Rabbi Yossi Nemes: "Surviving the Storm"

A gripping account from Chabad Shliach Yossi Nemes, who was trapped on the second floor of his house in Metairie, Louisiana.

The hours wore on quickly but the calls didn’t let up. Some elderly people had no way of leaving and needed to be walked through a virtual checklist of items that they should bring up to the highest floor. In the rare lull between calls we packed what we could. Winds started picking up. The radio reported hours of backup on the highway.

By 4:00, when we finally had a few minutes to regroup and strategize about ourselves and all those newly dependant on us, we discovered that leaving by car now bore a significant risk factor. News reports presented a dismal picture of the highways backed up with hours of traffic while the storm loomed closer. If we ended up stuck on the highway, G-d forbid, in the middle of the storm, our chances of surviving were far smaller than if we were to be in our brick, hurricane-fortified home.

By 5:00 the winds got stronger. We started preparing for Plan B.