three votive candles. The eight brothers and sisters banded together seeking shelter and safety, but once they reached the center, they found themselves living a nightmare.
    With no transportation and no way to get out of New Orleans, the family who lived in public housing in the Canal Street area, had stayed behind hoping to ride out the hurricane. They huddled together in their upper level apartment when Katrina arrived with devastating force, flooding the lower floors of the building almost up to the ceiling. Hoping they would get evacuated, they stayed in the building for three days. No help came.

    “When the water started popping out of the drainage system, that’s when we decided we’d better get out of there and make our way to the convention center,” Lakiva’s sister, Trenice Jenkins, 35, broke in. Lavika nodded.
    “Yes, that’s when we all held on to each other and the tallest person held my son up on his shoulders so he wouldn’t drown,” she said. “The water, contaminated with debris, oil, dead fish and garbage swirled around us. We even saw some dead bodies floating in the water. It was horrible.”
    It took them over an hour to finally reach the convention center. Once there, Lakiva said they waited for hours to get in. In the meantime, they found out there wasn’t any water, food, medicine, or law enforcement to help the evacuees. The first night they spent there, they found themselves sleeping on the floor like thousands of others.
    “It was terrifying,” said Trenice. “It was hot, pitch dark and muggy. Some people were screaming, babies were crying and there were many elderly who were sick and unable to get medical attention. Some died.”
    Trenice said that in the middle of the night, one panicked mother couldn’t find her toddler. Those fortunate enough to have flashlights formed a group and walked through the cavernous building shining their light into the throngs of families sleeping. They found the little girl. She had wandered off and had fallen asleep with another family.
    “In my 26 years of living, I’ve never experienced something as horrible as this,” said Lakiva.

    After that first night, the family decided to spend the rest of the time outdoors. They slept on the street in front of the convention center. Every night, they lit their candles and prayed together in a group.
    “I asked the Lord to have mercy on us. I prayed for God to cover me and my family and all those affected by the hurricane with his protection.”
    Every morning Lakiva peeked up from her sleeping space on the crowded ground to watch the sun come up. “Lord, you have spared us and allowed us to see another day,” she would say, praising God.
    Finally on the fifth day, Lakiva and her family were airlifted out by helicopter. At first, the family was going to be separated because there wasn’t enough room for all of them in the helicopter. Lakiva and Trenice pleaded, “We’ll wait as long as we have to until we can all leave together.”
    Later that day, they were airlifted by helicopter to the New Orleans airport and then on to KellyUSA in San Antonio.
    “After 9/11, I swore I was never going to get on an airplane. But when I saw that silver-colored airplane, I almost ran to get on it as if I had been wanting to do that all my life,” Lakiva said, laughing.
“We took our first helicopter and airplane ride together in one day.” Lakiva and Trenice remarked smiling and looking at each other in amazement, forgetting for a moment their recent ordeal.

    Trenice, who was a substitute teacher in New Orleans, and Lakiva who is a certified nurse’s assistant, said they cried a lot while at the convention center, but then made up their minds to “not talk about all the bad things happening and just talk about all the people they helped while there and all those who helped them.”
    They both agree that their faith is what kept them going. “God is the only way in and God is the only way out,” Lakiva said. “We endured because we had faith in God and we believed in his word that he promised he would never leave us.”
    Trenice added that “you have to be strong with whatever you’re going through and praise and thank God every step of the way.”
    Both women and their family are grateful for the heartfelt reception they’ve received in San Antonio.
    “When we got off the plane, the people of San Antonio treated us like we were important. We want to say thank you, San Antonio. We want to stay here.”