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For more than twenty years now, hurricanes have meant high winds, downed power lines, boarding up windows, and hunkering down for safety. Pearlington, despite its relative closeness to the Gulf of Mexico, has never experienced flooding of any kind.

For Lee, this meant putting up boards over his windows on his cedar home. His wife, Phyllis, who suffers from severe arthritis watched as he went about this normal everyday chore while the clouds overhead began to get darker with the impending storm.

For Frank, he and his wife had their truck packed and ready to go just in case. They'd be listening to the radio to see where the hurricane was going to make landfall. They weren't terribly worried since their home sat on top of a little hill so that even in the unlikely event that the Pearl River crested its banks, they should be affected at all.

In the meantime, Hurricane Katrina started to flatten as it approached land. Instead of going quickly and narrowly across a small area of land, it broadened. Its winds swirling counter clockwise meant that it started to bring waves counter clockwise from the west, built them up as they swept east, and turned them loose on the coast east of New Orleans.

In New Orleans, many people with the means evacuated. But for the poor and the needy, buses were to be made available... except that the bus drivers had already been evacuated. Everyone hunkered down for the storm and waited.

The Pearl River started to crest its banks and began flooding the relatively flat bayou country of Mississippi east of New Orleans even before Katrina made land fall. Giants waves were being pushed ashore and before they had a chance to recede back into the ocean, other waves rose on their backs and pushed even further inland.

For Frank, by the time it was obvious that they should leave there was already a foot of water on the ground. The only thing to do was wait it out and hope for the best.

For Lee, the only thing was to help his wife up into the attic and hope for the best.

New Orleans, other than the hurricane remained relatively unaffected - the winds knocked down trees and power lines. The rain battered houses. The swelling seas sloshed over the levees in a few places and beat the heck out of the roadway over Lake Pontchatrain, but for the most part, Katrina left New Orleans unscathed.

The water continued to rise along the Pearl River. It rose 5 feet. Then 10 feet. Then 15 feet and it showed no signs of abating. Buildings were torn from their foundations. Cars and trucks disappeared. Wildlife was killed. Less fortunate people drowned and were never seen again. It continued to rise. 20 feet. 25 feet.

Frank made it to his roof and managed to untie a boat that had become tangled in the trees. He and his wife huddled in a boat while Hurricane Katrina lashed them. Somewhere nearby, Dallas was swept from her home naked. She climbed up a tree and managed to save ten dogs. Lee and Phyllis prayed for rescue as the water crested just six inches below their attic.

When the water receded, almost the entire town of Pearlington, MS was gone. Churches, Post Offices, homes, businesses, people... almost nothing remained.

In New Orleans, those left behind clamored for help while those outside of the city clamored to be let back in. But the city remained locked down in both directions.

Two days after Katrina hit, the levees broke and New Orleans flooded. Most people who had homes in the lower class neighborhoods lost everything. Those left behind had nowhere to go. Shelters were overcrowded and unprepared. Chaos reigned and television images burned.

Pearlington was as silent as a grave. There were no cameras there because there were no people there to use them.

My tent was on the site of the former Post Office - just a long stone's throw from the Pearlington river. Down the street, a tall fire building - newly restored - and about the size of a small warehouse stood watch over the area. At a point some 26 feet up, there is a red line on the warehouse to indicate where the river crested.

Pearlington had never experienced flooding before - certainly never enough to concern its residents. Since 2005, its been flooded three times. And each time, a little more of the community washes away.