To all those who have asked, or were wondering... I live in Houma, LA, where Gustav visited...
For the first time in my life, we evacuated. Now... I'm stuck in MS waiting to get home. Family is well. Internet access the past few days has been difficult to get. There is much devastation back home. I apparently lost two live oaks, a pine through my barn/garage and other superficial damage at my home. My "babysitter" that I offered to evacuate with us was determined to stay home. At the last minute, she decided she wanted out. Too late... So, she and her family stayed at my home since it is was much sturdier and on much higher ground than hers (mine is about 6 ft about the sea as compared to hers at 3 ft below and about 20 miles closer to the gulf than mine). They were shaken but are as well as can be. As-far-as the office, the building is good. NOC running on generator since power went out Monday at about 7 am. Good thing it is fed by the city's natural gas and I don't have to keep refueling... We have much damage to our wireless infrastructure. Not sure of the extent, but all towers have damage needing to be addressed. Don't know about the subs since they don't have power for us to see their end, but am expecting may problems with CPE's and mounts. The whole area has much wind damage. On the bright side, it appears flooding was only in the southern most part of the Parish from what I can tell. If you have watched the weather channel, St. Francis School that was ripped apart on TV is where my girls attend. The local State Trooper's office had its roof torn off, as-well-as many homes. Trees and power line down everywhere. They are forecasting three weeks with no electricity. They are not letting people back in until Friday from what I hear. I do have a pass permit to re-enter. Now that I have the family situated, I'll head back tomorrow. It's a damn having the mixed feelings of whether I should have stayed instead of leaving, but I guess the family is a little more important to me these days than the business...Maybe I'm finally growing up AND feel fortunate enough to be able to have been able to make that choice for myself. Not everyone IS so lucky! I'll provide more information when I can. Thanks, Cliff On 9/2/08 12:52 PM, "Mac Dearman" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Jeff & List folk, > > > Gustav didn't pack the punch that Katrina did, but part of that is/was > due to the Southern States having a plan in place to evacuate MANDATORARILY > before the storm came ashore. This will be a huge factor in the amount of > aide that will be needed today and in the weeks to come. The bad thing about > the mandatory evacuation (from what we are seeing/hearing today) is that > Gustav did roll in and destroy everything thus all the folks that evacuated > this time will not leave next time a hurricane comes along. I personally > feel like the next time a hurricane comes through Louisiana - - it will be > devastating and many lives lost. > > The last account I heard was 1.2 million without electricity in the > southern part of the state and we lost power here (up to 3 days out) 360 > miles North of landfall at 11:30am this morning. The NOC and our offices are > powered by generators so we are ok - - -short of no air-conditioning in the > office and the mosquitoes will be out in full force about dark:30 We have > gotten a lot of rain through all this and the wind has been howling here > since the hurricane came ashore. We haven't lost but one AP (cable flopping > up the tower in the wind) but have talked with Cliff LeBoeuf (Houma La,) > this morning (CSSLA & Triparish.net) who is a WISPA member and he lost a > 400' tower as well as numerous APs and Back haul radios due to lightening > and wind damage. He is currently in Mississippi with his wife and baby girls > and all are doing fine in their RV. He is very concerned about his network > and we are working with him to see that he has what it takes to get > everything back up and running. Cliff's network admin rode the storm out and > says all is fine with their NOC, bandwidth and offices, but the power is > going to be the issue as they too are running on propane fired generators > and may be three weeks till power is restored. That will take a few gallons > of propane! > > I will try to keep everyone informed as things progress and more is known > about the situation. I personally want to thank those who have volunteered > to come down if there be need - -and to thank the vendors who volunteered to > send gear. You folks are great! I personally want to set up a board of > advisors for the next hurricane and all of you who volunteered will be on it > if you are willing to assist me in setting up a formal relief strategy. > > (I am glad outlook saves a copy of email in progress - generator died while > typing this) :-) > > Thanks again, > Mac > > > > > >> -----Original Message----- >> From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On >> Behalf Of Jeff Broadwick >> Sent: Tuesday, September 02, 2008 10:34 AM >> To: 'WISPA General List' >> Subject: Re: [WISPA] Good Golly Gustav >> >> How did the Gulf folks weather the storm? >> >> Jeff >> >> >> -----Original Message----- >> From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On >> Behalf Of Joe Laura >> Sent: Saturday, August 30, 2008 7:02 PM >> To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]; WISPA General List >> Subject: Re: [WISPA] Good Golly Gustav >> >> Stay safe you guys! Very well said Mac. You took the words right out of >> my >> mouth. I am planning on staying downtown in the data center but >> watching >> things very closely. I will make my decision tomorrow. This time >> Homeland >> Security has given us re-entry passes ahead of time so if we do have to >> leave reentry will not be as hard as before. I pray that Gustav looses >> steam >> somehow. Hopeing for the best. Any and all prayers are appreciated! Joe >> Joe >> Laura Superior Alarm/Wireless New Orleans,La. >> www.superior1.com >> ----- Original Message ----- >> From: "Joe Miller" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >> To: "WISPA General List" <wireless@wispa.org> >> Sent: Saturday, August 30, 2008 5:30 PM >> Subject: Re: [WISPA] Good Golly Gustav >> >> >>> Mac, >>> >>> I could not have said it any better. It has been a long 3 years for >> me and >> my family. While my company and a group of volunteers worked hard to >> get the >> Misissippi gulf coast Internet and VoIP phones, a lot of people never >> knew >> that I too lost everything in Katrina except what we could carry in our >> vehicles. I do not think that I can rebuild my home again. >>> >>> I cannot say enough about the volunteers that were here to help after >> Katrina. Some people of whom their names I may have forgot, but I will >> never >> forget their faces. They worked damn near around the clock for weeks on >> end, >> without any complaints. >>> >>> I've spent the last week trying to harden my system here. It will be >> made >> available to any group that may need it. I owe a lot to WISPA and to >> Part-15. I'm pretty sure that Joe Laura in New Orleans feels the same >> way. >> We have to work together to get things back up as soon as possible. >> Although >> it is tracking to south west Lousiana, it is still too far out the >> detimine >> where the eye will hit land. We just have to be prepared no matter >> where it >> hits. This storm is getting large enough to do a lot of damage to a lot >> of >> areas. >>> >>> As I sit here in south Mississippi, I will be praying that people >> make the >> right decision and get out of harms way. There is no reason why we >> should >> have any loss of life. They know a storm is approaching. >>> >>> I will keep this list updated on how things are progressing on the MS >> gulf >> coast. >>> >>> Best Regards and God Speed, >>> >>> DSLbyAir >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> --- On Sat, 8/30/08, Mac Dearman <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: >> >> >> >> ----------------------------------------------------------------------- >> ----- >> ---- >> WISPA Wants You! 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