Page 17 of Before We Ever Spoke

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Jeffrey Madison and his Bullmastiff, Butkus, rode out what he had assumed was the worst of the storm inside his office at Pass Christian High. Early in the morning on Monday, August 29th, 2005 he felt safe inside his concrete fortress.

The last reports had Katrina heading straight for New Orleans, and while they had predicted possible 25-foot storm surges, Pass Christian sat high enough above sea level that it would likely be out of their reach.

Even though he did not have access to any weather reports, internet, or phone service of any kind, he figured it was probably safe to venture out and survey the damage. The high winds had caused some windows at the school to break throughout the night, and he tried to help Butkus avoid the glass as they made their way to the front of the school.

As he stepped through what was left of the main entrance door frame, he noticed an ominous sky that could only be described as angry with wind gusts that he estimated to be 65-70 mph.

Jeffrey and Butkus quickly made their way to his truck, as he had parked it right against the outer wall of the school where the wind was going to be least likely to cause damage to it. As they approached, Jeffrey noticed that while the windows had all been blown out, it looked pretty much intact still.

He brushed the shards of glass of the passenger seat so Butkus could hop in, and then he followed suit on the driver's side. He breathed a sigh of relief as he turned the key and the engine came to life.

It was 7:55 am when Jeffrey turned the radio on and scanned for any updates on Katrina. Luckily, it seemed that every station that was still able to broadcast a signal on the Gulf Coast was doing just that.

Unfortunately, they were also contradicting his belief that the worst of the storm had passed. In fact, they were reporting that Katrina had made a late turn east of New Orleans and that the Mississippi coast was receiving the brunt of the storm as it made landfall.

Levees in and around New Orleans had already been breached, and flooding was imminent throughout the entire coastal area. In addition, tornados were being reported, adding to the misery of the Category 5 storm.

Jeffrey knew that he had to get north and fast. He had underestimated the storm and he wasn't going to let his ego get in the way again.

As he headed out of the Pass High parking lot onto E. North Street, Jeffrey started to say a prayer. The high winds and lack of windows in his truck, combined with an extreme lack of visibility, were making it almost impossible to drive. On top of that, there were toppled trees and power lines to navigate.

All of the streets that he tried to use as an avenue towards I-10, which he wasn't sure was even open, were proving to be impossible due to debris and/or flooding. He would have to make his way south to Highway 90, and then hope to outrun the storm while heading east until he could find a highway that would take them northbound to safety.

The wind gusts seemed to have doubled in force during the few short minutes he had been on the road, and he felt as if his full-size pickup truck was about to be lifted off the ground.

As he approached Pass Christian Middle School while trying to make his way to Highway 90, he came to the realization that it probably would have been better if he had just stayed at the high school. There was no doubt in his mind that trying to drive north was going to be a death sentence.

He pulled his truck right along the front of the middle school, and he and Butkus made their way in through the entrance, which like the high school, was basically a metal frame.

Jeffrey had never experienced wind like this before. During his short time in the truck, the radio station reported that winds could reach 150 mph and that a large storm surge was expected to batter the Mississippi coast shortly.

Even though Pass Christian Middle School sat lower than Pass High, making it less safe from flooding, Jeffrey figured that trying to head back to the high school would have been too dangerous. He decided that he and Butkus would take shelter in the school's auditorium, as there were no windows along the walls.

Butkus, who had been pretty calm for most of the night, was whining and shaking in a way that Jeffrey had never seen before. As they walked down the hallway toward the auditorium, Butkus pressed so closely to his owner's leg that he almost knocked him over with each step.

The two of them huddled together between the last two rows of auditorium seats, laying flat so that they would be somewhat protected from any flying debris.

The building began to shake, and Jeffrey swore that he felt it lift off the ground. Water also began to pour in down the sloped floor of the auditorium. It sounded as if a train was on top of the building.

Jeffrey pulled his cell phone out. It was 8:47 am, and due to lack of service, his phone had become a glorified clock. He prayed for just one minute of service, so he could call his son.

He would tell him that he loved him. That he was proud of him. That he was sorry he didn't listen.

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