For the 500th time my thoughts drifted to the glass of iced tea that had been sitting on my desk just a couple of days ago I could picture the ice cubes in it and the trickles of water condensed on the outside of the glass What I wouldn’t give for that iced tea right now It’s so hot said my little sister Lisa She was right It had to be over 100 degrees Fahrenheit 38 degrees Celsius in the attic and this was our third day stuck inside it My mother passed around our last bottle of water allowing each of us to take a single sip It was warm but it still tasted good I just wish it came with a big sandwich and a pile of chips We hadn’t eaten anything The flood waters after Hurricane Katrina rose to 20 feet 6 meters high in some areas 5
since we ran up here and our stomachs were grumbling I’m so sorry my mother muttered I should have listened to all of those warnings but I was just so worried about the animals I had heard many of the warnings on television and radio The weather forecaster had used frightening words such as devastating damage and unprecedented strength when he talked about the hurricane that was coming Mayor Nagin had issued the city’s first ever evacuation order Almost everyone I knew had packed up and left New Orleans but we did not own a car and Mom didn’t want to leave our pets behind Lisa gave Mom a hug It’s okay Mommy she whispered Help will come soon Right Phil She looked at me with her big eyes Think About It Read the paragraph about why Philip’s family was still in New Orleans What was the main reason Give two details that support why you think this 6
Cities and towns in areas that have frequent storms or flooding often have evacuation plans in place in case of an emergency 7
