Weeks later, hurricane evacuee reunited with pet
Published: November 30, 2005
Carol Blackstock won’t soon forget Thanksgiving 2005. Blackstock, forced to flee her apartment in New Orleans by Hurricane Katrina, was reunited with her cat, Minou, weeks after giving up hope that she’d ever see the animal again.
“I wasn’t sure if (Minou) would be upset with me or recognize me,” said Blackstock, 65, who’s staying with relatives in Harrison Township.
“But as soon as I took her, she snuggled up in my arms.”
Like many New Orleanians, Blackstock had lived through hurricanes before and was reluctant to leave the senior apartment complex she called home despite the dire predictions about Katrina. [National Geographic: Inside Hurrican Katrina]
But advice from friends finally convinced her to depart the Crescent City just hours before Katrina struck. A neighbor kindly offered to look out for Minou, Blackstock’s 8-year-old mixed-breed cat.
“I thought I’d be back in three days,” she said.
But Katrina unleashed a fury few could imagine and days turned into weeks. Blackstock stayed for about a week in Maryland and then came to Michigan.
As she watched the story of the city unfold on television, she could only wonder what fate had befallen her beloved feline.
“She cried for several days,” said Cathy Kelly, Blackstock’s niece.
In the days immediately after Katrina struck, communication with New Orleans was impossible. Weeks later, when Blackstock finally got through, she learned her apartment building had been damaged and boarded up.
But even worse: Nobody had any information on Minou or the neighbor who had looked out for her.
“I just kind of gave up on her,” Blackstock said. “My biggest fear was coming home and opening a box and finding her (body). I’ve been having nightmares about that.”
About two weeks ago, Blackstock received a telephone call from a woman in Pittsburgh. The caller was part of an organization — Blackstock isn’t even sure which group — that traveled to New Orleans to rescue animals stranded by Katrina. [Lost and Found: Dogs, Cats, and Everyday Heroes at a Country Animal Shelter]
The woman described a gray, declawed mild-mannered animal she had in her possession.
“I said, ‘That’s my cat,’” Blackstock said.
A couple coming to Detroit for Thanksgiving volunteered to bring Minou along, so cat and companion were reunited Wednesday evening.
“It was a great Thanksgiving present,” Blackstock said.
Blackstock still isn’t sure exactly what Minou endured, how the cat was rescued or how the rescuers tracked down Blackstock.
But she’s grateful to everybody who played a part.
“You don’t realize what those agencies do until it comes down to you,” she said.
Blackstock isn’t sure whether she’ll return to New Orleans or make Michigan her new home. She plans a return trip the French Quarter soon to help her make that decision.
“One day it’s yes, one day I’m not sure,” she said.
But one thing is certain: Wherever Blackstock goes, Minou will be with her, and that includes the flight back to New Orleans.
“Not in cargo, either,” she said. “Maybe first class.”
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