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Callaloo 29.4 (2007) 1309-1315

Houcine Harrabi
with Charles Henry Rowell

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Figure 1
Houcine Harrabi
Photo by Wendell Gorden, © 2006
[End Page 1309]

ROWELL: You are not a New Orleans native. How long have you lived here, and where did you move here from?

HARRABI: I've been in New Orleans for eighteen years. I'm from Tunisia, North Africa.

ROWELL: Where were you when Hurricane Katrina came?

HARRABI: When the hurricane came, I was in my house. I lived in Gentilly Terrace. I had live there in my house for fourteen years. I was home sleeping, when my boss called me seven o'clock in the morning saying, "Houcine, guess what?" My boss is blind, by the way, and he's a big jazz producer. He said, "Houcine, guess what. She's coming over." I said, "Who's coming over?" He said, "Katrina." I immediately got out of bed. I was in a rush after I saw the picture of the hurricane TV. It was a huge storm. I packed a couple of clothes, and I even forgot my ID. I went to our office, which is in the Quarter towards the river. We have a spare apartment. My boss lives above the business, and we have another apartment above my boss' apartment. I stayed there until Katrina came. Of course, it was scary, with the wind and the noise. I would go to the window and look at the wind, and it looked like wall of water was coming from the east. And the noise was frightening. So that's where I stayed—in the office.

Then, when I woke up in the morning and I went to look around in the Quarter, there was no damage, except wind damage. In Jackson Square, a lot of trees and awnings were down. The roof of the Mint Museum is made of copper. It had blown all over the place. There was no flooding, because that area is closer to the river on high ground. Then, of course, we lost electricity. For two days after Katrina were without electricity and water. Then, I tried to go back to check on my house in Gentilly Terrace. As I drove and went to a certain on Elysian Fields, the officials stopped me, saying, "Don't go any farther, because the water is rising. The farther you go from the French Quarter, the higher the water gets. If you go toward the lake, the deeper the flooding gets."

Of course, I had to go back to my boss's home in the French Quarter. Two days after the hurricane—that's when my boss said, "Houcine, it's time to leave. Let's go." And we left, thank God. I left my car in Canal Place. So I took my boss's car, and we drove out of [End Page 1310] New Orleans. I had a tank full of gas, but I was getting low, and I was getting nervous. I forgot to tell you between here and Gulf Shores, I saw something I will never forget: lines and lines of people queuing up for gas, and there was no gas whatsoever. People were sleeping in their cars, because they ran out of gas, and there were hundreds of cars waiting at gas stations. So, when we get to Gulf Shores, I found a gas station, with a long line, and I filled up. I was allowed to get only $10 worth of gas in Alabama. Then, from Alabama I drove all the way to Atlanta, and we stayed with my boss's son for three weeks until his wife came back from Europe. Then from Atlanta, I drove back down to Alabama, where we rented a condo. Then from over there, on October 5, we drove back here to check on everything. Then the first thing I did was to go and check on my house. When I got there, I was still hoping, because I had seen everything on the news.

ROWELL: In Gentilly? Gentilly...

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