So close…

…in many ways.  At one point during the day, this was the picture.

We woke up at 6:00am to the blaring of tornado sirens.  Throughout the day, we experienced bands from Hurricane Gustav and then hours of lull.  In all, we received about 4.5 inches of rain and gusty winds of about 35 mph in Mobile.  However, we only lost electricity for about 30 seconds around noon.

Our family in Lafayette looked to be in the path of a killer, but by the time the storm reached there it had lost much of it’s punch.  They did lose electricity earlier in the day, but I expect that to be reconciled sometime tomorrow.  It appeared that across Southern Lousiana, our family fared extremely well and didn’t suffer much damage.  And, to top it off, the levees held and New Orleans fared extremely well considering what could have been.  Feeling extremely fortunate, I left to get celebratory ice cream for everyone at Sonic.

When I returned, #1 son (who’s staying with us) told me that his grandmother had called and that Mr. D’s sister’s brother-in-law and wife had been killed when a tree fell on the house they had evacuated to in Baton Rouge.  Sadly, they had evacuated to avoid this sort of danger.  Our thoughts and prayers go out to them and all of those who lost their lives and property in this storm. 

As they say, “But for the grace of God…”

  Waiting on an Angel, Ben Harper

 

Laboring through Gustav

 

 Well, this is not exactly what I had planned for the Labor Day weekend, but here we are….again.

As I explained in my Tropical Storm Fay post last week, we are “stayers” so we’ve made our preparations, stocked up on supplies, lanterns, gas, ice, beer, and wine.  (Believe me, as the storm draws near, the latter is a necessity.)  While Mobile will not get a “direct hit”, we are on the right or the “wrong” side of the storm where the storm surge and rain bands are the worse.  We’ll likely lose electricity so I may not be available for a while.

However, the real issue with this storm is New Orleans.  Gustav is predicted to make landfall just west of New Orleans, putting the city and Lake Ponchartrain in the path of the Eastern eye wall, which is the absolute worse place to be.  In my opinion, this storm will be worse on New Orleans than Katrina.  This storm could very well break the back of a city that has experienced such wide-spread suffering.  Even though residents know that New Orleans is basically a “bowl” and the levees will fail if strained at all, the shock of seeing damage from 20 ft. of water is just not something you get used to.  If this storm plays out like it looks to, New Orleans may very well never recover.

Most of our family is in Lafayette and New Iberia (which is west of New Orleans and Baton Rouge) and most are staying put.  Those that live in low lying areas are bunking in with others and are basically safe.

It appears that they will experience the immediate Western side of the storm, which will likely not be too severe.  One son stayed in Lafayette and the other evacuated here and is staying with us.  We’ll stay in phone contact with everyone as long as land lines and cell towers hold out.

Thanks for all of the thoughts and prayers.  They are needed and appreciated.  We will be fine.  We always are. 

  Shelter, Ray LaMontagne