Chris's scary neighbor looked straight out of a post-apocalytic movie. He had a barbeque grill going, his dog on the porch, and hip waders on so he could go through the water. Another neighbor had left a large amount of meat in the freezer and he said he was cooking it so it wouldn't go to waste. He was trading the cooked meat to the looters to get liquor when they passed by. He had plenty of beer and Jack Daniels and offered us some, but we declined. This man was in his element and a prime example of "A country boy can survive!" Chris was so happy no water was in his house. We were both hoping that the water would not continue to rise and he would remain safe. His truck had water in the tailpipe, but not inside the engine. He managed to get it started and moved towards the front door. We saw some other neighbors emerge from their homes looking at us like we were aliens. Everyone wanted to ask us what we were seeing out there. We asked them if they wanted a ride out of the city, but everyone wanted to stay put. We told them what we could, but didn't have the answers they wanted, that the levees were fixed and help was on the way.
We went inside Chris's house where he fed the cat. We never saw the cat, but from the litter boxes, you could tell he was okay. We also got some snack bars and some cokes from the kitchen. Chris got himself dry clothes to put on and when we got back to the truck he was able to change. I was not that lucky as his wife and i did not wear the same size. I was wet and quite literally had ants in my pants. Chris felt bad because his house was going to be okay as long as the water didn't keep rising and I probably lost my house. The worst part was the gasoline and oil in the water. It really burned and irritated the skin. Getting back in the truck and sitting in gross clothes really sucked.
Lisa called me while we were getting back in the truck preparing to go to West Jeff and the phone actually connected. I told her about the water and that I had gotten cut by something under the water on the way back to the truck and my leg was bleeding. I had a 2 inch long gash on my right leg near my knee. Wading through the oily water only made it burn more than it would have normally. Lisa started freaking out and wanted me to go to a doctor when I got back to BTR. I told her it would be fine, but she was concerned about contamination in the water. I was too, but I wasn't going to tell her that. My phone kept cutting out, but I told her I would call back later.
We tried to find a way further into the city with the truck so we could take Charity their supplies. We could not find a road that was usable due to the high water levels. We needed a boat and we didn't have one. We asked a couple of the military personnel we encoutered if they knew a way we could get into the city or if they had someone that could help us make the delivery and they did not have any ideas, so we decided to go to W Jeff and then see if we could maybe approach downtown from the CCC Bridge. Neither Chris nor I talked a lot on the way to West Jeff. We knew we should be able to reach that hospital since our driver made it there the day before. We did detour to drive by the Whitney Bank Ops Center in Elmwood and it looked fine to us. We tried to find Don, the employee that rode out the storm in his tiny house in Elmwood, but we couldn't find his house. We went back across the Huey P to W Jeff. Ochsner was a paradise compared to W Jeff. They had declined significantly since yesterday when our driver took them product. The large generators had died. They had a few small ones they had running in the operating rooms. They lost all their fridges and all AC in the building. People were outside the hospital in their cars and in tents. It looked like something you would see near a field hospital on TV. We pulled into the back with the truck and immediately techs and pharmacists swarmed us. We only had maybe 1/2 a pallet for them. They were upset because none of their cell phones worked and the landlines and their internet was down. They couldn't transmit any orders to any of their vendors. They were completely out of some kind of medicine they needed for diabetics and had a patient die that morning from not having the right medicine. Everyone was very concerned and seemed to be on the verge of panic. We met a hospital accountant named Steven that was actually serving food to patients. He said his job was gone, but because he had nothing else to do he was going to help any way he could. I will always remember that man and how he could have sat and complained and instead he was doing whatever he could to make the situation better for the patients. He lived in Old Metairie and was asking us about his house. We told him that it depended on how close he was to the canal and how far down into Old Metairie he lived. He seemed okay with whatever the answer was.
We went to see the pharmacist as he asked if we could wait while he hand wrote a list of items he needed "Birdie" to send him. We told him we would and then the warehouse also asked us to wait while they wrote their orders down too. We waited about 30 minutes. We heard the doctors talking about breaking into Wal Mart for supplies if they couldn't get what they needed elsewhere. Apparently Harry Lee the Sheriff, had offered to requisition the Wal Mart so that the hospital could get some supplies. They were going to take him up on the offer so they could get more food and supplies as all they had was canned beans at the hospital.
We saw a few patients as we were walking around the hospital and most of them were in poor shape. Several of them kept saying they knew they were going to die, or at least they believed they were because they were not sure when help was coming. I wanted to hug all the doctors and their support people and tell them what a great job they were doing in the face of danger and uncertainty. We left the hospital with orders for several different companies, all handwritten on notebook paper. I was determined to place the orders for them. We drove away hoping we could help these people and feeling desparate.
Monday, April 24, 2006
Saturday, April 22, 2006
More Wednesday...
We crawled towards the Huey P Long bridge swerving around fallen trees and downed power lines. We never saw any water on that side of the river. Something was obviously going on further down on the Westbank, but we didn't know what it was yet. We heard an explosion in the distance and we could see smoke. A few cops made us pull over so they could go around us, but it was mostly silent. We learned later that this was when Oakwood Shopping Center was set on fire. There was a truck stopped on the side of the road that the police had surrounded that was full of electronics. We could see them in back of truck and on side of road. I now assume that this is the incident where police caught some people with a bunch of stolen goods right after the Hurricane trying to leave the area. Seemed like a huge waste of resources when we had much worse issues than a few stolen TVs. We saw a few people with cars that were obviously not theirs crusing around and looking like trouble. Most of them still had dealer tags in windows. Wal Mart just off the Expressway was missing the front doors to the store. It looked like someone had pulled them off with a truck and a chain. We didn't really see a bunch of people, but there were various goods scattered around the entrance. We learned later that the cars with the dealer tags were stolen from Sewall Cadillac and eventually the Sheriff's office took control of the Wal mart for their own supply usage. I kept expecting someone to stop and question us again, but no one did. We went over the Huey P Long bridge and headed towards the city and Orleans Parish.
We couldn't go up Clearview - it was blocked off with huge barricades we couldn't go around so we got on Jefferson Hwy and headed towards the city. There was no power anywhere to be seen probably due to all the downed power lines and billboards that looked like God had pushed them over with his hand. Tree limbs were everywhere. Chris was so good at making sure we navigated the mess. We had to drive the wrong way on the street a few times because our lanes were completely blocked. I have some pictures that I took with my cell phone, but have since lost them.
We also drove by a pawn shop that was on fire on Jefferson Hwy. I think the news reported it was on fire near downtown New Orleans, but it was not near downtown. It was still in Jeff Parish. It had been set on fire by some looters that morning, but the fire department was too busy to worry about it so it burned down and spread to another business that was located behind the pawn shop. The National Guard was setting up a staging area under the Causeway - we actually saw a Salvation Army truck feeding the zombies that were dragging themselves out of their houses to get food. I say zombies not to be disrespectful but because they looked like they had not seen daylight and had been through serious trauma. Chris and I stopped at the Salvation Army truck and got a plate of beans and franks and it was hot and delicous. I can still see the food melting onto the cheap styrofoam plate. We gobbled it and then got back into the truck. If any of you want to donate to a charity, pick the Salvation Army. They were in the city before FEMA or the Red Cross and no one was protecting them. We saw so many looters, mostly with shopping carts full of beer and hard liquor. The Sav a Center had been busted into, as well as just about every business on the road. There was no water on Jefferson Hwy until we got to the Causeway and then the water started to rise. It was at the middle of our tires by the time we got to Ochsner Hospital. Remember we were in a truck, so this would probably be 2 feet deep. The military had not reached the hospital yet so they had no protection. We found the loading dock and pulled in. When we got onto the dock, we were met by a couple of guys desparate for the 3 pallets we had for them. We took pallet jacks and Chris, myself, and the Pharmacist took them upstairs. This hospital was not too overwhelmed at this time, though they were concerned about running out of supplies or fuel, as they were running a large generator. It wasn't chaotic just busy.I saw a lot of small children wearing scrubs as they obviously had ended up here from another hospital. Most people were glad to see us because we were the first outsiders they had seen since the storm.
We left the Hospital and went to try to get to Chris's house as he lived near Ochsner. We got 2 blocks from his house - that is where the water got too high to drive any further. We parked and got out and waded through water. On Chris it came up to his thighs, on me it was belly high. There were fire ants in the water and I kept getting bitten. Did I mention that all the clothes I had left after Katrina were 2 pairs of khaki pants, 1 pair of khaki shorts, 1 pair of pajama pants, 3 Hackbarth shirts, 2 button up shirts, 5 pairs of underwear, 5 pairs of socks, a t shirt, a pair of Docs, and the Shox Lisa bought me? I ruined one set of my meager clothing that day. I had little red welts all over my thighs, legs and belly from the ants. There was oil and fuel in the water and it smelled so bad. You ended up with a greasy film on everything. We got to Chris's house and discovered water had risen to 1 inch below his door and had not gotten in his house. Lucky for him his house was raised almost 4 feet off the ground. His neighbor came out to see what was going on. He had a shotgun and 2 large dogs.....
We couldn't go up Clearview - it was blocked off with huge barricades we couldn't go around so we got on Jefferson Hwy and headed towards the city. There was no power anywhere to be seen probably due to all the downed power lines and billboards that looked like God had pushed them over with his hand. Tree limbs were everywhere. Chris was so good at making sure we navigated the mess. We had to drive the wrong way on the street a few times because our lanes were completely blocked. I have some pictures that I took with my cell phone, but have since lost them.
We also drove by a pawn shop that was on fire on Jefferson Hwy. I think the news reported it was on fire near downtown New Orleans, but it was not near downtown. It was still in Jeff Parish. It had been set on fire by some looters that morning, but the fire department was too busy to worry about it so it burned down and spread to another business that was located behind the pawn shop. The National Guard was setting up a staging area under the Causeway - we actually saw a Salvation Army truck feeding the zombies that were dragging themselves out of their houses to get food. I say zombies not to be disrespectful but because they looked like they had not seen daylight and had been through serious trauma. Chris and I stopped at the Salvation Army truck and got a plate of beans and franks and it was hot and delicous. I can still see the food melting onto the cheap styrofoam plate. We gobbled it and then got back into the truck. If any of you want to donate to a charity, pick the Salvation Army. They were in the city before FEMA or the Red Cross and no one was protecting them. We saw so many looters, mostly with shopping carts full of beer and hard liquor. The Sav a Center had been busted into, as well as just about every business on the road. There was no water on Jefferson Hwy until we got to the Causeway and then the water started to rise. It was at the middle of our tires by the time we got to Ochsner Hospital. Remember we were in a truck, so this would probably be 2 feet deep. The military had not reached the hospital yet so they had no protection. We found the loading dock and pulled in. When we got onto the dock, we were met by a couple of guys desparate for the 3 pallets we had for them. We took pallet jacks and Chris, myself, and the Pharmacist took them upstairs. This hospital was not too overwhelmed at this time, though they were concerned about running out of supplies or fuel, as they were running a large generator. It wasn't chaotic just busy.I saw a lot of small children wearing scrubs as they obviously had ended up here from another hospital. Most people were glad to see us because we were the first outsiders they had seen since the storm.
We left the Hospital and went to try to get to Chris's house as he lived near Ochsner. We got 2 blocks from his house - that is where the water got too high to drive any further. We parked and got out and waded through water. On Chris it came up to his thighs, on me it was belly high. There were fire ants in the water and I kept getting bitten. Did I mention that all the clothes I had left after Katrina were 2 pairs of khaki pants, 1 pair of khaki shorts, 1 pair of pajama pants, 3 Hackbarth shirts, 2 button up shirts, 5 pairs of underwear, 5 pairs of socks, a t shirt, a pair of Docs, and the Shox Lisa bought me? I ruined one set of my meager clothing that day. I had little red welts all over my thighs, legs and belly from the ants. There was oil and fuel in the water and it smelled so bad. You ended up with a greasy film on everything. We got to Chris's house and discovered water had risen to 1 inch below his door and had not gotten in his house. Lucky for him his house was raised almost 4 feet off the ground. His neighbor came out to see what was going on. He had a shotgun and 2 large dogs.....
Wednesday, April 19, 2006
Wednesday August 31, 2005
I woke up this day to Sara calling me on the radio to let me know that she still couldn't get to the office. Water was higher than her car. She thought I might be able to get there in my Jeep. I went to work at the Baton Rouge office and fielded several calls from GE regarding the status of the office. They offered any assistance they could give us. We learned that Birdie was sending supplies again for some of the hospitals in New Orleans, and Chris and I decided we were going to take the delivery together to try to look at his house and the office. We were hearing reports on the radio that people were hijacking cars to get out of the city and that there was widespread looting and burning down property. The National Guard had only partially arrived and you basically were on your own there. I had heard the Governor say that the Arkansas National Guard was coming and that they had just returned from Iraq, and they would "shoot to kill." This was both unsettling and a relief. I called Lisa to let her know I was going to the city and she wasn't all that happy, but she knew it was my job. She told me that one of her friend's husbands was being called up and sent down here.
We loaded up the pallets we had for W Jeff Hospital in Marrero, Ochsner Hospital in Jefferson, and the 5 boxes we had for Charity and 2 boxes for Memorial Medical and got gas and drinks for the trip. We were in a 16ft boxtruck with no markings. I made Chris go by my car so we could get my gun to take with us. I had also managed to borrow a short barreled shotgun from one of the BTR drivers and a duffel bag of ammo. I had my pistol and some ammunition in a gym bag between the seats and I kept the shotgun in my lap. I told Chris we weren't going to get hijacked unless they killed me and I meant it. We had our FEMA letter and headed for the city. As we got closer and closer to New Orleans, you began to see the wind damage. Billboards blown over and trees bent sideways. It also began to smell like dead fish. You kept seeing signs that told you that you couldn't get to New Orleans. This particular sign was in Baton Rouge, where our journey began.
We got to Laplace, where a checkpoint had been set up to stop people from entering the area. We showed our letter and our manifests at the checkpoint and got waved through. We were told we would have to take I-310 to the West Bank and then cross the Huey P Long to get back to the Eastbank due to I-10 still being under water around Causeway. This photo is from the area where Jefferson Parish meets Orleans Parish from the air. I obviously did not take this photo. This is an AP photo from the Coast Guard.
AP PHOTO
We were also told it was unlikely we could get to Charity, but we wanted to get them their supplies as we had heard reports that the water was still high in that area and looting was out of control. I believed that one of my friends from college was a nurse at Charity and if we got near enough to go there, I wanted to make sure she was okay. Chris and I discussed possibly loading people in the back of the truck to get them out of the city, but we weren't sure how close we could get.
We went through the checkpoint and took I-310 over to the Westbank. Once we got over the bridge and onto Hwy 90, we hit a 2nd checkpoint. Apparently they were letting a few people into this Parish. We made it through that checkpoint with the same ease we did the first. This is where the Hurricane damage was more obvious. Buildings with serious roof damage, billboards completely gone, houses with trees on them. No flooding though on this side of the river. We travelled through streets with no power and weaved around downed power lines. We both decided that we didn't understand why people were not allowed to return to this part of Jefferson Parish.
We loaded up the pallets we had for W Jeff Hospital in Marrero, Ochsner Hospital in Jefferson, and the 5 boxes we had for Charity and 2 boxes for Memorial Medical and got gas and drinks for the trip. We were in a 16ft boxtruck with no markings. I made Chris go by my car so we could get my gun to take with us. I had also managed to borrow a short barreled shotgun from one of the BTR drivers and a duffel bag of ammo. I had my pistol and some ammunition in a gym bag between the seats and I kept the shotgun in my lap. I told Chris we weren't going to get hijacked unless they killed me and I meant it. We had our FEMA letter and headed for the city. As we got closer and closer to New Orleans, you began to see the wind damage. Billboards blown over and trees bent sideways. It also began to smell like dead fish. You kept seeing signs that told you that you couldn't get to New Orleans. This particular sign was in Baton Rouge, where our journey began.
We got to Laplace, where a checkpoint had been set up to stop people from entering the area. We showed our letter and our manifests at the checkpoint and got waved through. We were told we would have to take I-310 to the West Bank and then cross the Huey P Long to get back to the Eastbank due to I-10 still being under water around Causeway. This photo is from the area where Jefferson Parish meets Orleans Parish from the air. I obviously did not take this photo. This is an AP photo from the Coast Guard.
AP PHOTO
We were also told it was unlikely we could get to Charity, but we wanted to get them their supplies as we had heard reports that the water was still high in that area and looting was out of control. I believed that one of my friends from college was a nurse at Charity and if we got near enough to go there, I wanted to make sure she was okay. Chris and I discussed possibly loading people in the back of the truck to get them out of the city, but we weren't sure how close we could get.
We went through the checkpoint and took I-310 over to the Westbank. Once we got over the bridge and onto Hwy 90, we hit a 2nd checkpoint. Apparently they were letting a few people into this Parish. We made it through that checkpoint with the same ease we did the first. This is where the Hurricane damage was more obvious. Buildings with serious roof damage, billboards completely gone, houses with trees on them. No flooding though on this side of the river. We travelled through streets with no power and weaved around downed power lines. We both decided that we didn't understand why people were not allowed to return to this part of Jefferson Parish.
Tuesday, April 18, 2006
Tuesday August 30 - Lost everything?
I honestly have no idea what time I got up that morning - sometime in the 6-7am range. I headed for work in the Baton Rouge office since I had Sara trying to get to the New Orleans office. She called and said she got as far as the St Rose travel center and could go no further thanks to water being above her hood on Airline Hwy. I called our boss and let him know short of a helicopter, we were going to have to wait. I felt really detached from the whole Hurricane scenario. Our cell phones were working occasionally. On Tuesday, I answered phones and talked to customers. Birdie, the big company I mentioned earlier, wanted us to try to send some supplies to hospitals in New Orleans. We agreed as long as we could get there safely. We really had no idea the extent of the damage except what little news we got on the radio or on TV with no cable. I drove by the hotel we had reservations with and learned they had no power still and were not going to honor any reservations that had been made pre-storm. Back to Kevin's house for me, I suppose. I called Chris, my ASM. He was in Lafayette with his family, but rented a truck, packed some clothes, and headed for me. I think his wife still hates me for that. I also got our line haul driver, Mike, to head from his home in Lafayette towards us to work out of Baton Rouge.
Most of the day I continued to field calls from employees and contractors wondering about others or letting us know they were okay. I also had to reassure customers that we weren't out of business and that I was alive and well. One of our larger customers that stored MRI equipment with us called several times. I told him that I had given him a chance to relocate the items on Friday, but that he had chosen to leave them in MSY. I would let him know about his items as soon as we could get to the office. The best part of my day was hearing corporate office whining about how they couldn't use the server. I had given them several chances to get it out of New Orleans, and they had declined. I wanted to scream, "I told you so," but didn't get to.
We got 3 pallets of supplies from Birdie mid-afternoon and sent a BTR courier along with them to a hospital, Ochsner West Jeff. It took him almost 12 hours to go there and back, but he made it fine with only a few stories of heavy wind damage he saw on the West Bank. I think I may have talked to Lisa a couple of times. She was very upset about what she was seeing on the news. People on rooftops, rioting, looting, homes under water, etc etc. I wasn't seeing any of this as I was too busy and too close to the action.
We got a letter from FEMA giving us permission to travel through checkpoints to deliver pharmacy supplies and any other relief items. We also got a letter from Louisiana stating we were part of the disaster recovery team. This was my invitation to get to NOLA. I had one on my dashboard until at least mid-Sept.
Chris showed up that evening and since there was no hotel, he had nowhere to sleep. Since Chris is adaptable as hell, we went to Academy and Wal Mart and bought sleeping bags, blankets, cots, and towels. Chris moved into the BTR ASM's office and one other driver slept in control cage. We had dinner and then I went back to Kevin's house, where his wife was nice enough to accommodate me.
At this point I was tired and scared. It was strange to be the manager of a facility that you don't know if it still existed or not. I also didn't know if all my employees and contractors were alive or dead, and if my house was completely flooded or not.
I saw this picture on the internet, this is maybe 2 blocks from where I lived, and pretty much knew it wasn't boding well for me, I was too busy with work to really worry about my life at this point. I missed Lisa, but I didn't have anyplace to put her at the time. Mostly at this point, I just remember being tired and eager to do my job.
AP PHOTO
Most of the day I continued to field calls from employees and contractors wondering about others or letting us know they were okay. I also had to reassure customers that we weren't out of business and that I was alive and well. One of our larger customers that stored MRI equipment with us called several times. I told him that I had given him a chance to relocate the items on Friday, but that he had chosen to leave them in MSY. I would let him know about his items as soon as we could get to the office. The best part of my day was hearing corporate office whining about how they couldn't use the server. I had given them several chances to get it out of New Orleans, and they had declined. I wanted to scream, "I told you so," but didn't get to.
We got 3 pallets of supplies from Birdie mid-afternoon and sent a BTR courier along with them to a hospital, Ochsner West Jeff. It took him almost 12 hours to go there and back, but he made it fine with only a few stories of heavy wind damage he saw on the West Bank. I think I may have talked to Lisa a couple of times. She was very upset about what she was seeing on the news. People on rooftops, rioting, looting, homes under water, etc etc. I wasn't seeing any of this as I was too busy and too close to the action.
We got a letter from FEMA giving us permission to travel through checkpoints to deliver pharmacy supplies and any other relief items. We also got a letter from Louisiana stating we were part of the disaster recovery team. This was my invitation to get to NOLA. I had one on my dashboard until at least mid-Sept.
Chris showed up that evening and since there was no hotel, he had nowhere to sleep. Since Chris is adaptable as hell, we went to Academy and Wal Mart and bought sleeping bags, blankets, cots, and towels. Chris moved into the BTR ASM's office and one other driver slept in control cage. We had dinner and then I went back to Kevin's house, where his wife was nice enough to accommodate me.
At this point I was tired and scared. It was strange to be the manager of a facility that you don't know if it still existed or not. I also didn't know if all my employees and contractors were alive or dead, and if my house was completely flooded or not.
I saw this picture on the internet, this is maybe 2 blocks from where I lived, and pretty much knew it wasn't boding well for me, I was too busy with work to really worry about my life at this point. I missed Lisa, but I didn't have anyplace to put her at the time. Mostly at this point, I just remember being tired and eager to do my job.
AP PHOTO
Thursday, April 13, 2006
Monday August 29 - Hurricane Comes Ashore
We had a conference call around lunchtime on Monday as the storm was petering out. My boss wanted me to get to New Orleans immediately and was a little upset with me because I was not already back in the city. I explained that it had been unsafe to travel and still might be, but he said it was my job to get there and sort out the damage. I hung up the phone a little pissed off since I had done everything that was asked of me so far and began gathering my things. I think my favorite part of the phone call was when I asked about food and I was told that we had vending machines in the office. I remember thinking how generous it was that they wanted me to eat out of the vending machines, since nothing was open. I packed my Jeep and told Kevin that I appreciated his hospitality. He told me that I would probably be back because the roads were probably still closed. We supposedly had a room at the Red Roof Inn in BTR thanks to accounting, but since they had no power, they couldn't verify reservations and just gave away the rooms.
I drove out of Baton Rouge looking desparately for something that was open so that I could get some edible supplies, but nothing was open until I got to Gonzales. A Shell Station was running off of a generator and the line was out the door. This was the first in a long string of instances where I waited in line after Katrina. I went in and the store looked like it had been robbed. There was virtually nothing on the shelves. I managed to fight some old lady for 3 packs of chocolate donuts, 2 packs of peanuts, 3 warm Mountain Dews, 2 packages of Brown Sugar pop tarts, and some of those cheap lemon cookies. I also bought 3 packs of Camel Lights and a lighter. I would rather not eat than not smoke in this situation. I got back in the car and headed for New Orleans. Everything was fine until I got to where US61 goes under I-10, there, the State Police were directing traffic to US61. At this point I was still hopeful that I could make it. I got to Gramercy before the police had the road closed. There were probably 200 cars sitting either in the truck stop parking lot or on the side of the road. Police with bullhorns were telling people to leave the area, or possibly face arrest for loitering. No one seemed to be paying them attention. I decided to be sneaky and try some back ways to get through. I tried river road and found an absurdly young soldier blocking the way. He was wearing a uniform so new it still had the creases where he had unfolded it out of the package and no insignias. I asked him why the road was closed and he told me that he didn't know. He was part of the local ROTC and they had called them in to block roads. His pants were not even tucked into his boots, and I considered just going around him. About that time a truck pulled up with armed soldiers that did look rather pissed off and scared, so I made the intelligent decision and turned around. I tried to cross the bridge to the other side of the river, but more soldiers prevented me from going that way. They told me no one was getting anywhere near New Orleans yet, so I might as well go back to wherever I was coming from. I called my boss and let him know and he was really angry that I couldn't talk my way through the checkpoint. I headed back towards Baton Rouge. I called and talked to Lisa and my mom and let them know what I had tried to do, but that I was going back to Baton Rouge.
I called Kevin and he let me know that we were supposed to go up to the Baton Rouge office and check for damages. I met Steve up there. The power was off, but everything looked fine. We went in and were informed that we had another conference call. By this time, Jackson was getting hit pretty badly and they had to close their office. Ironically, Birdie, the customer I mentioned earlier was panicking that Katrina was still a Hurricane when it was hitting them. They closed shop and headed home. Apparently their lives are worth more than mine. The Mobile office had also lost power and it looked as if Montgomery would also. The Birmingham office wanted to close because they were under tornado watches and warnings. When the hell is Central Alabama not under a tornado watch? He was worried about his drivers driving in the boonies in the dark. Forgive me, but isn't that what we do on normal days? Kevin and I were looking at each other and putting the mute button on so we could make negative comments about him, when luckily our boss finally spoke up and said that BHM couldn't close because that is normal bad weather. We agreed that I would attempt to go to New Orleans again in the morning and also try to get Sara to go there since she was closer. The power came back on in the office and we headed back to Kevin's house.
At this time, we had no idea what was happening in New Orleans. We heard that Katrina had missed New Orleans and the eye had passed through Chalmette and then gone on to Slidell and Bay St Louis. We heard rumors of 50 ft waves hitting the beach in Mississippi, but nothing was confirmed. We got back to Kevin's house and his power had returned, but not the cable. We turned on the TV and I think watched a movie or something. I went to bed around 10am and felt good about my house and the city of New Orleans. Lisa called me panicking and crying sometime in the middle of the night. I think she had gone up to her mom's that day with the greedy refugees from SBux. She must not have been able to sleep because it was well after midnight when she called. Apparently the levees in New Orleans had broken, the pumps had failed, and the city was filling up with water. I asked her what canal and she said the 17th street canal. I didn't want to worry her, but I knew that was close to our house in Mid City and told her everything would be all right. Plus I told her it was silly to worry about something we couldn't do anything about. All we could do was watch and pray. She got mad at me for not caring and I think she hung up and wouldn't answer when I called back. Later I understood her pain, but not at that moment. I went back to sleep not quite as calm as I had a few hours earlier. My house was probably gone.....but nothing was certain.
I drove out of Baton Rouge looking desparately for something that was open so that I could get some edible supplies, but nothing was open until I got to Gonzales. A Shell Station was running off of a generator and the line was out the door. This was the first in a long string of instances where I waited in line after Katrina. I went in and the store looked like it had been robbed. There was virtually nothing on the shelves. I managed to fight some old lady for 3 packs of chocolate donuts, 2 packs of peanuts, 3 warm Mountain Dews, 2 packages of Brown Sugar pop tarts, and some of those cheap lemon cookies. I also bought 3 packs of Camel Lights and a lighter. I would rather not eat than not smoke in this situation. I got back in the car and headed for New Orleans. Everything was fine until I got to where US61 goes under I-10, there, the State Police were directing traffic to US61. At this point I was still hopeful that I could make it. I got to Gramercy before the police had the road closed. There were probably 200 cars sitting either in the truck stop parking lot or on the side of the road. Police with bullhorns were telling people to leave the area, or possibly face arrest for loitering. No one seemed to be paying them attention. I decided to be sneaky and try some back ways to get through. I tried river road and found an absurdly young soldier blocking the way. He was wearing a uniform so new it still had the creases where he had unfolded it out of the package and no insignias. I asked him why the road was closed and he told me that he didn't know. He was part of the local ROTC and they had called them in to block roads. His pants were not even tucked into his boots, and I considered just going around him. About that time a truck pulled up with armed soldiers that did look rather pissed off and scared, so I made the intelligent decision and turned around. I tried to cross the bridge to the other side of the river, but more soldiers prevented me from going that way. They told me no one was getting anywhere near New Orleans yet, so I might as well go back to wherever I was coming from. I called my boss and let him know and he was really angry that I couldn't talk my way through the checkpoint. I headed back towards Baton Rouge. I called and talked to Lisa and my mom and let them know what I had tried to do, but that I was going back to Baton Rouge.
I called Kevin and he let me know that we were supposed to go up to the Baton Rouge office and check for damages. I met Steve up there. The power was off, but everything looked fine. We went in and were informed that we had another conference call. By this time, Jackson was getting hit pretty badly and they had to close their office. Ironically, Birdie, the customer I mentioned earlier was panicking that Katrina was still a Hurricane when it was hitting them. They closed shop and headed home. Apparently their lives are worth more than mine. The Mobile office had also lost power and it looked as if Montgomery would also. The Birmingham office wanted to close because they were under tornado watches and warnings. When the hell is Central Alabama not under a tornado watch? He was worried about his drivers driving in the boonies in the dark. Forgive me, but isn't that what we do on normal days? Kevin and I were looking at each other and putting the mute button on so we could make negative comments about him, when luckily our boss finally spoke up and said that BHM couldn't close because that is normal bad weather. We agreed that I would attempt to go to New Orleans again in the morning and also try to get Sara to go there since she was closer. The power came back on in the office and we headed back to Kevin's house.
At this time, we had no idea what was happening in New Orleans. We heard that Katrina had missed New Orleans and the eye had passed through Chalmette and then gone on to Slidell and Bay St Louis. We heard rumors of 50 ft waves hitting the beach in Mississippi, but nothing was confirmed. We got back to Kevin's house and his power had returned, but not the cable. We turned on the TV and I think watched a movie or something. I went to bed around 10am and felt good about my house and the city of New Orleans. Lisa called me panicking and crying sometime in the middle of the night. I think she had gone up to her mom's that day with the greedy refugees from SBux. She must not have been able to sleep because it was well after midnight when she called. Apparently the levees in New Orleans had broken, the pumps had failed, and the city was filling up with water. I asked her what canal and she said the 17th street canal. I didn't want to worry her, but I knew that was close to our house in Mid City and told her everything would be all right. Plus I told her it was silly to worry about something we couldn't do anything about. All we could do was watch and pray. She got mad at me for not caring and I think she hung up and wouldn't answer when I called back. Later I understood her pain, but not at that moment. I went back to sleep not quite as calm as I had a few hours earlier. My house was probably gone.....but nothing was certain.
Outside of house
This was the house from the outside. Sorry I didn't have a better before shot, but it was a really cute house. My apologies to Kayla for having to be on my blog, but it was the only before pic I had.
Some before and after pics of house
These are pictures of the bed after and before - mold seeped up from the mattresses into the sheets and comforter. What a waste!
Tuesday, April 11, 2006
More Katrina
I remember the last conference call of the day. One of our customers, a pharmaceutical company I will call Birdie, was upset that we had closed so many offices and that we wouldn't drive an 18 wheeler from Baton Rouge up I-55 to them. Common sense would tell you that high winds tip trucks, but they seemed offended we wouldn't risk the life of our driver for their product. We ended up agreeing to send a couple of cars from the Jackson office to them to hot shot orders to a hospital in Lafayette and Alexandria. We agreed to close the Baton Rouge and Mobile offices the next day. Everyone else would play it by ear. I was concerned about staffing at our office after the hurricane passed because people had evacuated all over. One of our larger banking customers would have been very upset if we were not ready to roll immediately.
I can't remember what time we went to bed, but I was happy because it looked as if Katrina would be making a turn towards Mississippi and that was good for us in New Orleans. I remember thinking that God had spared New Orleans again and that was awesome. I slept in Kevin's son's room and he had a typical guy room. No lamp to read by. I had gotten a pissed off call from my Mom sometime around bedtime thanks to the fact that Jen, the refugee, had neglected to tell Lisa that she also had to evacuate her mother. Basically my mom now had Lisa, the dog, Jen, Jen's 8 year old daughter, and Jen's mother at her house. Mom was not happy. I told her Lisa never told me about the grandmother (I could hear Lisa in the background saying she doesn't know - don't be mad at Nikki) and I was sorry, but that I was in the middle of the mess down there and I couldn't do anything for them. Mom and Lisa were nervous for me, but I explained I was in Baton Rouge and unless the Hurricane took an extreme shift to the west, that we would be fine. I went to bed with all kinds of bizarre images in my head. In my dreams that night, Katrina was the wicked witch and Lisa was Dorothy was the Wizard of Oz and she and Holly (our dog) kept getting chased by Katrina. I wanted to protect them, but I couldn't. I woke up in a cold sweat about 3am. By that time, we had lost power, so I just went back to sleep. I was also reading the book Wicked so that could explain why I was having the freaky Oz dreams.
I woke up around 7 on Monday August 29 - still no power and that meant no TV either. The winds were picking up, but nothing crazy. We had a conference call at 7, and it was the SSDD syndrome again. I think I actually went back to sleep in the middle of it. Kevin got this headphone radio thing and hung it from the lamp so that I could listen to. Mostly it was people talking about all the people at the Superdome and how the cops were trying to get people off the streets. They were getting ready to just go to the shelters and people were going to be on their own. WWL was reporting that some moron in a Porsche was flying down I-10. WWL was the voice of New Orleans, but then they switched to their Baton Rouge affiliate as they had to take shelter in New Orleans also. The wind was blowing the trees completely over outside. That was scary. Also branches were just snapping off trees and falling on cars. I had one land on the Jeep, but it wasn't large enough to do damages. We napped and then Kevin's neighbor came and knocked on the door and wanted him to go look at the fence. We walked out back in the yard and Kevin's fence had completely blown over. I took pictures on my cell phone and sent them to Lisa. Then I noticed Kevin's pool actually had whitecaps in it. The wind had to be at least 70 mph. He and his neighbor got an ax and cut the fence the rest of the way down to keep it from flying off. I got bored with this and went back inside and went back to sleep.
I woke up to the sounds of the ambulance. I sprung off the couch and headed outside. I opened the door and saw a crowd of people gathered up the street. I headed that way and Kevin's daughter told me that the old lady that lived in the house had been injured. Apparently her fence had blown down and her husband had gone out in the middle of the high winds to try and fix the fence. This is totally something my grandparents would have done. He was messing with the hammer while she was supposed to be holding the fence. Of course the inevitable happened, a gust of wind blew into the fence and literally picked her up out of her shoes and threw her backwards into the concrete. Her shoes were sitting on the sidewalk. I kept thinking of the Wizard of Oz again. I have pictures of this too. Morbid, I know, but I am fascinated with the ugly little details of life. The lady was lying in the street unconscious. Kevin helped the EMT's take her into the ambulance and then she left. Her daughter lived 2 houses away and was pretty upset. I can't blame her. I learned from Kevin recently that the lady never regained consciousness and passed away around Christmas. That makes me sad. Katrina caused devastation that can't even be directly tied to the storm.
I went back inside and couldn't sleep. I read Wicked again and played Texas Hold'em. I felt okay about New Orleans because from all the initial reports we had made it through just fine. Normal hurricane damage. I felt relieved and let my family know we were okay. We had another conference call about 5pm. Everyone was commenting on the extensive bad weather. Mobile was getting some bad weather and Jackson, too. I believe every office ended up closing except for Montgomery and Birmingham.
I can't remember what time we went to bed, but I was happy because it looked as if Katrina would be making a turn towards Mississippi and that was good for us in New Orleans. I remember thinking that God had spared New Orleans again and that was awesome. I slept in Kevin's son's room and he had a typical guy room. No lamp to read by. I had gotten a pissed off call from my Mom sometime around bedtime thanks to the fact that Jen, the refugee, had neglected to tell Lisa that she also had to evacuate her mother. Basically my mom now had Lisa, the dog, Jen, Jen's 8 year old daughter, and Jen's mother at her house. Mom was not happy. I told her Lisa never told me about the grandmother (I could hear Lisa in the background saying she doesn't know - don't be mad at Nikki) and I was sorry, but that I was in the middle of the mess down there and I couldn't do anything for them. Mom and Lisa were nervous for me, but I explained I was in Baton Rouge and unless the Hurricane took an extreme shift to the west, that we would be fine. I went to bed with all kinds of bizarre images in my head. In my dreams that night, Katrina was the wicked witch and Lisa was Dorothy was the Wizard of Oz and she and Holly (our dog) kept getting chased by Katrina. I wanted to protect them, but I couldn't. I woke up in a cold sweat about 3am. By that time, we had lost power, so I just went back to sleep. I was also reading the book Wicked so that could explain why I was having the freaky Oz dreams.
I woke up around 7 on Monday August 29 - still no power and that meant no TV either. The winds were picking up, but nothing crazy. We had a conference call at 7, and it was the SSDD syndrome again. I think I actually went back to sleep in the middle of it. Kevin got this headphone radio thing and hung it from the lamp so that I could listen to. Mostly it was people talking about all the people at the Superdome and how the cops were trying to get people off the streets. They were getting ready to just go to the shelters and people were going to be on their own. WWL was reporting that some moron in a Porsche was flying down I-10. WWL was the voice of New Orleans, but then they switched to their Baton Rouge affiliate as they had to take shelter in New Orleans also. The wind was blowing the trees completely over outside. That was scary. Also branches were just snapping off trees and falling on cars. I had one land on the Jeep, but it wasn't large enough to do damages. We napped and then Kevin's neighbor came and knocked on the door and wanted him to go look at the fence. We walked out back in the yard and Kevin's fence had completely blown over. I took pictures on my cell phone and sent them to Lisa. Then I noticed Kevin's pool actually had whitecaps in it. The wind had to be at least 70 mph. He and his neighbor got an ax and cut the fence the rest of the way down to keep it from flying off. I got bored with this and went back inside and went back to sleep.
I woke up to the sounds of the ambulance. I sprung off the couch and headed outside. I opened the door and saw a crowd of people gathered up the street. I headed that way and Kevin's daughter told me that the old lady that lived in the house had been injured. Apparently her fence had blown down and her husband had gone out in the middle of the high winds to try and fix the fence. This is totally something my grandparents would have done. He was messing with the hammer while she was supposed to be holding the fence. Of course the inevitable happened, a gust of wind blew into the fence and literally picked her up out of her shoes and threw her backwards into the concrete. Her shoes were sitting on the sidewalk. I kept thinking of the Wizard of Oz again. I have pictures of this too. Morbid, I know, but I am fascinated with the ugly little details of life. The lady was lying in the street unconscious. Kevin helped the EMT's take her into the ambulance and then she left. Her daughter lived 2 houses away and was pretty upset. I can't blame her. I learned from Kevin recently that the lady never regained consciousness and passed away around Christmas. That makes me sad. Katrina caused devastation that can't even be directly tied to the storm.
I went back inside and couldn't sleep. I read Wicked again and played Texas Hold'em. I felt okay about New Orleans because from all the initial reports we had made it through just fine. Normal hurricane damage. I felt relieved and let my family know we were okay. We had another conference call about 5pm. Everyone was commenting on the extensive bad weather. Mobile was getting some bad weather and Jackson, too. I believe every office ended up closing except for Montgomery and Birmingham.
Monday, April 10, 2006
Sunday before Katrina
I was sitting on my porch chain smoking when my cell phone rang. It was my mother completely panicking. Apparently she had heard me last night when I called her, but she wasn't listening. She turned on the Weather Channel and saw how big and scary Katrina was and that it was headed right for me. She wanted me to get in the car and head for her house. I told her that I couldn't go because I had a job to do and this was my job. She made me promise that I would not be in the city when it hit and I told her worse case scenerio I would drive up to the North Shore (30 miles away) and ride it out in the Jeep. She wasn't satisfied, but she knows how stubborn I am and if I said I was not leaving, then I wasn't going anywhere. She told me she loved me and hung up. I went inside and packed a bag so I could go to the office and hang out there. My phone rang again, this time it was the owner of the company. He sounded worried. He told me he wanted everyone out of the office and wanted us to clear out of town. He told me I could come to his house or to Charles's house in Baton Rouge. Considering I haven't had the best relationship with either of them at the moment, I decided to call Kevin in Baton Rouge and see if I could stay with him. I called and asked him if I could ride out the storm at his house. He said sure and I told him I would call when I got closer for directions. I put a couple of items up on the counter and bed in case some water got inside. Then I grabbed the laundry I had done the previous day, a couple of books, my new Nike Shox Lisa had bought me, and my gun. Then I headed towards the office. I called Sara on the way and told her to send Ron and Herb home as Rob was closing the office. She and I finished locking up the office. I put my hard drive in the jeep along with $2000 cash that I had been sent. We put all other computers up on the desks. This was yet another time I thought why did we put our server in New Orleans? I was supposed to meet Vic, the ASM, there and he showed up right when I was setting the alarm. He moved the 18 wheeler for us and then asked if he could borrow a van to help evacuate some old people. I told him fine and we all headed out together. Sara took a radio so I could talk to her since she lives in Vacherie.
I had no radio in my jeep as it had been stolen shortly before this so I had borrowed a weather radio from the office so I could listen to the news. It was full of panicking people, including all the politicians. Ray Nagin was telling people if they stayed they'd better have an ax to cut themselves out of their attic so they wouldn't drown. He declared a mandatory evacuation and was begging people to leave. People were going to the Superdome in droves and he was calling it the "Shelter of Last Resort." Aaron Broussard was telling people to get out. Sheriff Harry Lee was telling people that he wanted them to leave so that his deputies wouldn't have to collect their dead bodies later. It was all so crazy and dramatic.
I thought I was being smart and leaving on River Rd - so was everyone else. I sat in traffic for 2 hours and only moved 20 miles. After that, traffic opened up and I travelled 30 miles in 30 minutes. Then in Gonzales it stopped again. We had another conference call with work. I finally made it to Baton Rouge. I was still on the conference call and starving, so I went to Arby's. Apparently I gave everyone a good laugh when I forgot to hit mute while I was ordering. Everyone was wishing each other luck and then we made arrangements to talk again later on that night. I got directions to Kevin's house and showed up around 6pm.
I remember watching TV with Kevin and his daughter while his wife was at work, helping prepare her nursing home for the storm. I talked to Lisa a few times, and my mom once. I downloaded Texas hold'em and played that on my phone for some time. We joked about the Hurricane and how I was going to go home to dead bodies floating in my house since I lived right by the cemetary. This did seem funny at the time before we knew what Katrina was going to do to us. Kevin asked what Lisa would do if there was a corpse on the toilet. To this day I am still not sure.....
I had no radio in my jeep as it had been stolen shortly before this so I had borrowed a weather radio from the office so I could listen to the news. It was full of panicking people, including all the politicians. Ray Nagin was telling people if they stayed they'd better have an ax to cut themselves out of their attic so they wouldn't drown. He declared a mandatory evacuation and was begging people to leave. People were going to the Superdome in droves and he was calling it the "Shelter of Last Resort." Aaron Broussard was telling people to get out. Sheriff Harry Lee was telling people that he wanted them to leave so that his deputies wouldn't have to collect their dead bodies later. It was all so crazy and dramatic.
I thought I was being smart and leaving on River Rd - so was everyone else. I sat in traffic for 2 hours and only moved 20 miles. After that, traffic opened up and I travelled 30 miles in 30 minutes. Then in Gonzales it stopped again. We had another conference call with work. I finally made it to Baton Rouge. I was still on the conference call and starving, so I went to Arby's. Apparently I gave everyone a good laugh when I forgot to hit mute while I was ordering. Everyone was wishing each other luck and then we made arrangements to talk again later on that night. I got directions to Kevin's house and showed up around 6pm.
I remember watching TV with Kevin and his daughter while his wife was at work, helping prepare her nursing home for the storm. I talked to Lisa a few times, and my mom once. I downloaded Texas hold'em and played that on my phone for some time. We joked about the Hurricane and how I was going to go home to dead bodies floating in my house since I lived right by the cemetary. This did seem funny at the time before we knew what Katrina was going to do to us. Kevin asked what Lisa would do if there was a corpse on the toilet. To this day I am still not sure.....
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