Robin Roberts: Too Close to Home

Aug. 31, 2005 — -- Hurricane Katrina hit close to home for "Good Morning America" anchor Robin Roberts.

Roberts grew up on the Gulf Coast in Pass Christian, Miss., a town of 6,000 about 13 miles west of Gulfport. She returned home in the wake of Hurricane Katrina and shared in the shock of so many confronted by the devastation, as well as the united determination to overcome.

"It is so hard to comprehend the level of devastation," Roberts said. "Mile after heartbreaking mile -- movie theaters, strip malls, corner stores blown to pieces, and entire neighborhoods just gone."

Ninety percent of the waterfront structures in Biloxi and Gulfport have been destroyed; with dozens dead, rescue workers have used axes to chop open doors in search of bodies, while ambulance convoys race to save the injured; and power is out in nearly 800,000 Mississippi homes.

Survivors pick through the rubble of their homes, salvaging remnants of their lives.

"Finding that little crystal basketball that belonged to my grandson just meant so much," Louise Ross told Roberts. "Finding my pet rock meant so much because you cannot ever replace that kind of stuff."

But while reporting amid the rubble, Roberts also uncovered hope.

"I'm very thankful to be alive and I look at the task ahead of me," said Mary Jane Allen, whose home was destroyed.

Everywhere Roberts visited, she encountered friends and neighbors who were strong, determined and willing to help each other in any way possible.

People were desperate to phone loved ones to let them know they were alive.

"In my mom's neighborhood, Jay across the street has a gas stove so people go across the street to cook some stuff up there. Next door, Cynthia and Tommy have water that they're letting people use, and another neighbor came over this morning and said he had a makeshift shower in the yard which is free and open to use," Roberts said. "The sense of community that I've always felt here on the West Coast is alive and well."

Although Roberts has not been able to check on the status of the home she grew up in, her family members were unscathed by the storm and encouraged Roberts to pursue her reporting to let the rest of the world know what was going on.