I got news that I get to leave - woohoo! We're taking both cars out and headed to Texas (I'll have to come back before DH for work). One of us is going to try to stay long enough to wait for trash pickup and bring in the can since ours is currently full. If we didn't have DS, we might try to stay, but it's not worth the risk of being here with no power afterwards if we don't have to. We're just outside the levees (annoying to drive by and watch them fortifying them knowing we're on the outside).
Our parish just put out a notification that they might start issuing evac notices tonight. The latest update shows it even further west which could even bring it to Texas. All the way out to Galveston/Houston should start thinking about plans just in case.
Where are you, Pamela?
DH and I are in a hotel near the New Orleans airport for tonight, and had planned on staying for most of the week (to inter MIL's ashes in a family mausoleum), but we're trying to figure out if we should get the heck out of dodge... Or if we'd be fine staying here. Blargh.
Thanks. I think our current working plan is to keep an eye on things and make the call on what we're doing come tomorrow morning, before we have to commit to another night in the hotel here. I'm not sure what to expect. DH is from Louisiana, but lived mostly in the northern parts of the state, so the situation down here is somewhat unknown for us.
Our parish just put out a notification that they might start issuing evac notices tonight. The latest update shows it even further west which could even bring it to Texas. All the way out to Galveston/Houston should start thinking about plans just in case.
Where are you, Pamela?
DH and I are in a hotel near the New Orleans airport for tonight, and had planned on staying for most of the week (to inter MIL's ashes in a family mausoleum), but we're trying to figure out if we should get the heck out of dodge... Or if we'd be fine staying here. Blargh.
I'm in St. Charles Parish. I think they are extra cautious in issuing mandatory evacs. We are leaving (most of our neighbors aren't) because we don't want to be here for an extended time without power w/ DS. Otherwise, we'd probably stay because I'm not worried about flooding at our house. Maybe tornados.
I was supposed to be going to Pittsburgh Tues - Thurs. Going to find out from my boss tomorrow if that's still on.
Well we are on vacation in Orlando. Talk about crappy timing. While I am glad the storm is now predicted to go farther west, I do know how crappy flooding and lack of power can be around here. I hope everyone is ok and the storm does little damage.
Audette, I'd leave. You're likely not at risk of death or anything, but the power situation will probably be bad, & transportation even worse. Contra flow on I-12 still results in multi hour traffic jams to get to baton rouge. And if the storm continues to drift west, the outcome will be even worse.
Audette, I'd leave. You're likely not at risk of death or anything, but the power situation will probably be bad, & transportation even worse. Contra flow on I-12 still results in multi hour traffic jams to get to baton rouge. And if the storm continues to drift west, the outcome will be even worse.
We have just learned that some of DH's relatives here are under a mandatory evac notice as of tomorrow afternoon.
So, the plan now is to get up, go sign paperwork to get the arrangements made for MIL's ashes to _eventually_ get into the family mausoleum, take the ashes to a responsible family member who will ensure they get in there, and head back up to northern Louisiana. The hotel reservation for up there has been made. We'll look into changing our flights to head home earlier than we had already changed them to (to extend the trip long enough to come down here for the internment).
Unfortunately, it means we won't be able to leave the area until about 2pm tomorrow, so traffic in Baton Rouge will be hell, but we plan on leaving town tomorrow. No need for extraneous non-residents in the area when a state of emergency has been declared.
Audette, call the hotel itself to confirm your reservation. During evacuations, some chains don't honor reservations made online. Learned the hard way. Good decision to go.
Eep! Thanks for the advice. Called and confirmed, and they have put us in a top-floor room so that it is more quiet during our stay. Yay!
Post by phunluvin82 on Aug 26, 2012 21:50:03 GMT -5
Yup...DH is operating under the assumption that we're going to have to pack up & go tomorrow night. We bought some supplies today in case we're going to be riding it out...but I won't be surprised if NOLA is on either voluntary, or even mandatory evacuation by tomorrow. I'll guess we'll see though what happens with the track in the next several hours.
The grocery store looked like this. Thankfully, bread isn't low carb, so I didn't need any
I got a ton of almonds (Blue Diamond Salt & Vinegar and Habanero BBQ--omg so good!), peanut butter, packets of chicken breasts (like those waterless tuna packets) & low carb tortillas for chicken salad, jerky, some fruit & veggies, water that I found in the baby aisle, granola bars, toilet paper, and a few other things. I'm optimistic, but prepared. And if we don't lose power, then yay! We can gorge ourselves on almonds in air conditioning.
I was tempted to take that same picture earlier today Kore.
Audette, I'm sorry you got the full S. Louisiana experience while you were here. I read about your MIL earlier, but didn't realize you were down here. I hope you make it back north okay. Just stay patient while you're on the road because lord knows everyone will be antsy and the traffic will be crawling.
I was tempted to take that same picture earlier today Kore.
Audette, I'm sorry you got the full S. Louisiana experience while you were here. I read about your MIL earlier, but didn't realize you were down here. I hope you make it back north okay. Just stay patient while you're on the road because lord knows everyone will be antsy and the traffic will be crawling.
It sure is making it a full experience for this Canuck... I've been to New Orleans a few times before, and norther Louisiana a bunch of times, but this is my first hurricane here.
We're expecting the drivetime tomorrow to northern LA to take about twice what it normally ought to. Kinda sucks, but hopefully, that's it. We have friends in Lafayette that we can stop and visit if the traffic is driving us really batty, too, which may help. (and, if the roads are monumentally super crazy, are willing to put us up, too)
Be safe ladies. DH has been on the phone the last few days trying to work with his cousins and see who can go down and get his granny (i.e. drag her 90 something year old ornery ass out of her house.) I'm hoping his cousin pulls through or he might be making a quick trip to the Mississippi coast. The gulf coast can't catch a break.
Good morning! Audette said she has "emergency yarn," so all is good. LOL. I'm so sorry she is in this situation.
As of now, we will stay, but as we all know here, that could change with the next track info. For Gustav, I went to Baton Rouge and I had power in NOLA 5 days before my friend did there. It's flooding, levee breaks, that I worry most about, having "been there, done that."
A tip for power loss: put everything in your fridge and freezer inside trash bags, so if necessary, you can just throw out. In case of really long outage like Katrina, this also keeps the mess of rotten stuff contained.
Be safe and keep in touch.
We've made it up to northern LA, so we should be all good.
I had to laugh at the emergency yarn reference... But, if it helps frame that properly, since leaving home, I've finished one pair of socks, got another pair over half completed, almost finished a third pair, and knit more than 1/4 of a sweater. It's been a long trip...
Ugh it's been so quiet this afternoon and then suddenly a bad line of storms came through. We had a funnel cloud spotted .25 miles (if that) from our house. So scary! I feel for those on the east coast of Florida because they got pounded with bad weather today.