I took these notes for my blog, since I still haven't gotten my DSL set up. I got the equipment and instructions from Bello South Friday, but I'm still missing a DSL modem. Well that's an issue that will have to wait till I get back. I'm typing these notes and additional ones for the daylight hours at my sister Krista's apartment in Natchitoches.
Friday had something more important, Hurricane Katrina entered the Gulf of Mexico. http://www.weather.com/maps/news/atlstorm12/stormtrack_large.html They were expecting it to hit the Florida panhandle when I left work.
By the time I reached Chad, he was twitchy and Katrina had shifted to the Mississippi/Alabama border. CHad never gets twitchy over hurricanes. He follows all the technical discussions of the National Hurricane Center. He explained that the prediction models are all over the place. But Katrina was only moving at 7 miles per hour and still a small hurricane, so we went to the movies and out to eat.
Saturday morning, we woke up early. There was too much to do. Katrina's projected path had changed too--a direct hit to New Orleans and she was now a category 3. Chad's mother called him in a panic. Her boy had to come home to Lafayette. The western edge of the projection cone was reaching Lafayette, so I can't blame her too much but it sure derailed my plans. We did the banking and I dropped Chad off at site and picked up what of Chad's belongings I'm sheltering. I got the car serviced once I reached the shop behind the gas station. That took a few hours, but I finally got home.
My parents weren't too worried about evacuating; we're on high ground a ways from New Orleans. I was too edgy to write, so I've been listening to the emergency radio and cleaning.
I got the laundry finished, the dishes washed, the kitchen counters and stove cleaned, and the back porch tidied.
Midnight--The head of the National Hurricane Center called the mayor of New Orleans and said Katrina is the storm we've been warned about every hurricane season, the worst case scenerio for New Orleans. They haven't declared a mandatory evacuation for Orleans Parish--which is pretty much the entire metro area of New Orleans.
Katrina is supposed to make landfall Monday. I don't know if we'll get out or not. I've got my clothes packed. I'd need to pack some more supplies and Mustard, but at least the car is ready to go. I'm going to wait for the one a.m. update and then go to bed. We won't be going anywhere until daylight.
12:44 a.m.--Katrina is now a Category 4, 145 miles per hour. She's on level with Andrew and Camille. Making my list of everything to pack tomorrow.
6:00 a.m.--Wake up. Katrina now a Category 5 and her path hasn't changed. I finished cleaning and start on the list I made before bed. After I get dressed and have a lot ready, I went and talked to my parents and see what it was looking like on TV. I decided to get out. My parents were still undecided.
9:30 a.m.--Rough estimate. The mayor of New Orleans issued a mandatory evacuation for Orleans parish. The first time in the city's history that has ever happened.
10:00 a.m.--Car is packed and I'm on the road to my sister's in Natchitoches. I decided to stay off the interstate system, go north up US 51, west on La. 10, go north on US 61 to Natchez, Mississippi, then go west to Alexandria. Once at Alexandria, I-49 straight to Natchitoches. Good thing about this route: I never stopped moving. Bad thing about this route: it took forever. Under normal conditions, it takes 3 and a half hours to get from Pumpkin Center to Natchitoches.
3:45 p.m.--Finally reach Alexandria. Decided to pull over, get some items at Pets' Mart and hopefully let Mustard out of his carrier for a while. He refused to come out. I think it was the tile, he must have thought it was the vet's.
5:00 p.m.--Finally reach Natchitoches. Mustard hates my sister's pets and is currently back in his carrier so he won't destroy the bathroom he's locked in. If this abnormal behavior keeps up tomorrow, he's going to the vet. Trying to get out of the bathroom or get the other animals through the bathroom door I can understand, but he's also trying to get his own tail and that's something he doesn't do.
It's now 7:30 p.m. Can't reach my parents but Chad tells me Tangipahoa parish is now under evacuation orders too. Mom said they'd be going to her aunt in Natchez, but I don't have her number. We've had supper. Mustard seems to have calmed down a little. I'm probably going to curl up with homework or the resource guide that I haven't had time to work on yet.
Read Free!
The BookWorm
11 comments:
This Foxy and all I can say is SHIT!!! With how Mustard is acting I won't expect to find good things when you finally get to go home.
Do you have plans if the worst case happens?
Shit Shit Shit I'm glad you, Chad and Mustard are safeand I can only pray to the Gods thatyou don't lose anything!
Shit all the books you own! You have alistright? Just in casetheinsurance ask? Hell you havehome own or renter insurance right?
*hugz* i am so glad you're safe, i was getting worried about you when i heard where Katrina was headed.
i reckon Mustard is probably a bit freaked by the weather and the sudden move, lavish some attention on him if he wont try to kill you in the process, and hopefully the cyclone will pass over without doing too much damage.
Sounds like cyclone season. Which isn't far away. See you when you get back :)
Red :)
I've been following the weather all morning. I'm glad you got out when you did - it looks like the NO area is gettin' pummeled. Nothin' much else to say, just stay safe and dry. My thoughts are with you and your family.
Update: we finally reached my parents and they decided to ride it out. Luckily, Hammond area only seems to be getting tropical storm force winds and lots of rain.
Mustard is acting slightly better. He at least ate and drank, which I was having no luck making him do yesterday. Then he goes into a growling frenzy chasing his tail. He never chases his tail. *Perplexed* Nearest I can tell, he must think it belongs to one of the other cats.
Yes, I've got insurance and being the home owner I should qualify for FEMA help too. I took pictures of everything before I left. I did forget to grab the file safe, but I made sure it was locked and I bought one that was waterproof too.
Worst case? I rebuild, salvaging as much of the old place as I can. You can always rebuild. WHich is why I prefer hurricanes to any other natural disaster, you can run from them.
Leaving the books was hard. I console myself that 1) even in the worse floods in Tangi history--the infamous 1985 floods that people are still waiting on settlements for--the area that my and my parent's house is built on didn't flood. We were surrounded by water, but dry. 2) My house is built around 2 feet off of that ground. 3) The bookcases have 3 - 6 inch clearance off that floor.
The computer brains and my camera came with me, as well as what writing I think could be publishable and what I'm currently working on. My parents said they lost power about 6 a.m. this morning, but they hadn't lost phones as of 9:30. Krista explained to them again the importance of having a cell phone turned on. We have that conversation a lot with our parents.
It's a beautiful day in Natchitoches. I'm about to venture out in search of phone minutes so I can be reached if one can get through. The cell towers in this part of the state are sparse. :p
So far, my one idea to fix is that Louisiana needs a few radio stations to cover the entire state with evacuation/hurricane news. You turn onto the stations they have listed on the signs and you can't get AM and FM is playing music. I wanted what I was getting at home from AM 870, calls from motorists getting out with travel recommendations, interspersed with the officials telling people what to do and news conferences. If I want to listen to Coldplay, I can find another station. :p
New update: I've relocated to Chad's mother's house in Lafayette. Officials on TV say that it looks like the tsunami in Indonesia.
Hammond area sounds okay, mostly falling tree damage. Chad and I will probably be going to check it out tomorrow.
Hey BookWorm. You don't know me very well, if you do at all. I'm a fan o yours from the bikermice.com message board.
I'm glad you are alrite and I will be sure to put a link to this blog on the message board. There are lots of people worried for you.
Take care and I hope the Cat gets all better soon.
Praying for the levies and the people behind them,
MouseyWithMoxy
The looters are about 1% of the population. And we're ready to declare shoot to kill on them.
My parents are fine and we might even get electricity back tonight or tomorrow. Nice thing about being with a company that's smaller than Entergy.
Lots of tree and power line damage but our area could have been som much worse. It's still surreal. Superdome evacuees are headed to the Astrodome in Houston. As we headed west back to Lafayette, we saw the buses coming east to get them.
Our RenFaire famiy still has missing people from the New Orleans metro area. It's nearly impossible to call the Red Cross to put them on a list. Luckily, it looks like one of our Congressmen is going to be setting up a centralizied list.
I still don't know what my job is going to have me do. I haven't been able to contact them.
Hi Kindra. I'm glad you got out safely. I'm afraid I was very late with the news as I don't really follow it, but my ears perked up when people were talking about it at work.
I'm glad your family, Mustard and Chad are safe as well.
I'm glad to read you are keeping positive about this. It is so easy to be negative in a situation like this.
All my love goes out to you. Take care.
Love and hugs
Shelley
HUGS to everybody.
Baton Rouge and Hammond lost power due to wind damage to the powerlines. St. Tammany parish got hit with more wind and flooding from Lake Ponchatrain. Coastal Mississippi and Alabama got the worse of the hurricane.
New Orleans is dominating the headlines and news because of the people. Praise be the Army and National Guard have finally started getting supplies in and getting people out. We've heard from most of our New Orleans people, but not everyone yet.
Could they have moved faster? I'm not ready to do second guessing yet.
Work? Have no idea, I still can't get in touch with them. I'm hoping to actually get out of my section and maybe do some satellite work helping survivors with their insurance in Lafayette. I won't be able to afford the gas to drive to Baton Rouge from either direction.
Right now, so not to go stir crazy, I'm helping Chad get his stuff set up here in Lafayette. School Days will probably have to be post-poned this year.
Hopefully, I'll get to actually write a new blog entry by Sunday.
Oh and the Speaker of the House who says we shouldn't rebuild is a Yankee Asshole that should be lynched. Louisiana doesn't mean a damn until you don't have any gas, everything costs more because you can't ship it through the Mississippi River, and we're all scum that should die. He made his comments yesterday and hasn't said anything today.
LOL Senator Lott of Mississippi just said "the South will rise again. We always do." Yeah, we do.
I castrate Yankee Asshole (I wish).
New Orleans is the only American city I voluntarily wanted to visit coz it was pretty :P
Plus that kinda strikes home coz they've been trying to depopulate Christmas Island for a while. Fuck em I say. Here's to rebulding.
*hugz* looking forward to hearing from you.
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