Key points:
- Gary and Sallie Uhl rode out Hurricane Katrina in their two-story home with their dog and Gary’s mother.
- When it became necessary to leave, they found a way out by driving their van down railroad tracks to Baton Rouge.
- When they arrived, Gary discovered the lug nuts on all the tires had come loose and a tire could’ve come off at any time during the drive.
Amid warnings about the pending hurricane, Gary and Sallie Uhl left St. Luke’s United Methodist Church on Aug. 28, 2005, and made the decision to stay in their two-story home in the Lakeview area.
They were caretakers for Gary’s mother. They also had a large, labrador-mix dog.
As the waters got higher, they moved to the second-floor bedroom.
“We had sky lights in the bedroom and with no air conditioning, it quickly turned into an easy-bake oven,” Sallie said.
Gary had a generator and he was able to disconnect electricity from downstairs and generate enough power upstairs for lights and a television.
“We could watch the news, we could hear what the mayor was saying. He was saying, ‘Don’t worry. All this is going to be good in a few days,’” Gary remembered.
“I’m watching the water come up so I keep moving the generator higher. I eventually put it on a table on my next-door neighbor’s porch,” he said.
Someone had left a flatboat, and Gary used it to paddle around the neighborhood. He had also left their van fully gassed up near the railroad tracks, which were on higher ground.
After several days, he paddled the boat into their dining room and said, “I think I found a way out.”
Sallie said, “Let’s go.”
Gary loaded his dog, his mother and his wife into the boat and headed out.
They got into the van and started driving down the railroad tracks. The police tried to stop them and offered to take them to the Superdome.
“We knew Gary’s mom couldn’t survive that,” Sallie said.
With directions from the police and warnings about the danger of riding on the railroad tracks, Gary aimed his van onto the tracks. He kept two wheels outside the tracks and two wheels inside them.
“The van had air conditioning. I could have died a happy woman at that point,” Sallie said.
As they were driving, they heard the tires making noises. Gary got out and checked, but the tires seemed OK.
When they finally got to Baton Rouge, they saw a closed gas station with lights.
Gary checked the tires again and saw that all the lug nuts were loose. One of the tires could have flown off at any minute.
“Gary’s mom said, ‘Well, we were driving on a prayer,’” Sallie recalled.
Back to main story:
Members rallied to save church after Katrina
Gilbert is a freelance writer in Nashville, Tenn., who covered the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina for UM News in 2005.
News media contact: Julie Dwyer at newsdesk@umnews.org. To read more United Methodist news, subscribe to the free UM News Digests.
