Video from Slidell

A video continues to make the rounds to show the true-life as it happens effects of Katrina along the lake in Slidell, LA. This video came to me from Diane from Jane Els who got a copy of it from Dallas, resident and PDA coordinator in Pearlington. If you get a chance, then watch the video. You will begin to understand why 5 or 6 years after Katrina, we may still be volunteering down there to help rebuild.

Almost 2 years later, what Katrina did and has done is still amazing to watch. The video evidently was out there pretty quick, based on the articles that I found describing it. I was either overloaded with all of the images and other stories or was at the point that I couldn't watch anymore that I must have missed it.

The man shooting the video never says his name but he does tell us his address so that when we find the water tight bag with the camera we know where. I do not remember the address offhand, but I found out that his name is Kennard Jackley when I did a quick search on Google. Kennard is retired from the Merchant Marines. I bet that he has a lot of stories and would be wonderful to listen to. He was even smart enough to have shrimp ready on the grill for cooking. I might have been nervous with the gas leaking bubbling up through the water next door to him, but that was probably the least of his concern.

With the devastation occurring around him, Kennard still has a sense of humor. I lost count of how many times he mentions how mad Mother Nature is and that this is one bad "mammi jammer." He starts off like most people that stayed behind; not expecting much and noticing that other than wind and rain things are OK; but that changes when the storm surge comes up Lake Pontchartrain and the waves keep coming for hours.

The video is amazing. While watching it, I felt more perspective on how much we are looked after. The video may help you understand Rev Burton's sense that he prayed all night and God kept watch over him. In Pearlington, Rev Burton hung onto a tree as the water rose 30 feet around him. You need to read the story on another of the Pearlington blogs; I certainly wouldn't do his story any justice.

In the video, you see the water washing away houses and trees. The structures and people that survived safely were shielded. This protection certainly help my belief in God. Luck and chance cannot drive our time on Earth. Watching that video reminded me of the protective hand of God that our neighbors described when an F4 tornado went through our neighborhood in TN ripping off their second floor and turning our house to a pile of rubble. Mother Nature can certainly be a bad mammi jammer.

The only thing missing is the timestamp to give us all of the details and more stories about himself and others around him. He was prepared enough to keep a generator on the second floor to keep his video camera and cell phone charged. He has enough of a sense of humor and style for this video to become a real made-in-Hollywood movie.

I found this link with an interview of Kennard Jackley by PBS: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/storm/view/jackley.html