Looking at images and reading descriptions...it's overwhelming. They say 80% of the city is under some significant amount of water. Both airports are flooded. I don't even want to think about the mounting death toll. And to think it could have been so much worse. :(

:eek:

Before:

After:

I'm so glad you are ok!! Yesterday I started taking mental inventory of the people I know in the area and you popped up in my head. I'm so glad you and your cat are ok and safely out of the way. Stay where it is safe until they tell you it's ok to return home.

Take care of yourself and your kitty!

Glad to hear you are both safe, Drince88 and Scrooge (I didn't realize you were so close, Sam)

It has been so heartbreaking to watch the coverage and see all of the devistation. It really makes me sad to see how many lives have been affected by this.

Being from California, I forget that other states are closer to each other than I traditionally think of them. If a hurricane hit So Cal, Arizona and Nevada would probably not be effectd. But, in the south, it is a different story.

Gosh, this whole hurricane thing must really be serious- Bush just cut his vacation short!:rolleyes:

(Sorry- but I was reading about how things are going from bad to worse in New Orleans, and watched the video of the poor man who's wife was swept away from him in the floodwaters, and that news just sort of rubbed me the wrong way).

Drince, I am astounded at the level of destruction, and I am hoping that all is well for you and your loved ones.

I'm reading but not really comprehending. I cannot wrap my mind around it. :(


We're anxious to hear from you again, Sam.

The reports I was hearing while driving this afternoon were that entire neighborhoods of HUGE mansions were reduced to nothing more than a pad of concrete. I know some of those houses were quite old. I remember being enthralled with them when I drove thru there years and years ago.

It is beyond the worst earthquake damage I've experienced in California.

Ask and ye shall receive ;)

Clean up continues here, but very slowly. Most all of our local resources have been directed to the coast. Scattered spots of town are just now beginning to get power back. I'm waiting to hear from the Corps now if I'll need to go to work today. Late yesterday, the emergency ops teams we were supporting were dispatched further south. The past 2 days we've been working off a generator which provides only enough power for lights and a few scattered computers. If any of you have lived through a hurricane, you know the skies are generally clear right after and it gets dreadfully hot which is what we've seen. But people are pulling together, checking on their neighbors and getting the older folks some relief from the heat. There's not a generator for sale within miles of here. We heard last night that WalMart had dispatched trucks with generators to the general area.

I was able to get some television news last night for the first time. They were talking about a total mandatory evacuation from the NO metro area. As chilling as that sounds, I think it's for the best. Health conditions in the NO area are only going to get worse. I still haven't been able to get word from my friend who was hospitalized at Tulane, but I did hear they were evacuating patients to facilities outside of the damaged areas. Hopefully, I'll hear something today. I still don't have any word on how levee repairs are going. Those of you with uninterruped television coverage probably know more about that than I do.

If you haven't already, please consider sending a contribution to the Red Cross. They're in the thick of things down there and need our support. If not money, give blood.

I'll post again when I can.

Thanks for the update, Sam.

Red Cross