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We have been told that we can head back on Monday to pick up some things, but that we are urged strongly not to live there until full power is restored to the entire parish. People are thinking it will be 1-3 months before the area is really livable again. A lot of companies seem to be setting up “temporary” locations outside the city. Some in Hammond, some in Houston. Whitney is currently operating out of Houston and they are discussing where they are going to relocate workers to.
We hear [mostly unsubstantiated] rumors of unrest in New Orleans, Baton Rouge, and in various other locations around here. Yesterday on the way back from the library, I was pumping gas when the attendant tapped a 25 gallon limit sign to the gas pump. While we were there, we chatted with a lady from Brookhaven, MS who claimed that refugees were sleeping on the streets outside her house and that local police were unable to control the crowds, so she took the kids and left. Things seem to be getting rather hectic around here and I think there’s even some small fear in many of us that we’re still too close to the “trouble” for comfort right now. We’re waiting it out a few days to have a better idea of what we’re up against, but meanwhile we’re keeping all the tanks full of gas in case we need to just get in the cars and take off. My sister and I have tossed around the idea of stopping off in Dallas to refuel, rest and re-supply on our way farther North. If we end up doing that, lodging, a meal and hot bath would be very nice.
I attempt to make several calls a day. There’s no ryhme or reason as to when the network actually works or how long I manage to keep the call. I managed to get one through this morning when I just sat and started going down my phone list to see who I could get through to. I talked to a friend in Baton Rouge who has a police scanner and he said that there seems to be increased gang activity as people take advantage of the fact that the police are overwhelmed with the need to guard the shelters because of a few trouble makers from New Orleans gangs trying to break out of the shelters. He said every facility in Baton Rouge is overcrowded and understaffed.
This is really the first time I’ve managed to have more than 10 minutes at a communications device since last Sunday. If anybody wants to try to text message my phone, those messages seem to work fairly well. There is some lag time with those messages, but they seem to be getting through. If you don’t have my cell #, go ahead and get it from Nathan or email me at my gmail address. It is extremely difficult to respond to individual messages, so please don’t rely on very much response from me at an individual address right now.
I will attempt to post a little snippet every day or two just to keep you all “in the loop” as to what’s going on and where I am.
Thank you very much for your prayers. We feel very fortunate in this disaster, but it doesn’t quite make up for the feeling of watching your city drown and turn into a vermin and disease infested wasteland. We’ve lost track of family, friends and family of friends. We can only hope that as power is restored and they get phone service we hear from them. To be honest, I think I’ve gone a bit numb to the kind of devistation that has happened. It seems almost a bit unreal. Like maybe I’ll go back and all we’ll see is lots of tree damage. I’ve already seen enough damage even up here on the very western fringe of the storm. Dead animals rotting, some kind of eggs washed up from the lake and tree branches littered the deck and yard after the storm passed. A cat climbed up a tree during the storm and cried for days. We were unable to find it, but it’s stopped crying. I’m not sure it made it down.
Wow. I’m sorry for the graphic post. I suppose I really needed to get that out. Nobody here wants to hear it because we all see it and we know it’s going to get worse when we get there to bring out the things we want. Somehow, we talk without talking and just do the things we need to do. It seems like anytime it gets serious people start walking away, like we need to close our eyes for just a bit.
My brother and father talk about moving back and rebuilding the city. I fear that the land will be useless after this. We already had enough problems building roads, houses, etc. It will only be more difficult now. I’m not entirely sure that the city is really worth rebuilding. Perhaps the historic districts are worth keeping alive as tourist attractions only, but large scale city just doesn’t seem worth it at that location anymore.
Sorry for the rambling, but it’s been nice to be able to finally get some of that out. Much love to all. Stay dry. 
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