The Devastation of Hurricane Gustav: The Final Update

Yesterday's sunset. The remnants of Gustav are barely visible in the sky, but still so devastatingly evident on the ground.

Well, it's day five post Gustav and I've grown weary of talking about it. My energy and attention is focused on my fellow Baton Rougeans who are still without basic services and supplies, so it's tough for me to keep talking about the devastation of the storm from behind a laptop and not be there to help.

Blue skies can finally be seen here, but so many people are singing the blues.

I've been pondering going back to Baton Rouge this weekend to see what I can help do, but here's the problem. The city's basic services are compromised and one more person seeking gasoline and food just adds to the already strained situation. Can I make more of an impact by going down there and helping somebody clear their debris or by staying off the dangerous roads with no signal lights that are starting to flood and out of the 2 to 4 hour long gas station lines and out of the few open grocery stores that have limited food in stock?

Now that the wind has stopped blowing and the cleanup has begun, people in Baton Rouge are waging the war against the threat of flooding - as if roof damage and no power isn't enough to deal with. Streets are completely flooded about a block away from my house and the weather reports indicate that Baton Rouge still has more rain to come.

I received alarmed calls this morning that my neighbors' houses are starting to flood. I live on a dead end street with a cul-de-sac at the end. There is a canal that runs behind my house and about five years ago (before I moved there - during Hurricane Allison I think), the street flooded. I knew of the flood because a friend of mine had just purchased a house in the cul-de-sac a couple of months before the flood and her house had to be completely redone because of the floodwater, but I wasn't sure how far the waters moved down the street. Her house and my house are about 50 yards apart. Thankfully, I was able to confirm that in past floods the waters haven't gone as far as my house.

The national media is finally starting to give some attention to areas that have been so heavily damaged that are not named NEW ORLEANS. I just saw on CNN where Don Lemon, who is a Baton Rouge native, did a live phone interview with his mom and she was able to tell of the devastation in our area. Estimates maintain that the majority of the city will be without power for up to a month. Tornadoes touched down, banks are closed, ATMs don't work, the sewer systems are without power, people lost roofs or had extensive roof damage, services are very limited, and now the potential of flooding. Baton Rouge has taken a blow that it hadn't experienced in 43 years, but our sense of community will pull us thru. Friends are cleaning up my yard and I didn't even ask them to! Others are showing up in the same way to help friends, neighbors, and strangers all over the city.

At least three different people I know have post-evacuated to Atlanta. I'm sure others who have the means are probably seeking a more palatable situation elsewhere too - especially considering that it could be several weeks before power is restored. It's over 90 degrees in south Louisiana and combined with the breeding ground for mosquitoes, the misery is compounded. It's too hot to stay inside, and mosquitoes will feast on you outside.

Oh well...such is the life we chose by living on the Gulf Coast. The humid sub-tropical climate is ideal in winter, island-like in spring and fall, and muy caliente in summer. Hurricane season always makes us think twice about our geographic location, but as soon as it passes, we forget the angst of the season and bask in the mild temperatures to come.

Let's just pray that Hurricane Ike doesn't come near us and live up to its namesake.

Gustav - Day Three: Assessing the State of the Situation

Our lights came back on at 3:15pm today...just as Dad had started to resume his intense generator repair project. Honestly, I feel a little guilty that we have all the creature comforts of electricity, food, and the internet, when so many of my friends are hot, bored, filing insurance claims, and in one case...homeless.

Last night, people from the lower parishes of Louisiana spent the night with infants, elderly, infirmed, insane and all manner of other people in shelters, hotels, motels, tents, and homes across the nation. Some are hundreds of miles away, having been flow out of New Orleans by cargo plane or transported by train. Many were bused to northern parts of Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas. Others drove themselves to destinations unknown.


While so many fled from areas below I-10, those above I-10 had no idea that today would look like this. The city of Baton Rouge is stunned and was caught very off guard by the direct path of destruction that Gustav left as his legacy. Every home is without power. No gas is available. No stores are open. Debris is everywhere. Over 400 trees fell on or through roofs. Three or four hundred traffic lights are down. Our city was preparing shelters for people from other places. We had no idea that a day later we would need to shelters to house our own.


My best friend Holly called me this morning and asked if I could find her a hotel room in Monroe. They have four children under age 7 (three of their own and a nephew who has been with them for a year while his mom is in Iraq) and the kids were restless and hot and the house was very dark. They, along with many others, hadn't properly prepared for long term inconveniences. In Baton Rouge, our hurricane prep has always been pretty light. We have always had the luxury of being able to go to a store after a hurricane - even if we lose power, at least Wal-Mart would always be open. If we needed gas, we knew we could just pull up to a gas station and fill up. Katrina taught us to keep cash on hand, because you can't count on the banks to be able to open or ATMs to work. Typically after a storm, even if you didn't really prepare beforehand, you still have access to basic services afterward, but this time is so different. No one expected to not have access to food or to gas. No one expected 100% of the city's residents would lose power. No one expected that they may have to wait as long as two weeks before power is restored. Not in Baton Rouge. That just doesn't happen.


After I quizzed Holly on her plan to travel north for a hotel room (which by the way, there are none), we soon realized that maybe that wasn't such a good idea and she should find another alternative. She text'd me later this afternoon to say that they had decided to go to Atlanta.
Tonight I sit and listen to the sound of the rain from an air conditioned house, typing on my dad's laptop. I am a passionately thankful person and I could fill a book with things that I am grateful for at this moment. Family. Friends. Shelter. Safety. Provision. Comfort. Amenities. Transportation. Sanity. Health. Stability. Peace. So many things that so many people are not enjoying at this hour. So many things that we take for granted daily. So many things that we think we deserve...times like this should humble us all.


We complain about the price of gas and milk, but as Americans, we fail to realize that even in our worst discomfort, we are still so blessed. People in other countries don't know what it means to have central air. They can't pop into the neighborhood grocery store and pick up fresh meat and fruit. They don't have cars to complain about not being able to fill up. They have babies with HIV/AIDS. They have genocide. They have slavery. They have dictatorships. They have famine. They have isolation. They have tents and huts. They eat what they can, when they can. They are being slaughtered and mutilated because of the way they look.


...and we can't fathom not having electricity for 14 days.


Maybe Gustav was the dose of humility that we so desperately need.

A group of pine trees fell on this storage shed. The trees fell on the power lines, snapped the pole and caused the lines to fall across the homeowner's truck.

A tree branch fell at my rental property and broke down the fence on the adjacent building. It also broke a window pane in one of the units and did a little surface roof damage.

This tree looks like it was struck by lighting, but the limb was completely torn off by the force of the wind.

Similar scenes were found around town.

Tracking Hurricane Gustav - Day Two

Well, as you know, Hurricane Gustav made landfall in south Louisiana today. I'm still high and dry in north Louisiana. It's just starting to rain here and the wind is mildly gusty. There is an eerie darkness starting to fall. The kind that happens when the sun doesn't penetrate the clouds. There was no sunset today...just gloom.

We've been eating and watching CNN all day, and unfortunately, I've gotten several sad reports from my friends in Baton Rouge.

One dear friend had a tree fall through the back half of her house. She was able to salvage her clothes, shoes, and some electronics, but the house is a complete loss.

This is a pecan tree that stands behind my rental property. My tenant leaned out of the window to take a picture of how it fell apart. No damage, only a broken window pane!

A tree fell across another friend's driveway on top of two cars. A tree fell across another friend's house and caused roof damage and a flooded room. Yet another friend, who coincidentally just Saturday helped me to cut down a tree at one of my properties so that I wouldn't have damage, had roof damage that caused rain to pour into his house. Another dear friend's sister's house had the roof completely torn off. My neighbor who lives across the street from me had his back patio covering to blow completely off and land in the neighbor's yard. Many other reports of shingles missing, fences down, missing pets, tree limbs down, flooding, power lines down, and no one that I've talked to in Baton Rouge has power. Cell phone communication is hit and miss. Text messages seem to get through, but calls not so much. According to the Governor, 85% of gas stations have no gas. I guess we'll all stay put for a while.

I have a cousin who refused to leave Abbeville (south of Lafayette near the Vermillion Bay). We haven't heard from him.

Rain is expected to persist for the next four days. As a result, major flooding is expected across the city of Baton Rouge and many others in Louisiana. What's interesting is now that most of my friends are without power, they don't have access to the news and I have been the interim news reporter for most of the day. As night falls, they are firing up candles and flashlights...kids are bored senseless...parents are sleeping lightly, keeping a watch on falling trees and flooding streets.

My good friend Doug is a fireman. As the city of Baton Rouge submits to a mandatory 8pm to 6am curfew, he will be one of the few who are allowed on the streets. He was headed to work a couple of hours ago. My cousin Marcus is a BR city police officer. He's doing an 18 hour shift tomorrow. They both have long days and nights ahead. I'm praying for them and for all first responders.

It's completely dark now, but we still have power. I stepped outside a little while ago to snap some pics. I wanted to get a good shot of the trees swaying in the wind, but it didn't come out so well. The ones I have are just shots of our rain soaked surroundings.

Continue to pray for the residents of Louisiana and the Gulf Coast.

Trees swaying in the wind

Rain dripping off the crepe myrtles

Every crack and crevice is filled with water

Rain soaked border grass

Hurricane Gustav...Here We Go Again

As a resident of south Louisiana for the past 16 years, I have hung around for quite a few hurricanes. The first one was Andrew during my freshman year at Southern University. The university was without power for a few days and all they could feed us was sandwiches. Eventually I was able to find a ride home...thank God for Big Sam and his Ford Fiesta!

Fast forward 13 years to Hurricane Katrina. (Check out this blog post I did reflecting on my experience after Katrina "Who Is Mr. Eddie?") The Gulf Coast really suffered, though with all hurricanes, Baton Rouge usually only gets wind damage, which causes mass power outages, and minor flooding. Being without power seems to be a mere inconvenience compared to the loss of lives and homes in other places. Nonetheless, Hurricane Katrina would go down in the history books as the storm of the century...

...until Gustav came along.

Tonight we sit glued to the television, waiting for the inevitable landfall of Hurricane Gustav. About 24 hours ago, I decided to evacuate from Baton Rouge. Although we are 60 miles inland and were not under an evacuation order, I chose to leave because I knew that we would probably lose power for close to a week and I would rather spend the next few days in the company of my family in north Louisiana than in my house alone listening to Gustav tapping on my bedroom window and serenading me with his wind song.

While out shopping with my mom, I decided to do a photo journal documenting the storm. Here's the first installment:


"Hurricane Gustav - Day One (Sunday, August 31, 2008)"

The sunset along I-20 won't look like this tomorrow.
Evacuation buses have rolled in and stopped for supplies.
There were mostly immigrants on these evacuation buses.

Many simply can't afford to evacuate.
I wonder if her smile will be found tomorrow.
Locals and evacuees raid the stores, preparing for the worst.
Carts filled with survival necessities...non-perishables, snacks...
...and water, water everywhere!
Gustav is approaching fast.
What will we see when we wake up?
What will she see when she grows up?