We lived in Gautier when Elena came and i was only 11 at the time. But i remember the event very well. My father was the local Kmart manager and so we stayed at the store instead of leaving town. Actually we did leave, the first time they said it was coming, but this time we didnt. My mother's strongest recollection is of Mike Reader sounding panicky when he was telling people about the approaching storm. It was frightening to me then (now I would be more interested in what was going on outside) and I remember hearing winds tear off part of the store roof. The damage ended up being minimal compared to some of the other shopping centers near ours. Our biggest fear was the mobile home park we lived in then. Needless to say many homes were destroyed when we went back to the park. Thankfully our worst damage was a gash torn in the front of the home. Of course our porch and shed were thrashed, but it could have been much worse. My brothers and I made plenty of discoveries in the days to come around our yard.