It's hard to believe that Hurricane Katrina made landfall in the Gulf Coast four years ago.
But for one valley woman, the anniversary holds special meaning: As the storm was about to hit, she grabbed her seven-month-old daughter and fled to Las Vegas.
And as News 3's reports, she's never looked back.
It was August 28, just one day before Hurricane Katrina tore through the Gulf Coast region. Ingrid Ghione, a 24-year-old single mother, knew it was time to leave her hometown of Kenner City, a small parish just outside New Orleans.
"We knew the hurricane was coming. Eventually, it was a mandatory evacuation. The hurricane was getting closer and closer. We did a mandatory evacuation to Longview, Texas."
After just two days in Texas, Ingrid and her then seven-month-old daughter Alexandra flew to Las Vegas to be closer to Alexandra's father.
"It was scary but I did it. I knew I had to do it on my own and I did it. Once I was here I fell in love with Vegas. And I'm still here."
Once in the valley, Ingrid had to start all over. She found a new place to live, new friends, and a new job at the Rio. That's when she met Executive Chef Pete Ghione.
"It took me a while to get to know her and what her story was," says Pete. "I couldn't imagine living there and going through what she went through."
"If it wasn't for Katrina, if it wasn't for that tragedy, we never would have met," Ingrid says.
Just over a year ago, the couple was married. And now, they're expecting their first child together, a girl named Gabriella Victoria. Big sister Alexandra, now four years old, can't wait for the baby to arrive.
"She's my reason I did a lot; I live for her," says Ingrid of her daughter. "And then I found Pete. He's been everything, he does everything."
The happy couple just began another new chapter in their life together: restaurant owners. A few months ago they opened Ghione's Organic Fresh Kitchen in Anthem, near Henderson.
Looking back at Katrina four years later, Ingrid says she now lives her life by this simple motto: "Everything happens for a reason."
Unfortunately, Hurricane Katrina left a lot of devastation in its path in southeast Louisiana and parts of Mississippi. The overall death toll as a result of the category three storm topped 1,800. And more than 1,000 died in the aftermath when the levee system failed in New Orleans.
Eighty percent of the city was flooded and over one million people were left homeless.
