The Katrina Diary

by Amy Rohde

This gripping true-life account tells of one family's evacuation of Hurricane Katrina, subsequent weathering of Hurricane Rita, and finally a return to their new version of normal. Written by Amy Rohde, The Katrina Diary is a heartwarming study in optimism against all odds.

Genres: Nonfiction, Memoir

132 pages, Paperback

First published July 14, 2010

About the author

Amy Rohde is an avid reader and writer, and has just published her first book, The Katrina Diary. She enjoys writing on nearly any topic, and is happy to guest blog for anyone who approaches her with an interesting idea and a "please". Or a cookie.

Amy lives with her family in Oklahoma, and is happy not to be dodging hurricanes anymore. She has three kids, a husband, and an ever changing number of furry friends.

Reviews

[Autumn · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Katrina Diary is a memoir of one family's evacuation from New Orleans in advance of Hurricane Katrina to Jasper, Texas. The family then suffers the second blow of Hurricane Rita that hits the area less than a month later. This is the story of their struggle to get their lives together in the face of uncertainty and the aftermath of two devastating hurricanes.

I was very interested in reading this book because I live in South Louisiana. Our family lives about 60 miles northwest of New Orleans. We stayed home for both hurricanes and have a pretty good first hand knowledge of what it was like around here.

First off, I will say that I did enjoy reading the book. I'm always interested in learning about people's Katrina experiences. It's been 5 years and still not a day goes by that I don't hear someone talking about how Katrina changed their life. The author did a good job illustrating what their daily life was like and the fears and challenges they faced.

However, I had a couple of technical issues. The first was that I was unclear as to where the family actually lived originally. In reading the book I was able to figure out it was a military base, but which one? It doesn't really matter, but its just one of those things people are usually really specific about when they tell their story, exactly where there house was when New Orleans flooded. Secondly, the writer stated that Katrina came ashore as a Category 5 or strong Category 4 hurricane. That's incorrect. Katrina came ashore as a Category 3 hurricane. Then the last was that it was stated that "thousands" died. That's a bit of an exaggeration. The final death toll number was 1,836 with 135 categorized as missing. Missing doesn't necessarily mean that they're dead and their body just hasn't been found, it's been theorized that some people took the opportunity of all the chaos to disappear on purpose.

Overall, I thought the book was interesting and touching. I could relate to it personally I guess because I had been through it all and I had very small children at the time too. Our poor state of Louisiana has suffered through a lot over the last few years, but we shall persevere.

**I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for my honest review**

[Sharon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Every now and then, I find myself reading a book that I simply cannot put down. Amy Rohde's "The Katrina Diary" was just such a story.

Rohde writes of her family's experiences as evacuees from New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina and then having to leave their little home in Jasper, Texas, ahead of Hurricane Rita. Her diaries talk of living on snack mix, not having water, power or plumbing -- in other words, putting a face on the life of evacuees. She talks about other people she meets along the way who are fellow evacuees, or people who give generously to help total strangers make their way.

There are wonderful stories of hope, such as the church that put on suppers for the evacuees or the day that Rohde discovered, via the internet, that another evacuee's family member was safe in Houston. The joy and generosity in such desperate times rings through as relief from the difficulties.

Like so many, I was devastated by what I saw of Hurricane Katrina's aftermath when I watched the coverage on television. I felt helpless to do anything but send donations; it was great to read about how those donations were used and appreciated by those who had lost so much.

It was also a relief to read Rohde's story of hope and what I see as dauntless courage in telling her story. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart.

[Alan Livingston · Rating 2 out of 5]

While an interesting enough story about flight, those of us who lived in the aftermath of Katrina may find the title misleading. Enduring the devastation of Katrina for almost three months in Biloxi, Mississippi, I was keeping a true "Katrina Diary" until a computer problem killed it. Maybe that's more of what I was looking for here.

This family had a lot more appropriate cause to flee, given small children and resources available to military personnel. They certainly did the right thing. Their experience in dealing with being a refugee immediately after the storm was much more trying than ours was several months later. These factors helped me up my rating from 1 star to 2.

For a great story about surviving Katrina and its aftermath in New Orleans, try "A Season of Night" by Ian McNulty. I read it after this book, and gave it 5 stars.

[Christine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Told with humor and compassion, this is one woman's story of Hurricane Katrina. Amy Rohde and her family were some of the lucky ones, in that they evacuated New Orleans even though it was their fifth or so evacuation of the summer. A fascinating look at the progression of thought of one New Orleanian, from "this will be just like the others" to "this isn't really like the others so much" to "holy crap, what happened" to, finally, "I am happy to be here, wherever here may be." I think it offers a life lesson of sorts too, without becoming preachy, along the lines of "You could have it so much worse, be grateful for what you do have." Definitely worth a read!