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MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
Time now for StoryCorps. Next week marks 20 years since Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast. Skip Boe witnessed the start of the storm from his home in Lakeview, New Orleans.
SKIP BOE: The wind started picking up 50, 60 miles an hour, then it gets past a hundred miles an hour, and then patio furniture is passing in front of your face, and people's porches are going by. And then all of a sudden, water just gushed in. I went upstairs to look out the window. Lo and behold, there's a fishing boat floating by. So I jumped out the window into the water, then swam toward the boat, tied it off. And I said, I'ma deal with this in the morning. I took the comforter off of the bed, laid it on the roof. That was my bed for the night. I just thought I was the only idiot that stayed. And then I heard, can you help me? And I shouted, I'll get you tomorrow. Right now, can't do anything at nighttime.
The next day, I proceeded to go get the Drakes who lived on the corner. They was probably in their 80s. She was totally out of it with Alzheimer's. They had made it to the attic. And then I heard my other neighbor calling me, and I kept yelling to him, I'm coming to you next, Luke. He just lived with his sister, who was bedridden, and when I pulled up, you could walk on this roof. The boat was gutter high. And I said, Luke, it's Skip, but he doesn't want to come out in the attic. He says, don't you come down here. You killed my sister. And I said, no, I didn't, Luke. He goes, well, she's downstairs. Why didn't you save me last night? Get out of here. I think he lost it when he saw his sister get swallowed by water. Meanwhile, Mr. Drake's in the boat yelling, I have to bring my wife to the hospital. I said, Luke, look, I'm coming back. Hang in there. So I left.
And then I dropped them off to higher ground. That's when I said, I have to get back to get my buddy that I left. And when I got back to Luke, he was dead in the attic. I cried, second-guessed myself. I made a decision. I picked the oldest ones first, thinking they were the weakest ones, leaving the strong to survive. And it didn't work out that way. Months after, I was totally beating myself up. But later on, I was cutting the grass. And the Drakes that were on the corner, their daughter passed by and said, I think you saved my parents. I said, yes, ma'am, I did. She goes, you gave them three more years. I just wanted to tell you thank you. And then I realized why I stayed during the storm, you know, what was the meaning of me staying. And at least I know I did the best that a person could have done.
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MARTIN: That's Skip Boe in New Orleans. His StoryCorps interview is archived at the Library of Congress. And let me mention we will be in New Orleans next week, reporting on the aftermath of Katrina 20 years later.
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