The "aftermath" of Hurricane Gustav

Heh, I'm truly cherishing the couple hours that I have to sit in the air conditioning at my girlfriends office and use one of their computers.   It's estimatd that half the city will have power within the next 7 days and the other half of the city...  get this...  3 to 4 WEEKS!

Katrina never really had a big impact on me other than the few days afterwards where I was in New Orleans seeing the dead bodies piled up like wood on the side of the road at the convention center and the devastation in the other parts of the city.   I had power back within a day and life was pretty much 'back to normal' within a couple days.

Gustav is a different story.   It's being tabbed as the worst hurricane to hit Baton Rouge in the history of hurricane tracking.  The storm was only the beginning of the journey.  The 'after' the storm is what's starting to wear on me.   I haven't had power now all week.  I smell like a combination of body odor and gasoline.  I've stood in line twice to get gas for over 3 hours each time and I'm lucky that I was able to get gas before they ran out.   There's something like 98% of the city without power right now so the local government has issued a 6AM - 6PM curfew.   I can't go to work because I commute to a town 45 miles away and they don't have power or fuel either.   I've spend my days chopping up trees and hauling endless piles of debris to the street. 

A common conversation that I have with friends and family now revolves around how people in the 'old days' must have been a different breed of people to live without the common conveniences that we regularly take for granted.   We TRULY live like kings in our day and age.   It's amusing trying to explain to a young child how our ancestors lived.

"No power?  Well what about computers?  They had computers right?",  my girlfriends 6 year old asked.

"No, computers require electricity," we would reply.

"Hmm...   Well they had cable right?", he asked.

"No, cable requires electricity too," we replied.

Imagine answering over and over the different conveniences and trying to explain to a kid how pretty much EVERYTHING we rely on requires 'the juice'.

I'm luckier than most because I only had minor damage to my truck from a big pecan tree that fell on it and my house escaped unscathed other than a few shingles that blew off my roof.   My sister's house is totalled.  They had a tree fall the length of their house and they have branches sticking through the ceiling in multiple rooms throught the house.  My parents had damage to their house as well.  My girlfriends parents house flooded and the estimate is they won't be able to be back in their house for 3 to 6 months.  

I guess the thing that has really upset me the most is that my triathlon training has all but ceased and another one of my races was cancelled for this weekend.   No health food is available since nothing is open right now and I've been delegated to eating utter garbage for the last week.   Hopefully some symblance of order can get back into my life next week when I return to work.   Only 3 weeks until my most difficult race of the year, the Holy Toledo triathlong, and I DON'T feel prepared for it.   I'll just have to do what I can and hope for the best!

Thanks for listening to me *****

Chad
www.team464.com

 

Glad to hear you made it through.
Some of us have been looking for a check in….
Sorry about your truck and your family and girl friends losses.
I know it was/is rough in Baton Rouge.
We have faculty from there up here in our department for the next week.
So much work ahead.

Here in Hammond/Tickfaw it wasn't hit THAT badly but I know BR was damaged quite severely. My aunt had a tree fall on her back porch. Nobody has power. I'm glad you're okay, though. Just hunker down and stick it out, everything will be back to new before long. We also were discussing what people used to do in the old days. My grandfather was saying how they didn't have electricity until he was a teenager and so he knew how to make do with what we had. Which was pretty nice, actually. Gas grill, plenty of food, gas generator, window AC unit. All in all we weren't hit too hard. Now I'm back in Tickfaw and we have power but it's really hard to see all the rest of my family without power and having damage and stuff but we're the only ones who do have power. Hang in there! 

Im Glad your ok.  One thing good I can think of is that pesky neighbor of yours probablyis having problems.  You should dump all your tree branches in his driveway  LOL
Kevin

Go ahead and **** and moan. You have a right.

Hope things come together soon in some semblance of normal for you. Glad to hear you and kin are in one piece. One step at a time.

Marc

Glad to hear your doing ok.  Was hoping you would find a way to checkin.  Sorry to hear about all the damage but I'm glad you and the family are all safe.  All my folks are back in Louisiana (St. James Parish).  My sis was telling me it going to be 14 days before the juice is turned back on.  Tomake matter worst, her and the hubby had some carbon manoxide poisoning from the dang generators.  Almost lost their lives. 

All the old timers (aunts and uncles) are telling me this is the worst storm to hit the area since Betsy.  If New Orleans hadn't flooded from Katrina and the levees, Gustav  would probably go down as the worst in recent Louisiana history.  Just hang in there.  Stay focused and try to find a way to train for the upcoming triathalon.  It will keep your mind off of the crappy situation.  If there were a way to send you some juice and AC, the boys on OH would be shipping it out ASAP. 

Dalton

I sure hope you get a generator soon because it looks like Ike might give you and those young'ns a bigger dose of the good old days than you want to experience !

Good Luck.. I have been talking to people down there all week at work I know frustration isnt the word you're probably feeling.
I have a cousin though that lives in Shreveport actually manages the sport arena there where some of the Shreveport Evacuees got shelter.. He said it was a MESS. I hope things get better for you soon.