Johnboy was driving to work this morning at 7 am and passed the Holiday Inn here in central Virginia just as a fleet of identically painted electric utility trucks-perhaps 12 of them-pulled away from the hotel, heading south. I have no idea where they were coming from (I assume a day's travel away if they spent the night here-perhaps from NE) or where they were headed. They probably will have to spend another night en route to the gulf area, if that is where they are going.
Utility crews of all sorts are enroute from all over the nation - utility firms have cross-support agreements, lending crews to one another as needed, and there are volunteer emergency response teams as well. Everything that's available is being called up for this.
Whew!
It is a mess and a HUGE part of the outlying city is under water and Biloxi and Gulfport are underwater, as well--and the gaming community offshore of Gulfport and Biloxi are said to be gone--
but!
New Orleans is still there. The French Quarter is a little water logged.... If they can avoid a late surge, I am one happy woman.
Daughter insists we plan a trip to NO soon. I really thought it may be irrevocably damaged.
Still, I'm hearing very ominous reports about Jefferson Parish and other bayou regions. Still watching.
I'm 250 miles north of the Gulf on the MS/AL line...we are getting slammed right now...75mph winds with sideways rain...tommorrow am will show some damage and serious flooding...the power of Mother Nature is enormous...
rode out Frederick in 79 and Ivan last year in Mobile, AL....this seems trivial way up here....
Welcome, CatfisH.. You take care, hear? Let us know what is going on.
---rjb, speaking for all of us on A2K
Weird.
We're in Georgia, and we're having tornadoes reported from the bands coming through.
Nothing "catastrophic" but blown down buildings.
We're calm and peaceful tonight in Atlanta. She's blowing on through to Tennessee.
Another levee broke in NOLA. It's bad.
No electricity here in AL--I had to go to my office at school where they have backup electricity. I'm one of 100,000 in this city alone.
Massive, old oak trees down everywhere, on top of cars, leaning on houses. Gusts up to 75mph last night.
The more news I read, the better I feel about the minor inconveniences inland, the more my heart goes out to the people still standing on their rooftops in Gulf shores.
I know what you mean, Gargamel, but that lack of electricity gets almost vital once we come to depend on it, and we have to depend on it.
How to help them
The hurricane Katrina victims need our help. Donate to the Red Cross:
https://www.redcross.org/donate/donation-form.asp
BBB
New Orleans is apparently under water. A break in one of the levies broke overnight and Lake Ponchartrain is flooding the city.
edit: because I can't spell. Thanks mac11
(It's spelled Pontchartrain.)
Yes, I heard on tv that the French Quarter might flood yet.
That mayor said this morning that 80% of New Orleans is under water. I've got a couple of cousins that live there and I don't know where they are. Another cousin left early Sunday morning for Houston. A regular 4 hour drive took 21 hours but she made it. Some of my family in Baton Rouge were without power but doing fine. They got some wind but very little rain. It's crazy. There was a CNN reporter in Baton Rouge yesterday morning leaning unsteadily into the 'wind and rain' in a poncho, a cap AND a hood looking as if he was fighting the wind for his life while interviewing the chancellor of LSU who was wearing a simple nylon jacket, baseball cap and standing still. It looked as if the reporter was in the midst of the storm while the chancellor was in a small rainshower. Whose pulling whose leg here?
I hope it is not as bad as the press is making it seem.
Letty
Letty wrote:I hope it is not as bad as the press is making it seem.
I think it will turn out to be worse than the media has reported because they can only see a little of it. That area of the country is in really big trouble that will last a long time.
Anyone outside the areas who has close relatives in the affected areas can problably expect calls from them looking for a place to live for several months.
BBB
I'm afraid I can't see how this could be made to seem worse. Speaking as an insurance nerd, it is as bad as it can be. The levees breaking, the flooding getting worse, the fires that have broken out in NOLA, it's bad.
Oh, it's bad, no doubt. The absolute worse. But the need to sensationalize and dramatize just can't be overcome by some reporters. They've got to 'turn it on' for the camera.
BBB
You know what really pisses me off about the aftermath of this hurricane. If most of our National Guard troops were not in Iraq, they could be helping rescue survivors, helping with the clean up, and helping the Red Cross to manage the crisis. We would also have billions of dollars in our treasury to help the recovery process if most of our treasure was not going to the war in Iraq and to the military industrial complex darlins.
BBB
Oh, Lord! What a nightmare, then. Frankly, I sorta hoped it was being overplayed.
BBB, my husband said the same thing last night. We could use that money and those troops right here right now.
