NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) – A couple who met each other because of Hurricane Katrina, was forced to cancel their wedding as Hurricane Matthew made its way up the East Coast.
Their wedding had been scheduled for Saturday in Charleston, South Carolina. Scott Barnes and Katie Maucher decided to postpone their nuptials earlier this week, amidst evacuation orders and the impending storm.
The two met each other in college, but only by chance. In the fall of 2005, Maucher was set to begin college at Tulane University in New Orleans.
She moved into her new dorm but was immediately forced to evacuate as Hurricane Katrina approached.
What she thought would only be a few days away from campus, turned into a semester.
Tulane canceled all classes that fall, and so Maucher transferred to the University of Richmond. Barnes had just begun his freshman year there. The two met that year.
Barnes said the couple made the decision to cancel the wedding on Tuesday.
“We found out when Governor [Nikki] Haley said, ‘Everyone’s going to evacuate.’ It sort-of told us on Tuesday it wasn’t going to happen. So, we’ve started making contingency plans,” he said.
“It’s been tough on all of us for sure, but at the same time we see what’s happening south of us and there’s no question.”
When asked by News 2 anchor Neil Orne if the couple planned to settle down away from the coast, Barnes said jokingly, “Yes, we’re going to go to Nebraska or Iowa, something like that.”
Maucher and Barnes have not yet set a new wedding date.