The cell phone service in New Orleans still appears to be down. I can't call Steve, but I'm not worried. I took the photo above as we had lunch yesterday at Hemingway's, a restaurant on Pensacola Beach. It's an image of the Santa Rosa Sound on the north side of the beach. The water level, part of the surge from Gustav, almost tops the dock. Ordinarily there would be some distance below the bottom of the dock and the normal water level. On our drive through the beach, some of the low lying areas had flooding, but for the most part, the beach was fine.
One of our friends, staying here with me at the condo, is a member of the administration at Tulane University. On a conference call yesterday afternoon he learned that power was out throughout Uptown New Orleans, where Tulane is located and its also the part of town where we live. There are some tree branches and fallen power lines blocking the streets. Most importantly, there is no flooding.
Now, we wait. The storm has passed. City officials have state troopers and National Guard blocking roads that lead into the city. The headlines on one of the New Orleans news websites has a headline that reads: "Evacuees Ordered To Stay Away Today," and " Re-entry only days away, not weeks." So, until we receive word that its okay to return home, we'll continue to stay on Pensacola Beach.
Nearly two million people evacuated southeast Louisiana, including the city of New Orleans. When the roads are opened, many are going to want to get home to check their property, so that they can clear debris, repair any damage that may have occurred, and most importantly to secure their homes. You can imagine the traffic jams that will occur as a result. I dread making the trip home, made worse by the knowledge that many of the gas stations in and around New Orleans have empty reservoirs. We'll have to top-off our tanks somewhere along the ride home. My friends and I are guessing that we may receive word to return home as early as Thursday morning.
This morning I woke up and I turned on the TV to check the latest news. The first words I heard were "Seek shelter now. There is a tornado warning in Pensacola." I looked out the window and saw dark clouds headed north. The city of Pensacola is located about five miles north of Pensacola Beach. I can see the city if I look out from the balcony of the condo. Below the dark clouds, there was fog covering the entire city, so my view was obscured. We're still feeling the remnants of Gustav. It's cloudy and every now and then, the last few bands of rain pass through the area.
During Katrina three years ago, we received calls from family and friends from different parts of the country. They were concerned about our safety. It was then that I decided to keep a blog to keep everyone informed. Seeing that a similar situation might occur with Gustav, I started this blog with the same intent.
Thank you to everyone for the emails and the phone calls. One of the best pieces of advice I received over the past few days comes from an uncle who told me "stop getting excited and let Mother Nature take its course." Since moving to New Orleans, we've now gone through two evacuations due to approaching hurricanes and for Gustav, we were better prepared. We knew what I needed for the evacuation and more importantly, what I didn't need. We had a plan and we carried it out, and the wait, which I'm now going through, is a lot less stressful. I arrived at this state of mind in the months after Hurricane Katrina when I realized that I can't control what happens. That is what I take from my uncle's advice. I also glean the message that I am a small part of this world, the same world that Mother Nature, with her winds and her rains, has occupied for a lot longer than any of us.
