Katrina (Page 3)

"Parts of I-10 bridge over Lake Pontchartrain gone"

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/nation/3331422

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Wow. This is so hard. The only thing I can liken it to is how I felt on 9/11. They city where I was born is being destroyed. My mom, brother, sister-in-law and nephew are most likely homeless. I'm having a really hard time dealing. F*&k.

Om my dear God.  That's the way my dad drives to work.  If it's that bad up north, then where is works (SpaWar -- on the water) must be wrecked as well.  He's a contractor, so no work, no pay. 

And I don't know how long they can leave their cats without replenishing their food and water.  I still haven't been able to get any news about Slidell, except that my parents aren't allowed to return.

This is the only news story I can find about Slidell... and it doesn't bode well.

http://www.shreveporttimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050830/NEWS01/508300350/1002/NEWS

If you can't reach someone by cell phone, try to text message them.  I know of folks who have had success that way.

Go to the cell phone provider's web site or use your cell phone. 

there's a message board set up for biloxi where people are checking in and making reports- maybe one for Slidell???

there is one on www.nola.com

i've used that but i haven't gotten any responses. Just other posts saying West Bank and Algiers is flooded (where my aunt lives). So who knows.

Any of you people know how the English Turn area fared? Anything new on the news?

I just got this from NOLA, this is where my mom and some family is, so this is good news. Still nothing on Algiers though. I think Lakefront and the new levee break is the worst.

The evacuees staying with me live in Lakeview...it's under water.  One of the husbands of the evacuees stayed in his house.  He left in his boat when the water was about 6 feet deep.  He said the water rose so fast.  He suspected the levee at the 17th Street Canal had broken.  He was correct. 

TJ

Carencro is over by Lafayette, which didn't really get hit so hard.  It's very likely that he has no power, though. 

I have been trying to stay away from the TV as much as possible.  That's for the Nola.com link.  I was able to chat with a couple of people who live in the same neighborhood as my parents and have learned that that area was spared from the floods.  My folks, who are staying in Baton Rouge, are hoping to go home tomorrow to check on their house and their cats.  But without power and water, I don't know if they'll stick around.  Most of Slidell was flooded and some parts were hard hit. 

The images of Biloxi are enough to chill my blood.  They keep showing the Copa Casino... you have to remember that it's a barge to understand why it's wrong that it's in the middle of a parking lot.  I've been to that casino several years ago.  I can't even imagine how NOLA is going to "recover" from this.  And now they're talking about re-evacuating everyone from the Superdome.

i just checked his log and he logged a run today, so i'm assuming that he's safe and sound.

i can't watch too much coverage of the devastation because the reports are so overwhelming and upsetting.  my prayers are with everyone who has friends and family that were affected by katrina. 

I hear ya.  It's just too much for me to handle.  My mind is so full of rainy, stormy images that it's always a shock when I look outside and it's sunny and clear.  I suppose I should get dressed and go do something productive.

I'm here and OK, high and dry on this end, thanks for asking. The bank I work for is HQed in New Orleans, we have problems with communications including internet access, among other things. Lot of stuff happening, had family evacuees over the weekend, haven't had much time to hang out here.

Do want the other Louisianans to know that if they need a place to stay, if they need any help at all, just give the word. Looks like it will be a long haul for New Orleans and the MS Gulf Coast, could be a month before things have some semblance of civilization, doubt that things will ever be the same as they were before this weekend. This was the big one.

So glad to hear about your Mom, Haley, but keeping fingers crossed about your aunt.

Thanks for the invite, Bear.  Glad to know your side of the state is ok.  We're in Monroe.  I'm going back and forth between numbness, shock, and despair.  We are desparately watching the news to get a glimpse of our house so that at least we can know if we have flooding or not.  Yeah, yeah, most of n.o. is flooded.  But we were hearing yesterday afternoon (before the levee repair failed) that our house may have been dry.

Regardless, we won't be able to go home for weeks, maybe months, so my husband and I are trying to find jobs to pay for a mortgage of a house we don't live in.  Luckily, my sister-in-law runs a nursing home up here and has connections to hospitals to find us work.  It's just very strange and scary to think of what the next few months is going to hold for us. 

Oh, and did I mention we're supposed to go on vacation in 2 1/2 weeks?  I guess we can be homeless in Hawaii!

For those of you reading this, please make a donation to the Red Cross or similar organization helping relief efforts!  This is no joke, ya'll.  Don't judge us by the scumbag looters you're seeing on tv.  There's thousands more good people out here who really need help.  Thanks.