We are currently on day 5 without power, but last night the capitol building and the streetlights downtown came on. We were told that the latest our area will get power will be september 11th. then we were told that if it doesn't happen by then, the latest will be the 14th. That didn't make too much sense to me, but we're hopeful. Last night we went to one of our professors houses for dinner and today we are here getting work done. A couple of friends received word from FEMA today that they would be given a voucher to stay in a hotel for up to 30 days until their places become liveable again. That would be great except for the fact that all the hotels that are on FEMA's list (and there are a substantial number of them) are all totally booked up, indefinately. We were told to fill out the FEMA forms on line if we were without power for more than five days, so this morning I filled mine out. Not sure what is going to come of it, but we'll see.
In other news, LSU opened up with full power yesterday and classes are to resume Monday morning. I am both looking forward to this and dreading it as well. We have no food in our house, still no power, and frankly, the place is pretty disorganized. We haven't been able to do laundry and we had as many as 8 people staying with us and 5 cats. We've picked up as much as we can and Sarah was out sweeping the porches and doing other clean up the other day as well. I'm excited to get back to work, but with no power and my life kind of a mess, I'd also like some time to get it back in order before.
The last thing I will say before I go try to find some food (free food at the LSU dining hall!), is that everyone seems to be doing alright. there is a general air of exhaustion, but spirits still seem to be up. We're all slightly worried about Ike, especially as he seems to be following the same path as Andrew, but we're trying to avoid thinking about that until thinking about that becomes necessary. Thanks to everyone for their thoughts over the last week. My wonderful landlord also seems to be managing to make some headway on the van situation, so with fingers crossed, things are looking up!
Saturday, September 6, 2008
Friday, September 5, 2008
Thursday, September 4, 2008
The Story of the Van
Here is an open letter I've been passing around. In my next blog, which I'll be publishing soon, I'll tell why I think this is an important event that has a larger impact than just my friends ability to get his van back. I'm trying to dissemenate this letter as far as possible, so if you know of anyone who may find this concerning, please send it their way. Thanks!
To whom it may concern,
I live in Baton Rouge. As of today, the third day after Gus, 85% of the city is still out of power (roughly 350,000 people). The city seems to be at a standstill, but that is not totally out of the ordinary, given the circumstances. What does seem to be out of the ordinary are the stories that we are hearing, or rather, the stories we are not hearing. The local radio stations are asking people to call in for their stories and almost everyone is identical. Everyone is either having power issues or wondering where the nearest FEMA help center is. Not that these aren’t problems that need to be addressed, but surely someone else must have something interesting to say? I know I do, but when I called the radio station, they told me that my story was not the type of story people needed to hear. I’m wondering if that’s really the case, or if something else is going on. Here is my story:My friends evacuated New Orleans and have been staying with us. City officials have been begging citizens to not drive anywhere so that emergency vehicles have easier access to the city, so we decided to walk to a place downtown that we heard was open and serving breakfast. When we returned we noticed that our friends van was no longer in front of our house. Asking around, we learned from our neighbors that the police came by in the hour that we were gone and towed any cars parked on the street. The van was legally parked and we were given no warning or notification. There was not even a note left for us as to who towed it, or why. Eventually we found out that the reason the car was towed was to make way for George Bush and Bobby Jindal’s motorcade. We called the local police but they said they didn’t know anything about cars being towed. We called the city, state, and capitol police, and none of them knew anything either. Finally, we phoned towing companies until we found the one that had towed the van. They told us that the city police had ordered it towed and that we would have to pay $180 to get it back. Additionally, because the car was borrowed from another friend, they said that the owner of the car would have to show valid identification. The owner, however, also evacuated and is currently in Dallas. When we called the city police, they told us to pay the fine and then we might be able to get reimbursed, but seeing how when we had initially called them they had said that they didn’t know anything about the car being towed, we aren’t really sure that we will get reimbursed. I know that my story isn’t getting out. Yesterday evening I watched someone on the news talking about power outages. As he was in the middle of saying that he just saw a bunch of Entergy employees sitting around without working, he was cut off and the channel switched to commercial. I’m not sure what to do. When I finally got through to some friends of mine out of state, their response was “I’m sorry I didn’t call, but I was under the impression that everything there was fine.” Sure, it could be worse, but it is definitely not fine, and there’s no one here that will listen.
To whom it may concern,
I live in Baton Rouge. As of today, the third day after Gus, 85% of the city is still out of power (roughly 350,000 people). The city seems to be at a standstill, but that is not totally out of the ordinary, given the circumstances. What does seem to be out of the ordinary are the stories that we are hearing, or rather, the stories we are not hearing. The local radio stations are asking people to call in for their stories and almost everyone is identical. Everyone is either having power issues or wondering where the nearest FEMA help center is. Not that these aren’t problems that need to be addressed, but surely someone else must have something interesting to say? I know I do, but when I called the radio station, they told me that my story was not the type of story people needed to hear. I’m wondering if that’s really the case, or if something else is going on. Here is my story:My friends evacuated New Orleans and have been staying with us. City officials have been begging citizens to not drive anywhere so that emergency vehicles have easier access to the city, so we decided to walk to a place downtown that we heard was open and serving breakfast. When we returned we noticed that our friends van was no longer in front of our house. Asking around, we learned from our neighbors that the police came by in the hour that we were gone and towed any cars parked on the street. The van was legally parked and we were given no warning or notification. There was not even a note left for us as to who towed it, or why. Eventually we found out that the reason the car was towed was to make way for George Bush and Bobby Jindal’s motorcade. We called the local police but they said they didn’t know anything about cars being towed. We called the city, state, and capitol police, and none of them knew anything either. Finally, we phoned towing companies until we found the one that had towed the van. They told us that the city police had ordered it towed and that we would have to pay $180 to get it back. Additionally, because the car was borrowed from another friend, they said that the owner of the car would have to show valid identification. The owner, however, also evacuated and is currently in Dallas. When we called the city police, they told us to pay the fine and then we might be able to get reimbursed, but seeing how when we had initially called them they had said that they didn’t know anything about the car being towed, we aren’t really sure that we will get reimbursed. I know that my story isn’t getting out. Yesterday evening I watched someone on the news talking about power outages. As he was in the middle of saying that he just saw a bunch of Entergy employees sitting around without working, he was cut off and the channel switched to commercial. I’m not sure what to do. When I finally got through to some friends of mine out of state, their response was “I’m sorry I didn’t call, but I was under the impression that everything there was fine.” Sure, it could be worse, but it is definitely not fine, and there’s no one here that will listen.
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
what the crap is going on?
So, I just found a way into Coates Hall on the LSU campus. Sarah needed to use the internet to work and we heard that the campus had power. Coates didn't, but there was an open door, so we used it to get in nonetheless. I checked the NOLA.com website and found a link to the power outages by number/percentage. Looks like roughly 90% of East Baton Rouge Parish is out of power. Cell phones seem to be all on the fritz. I haven't received any calls but apparently I have voice mail that I can't get to. Otherwise we're fine. Now time for a funny hurricane story:
Andy and Star drove up here from New Orleans in their friends van. They parked this van, legally, in front of my house. This morning as we went out to scrounge for food, Baton Rouge police towed their van. They did not inform us to move it, by sign or anything. There were police on our street as we left the house, but they said nothing as we passed. When we got back, the car was gone. Asking around, we come to find that the car was towed in order to make way for Bush's motorcade who was passing through the area to asess the damage. I guess he can add "cars unnecessarilly towed" to the list of things that residents here are pissed off about.
So, once we figure this all out, we call the local police. They don't know who towed the car. We call the capitol polise and then the state police and no one knows. Finally, we get one of our neighbors to tell us the name of the towing company. We call them to find out that it'll be $180 to get the car back. Hold on a sec, I'll just head to the ATM. The one with electricity. Let me know if you know where that is. In addition, they say that they can't release the car to us because none of us own the car. It can only be released to the owner. He evacuated NO to Dallas. He's not here. They want to go back home, but they can't. The situation sucks. We're thinking about filing a claim with the city to say that our car was stolen. We'll see if that works.
Andy and Star drove up here from New Orleans in their friends van. They parked this van, legally, in front of my house. This morning as we went out to scrounge for food, Baton Rouge police towed their van. They did not inform us to move it, by sign or anything. There were police on our street as we left the house, but they said nothing as we passed. When we got back, the car was gone. Asking around, we come to find that the car was towed in order to make way for Bush's motorcade who was passing through the area to asess the damage. I guess he can add "cars unnecessarilly towed" to the list of things that residents here are pissed off about.
So, once we figure this all out, we call the local police. They don't know who towed the car. We call the capitol polise and then the state police and no one knows. Finally, we get one of our neighbors to tell us the name of the towing company. We call them to find out that it'll be $180 to get the car back. Hold on a sec, I'll just head to the ATM. The one with electricity. Let me know if you know where that is. In addition, they say that they can't release the car to us because none of us own the car. It can only be released to the owner. He evacuated NO to Dallas. He's not here. They want to go back home, but they can't. The situation sucks. We're thinking about filing a claim with the city to say that our car was stolen. We'll see if that works.
Monday, September 1, 2008
storm
posting from my phone. powerlines exploded so we're out of power for now. there are now 7 ppl and 5 cats staying w/us. soon our friend holley will be joining us. we have water, batteries and beer, so we should be good for a bit. BR police ordered a curfew 2night from 8pm-6am. that's all i got for now. spirits are good!
Just down the road
as the rain begins to fall the feeling of anticipation reaches a new level. the hurricane has been on its way for days. there were various perspectives about when it would hit and how big it would be. we talked a lot about what we were going to do once it hit, and what it might be like. we bought supplies, cleaned the house, stored water in the freezer, and made sure that we had everything we would need if power went out for a few days. We were waiting, but not quite sure what we were waiting for. Some projections had it hitting New Orleans as a category four, but most were saying it would be a category three. Even now, as I look at the various weather outlets, and as the hurricane is supposed to have already hit land, no one seems to be sure what the size is. I guess that means that no one is sure the extent of the possible damage. No one wants to underestimate its strength in case it does end up being totally detrimental, but now it seems like people might be raising fears too much. It’s hard to say. Either way, even now that it has supposedly hit, no one is sure what is going on...
It was raining a little bit last night, but stopped after about an hour. We went over to our friends house and played apples to apples and had a few beers before coming home a little after midnight. The walk home was nice and cool. The first time since we’ve been here that it wasn’t too hot. It reminded me of the evenings in California, with just enough of a breeze to be cool, but not need a sweater.
At about 5:30 in the morning Sarah got up and went outside. The rain still hadn’t started back up yet, but she watched as the clouds raced closer to us. About twenty minutes later both the wind and the rain began to hit our house, but not yet what I would consider badly. It is now just about noon. I still don’t know what to expect. We still have power, though I have heard that the outlying areas of Baton Rouge have begun to lose theirs. Every now and then it feels like the wind is going to sustain itself at a much higher speed, but then it drops down and the rain falls at only a drizzle. It’s like the storm is pulsing towards us. Like the big bad wolf breathing in, over and over and over again until he has enough breath to try to blow our house down. However, being here in Baton Rouge and knowing that we still have a few hours before the brunt of the storm hits us, and the fact that we still have power and the internets are still working, leads me to hope that we wont get hit too hard. There’s a lot to anticipate, but at this point, as throughout the last few days, nothing is certain, and there really is no way to know.
It was raining a little bit last night, but stopped after about an hour. We went over to our friends house and played apples to apples and had a few beers before coming home a little after midnight. The walk home was nice and cool. The first time since we’ve been here that it wasn’t too hot. It reminded me of the evenings in California, with just enough of a breeze to be cool, but not need a sweater.
At about 5:30 in the morning Sarah got up and went outside. The rain still hadn’t started back up yet, but she watched as the clouds raced closer to us. About twenty minutes later both the wind and the rain began to hit our house, but not yet what I would consider badly. It is now just about noon. I still don’t know what to expect. We still have power, though I have heard that the outlying areas of Baton Rouge have begun to lose theirs. Every now and then it feels like the wind is going to sustain itself at a much higher speed, but then it drops down and the rain falls at only a drizzle. It’s like the storm is pulsing towards us. Like the big bad wolf breathing in, over and over and over again until he has enough breath to try to blow our house down. However, being here in Baton Rouge and knowing that we still have a few hours before the brunt of the storm hits us, and the fact that we still have power and the internets are still working, leads me to hope that we wont get hit too hard. There’s a lot to anticipate, but at this point, as throughout the last few days, nothing is certain, and there really is no way to know.
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