When small geysers of water began shooting from the floor air vents, Tom Wimberly realized that the Biloxi Bay waters to his right and the Mississippi Sound waters to his left had just met under his home.
Wimberly, a junior biology major, and his family stayed in their Biloxi home for Hurricane Katrina’s landfall on Aug. 29, 2005.
“My house is in the middle of the roughly two-mile stretch of land between the Biloxi Bay and the Sound,” Wimberly said. “I saw the water rising from two houses down when I was putting cardboard over a broken window.”
Wimberly said that within five minutes the double-wide trailer from across the street had floated off its foundation, and within another 10 minutes, the family’s cars were under water and the water was coming into their home.
“My mom suggested that we go into the attic, so I gathered some food, water, a change of clothes and a hatchet in case I had to chop out of the attic. Then I grabbed a ladder and put everything we needed into the attic and began helping my 90-year-old grandma up the ladder,” he said.
Next, he helped his parents into the attic, then hoisted his 85-pound golden retriever over his shoulder and went into the attic as well, Wimberly said.
“The last contact I had before the phones went out was with my best friend. I told her, ‘The water is rising in my house. We’re going into the attic. I love you.’ I really wasn’t sure if I was going to survive at that moment,” Wimberly said.
Wimberly’s parents and grandmother began to pray as he watched the water continue to rise.
“I’m not sure how long we were in the attic. I think it was anywhere between two and four hours. My family prayed for awhile and then, after praying the rosary for about 30 minutes, I saw the water begin to subside,” Wimberly said.
“Our main concern after the storm was for my family that lived closer to the water than us.”
“We were so relieved when we saw them trudging through the receding waters to our house,” Wimberly said.
Wimberly’s property got about 7 feet of water during the hurricane. Nearly all of their belongings were ruined by the flood water.
“I had been taking the fall semester off when the hurricane hit because of financial problems. I was planning to return for the spring semester, but losing my house and all of my things to Katrina made it impossible for me to return,” Wimberly said.
He said the federal relief grant money is what enabled him to return to school this year.
“I feel like I can finally breathe a sigh of relief after receiving the money. It took so long it seems, and I am so happy that I’m able to be back at Mississippi State.”
Wimberly applied for the Federal Relief/Bulldogs in Response funds in April.
The funds were provided by the federal government as hurricane relief to Hurricane Katrina and Rita victims, according to the MSU financial aid Web site.
The funds are Federal Title IV Student Aid Funds and are available to currently enrolled and new students.
Applicants must file a Free Application for Federal Student Aid and a Federal Relief/Bulldogs in Response application to be eligible for funds, according to the site.
“Mississippi State received just under $12 million of those Title funds,” director of financial aid Bruce Crane said. “We’re accepting applications until we run out of money.”
Crane said his department is getting close to running out of money so students need to apply for the aid as soon as possible.
“If students are having trouble filling out the FAFSA for the 2006-07 school year because their tax records were destroyed, there’s a waiver that makes them exempt from having to have those records,” Crane said. “They need to fill out both a FAFSA and the Federal Relief/Bulldogs in Response application.”
More information for these funds can be found at www.sfa.msstate.edu/funds/.