Man grateful for Katrina escape

By Tobi Oluwa
Contributing Writer
Columbus Post

“It was pure hell,” said Gilbert Reissland, Jr. describing his experiences with Hurricane Katrina. “I witnessed the looting, rapes, fights and murders. One guy took the gun off of a national guardsman and began shooting and they shot and killed him.”
Reissland, a former resident of the 9th ward on the eastside of New Orleans, made his way to Columbus a month ago looking for a new start in life.
He was able to get housing through the Red Cross and will start a new job at UPS later this week.
“It’s a blessing,” said Reissland, who said that he is still adjusting.
It wasn’t the first time that New Orleans residents had received warnings of hurricanes but they had come and gone with no serious consequences. It was because of that history that Reissland decided to stay behind when everyone else around him left.
“All my people had left me and I got stuck down in New Orleans because I didn’t think the hurricane was going to hit,” said Reissland. “I had to paddle my way on a fence all the way downtown because the water was so high.”
Reissland said that he heard a loud boom just before the floodwaters came rushing in.
“It was like a big tidal wave just came and the water just rose up so quickly that I believe in my heart that those people just opened those gates on us,” he said.
Reissland recalled that he paddled past several dead bodies floating in the water and a few dogs swimming for safety.
“I think I’m touching a stick but I’m touching someone dead in the water.”

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