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Hurricane Ida

Hey, all,

I am back and have passed through changes. The power went out at 4 pm on Sunday, and so I had no Internet or light aside from flashlights and LED lanterns. I tuned my battery radio to WWL. Sunday night was not too hot, as I'd been running the A/C on high. Moaning winds kept me awake for a long time. I woke to pitch darkness and much lower winds, and stumbled around making a breakfast of cheese, lunch meat, and saltines. Which was pretty much my feed until this morning, Tuesday. Oh, Miss Linda brought over some canned Beefaroni, which we ate cold, and we sat outside for a good part of Monday afternoon. It wasn't cool, but it was better than inside.

We were waiting to hear that the I-10 East would be open, and we did on Monday p.m. So this morning we loaded up the big Buick with suitcases and cats, and ran 6 hours up to Birmingham, AL. We're going out to eat in a little while. Thanks to those of you who are headed down there for disaster relief.
 

rbscebu

Girls call me Makaluod
Glad to hear all is going well for you. Cyclones/typhoons/hurricanes can be very destructive to both property and people.
 

Messygoon

Abandoned By Gypsies.
Hey, all,

I am back and have passed through changes. The power went out at 4 pm on Sunday, and so I had no Internet or light aside from flashlights and LED lanterns. I tuned my battery radio to WWL. Sunday night was not too hot, as I'd been running the A/C on high. Moaning winds kept me awake for a long time. I woke to pitch darkness and much lower winds, and stumbled around making a breakfast of cheese, lunch meat, and saltines. Which was pretty much my feed until this morning, Tuesday. Oh, Miss Linda brought over some canned Beefaroni, which we ate cold, and we sat outside for a good part of Monday afternoon. It wasn't cool, but it was better than inside.

We were waiting to hear that the I-10 East would be open, and we did on Monday p.m. So this morning we loaded up the big Buick with suitcases and cats, and ran 6 hours up to Birmingham, AL. We're going out to eat in a little while. Thanks to those of you who are headed down there for disaster relief.
My immediate wish for you is a luxurious 4-course meal in an air conditioned Birmingham restaurant overlooking azure blue Alabama skies. Follow that up with a freebee upgrade to your hotel's presidential suite and a late-night pizza. Oh, and big thick terry cloth robes and slippers. And mints on your pillows.

Sleep well. It's good to know you are safe and away from the chaos.

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Fred D

Member of The Illiterati
Hey, all,

I am back and have passed through changes. The power went out at 4 pm on Sunday, and so I had no Internet or light aside from flashlights and LED lanterns. I tuned my battery radio to WWL. Sunday night was not too hot, as I'd been running the A/C on high. Moaning winds kept me awake for a long time. I woke to pitch darkness and much lower winds, and stumbled around making a breakfast of cheese, lunch meat, and saltines. Which was pretty much my feed until this morning, Tuesday. Oh, Miss Linda brought over some canned Beefaroni, which we ate cold, and we sat outside for a good part of Monday afternoon. It wasn't cool, but it was better than inside.

We were waiting to hear that the I-10 East would be open, and we did on Monday p.m. So this morning we loaded up the big Buick with suitcases and cats, and ran 6 hours up to Birmingham, AL. We're going out to eat in a little while. Thanks to those of you who are headed down there for disaster relief.
Very happy to see this post, glad you're okay.
 
So. Louisiana is definitely a difficult place to live but it's also the most wonderful. Maybe it's having lived in California for 50 years with the constant threat of earthquakes, but I appreciate that hurricanes are able to be monitored and prepared for. I went to Birmingham for this one but I'm very anxious to get home to New Orleans tomorrow. I could never live anywhere else.
 
Glad to hear you and the cats are safe. We're due to be hammered later today and overnight with heavy rain, and most of NJ is under a flood and tornado watch. River flood gauge near my daughter and husband's place is due to go into major flood stage, so we may be getting company. They live in an area that's a #10 on floodfactor. They have 2 cats, and my wife is allergic to cats, but the cats are considered extended family, so we'll deal with it better than the cats will. We hope that all the millions that the govt spent on flood control in that area over the years actually works. This will be the first major test.
 
Glad it worked out for you.

When I lived in FL we had four in one year. Each time we were without electricity for at least a week. The year before I bought a portable generator after just one storm. It was a great investment. That year we did not have electricity for two weeks. At that time I was married to a woman who suffered from schizophrenia and was bipolar. That was not a pleasant experience.
 
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So. Louisiana is definitely a difficult place to live but it's also the most wonderful. Maybe it's having lived in California for 50 years with the constant threat of earthquakes, but I appreciate that hurricanes are able to be monitored and prepared for. I went to Birmingham for this one but I'm very anxious to get home to New Orleans tomorrow. I could never live anywhere else.
After most of my life here, I am so ready to flee this city and this state, I can't tell you. I want drier conditions, 4 seasons, roads that are actually paved, inhabitants who don't yammer about "the food and the music" and are not constantly focused on the next party or the next crawfish boil * . . . and no more hurricanes.

* Crawfish boil (n.): A peculiar institution in S. Lousy-ana in which people are expected to sit outdoors in heat that would stun a Cape buffalo, in order to dissect red-black insectoids for a flake of meat tinier than their little fingernails. Defined also as "a socially acceptable way for adults to play with their food."
 
Oh, and things are stumbling along here in Alabama. The people are nice and the weather is better than Da Swamp (it would almost have to be), and the roads are nicely paved. It's also fun to drive on the hills. (The Buick handles the slopes effortlessly, but I wish I still had my BMW!) On the negative side, the town does not believe in streetlights: US 280, the main artery in this suburb, is inky black at night. And there are too many crazy drivers. I try to maneuver only outside of rush hours, and only in daylight, like a reverse vampire.
 
Time talk about my first trip to New Orleans.

I was working for the NLRB at the time. I was in the Newark NJ office and accepted a special assignment to New Orleans. I was supposed to try a case that was supposed to last one week. When I got there for trial preparation I realized that with the number of witnesses and legal issues this case would last a lot longer than one week. I was given a per diem for food and lodging but the expense of the hotels would eat up most of the per diem. As a result, I asked around and was given a number of places that rented out rooms.

I went to one of these homes and met a delightful lady who was glad to rent me a room. Since this was late June there was only one other guest in the house. The cost per week would amount to what the hotel costs me for a day. I relocated there in July.

The first day that I was there I had some suits, ties, shirts, and shoes arranged in a closet. I recalled closing the closet door. When I returned at night the closet door was open. The next day I left again early in the a.m. and again closed the closet door. Once again, the door was open when I returned. I asked the homeowner what was going on: why was my closet door opened when I had closed it. She laughed and said when she cleaned my room she opened the door to allow the air to circulate, that if the closet door was closed the air conditioning would not reach it and the high humidity would ruin my clothing! She allowed me to keep my clothing in the closet even on those days I was not in New Orleans. I enjoyed my stay in New Orleans. Everything was so different from life in NJ. At about 4:30 a.m. I would walk to a health club. On my way to the club, I would pass bars that were open and could see folks there drinking in the early a.m.

I tried many different foods for the first time. I recall in one restaurant I had the crawfish sampler. That dish started off with a crawfish cocktail, followed by a soup that had crawfish in it among other fish, and the main course that featured crawfish in a number of ways.

I was in New Orleans for over 90 days in short periods that went from late June to early November. The only thing I did not like was the high humidity. Fortunately, there were no hurricanes or bad storms when I was there.

About four years later I change jobs and went to the private sector. I would return to New Orleans a few times a year and it was fun to revisit the places I went to previously. Plus, the HR Director I dealt with was in the St. Louis Regional Office that was responsible for LA. He had been a district manager in New Orleans for 15 years and really knew the city.
 
My job involves scheduling services for emergency backup generators. Part of that includes getting rental generators in place where there are no generators and getting fuel for generators. This storm has been the most trying one for me in the past ten years. That includes Katrina and Sandy. With no power in NOLA, they can't pump fuel from the storage tanks. That means fuel has to be transported 400 miles from Houston to the generators in the NOLA area using transport trucks. Essentially there is a continuous stream of full transports coming from Houston to NOLA and then empty to Houston. Generators are running out of fuel before we can get fuel to them. That then requires a technician to prime the unit after it has been fueled. This cycle is repeating all over the city. The technicians are running themselves ragged as are the fuel truck drivers. If you want to see a preview of what the green new deal would look like, you don't have to look very far.
 
NJ flooding with Ida was worse than Irene (2011) or Sandy (2012). Horrible weather forecasting was to blame for this one. Up to, and including late into the evening the day it hit, all weather forecasts were 3-4" or 4-6" of rain for central, north or west. Everyone in flood areas expected the usual flooding for 3"+, but no one in my central NJ County Hell was prepared for 9-10". Water came up so high and so fast, everyone was caught unprepared. My son in law has lived in a a flood zone most of his life. He knows what to expect based on any forecast. He and our daughter have been renting the other half of his mother's duplex, to help support his retired mom. He was prepared for a couple feet of water in the basement with 3-6" of rain. He was NOT prepared to lose a car that they had moved to (previously safe) higher ground, or spend more than 12 hours in another car, surrounded by flood water, with our daughter, his mother and 2 cats, all soaking wet until waters receded enough that they were able to get to our apartment 5 miles away. Fortunately, when we sold our house late last year my wife chose an apartment close by with a lower level that was half carpeted/half storage. In the carpeted side, we stored excess furniture from the house, including enough beds to sleep 3. Thankfully all family are safe and have a place to sleep. While the humans are safe and content for the time being, the cats are not doing well in their new surroundings. If they are not eating or drinking by tomorrow, they may wind up in emergency care, as all vets are overwhelmed dealing with pets from flood waters.
 
Cat Update: The cats are doing ok. Vets and clinics were overflowing with pets caught in flood waters and couldn't see them. AnimERge told my daughter to give the cats a little more time to settle in, but if they went over 3 days without drinking, eating or peeing, call for an emergency visit. They thought bringing them in for a check up would only traumatize them more. The cats probably came within 5 hours of that limit, before my daughter and her husband finally coaxed them out from under the furniture and got them to eat, pee and begin to explore their new surroundings.
 
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