In Depth | How a Storm Shaped Mizzou WR Richaud Floyd
9/26/2017 1:00:00 PM | Football
A native of Gulfport, Miss., Floyd's life was turned upside down by Hurricane Katrina
Richaud Floyd, wide receiver for the Mizzou football team is all grown up now. He's not a little kid anymore. But third grade, that's when the storm hit. And he'll never forget it.
"It just helped me to appreciate a lot of things," Floyd said." And to appreciate and respect where I came from."
Where he comes from is Gulfport, Mississippi. And the storm was hurricane Katrina.
"We left two days before the storm hit. We went up to Jackson – like three hours north of Gulfport," Floyd said. "My dad stayed with my grandma and my great grandmother. They stayed at my grandmother's house because she didn't want to leave anything.
"In Jackson, we went two weeks without water. Lights, candles were in the house. No heat."
In Depth | How a Storm Shaped #Mizzou WR Richaud Floyd (@Richaud_Floyd17 )https://t.co/nY6GB4WsTD#MIZ #ShowMe ???? pic.twitter.com/N0BWwpJMMi
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The storm passed, as they all do. But then what? Harrison County, where Richaud grew up, reported 126 deaths, the most in Mississippi - more than twice the number in any other county. Home wasn't the same anymore. Home wasn't even there anymore.
"The water got in the house," Floyd said. "There wasn't really anything to come back to. The floor was done. The water came up all the way to the walls. So, it was pretty much gone."
"We still had a car. So I remember I think we slept in the car some nights. You see what happened in New Orleans – people getting killed in the Superdome and stuff like that, jumping off and committing suicide. Then, you hear things from home, like people getting killed for ice – just like things as simple as ice.
How does a third-grader bounce back from that?
"I don't know. I was just going with the flow. Mom was like, 'Everything is going to be ok,' so I looked to her," Floyd said. "She was a strong woman. When she said that I was like, 'Alright, it's cool.'
For young Richaud Floyd, getting back to normal went one thing.
"I started playing football and that was like the first thing we got back to - just playing little league football. That was the first thing."
It's a small thing, and it might not seem like the most important thing to everyone, but football was a big part of Richaud's recovery from Hurricane Katrina.
"Not having sports for like six or seven months, I was like getting back to football is the best thing that happened," Floyd said. "My dad was a coach and got everyone that hadn't left, that didn't leave for the storm, everybody got back and we just practiced. I could've practiced for the whole night if we had to. It was just real, real cool."
Storms rage. Storms damage. But yes, storms pass. Richaud Floyd found life after the storm, and he doesn't take life or the game for granted.
"Football runs in our family. So, I just need everything – if I have a bad day or anything I'll go watch a football game," Floyd said. "To just cherish the small moments – with family, friends – to just cherish everything."
