And if I may hijack the thread -- anyone heard from Mark Stringer? I think
it's a bit wet & windy in Lafayette, too.
ERNR
Thanks for thinking of me. We did much better than Sid and Lake Charles.
Tree limbs, no power for a few hours.More inconvenienced than anything. Kat
went east, Rita went west. If there is another it may bullseye on me. Rita
has made sure that the entire coast of Louisiana which is mostly estuary
with very little inthe way of beaches, has been affected in a matter of a
few weeks. This has really been devastating to the human life and wild life
that live in those areas. I know it is hard to understand why people won't
leave butI had friends from lower Bayou Lafourche when I was a teenager,
(late 60's)and Golden Meadow was fairly modern in those days also, who had
never been on I-10and had never been north of I-10. Only to New Orleans. I
remember their first tripafter they were married. The were going to Miss
and wound up in Orange Texas.Don't think they weren't bright, just highway
ignorant. LA 1 just runs north/south.There is plenty of money and plenty of
brains "down the bayou". In those days it was a culture all its own. Now
it looks like any other town with WalMarts etc. But those people...those
people just won't leave the bayou.Been communicating with friends in and
around New Orleans, Slidell, Algiers.It is really tough. Some merely have
damaged homes that are unlivable. Can't get insurance settlements for a long
time. If they did have a check they wouldn't be able to find contractors.
All private and government systemshave been overwhelmed. Many are
relocating. My nephew who lives off of St. Charles downtown NO said they
may be allowed back in by zip codes beginning next week.The sound of passing
rescue helicopters is common now.BTW, my son is home from Iraq with LA
256th. He can start his life again unless they are reactivatedfor hurricane
duty. If anyone has seen his photos on my website cmstringer.com, they look
like vacation photos compared to what he brought home. They were very
upsetting. I wanted to believe he was in the backwater of the action. There
is no backwater.About time for a TX-LA PDML meeting. Maybe Sid can join us.
I've never met Sid.Mark Stringer_____________________
I used to be "with it" but then they changed what "it" was.
Now, "what" I'm with isn't "it", and what's "it" seems weird and scary to
me.
...Grampa Simpson
