Bay Area College Students Escape From Hurricane Ida Destruction In Louisiana
NEW ORLEANS (KPIX 5) -- College students with ties to the Bay Area are some of those going through hardships in the aftermath of hurricane Ida.
"The gusts of wind were taking off the shingles of our roof," said Tulane University student and San Jose resident Nick Salcido. Salcido rode out one of the most powerful hurricanes ever to hit in the U.S. in his house in the uptown district.
"It got pretty bad pretty suddenly," he said.
Salcido and his partner decided to stay because of they couldn't leave or take their four animals. Then Ida gained strength as it came onshore.
"At that point it got very stressful because it was too late to evacuate," said Salcido.
Their roof came apart and started leaking, debris few everywhere. They lost power and the water system broke down.
"Currently right now, New Orleans has no gasoline, now power. Water pressure is low, so we have a boil water advisory," said Salcido.
Unlike in Katrina, the levees held, and flooding was minimal.
Another San Jose student in New Orleans did evacuate but it wasn't easy getting out of town.
"Every flight out of New Orleans was booked," said Nneka Ogbor, also of San Jose.
Ogbor left the dorms at Xavier University with two friends just in time to escape the damage that would come to campus. It took them a long time to drive to McDonough, Georgia.
"Usually that trip would take about 6 hours, but it took a good 12 hours with traffic all the way from New Orleans."
Ogbor feels for the classmates she left behind who made sandwiches for lunch in the dark.
"I'm really just more worried about them and everyone in Louisiana, who now don't have a home to go back to," she said.
Salcido says he plans to leave New Orleans and head to Houston.
"I feel like the city could have been a little more prepared, but then I'm not sure, how prepared you could be for something this disastrous," he said.