New Orleans great-grandmother lives to tell of surviving Katrina

Published: 2005-09-22

ATLANTA (CNS) -- As 76-year-old Patricia Farrell lay on her back "like Michelangelo in the Sistine Chapel" in the attic of her one-story New Orleans home with two flashlights, a radio and some tools, she prayed to God for her life and thought often of her beloved pastor, Father Mike. She had seen Father Michael Joseph Vinh Nguyen at Mass Aug. 28 at the Church of the Resurrection of Our Lord, where she is a founding member and the sacristan. As Hurricane Katrina approached the Gulf Coast, Farrell told her pastor she was determined to stay in her home, having lived through more hurricanes than she could count. The priest headed up to Atlanta to be with his brother, Father Dung Nguyen, and other family members. She now calls her decision not to leave "dumb, dumb, dumb." Her attitude then was, "It's just a hurricane. Hurricanes come; we're prone to them." But in the end, she said in a phone interview with The Georgia Bulletin, Atlanta archdiocesan newspaper, "The only thing that saved me was my faith in God, the Blessed Mother and my guardian angel. I prayed every day -- every day. I thought about Father Mike and I prayed for him." Farrell said she is heartbroken to leave her pastor, church and New Orleans, but knows it's time to live with her son and daughter-in-law in Oklahoma.

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