h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Don't worry, everything will be fine. As if I'd allow anything to happen to the head of my religion.

Thanks, GB! It's nice to know I have the power of GodBen behind me!

At 10:00 AM, winds had increased to 175 MPH, and the FIRST EVER mandatory evacuations of New Orleans.

But today is a beautiful day. So far not a cloud in the sky, and it's just starting to get a little breezy.

Wish I had a kite.

Well all I can do is make sure that a door, duck, eunuch or car dealership doesn't hit you.

Appreciate it!

Wow! I complain about the weather, but you have a serious reason to. 175MPH!! I only see that in films. It sort of puts rain into perspective, doesn't it.

Yeah, this is definitely the worst case scenerio for New Orleans. It looks like this is going to be really bad for them. The officials have opened up the SuperDome, where the New Orleans Saints play football, as an evacuation site. Architectually it is supposed to be able to withstand 200 mph winds. I hope they know what they're talking about.

It's about 5:00 PM Sunday now, and it has gotten very cloudy here. The breeze, for some reason, has temporarily died down, and it is very still outside. Local radar is showing that some of the outer rain bands are starting to come on shore, and the eye of the storm is located about 200 miles offshore. It still is making a beeline directly at New Orleans and Lake Pontchartrain.

I will not be surprised if, as conditions worsen, we lose electricity and it may be out for several days. I will try to stay in contact and give updates for as long as I can, but who knows how long that will be.

Talk to you all again when I can!

...6:30 PM Sunday, it's starting to rain and we're getting some pretty good wind gusts...

Stay away from Jay you big bully hurricane!

I was watching the CBS news last night (it's the only US news that we get) and the reporters finding it difficult to stand in the strong winds, and the bridge behind a guy went from perfectly visible to barely visible over the half-hour news peroid. Then he said that the actual storm was still 17 hours away.

...hmm...I'm torn between being glad that Katrina is not quite as powerful(not that it will matter to much...New Orleans is gone either way...) and being disapointed as a weather geek both by the fact that I have to go to class instead of watching the weather channel like the junkie I am and by the fact taht it's no longer a cat 5 hurricane...so people will forget sooner...I doubt many have heard the names Fran, Floyd, and Georges for a good while...Katrina, Denis, and Ivan will be the same...(although they might stick around a little longer since they occured in unusualy active seasons

Heya. Hope everything is okay. ...that sounds stupid. "You seem to have fallen down a 30 foot hole..."

Anyway, not sure of your past voting record, but this might just make the difference:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v407/Nukewaste/11782_00151.jpg

...oh. Nevermind. Umm, ahh, here we go!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v407/Nukewaste/messagefromGod1.jpg

Might want to get rid of that sign, Godben...

Wear some blue, Jay!

I pittydafoo!

WHEW! WHAT A RIDE!!

[Following is a journal of my thoughts during Hurricane Katrina]


MONDAY AUGUST 29

5:15am
I wake up and turn on the TV to the local news. I start a pot of coffee to brew. The newsman says that Katrina is still offshore, and in fact has made a slight jog to the east, which is good. Maybe New Orleans will not take a direct hit. It's also good for me, as I live about 65 miles northwest of New Orleans.

5:30am
My electricity has just gone out. I check my pot of coffee, and find that it has just finished brewing. I thank God for my hot pot of coffee. It's still very dark outside, but I can hear the wind starting to pick up and the very outer rain bands of the hurricane are starting to make their way into our area.

8:30am
Wind and rain starting to pick up now. I turn on my battery powered radio and find out that Katrina is making her way on shore, just to the east of New Orleans. She is now headed toward Lake Pontchartrain, the the Northshore parishes of Tangipahoa and St. Tammany, and then up into the Mississippi gulf coast of Biloxi and Gulfport. I set up a chair under my carport, and settle in to watch this spectacular storm. The wind and rain are keeping the temperature down to about 73 degrees, so it is fairly comfortable. The trees are bending and swirling, and the occasional high wind gust makes them lean over farther than one would think possible without snapping.

1:00pm
Things are getting worse. Right now we are having high sustained winds and very, very heavy gusts. It is also raining very hard now, and the wind is blowing the rain horizontally. Large tree branches are snapping and being blown about in the wind. I am on the western edge of the storm, or the "good" side. Winds and rain are usually lighter on the western side. I can't imagine what it's like in New Orleans.

2:15pm
I hear a loud "CRACK" and see an oak tree 4 houses down from me fall. It hits the corner of my neighbor's house, appearing to take out part of the roof. It is such a surreal sight. The root ball of the tree is sticking up, and there is a huge hole in ground where it stood. I look at my trees, and pray they will hold for just a little longer.

4:30pm
Things have calmed down considerably. The rain has stopped, and the winds have calmed to just a slight breeze. I set out in my car to survey my neighborhood and the surrounding area. My neighbor's tree is not the only one to have fallen. I see seven or eight trees down, on houses and fences and blocking roads. There are also numerous power, cable, and telephone lines down. I have a sinking feeling it may be days or weeks before electricity is restored.

8:00pm
It's starting to get hot. The winds have ceased to almost nothing. News is finally starting to trickle out of New Orleans: two levees have been breached, filling the streets with water from Lake Pontchartrain, so much water in fact that most of the city is under 5-7 feet of water. People who did not evacuate the city and stayed in their homes have clammored onto their rooftops to escape the rising water and are awaiting rescue. The SuperDome, which is used as an evacuation shelter, has sustained heavy damage. Part of the roof has been damaged and parts of the heavy protective skin of the dome has blown off. The high rise Hyatt Regency Hotel in the downtown area has had nearly every window on one side of the building blown out. The guests of the hotel had been moved to the ballroom on the 1st floor, so there were no casualties, but all of their belongings were sucked out of the windows. The mayor of Kenner, a suburb of New Orleans, has said 100% of homes in his town have sustained some type of damage, from minor to total destruction. A 50" water main has broken in the city, contaminating the fresh water supply. Some of the pumps used to rid the city of water have failed.

This is all I can take for one day. I take a cold bath (I have an electric water heater) and go to bed. I'm hot. I thank God that that's all.


TUESDAY AUGUST 30

7:30am
Still no electricity. I'm hot. I've sweated all night long. The humidity has started to rise again, and the high today should be about 95 degrees. I call my office, really not expecting electricity to be on there, but my boss answers. He says it is, and I could come in to work if I feel like it, but I don't have to. After realizing that electricity means air conditioning and hot coffee, I selfishly decide to go in. I'm also hopeful that our office's internet service is up, but when I get there, I'm disappointed to learn that it's not. We work until about 3:00 and come home.

4:00pm
I sit under my carport, as it's slightly cooler than inside my house. More news is starting to come out of New Orleans. Two more levees have been breached, so more water is pouring into the city. The famous and historic French Quarter, which was originally spared the worst of the damage, is starting to experience rising water. Water is also rising around the SuperDome. There is talk that the nearly 20,000 evacuees there will have to be relocated. There are reports of poisonous snakes and alligators swimming in the flood waters. The officials are worried about chemical contamination, sort of a toxic soup in the waters. Boats and helicopters are the only means of rescue for the stranded people on rooftops. The rescue boats are having to bypass corpses in the water to get to the people. There is only one major route into the city now, and it is restricted to emergency personnel. The mayor of the city said "There is more water at rooftops than at doorsteps". He said it would be at least 2 months before schools could reopen in the area. Marshal Law has been declared. The governor of our state has asked for a day of prayer tomorrow for the people of Louisiana.

In between all of this grim news, I have heard of acts of true heroism. Search and rescue teams in boats have worked around the clock without breaks. Volunteers with boats have assisted with rescues. Red Cross volunteers have poured into our area, many from other states. On my way home from work this afternoon, I saw a convoy of National Guard troops on the way to New Orleans. The Salvation Army has set up collections sites for basic necessities to deliver to the evacuees. Schools and churches in Baton Rouge have opened their doors to receive and shelter the evacuees.

God Bless 'em all.

WEDNESDAY AUGUST 31

I was thinking about all of the places in New Orleans that may not exist anymore. Commander's Palace and The Court of Three Sisters, two of the finest restaurants in the world; Cafe Du Monde, with their cafe au lait and beignets; the Audubon Zoo; Jackson Square where the street performers earned their livings; the old Jax Brewery, which is now a mall of customized shops; the beautiful St. Louis Cathedral; the historic Cabildo that housed the original documents of land transfer of the Louisiana Purchase; Bourbon Street and Canal Street, with bawdy strip joints and tourist traps; the Old Absinthe Bar; the original Pat O'Brien's Bar, where ironically the Hurricane drink was created; all of the juke joints where you could hear the best blues and jazz in the world; and all of the little backstreet bars and restaurants that the tourist didn't know about, but served the best food and drinks in New Orleans.

God have mercy on us.

And now I hear of widespread looting in the city. I've heard that the sheriff has issued a 'shoot on sight' order.

***********LOCK AND LOAD, BOYS***********

~~~~~~~

Real time USA.
I'm very thankful that my area has sustained such realitivly minor damage, but my heart greives for the people of New Orleans, Gulfport and Biloxi.

I got home this afternoon to see that my electricity has been restored, along with my internet connection. I'm a lucky girl.

just curious...what area do you live in?

Watching Bill O'Reilly last night, they were talking about how New Orleans used to be the country's largest port (inbound Tonnage).

I felt guilty about laughing, but thought, "It's still the largest port. The whole thing is a port, now."

And then they showed a bunch of looters, just indiscriminately taking anything. Not even things they would ordinarily want. Just things they weren't supposed to take.
And smiling at the cameras. Like it was normal.

I'm just glad you're okay.

And N.O. will be, too. They've been through worse disasters then this one. I mean, c'mon, you've seen the Saints play football...

On newsnight yesterday there were at a house where 3 of their neighbors houses were dumped in their back lawn. I laughed, but it was more out of disbelief than anything else.

I assume that no doors, ducks, eunuchs or car dealerships hit you, hence my promise was kept?

...Why would a eunuch hit on Jay? Isn't that, kinda, not making sense?

Just because they don't have . . . you know , doesn't mean they don't have urges.

You just indirectly gave Jay a compliment, GB!

Awww

No, eunuchs have given up on hitting on beautiful women, now they just go for plain ones.