SHELBY COUNTY, Ala-- Thousands of Gulf Coast evacuees are staying in Alabama hotels tonight, with hundreds making the US Highway 280 area their hurricane home away from home.
The Mckendall family fled to Shelby County, where they're watching the weather, waiting out Gustav.
“As of last Monday, we decided to come up here outside Birmingham and we started packing that Thursday, so then Saturday morning we were going to leave but traffic was too bad, so we decided to leave Saturday night," said Neil Mckendall of New Orleans.
The Mckendalls are from the east side of New Orleans. Their neighborhood is surrounded by canals, near a lake and they're watching news about the levees, because of what Katrina did to their home.
“We lost everything inside the house, eight feet of water; five feet stood inside it for a while, and lost our van. We just lost a lot, everybody lost a lot back home," Mckendall said.
His son, Jordan was 10 years old when Katrina hit. Now 13, he's nervous and homesick.
“Just losing my house again, can't live there with my friends, go to school, see my friends every day," said Jordan Mckendall.
The family, and many local evacuees, say this time they are more prepared.
“We got all our documents, especially our documents. We bought new furniture, everything we bought new, we kept those receipts, to make sure in case we lose everything, we have that," Mckendall said.
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