A Wisconsin family was in the French Quarter just hours before the terrorist attack in New Orleans took place.
Fond du Lac county resident, Jodi Schrauth is in New Orleans with her brother, Jeff Narges, and nephew, Carson Narges, to watch her son play for Notre Dame in the Sugar Bowl.
They were in the same block where a terrorist drove his truck through a crowd of hundreds just hours before the carnage took place.
WATCH: Wisconsinites in New Orleans describe aftermath of terrorist attack
The family tells TMJ4 the aftermath meant a normally busy French Quarter was eerily quiet on New Years Day.
They spoke to our Mariam Mackar about the shock they woke up to.
The Wisonsinites described New Years Eve day on Bourbon Street, as filled with cheers and laughter.
The terror attack just hours later became a starkly different scene that turned the joy of a new year into a nightmare.
"I couldn't really believe it," said Jeff Narges.
"The Walgreens, the CVS— that was where we were," Jodi Shrauth recalled. "So I'm still— it's still just shocking."
Narges says the news of the attack left him wondering how this was even possible
"There should be no way a vehicle can get on Bourbon Street at three in the morning when people are partying. There should be absolutely no way. Even when we were there yesterday, I mean the cars; there was cars going in and out of Bourbon Street. I'm just thinking to myself, how are these cars getting in here?"
The family says they are grateful they weren't near the attack when it happened, but now their hearts go out to the families of the victims impacted.
"You look at how precious life is. So many people lost their lives," Schrauth said.
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