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Waterloo couple reflects on Hurricane Katrina‘s traumatic aftermath he Italianos are never I travelling in August again. The Waterloo couple, who arrived home last week after struggling their way out of the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina in the southern U.S., have chalked the experience up to bad summer luck. Home sweet home "In 2002 we went to New York and got into a pretty bad car accident." said Giaâ€" sone {G), reminiscing with his wife, Marcy, in their livâ€" ing room last Thursday durâ€" ing their first interview with local print media since arriving home. "We had to get a rental car to come home, and once we got hame, the rental car got hit right in front of our house." _And then came August 2003. "We were in New York again for the big blackout," Marcy chuckled. "We had to walk over the Brooklyn Bridge with thousands of people â€" it was chaos." But neither of those experiences compare to the fear and helplessness the couple felt two weeks ago when they were stranded in New Orleans, La. in the aftermath of Hurricane Katâ€" rina. They were just capping off the vacation of a lifetime â€" a Mexican cruise in celeâ€" bration of their 10th wedâ€" ding anniversary â€" by spending a day in New Orleans‘ French quarter before flying home. "In hindsight. we should have come home Saturday (before the storm}," G said. "But we wanted to enjoy one day in New Orleans and take in Bourbon Street and a few of the restaurants. "The day was awesome. It was 30 degrees Celsius with no clouds." The Italianos woke up Sunday to similar weather but decided not to press their luck by staying an extra dav. At that time, the hurri cane was predicted to blow through around 8 p.m. By Anocea Baney Chronicle Statf "L called the airport and found out the last flight home was leaving at noon and that it was completely booked." G said. "There wasn‘t going to be another flight until Tuesday, and we decided we‘d rather be stuck Monday. at the hotel through the storm than at the airport." Sunday night a few clouds filled the sky but the weather was still gorgeous, 6 said. Monday morning, howâ€" evetr, was a different story, Marcy explained. Marcy Italiano, sitting with her husband Giasone (G), shows a strand of beads she found floating by their New Orleans hotel in the midst of Hurricane Katrina. "I woke up between 5 and 6 a.m. and 1 could feel the hotel moving," she said. "The power had gone out around 5 a.m.," G added. "All the hotel guests were down in the lobby eating bage!s and drinking coffee. "It (storm!) really didn‘t seem like a big deal. even then. I mean it was worse than any storm Td ever seen in Canada, but it still just seemed like a tropical storm to me." Marev even ventured out CITY NEWS front of the hotel, capturing images of the strong rain and wind, as well as boardâ€" edâ€"up stores and a woman walking her dog, on their digital camera. "When 80 per cent of the city was underwater, we were still fine," G said. "The French quarter saw the least damage." The real nightmare for the couple came with the announcement that the city‘s power could be out for three weeks and that the airâ€" port would be flooded even longer. "My cell phone worked until Monday, but then we had to use a payphone up from the hotel that allowed collect calls to Canada to call our families to let them know we were safe and dry. but stuck," G said. They kept in touch with their loved ones that way through Wednesday, while fending for themscives with other guests of the hotel. "The hotel treated us like family," Marcy said. "The police opened a supermar ket and the hotel staff brought us back bags of bread, water, candy, wine... anything you can imagine. "We hoarded a box of crackers to ourselves â€" that‘s all we could." The extended stay wasn‘t so bad, Marcy said, until the guests â€" were informed Wednesday that the hotel next door had been hit by looters the night before. The Italianos‘ hotel suggested its guests sleep in shifts in case looters struck that night. "I don‘t think I stept a wink that night." Marcy said. "I was so afraid someone was going to burst in our "That‘s when it hit us: this is different than anything we‘d ever seen or experienced before." â€" Giasone Italiano Waterloo resident aA,DREA SALEY PHOTO room and shoot us." Rattled, _ the couple packed up their belongings Thursday morning and headed to the local convenâ€" tion centre, from which they‘d heard buses were picking people up and takâ€" ing them to Houston, Tex. "People were sitting on their suitcases; the bathâ€" rooms were overflowing. We saw looting. fighting, dead bodies... you name it." Perhaps the lowest point came when a military heliâ€" copter carrying water couldâ€" n‘t land. "It would have been swarmed," G said. "I was one of the men trying to form a barricade to hold people back, it was that bad. The helicopter had to drop the water and half of it ended up smashing." Little did they know they d be joining 15,000 othâ€" ers â€" many of whom had beun there since Tuesday â€" who shared their idea. The worst part, G said. was there were no buses in sight. Seeing this, G knew a bus would have no chance in that environment. "It was way too dangerâ€" ous," he said. "It would have been tipped. "It was madness." he said. "You think to yourself, this is 2005... how hard is it to get out of a city?" "Half the people were residents and half were tourists," Marcy added. "We met a woman who was trampled the night before." "That‘s when it hit us: this is different than anyâ€" thing we‘d ever seen or experienced before." At that point the couple decided to walk back to their hotel and take their chances. "The route we took had us pass by the Super Dome," G said. "We decided to check out the situation there and found out there were 80 buses that were taking 50 people at a time." With a glimmer of hape, Marcy waded through water to put their names on the passenger list . 9. .9 WiS. . 583 King Street N., Waterioo iB19) 772â€"1 1297 622 Reimuct Ave: \y 1120 6 toma xiTSHE NEB KoT! HFN in 47R 63R t191 426 . 2.9.0.0 9.90 P.¢ 9.0 w_s.. HEERS PCS Blackberry Mike & Catk s Bring in this ad & receive a FREE HEADSET 1$20 0C vaiue: 565 King St. N. @ Northfield in GTO Gas Bar : www.qtwireless.ca B80â€"1477 & $11 Litle did they know that the line for the buses extended across the Super Dome and out the other side, which would mean about a 12â€"hour wait. "There was this little guy running around who offered to get me and this older lady who was standing near us out sooner." Marcy said. "But there was no way I was leaving without my husâ€" band." The couple found themâ€" selves at a crossroads. "We didn‘t know what to do." G said. "On one hand, the hotel would be safer than the Super Dome:; on the other hand, the Super Dome was our way out, even if it meant waiting 12 hours." "As we were standing there, a bus pulled up with a soldier who asked us if we were stranded tourists," Marcy said. "When we told him we were, he said we could get on the bus. Then came what some may call a miracle. "I don‘t know what it was â€"a moment of compassion or maybe our puppyâ€"dog eyes â€" but for some reason he let us on that bus," G added. Soon after the Italianos boarded the bus, others from inside the dome floodâ€" ed in. "To this moment we still don‘t know why we didn‘t have to wait in line." "People were crying and praising Jesus." G said. Emotional themselves. once (G‘s cell phone picked up a signal, they wasted no time calling their families to let them know they were OK. "They were frantic with worry," G said. "It had been well over 24 hours since they‘d heard from us." Once the couple was done making their calls, they agreed to pass the phone around the hus so G also called his cousin in Houston, asking the relaâ€" tive to pick up he and his wife at the Astrodome. â€"* TELUS Continued on page 6 HFNEF