Hurricane Katrina 5 Years Later

"We got up in the roof all the way to the roof and water came and the house just opened up...divided", said Hardy Jackson August 29th of 2005. WKRG News 5 met Jackson wandering the streets of Biloxi hours after Hurricane Katrina's storm surge swept away his wife, Tonette. Mr. Jackson explained, "I tried, I hold her hand tight as I could..and she told me..you can't hold me she said take care of the kids and the grandkids".

A heartbroken Hardy Jackson returned home to rubble left behind by the storm.
Desperate to find any shred of evidence of the love he and Tonette shared for 29 years, he came across a mud encrusted picture of his beloved wife. Her body has never been found.

Tonette Jackson's name is etched in black granite memorial. She's one of 170 people killed by Katrina on the Mississippi Gulf Coast.
The 12 foot memorial represents the height of Katrina's storm surge on Biloxi's Town Green.

After the storm, Hardy Jackson moved hundreds of miles away from the gulf coast. But, he hasn't been able to leave the hurt behind, " I don't think I never...feel like I used to feel. You know..look at things like I used to look".

Jackson, his 2 children, and three grandchildren live in Palmetto, Georgia..near Atlanta. They live in a house given to them by musician Frankie Beverly. But, finding the money to pay the bills is a daily fight. Hardy has been on disability for more than a decade. Tonette was the breadwinner. Her absence is a struggle for the whole family. "Because we're so used to having our mom there to do everything for us", says Daughter Tonie Jackson. Grandson Deion Jackson talks about, "just seeing my grandpa struggle sometimes and him just cry sometimes in a room".

Five years have passed since the Jacksons lost their matriarch, and time has not eased their pain. "No, I think it will be with me for the rest of my life", says Tonie. As for Hardy Jackson Jr, "It just made me look at things different and make me like grow up quicker".

Hardy Jackson Senior realizes he's making good on his promise he made to Tonette to care for the children. But, what happened August 29th, 2005 haunts him to this day. "I still feel the same way. I don't feel good about myself because I could've saved my wife. I could have saved those kids' momma or their grandmomma", says Jackson.