I remember Labor Day Weekend of 2005, I had relatives that were returning to the MS Gulf Coast and I me them with about 50 gallons of gasoline (in 5 gallon plastic gas cans) and a generator. It was providence that I was able to get the gas. We were still having most of our stations out of gas when they came through but as I was driving to the interstate to meet them, I found one open and was able to fill up all the cans.
A few hours later I'd fabricated a plastic 55 gallon drum with a spigot, filled it with water and loaded it, along with a 110->220V power transformer, my chainsaw, and some other supplies into my little Ranger and loaded it up looking to deliver it to them.
I was able to get to their home, which was relatively undamaged, but they weren't there so I tried to go to their business to find them as I didn't want to wrestle that drum full of water off the truck by myself.. My aunt's cake shop was only a couple of blocks from the water (it was gone) and you have to cross a railroad track that runs, for several miles, parallel to the beach.
That's when I started seeing the humvees and the soldiers with M-16s posted at every rail crossing. I ran the road until I came to a command center which couldn't have been more than 1/4 mile from where her shop was. I didn't have an ID that showed me as a local so I wasn't allowed to try to locate them. I asked if a message could be sent as I had supplies to unload (my uncle is a VERY easy man to spot - think a white Uncle Phil from the Fresh Prince but half a head taller and 50 more pounds). I was instead told it was not a good idea for me to remain in the area.
So I beat a quick retreat back to their place and waited for about an hour but it was obvious they weren't coming back. So I unloaded everything around back and covered it as best I could, left a note, and started a very long drive back home hoping to get out before dark and avoid arrest.
It took several hours to get home (normally it's maybe 45 minutes to an hour) and the stench in Ocean Springs was so bad I thought I was gonna puke. And they never talked about that too much but all the junk that washed up in people yards and in marshy areas included tons of bananas arriving in port and (then) frozen chickens set to be shipped out. These, and a lot of other things, got deposited randomly all over the place, in the hot sun, where they rotted. Good lord I don't know that I'll ever forget that smell.
But I made it home safely and the supplies were found untouched. And when my uncle returned to work, he was a high ranking civil servant within a government agency, he was shown satellite photos of my truck at his house and asked if he was looted, after a CD with hurricane damage photos - and about 70 shots of my daughter - were duped and sent to the Pentagon at the order of a general on site.
