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College Students Flee New Orleans Ahead of Storm
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David and Ronda Person prayed and paced three years ago as they worked to get their daughter out of Katrina's way. There were no airline, bus or train tickets available. She was too young to rent a car.
"We were terrified," said David Person, 47, an insurance analyst. "She was so young, only 17. . . . She didn't know the city or who to call on for help. We were on two telephones and had two laptops running at same time."
Danielle finally got a ride with an Xavier administrator to Tennessee, and her parents flew her home.
After monitoring Gustav last week, the Persons told Danielle to prepare to leave before the university announced it was closing. She offered Gerald Smith a ride.
"Everybody was talking to each other, finding out where other people were going, what they were going to do," said Olaiya. "It was like everybody wanted to make sure everybody else was going to be safe before they left."
Some of the students said they are unlikely to return if New Orleans takes a major hit.
"I really want my degree to say Xavier, but this is too much to go through," Ivey said as she drove home. "You can't keep having this kind of disruption."
Others said they might have no choice. In Nashville, Smith tried to put thoughts of Gustav out of his mind. He is scheduled to take a medical school admissions test in New Orleans on Friday.
"I don't know what is going to happen," he said. "I'm going to study and try to keep up. They told us when they closed Xavier that it would reopen on Thursday, but the news reports are saying the storm isn't even supposed to hit until Tuesday.
"So much is uncertain," he said. "This storm is holding our lives in its hands right now."
