I was a 911 Operator in Mobile, AL the day Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast. We started getting lots of calls from New Orleans and the Mississippi Gulf Coast for some reason. I guess they started routing to us after all the 911 centers to the west of us started going down. Anyways, I got a call from a woman who said she was trapped in her house on Gordon Street between Florida and Law. I was confused at first because we have a Florida Street in Mobile, and after checking and double checking and not being able to find her address I asked her what city she was calling from and she said "Im in New Orleans".
I tried to route her to New Orleans 911 and New Orleans Fire Department but could not get through. She started screaming and said the water was coming up into the attic where she was. I told her to find something heavy and break the attic vent out so she could get out on to her roof, but the vent was too small for her to crawl through. She sat down and started crying. I told her I would stay on the line with her for as long as she wanted me to. I stayed on the line and listened as she cried, prayed, cussed, and prayed some more. A little while later I could hear her struggling to keep her head and phone above water, then the phone went dead. To this day I don't know if she lived or died. I quit 911 three months after Katrina.
Edit: I was a 911 Operator for 9 years before Katrina hit.
Edit2: I got involved in 911 after doing some ride along's with the Police Department the summer before my Junior year of high school. I started running the radio part time on the weekends and during the summer when I was out of school and moved into a full-time position after High School when a job opened up. It's not illegal for someone under the age of 18 to work at a 911 center, but I wasn't allowed to actually answer 911 calls without an APCO certified operator on the console with me until I was full-time and certified. It was also illegal for me to run the NCIC computer without being certified to do so, which I couldn't get certified to do until I was 18. I ran the EMS/Fire Dispatch console for the county when I was part-time, and got my certifications when I graduated. I was also a volunteer firefighter/EMR during this time as well (also, not illegal and quite common in rural parts of Mississippi). And thanks for the Gold whoever you are. Although I don't feel right accepting a reward for something I did as part of my job 8 years ago, it is still appreciated.
