Emani Scott, now 33 and a mom of two, was just 13 when Hurricane Katrina struck — days later, she had no idea where her mom and baby sister were
NEED TO KNOW
- Emani Scott, her brother and their grandmother were separated from Emani’s mother and baby sister when New Orleans was evacuated during Hurricane Katrina in 2005
- It would take two years before Emani reunited with the rest of her family in Texas
- Today, Emani is an educator in and a single mother of two girls in New Orleans
When PEOPLE first spoke with Hurricane Katrina survivor Emani Scott in 2005, she was a 13-year-old girl sheltering at a West Virginia military base with her younger brother Emanuel and grandmother Jerilynn. Although they were together, the family had been separated from Emani’s mother and her 10-month-old sister Jermani, who ended up somewhere in Texas, although the rest of the family didn’t know that at the time.
“We cried and prayed. I thought they’d find my mama and bring her to West Virginia,” Emani said at the time. “When she didn’t show up and we didn’t hear anything, we got more worried.”
Fortunately, their story did have a happy ending: just months later, Emani found her mom and baby sister and they began talking on the phone. But it would still take around two more years before they were able to reunite in person…