The lights never went off in the Cajundome in Lafayette, La. The hum of generators filled the air, but nothing could drown out the sounds of thousands of people packed shoulder to shoulder, coughing, crying and praying.
Cots lined the floor, families huddled in the bleachers, and the air was heavy with fear and sweat. Somewhere in the chaos, 15-year-old Shanika Tolliver sat with her mother, her grandmother, Diane Ratcliff, and relatives who no longer knew where home was.
FROM JOY SEWING:Hurricane Katrina taught me — and the rest of Houston — to fear big storms like never before…