It’s possible to fool yourself into thinking Hurricane Katrina wasn’t that bad until you see Dauphin Island, just off Mobile, Ala.
The west end of the 14-mile long island is a wasteland of homes that were ripped from their pilings and wiped into the sea. Others are so steeply raked that it appears a change in wind direction will send them crashing down. Sometimes a toilet seat or a piece of siding is the only evidence a home was once nearby.
A Chevrolet pickup and a Subaru wagon poked out of the water 50 feet off the island as a token reminder of the power of storm surge.
A few four-wheeling residents who were able to traverse the sand dunes that replaced washed out roads kept asking, “Where are the homes?”
Photographer Crystal Lauderdale and I found a nice man on the very edge of the island who agreed to let us stay with him for the night. He’s believed to be the only person staying on the west half of the island.
The house is hot, so we are sitting on a deck that is about 12 feet over the water and sand. The only sounds are of the waves washing against the beach, and a gentle breeze coming off the water.
The peace is shattered only by authorities racing around on ATVs enforcing the curfew, or the occasional boat or air craft.
Tonight, I will sleep under the stars, a block from the water and miles from the nearest people.