Tribune reporter Ben Montgomery drives north on I-75 behind the wheel of a 24-foot RV which he, photographer Kathy Moore (feet), reporter Baird Helgeson and photographer Crystal Lauderdale will call home at various times over the course of the next week. They spent the first night at Spanish Fort, Ala., at a BP gas station where many refugees from the New Orleans area waited for gas for some 10 hours. The next day, they drove to Dauphin Island, Ala., where they stayed with a resident whose self-constructed home survived the wrath of Hurricane Katrina. The Tampa Tribune crew is heading to the small towns affected by Katrina in search of untold stories in the aftermath of the catastrophic event.

Tribune reporter Ben Montgomery drives north on I-75. Kathy Moore/Tribune

Tribune Photojournalist Kathy Moore in Pass Christian, Mississippi. Crystal L. Lauderdale/Tribune