ONE YEAR AFTER Hurricane Katrina left a trail of devastation on the Gulf Coast and in New Orleans, many Mississippians are still trying to put their lives back together.

But the Northside has mostly rebounded from the damage it received when Katrina ripped its way through Jackson.

The days and weeks after Katrina hit were spent cleaning up the multitude of fallen trees and branches that littered the properties and streets in the area.

"There were piles of debris on the street for the whole month of September, and it was probably into October before it was completely picked up," said Northsider Teddy Gibson, the operating manager of HANDS, a Christian nonprofit organization created in the wake of Katrina to help the victims of natural disasters in America.

During that time, residents on the Northside pitched in to clean up their neighborhoods and help those who needed it most.

"Neighbors were helping neighbors," said Gibson. "You just saw that everywhere, chainsaws running, trucks moving and people getting out there."

The majority of the damage was contained to downed trees and branches, with some flooding in the area. And loss of electricity, which for some lasted for more than a week, added to the headaches of those days.

BUT THE DEBRIS WAS cleaned up, damaged homes were fixed, and life returned to normal. But the approach of the one-year anniversary of the storm has stirred up the emotions and memories of those who experienced it, as well as reflections on the progress Mississippi has made in the face of enormous destruction.

"It is important that we pause on the one year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina to remember not only what we lost, but also how far we've come since last year," said Sen.Thad Cochran in a written statement. "Though we mourn for the lives, the communities, and the simpler way of life we knew before August 29, 2005, we can also reflect upon how far we have come in just one year. Local, state and national leaders have joined hands with individuals, communities and businesses, to restore the physical destruction of infrastructure and the emotional loss of our way of life."

As the first anniversary of Hurricane Katrina approached, Northsiders Carolyn and Van Temple had reason to be thankful and to feel blessed.

A large oak tree from their neighbor's yard seriously damaged the Temples' Fondren home on August 29, 2005 at 8 p.m., as Katrina, made its way through Jackson.

But the Temples came close to losing something much more precious than their home that night -- their lives.

The 145-foot tree that came crashing down onto their home caused two upstairs rooms to collapse down into the Temples' bedroom.

Carolyn was in the room, and was nearly crushed by a 60-gallon water heater that fell through her bedroom ceiling from a floor above. She was saved only by an instinctive reaction that compelled her to take a step to her left, seconds before the water heater came crashing down.

And Carolyn's luck good fortune continued as the room's four-poster bed stopped the roof joist from falling down on her.

"It almost felt like a primal survival instinct," she said. "I felt like I was going to have to fight for my life."

Carolyn's husband Van was out on the porch adjoining their bedroom when the tree fell, knocking him to the ground.

"I just lay there for two or three seconds," he said. "I got up on all fours and I looked up and the ceiling was just over a foot from the top of my head."

She described the event as like you were watching it in a movie, with everything in slow motion. To further add to the feeling of unreality, all of this took place in the soft electric blue glow of two battery-powered lights the Temples had put in their bedroom after they lost electricity.

ALTHOUGH THE TEMPLES had survived the initial impact of the tree, their brush with death was not over.

A gas line that had been attached to the fallen water heater had been ripped out, and rainwater mixed with water pouring from the bathroom that had collapsed down created a dangerous situation.

"Gas and water were pouring into the house," Van Temple said.

To make matters worse, electrical wires that had been pulled down by the tree's collapse were dangling perilously close to their house, creating sparks near the water and gas-filled house.

"We were in the midst of death," Carolyn said.

A neighbor saw the sparks and called the fire department, which arrived almost immediately. Firefighters ordered the stunned couple out of the house, saying that it could blow at any time. Fortunately, it did not.

The Temples' home was one of three in row on Montbrook Drive in Fondren that were damaged by trees uprooted due to the power of Katrina's winds.

A strong premonition, which she described as "all consuming" that something terrible was going to occur, had gripped Carolyn throughout that day.

Carolyn could not get these thoughts out of her mind, and she spent the day talking over and over about her fears.

"I obsessed over it all night long," Carolyn said.

While a little nervous, her husband did not really take her fears seriously.

"I was uneasy about it, but I never thought (anything) would happen," Van said.

A feeling that they were blessed and had been saved for a reason eventually came over them, Carolyn said.

She feels that they were saved because they needed to be around to continue to help raise their two five-year-old grandchildren, as they have been.

"That was our purpose in staying alive," Carolyn said.

THE TEMPLES’ GOOD fortune did not end with the passing of the storm.

They spent the next three weeks after their home was damaged living with their daughter in her home until they found a temporary place to live.

Their good fortune continued even more when their real estate agent found a house in Eastover that was on the market, whose owner, Terry Wells, agreed to rent to the Temples, even though that was not what he had planned for that house.

And when the repair on their home took longer than expected, he allowed them to continue living there.

"He's been so gracious," Carolyn said of Wells.

They have also been fortunate to not have much grief when dealing with getting insurance to cover the hundreds of thousands of dollars in damage to their home.

Their insurance will cover a substantial part of the needed repairs.

The Temples said over and over how much they appreciate the help of Barry Kelley of Farm Bureau Insurance in getting their claim paid and their home fixed.

A year later the Temples have still been unable to move back into their home.

But, the end of their stay in Eastover is just over the horizon. The couple expects to move back home in October, an event they are looking forward to.

"We want to go back to Fondren," Carolyn said. “We love Fondren. It's where we belong."