BUFFALO, N.Y. (WBEN) - Quick decisions were made in the last few days as Hurricane Ida slammed into the Louisiana coastline. For Buffalo native Amy Yeostros, who grew up in Williamsville, but has called Mid City, Louisiana,her home for close to twenty years, she followed a simple rule.
"If its a category one I'll stay, but if it's over that I'll leave," she said on WBEN Tuesday, from her parents home in Florida.
Hurricane Katrina was sixteen years ago. But it is still fresh in the minds of residents of New Orleans. "It's still a mental recovery, said Yeostros. I don't think you ever recover from something like that. To say it was sixteen years ago, for me, is something I can't believe. It's still so fresh in my memory. That storm pretty much changed everything. Before Katrina I never really thought of evacuating for a storm. But I got out during that one. And now you measure everything against that one.
Yeostros fled on Saturday to her parents home in southwest Florida.
When she is going to return home is anyone's guess.
"It all really depends on when we're going to get power back.
That is still a big question mark at this point. "I remember evacuating for Hurricane Issac (2012) and it took about two weeks to get power back and I was so glad I wasn't there. Living in New Orleans without power when its 90 degrees and the humidity is 88% isn't fun," she said.
Yeostros has been following the aftermath of Ida. "My house is fine. I've got friends and neighbors who are checking on it. It doesn't look like I have any significant damage, so I could return as soon as the power is back on. But right now they're telling people not to come back."
Mid City, Louisiana is about ten minutes from the French Quarter.
Yeostros is an acupuncturist in New Orleans and she cannot exactly work
from home. "I have a private practice in New Orleans and I have to be with my patients. I've been communicating with them and we're all waiting to see when we can schedule appointments again."
"My main concern was flooding. We're really lucky that the levees held
and the pumps worked. We really didn't have any significant flooding in New Orleans. Unfortunately, other areas outside of New Orleans did."
After growing up with snowstorms in Buffalo, is there any question in her mind as to which is worse? "For me, (laughing) going through six months of Winter would be worse. But seriously, as far as disasters go, hurricanes are horrible, but you do have time to prepare. I know snowstorms can cause devastation, but the aftermath is not that bad."
