The Yellow House

Chapter 2 covers the time between August 28 and September 4, 2005.

The family is scattered between Harlem, Hattiesburg, New Orleans, Dallas, and San Antonio. Michael and Carl are at the Yellow House, grilling and drinking gin with “The Mississippi River on one side, Lake Pontchartrain on the other” (264). Carl leaves around 11:30 p.m. Michael goes to find his girlfriend. Carl goes to the house where Monica lives with their three kids. The phone keeps ringing, and everyone tells him to leave. He falls asleep. Around 3 or 4 a.m., he wakes up, puts his feet down, and feels water. The water gets higher and higher. Carl cuts through the attic ceiling and ends up on the roof. His neighbor is on a roof several doors down. Carl can’t find his boat. After seven days, a rescue crew picks up Carl. He goes to a shelter in the Convention Center, but he doesn’t go inside. Carl takes a boat with two men. and ends up at Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport.

Meanwhile, Michael is in an apartment in Lafitte Projects. There are 15 people in the two-bedroom apartment. They sleep on the balcony, and Michael goes out every morning to get supplies. Rescuers with guns eventually come. Ivory Mae is in Hattiesburg with Karen, Troy, and their families. They wait for two days and then fly to Texas. Amelia is taken on a school bus across state lines.

Chapter 3 covers September 6-September 29, 2005. Byron, the youngest boy in the family, lives in Vacaville, California. Byron send the family tickets to get them from Dallas to California. He also buys a ticket for Herman, Alvin’s brother, who was stranded in Baton Rouge. Broom goes to Vacaville too. Her editor assigns her a “Katrina story” (278). Her family finds work and tries to settle. Ten days pass and they haven’t heard from Carl or Michael. After eleven days, Michael answers his phone. He was evacuated to San Antonio. Carl is evacuated to the airport which is used as a makeshift hospital. Carl calls two days later. He goes to Amelia’s house in St. Rose which wasn’t destroyed by the storm. Amelia dies at Briarcliff Nursing Home in Tyler, Texas. 

Broom and her family return to New Orleans to bury Amelia. Ten of the 12 children come home. Much of New Orleans is still underwater. They are unable to run an obituary. Ivory Mae is overcome at the funeral and she has a hard time recovering.