The father of a Durban teenager who was caught in the devastating Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans in the United States said he was ”absolutely relieved” when she managed to contact him on Saturday.
John Dimmick, from Westville, said his daughter, Reyne; her best friend Hayley Collins, also from Westville; and a Johannesburg friend of theirs, known only as Joy, were together when the hurricane struck earlier this week.
”I’ve probably aged about 10 years. I’ve got a thousand extra grey hairs. It’s actually been bloody stressful. It’s been helluva hard,” said Dimmick.
He said the last time he had heard from the girls was on Tuesday, and he and members of the Collins family spent lots of anxious moments together watching the hurricane reports on CNN.
”When Reyne finally made contact this morning [Saturday], they were on a bus just outside Dallas. She contacted my wife, Pam, who is also visiting the United States, at about 4am this morning,” Dimmick said.
He said the girls had stayed at the Hotel Remada during the hurricane.
”When the initial hurricane warnings were issued last Sunday, they couldn’t get on a flight because there were mass evacuations with everyone trying to get out of the area,” Dimmick said.
He said he does not have much details on how they managed to leave the hurricane area, but he is happy they are finally safe.
”I’m absolutely relieved it’s over, everything is finally over,” he said.
He said his daughter and her friends were part of a group of girls who were touring the US after spending time as counsellors in the Camp America programme. — Sapa