SHREVEPORT, LA - September 2, 2005: Ralph Finlay and his family narrowly escaped New Orleans alive after trying to stay in their home as Hurricane Katrina hit. They sought shelter in the attic before further fleeing the rising water by chopping a hole in the roof. They sat on their roof for 24 hours (the girls without shirts due to the heat and fleeing with nothing) before being rescued by helicopter. They were sent to a shelter in NO that they felt was too dangerous before fleeing again on foot. They forced their way onto a overcrowded bus and endured a 11 hour bus ride to Shreveport with nothing but the clothes on their back and no where to stay. They went to the Hirsch Memorial Colliseum shelter in Shreveport but left the next day when a stranger gave Ralph $40. Ralph bargained with the owner of a low budget hotel that they are currently staying at. They feel the hotel is also unsafe and Ralph hopes to get work so they can move someplace else. They were given clean clothes and basic necessities, including MRE's (Meals Ready to Eat) at the shelter. ....Ralph's family is as follows: Sedeana Hausey (girlfriend with whom he lives and raises her daughters), 40, her daughter's Chelsa Mims, 11, (on Sedeana's right), and Morissa Brooks, 13 (on Sedeana's left). Photographed inside their Super 8 motel room in Shreveport, LA on Sept 2, 2005. (Photo by Todd Bigelow/Aurora)
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