A Gorham woman this week recalled fleeing with her dog from the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, which devastated New Orleans and the Gulf Coast region 10 years ago this month.

Katrina and the damages it wreaked in New Orleans have left graphic memories for Susan Rappold. The storm forever changed her life and the New Orleans she knew.

Rappold, with just $11, four bags stuffed with belongings and her dog, arrived in Maine in September 2005 with the aid of a Buxton woman, who had posted on the Internet her willingness to help someone dislodged.

Katrina, according to National Hurricane Center information, roared into the Gulf of Mexico, hitting first part of Florida on Aug. 25 and then the New Orleans area on Aug. 29. The hurricane toll accounted for hundreds dead, hundreds of thousands dislodged and billions in damages.

Rappold, twice widowed and jobless, linked up with Denise (Mondor) Fortunato, a native of Westbrook. Fortunato paid airfare for Rappold and her dog to Boston, where she first met Rappold.

Fortunato, who now lives in Saco, said this week the hurricane abruptly changed life for Rappold.

“She didn’t know what to do,” Fortunato said.

When Katrina struck, Rappold had been laid off from her job as an auctioneer. She had given up a town house in a New Orleans suburb and was living in a friend’s trailer in a park in Thibodaux, La. Rappold was the last resident to evacuate the park.

Winds flattened big trees there and rain pelted down, she said.

“The flood waters rose very quickly,” she said.

Hearing that dogs were being shot, Rappold worried about the welfare of her dog Samantha, a rat terrier she calls Sammy. Police found a temporary haven for the dog at a vet clinic.

She said a young woman in a white van came for Samantha.

“I didn’t think I’d see Sammy again,” Rappold, choking back tears, said this week.

Then, Rappold, stranded without transportation, sought a place to go herself.

This week she told of a friend, who owned a New Orleans business and took shelter at the Superdome in New Orleans. It was familiar turf for Rappold, as she and her late husband had season tickets for the New Orleans Saints, who play football there.

But, the friend advised her not to go to the Superdome for shelter.

“It’s pandemonium,” Rappold said, recalling the friend’s words.

Rappold found shelter in a high school that wasn’t accepting pets. She slept on the floor. Later, returning briefly to the trailer park after power was restored, she found someone there with a computer, went on line, and found Fortunato’s offer to assist.

Rappold called and Fortunato made flight arrangements for her and her pet to come to Maine. Two nuns drove Rappold and her dog to a Louisiana airport. The itinerary even became stressful. While changing planes, an airline temporarily misplaced her dog.

“I refused to get on the plane without Sammy,” Rappold said.

When Fortunato first saw Rappold at Logan International Airport, she was in a wheelchair as she had sprained an ankle in debris left by Katrina.

Born in England, Rappold, who has retained her British accent, stayed with the Fortunato family temporarily. Fortunato said Rappold suffered frequent bouts with depression.

Rappold relocated to an apartment in an Avesta Housing complex in Gorham. She said the town reminds her of England.

“One falls in love with Gorham,” Rappold said. “It’s a very tight-knit community.”

She said that in 2009, four years after Katrina struck, she visited New Orleans, where she still has friends.

“I was so depressed,” Rappold said. “I couldn’t stop crying.”

This week, Rappold is recuperating at New England Rehabilitation Hospital in Portland from a medical procedure. She’s separated again, temporarily, from her dog, a constant companion. Samantha, 14, has cancer and is staying at a Gorham kennel.

After rehab, Rappold and Samantha will likely again stay with Fortunato.

“I’ve adopted her,” Fortunato said.

Rappold this week cautioned people here not to be complacent and be prepared in the event of a hurricane.

“It could happen in Gorham,” she said.

Along with the bad memories afflicted by the hurricane, Rappold this week reflected on some good times in New Orleans. When she worked as an auctioneer, she recalled a charity fundraising event that stood out.

She got a $1,000 bid for a straw cowboy hat donated by the legendary Bum Phillips, who coached the New Orleans Saints. He later called her and said it had been his favorite hat.

Rappold said this week that at age 69, she’s still learning about life.

“She’s a little spitfire,” Fortunato said.

Arriving in Maine from Louisiana as a refugee from Hurricane Katrina, Susan Rappold and her rat terrier, Samantha, relax in September 2005 while staying with the Fortunato family in Buxton before Rappold moved to an apartment in Gorham. File photo