I know I have not spoken much about this topic in the past week, definately not on this weblog.
My readers may or may not know that I grew up in a New Orleans suburb. I left in 1992 when I went away to college, and since relocated to Atlanta. But I still have a lot of family there. Let me rephrase that: I still *had* a lot of family there.
To put it briefly,
My mother was on a cruise in Mexico when it hit. Last I heard, her boat dumped everyone off in Galveston and left them to find their own way from there (it originally sailed from New Orleans)... and she was trying to make her way back to her house in Destrehan (about 5 miles west of the flooded airport). Her house is probably fine, but I understand there was a lot of looting and vandalism in that area. Phone calls are nearly impossible so I may not even hear from her for another week or two.
My stepfather evacuated to Baton Rouge but was ejected from the hotel there because he had Chablis (a toy poodle) with him. He then went to Houston, as no other hotels had vacancy prior to that. We are almost certain that his apartment is completely destroyed - it was on Severn Ave in Metarie, in the heart of the flooded region of Jefferson Parish. They also ran out of cash to pay for the hotel, and I believe the Red Cross is helping them now.
My aunt and her two daughters (both in school) are safely in Orlando for a few months at least. They haven't seen their house yet, and there is a good chance either everything they own has taken water damage or been looted. Their home is in central Metarie as well.
I have not heard anything at all about my grandfather or my other aunt who lives in the area. I don't think anyone in my family has heard from them either.
There are other family members and freinds of family who are still unaccounted for. Many or all might be alright, but with the communication and cash problems, it is very hard finding anything out.
One thing that is making it very hard for the evacuees is the loss of banking systems. New Orleans residents are very supportive of local companies, including banks. Most checking accounts are with local establishments such as Whitney Bank, which is effectively out of commission now. Luckily some people had blank checks when they evacuated and are able to open new accounts in their refuge region using that. Not everyone brought their checkbooks or debit cards though.
I have heard a few people speaking out that "the people who didnt evacuate dont deserve help". First of all, if you had ever been to that city you would know that many inner-city residents simply do not own vehicles. They didn't need them, and had no place to park them. They couldn't leave. Not to mention the fact that there were a million residents there... it is nearly impossible to evacuate a million people in just a few days.
I have also heard suggestions that "we shouldn't pay to rebuild that city - it's under sea level". New Orleans is one of the most historic cities in this country, there is invaluable and unreplaceable history there. Plus - we have earthquakes in California, so I guess everyone should move away from there too? And scientists predict that every few hundred years a massive earthquake strikes the tennessee valley, big enough to flatten Atlanta among other cities... I suppose we should all relocate from there too? What about the subcoastal ledge off the Atlantic coast that could collapse any day now and send a 50-foot tsunami through downtown Manhattan? Every city has it's Achille's Heel, it just happens that New Orleans' luck ran out this time.
In the meantime, I get to keep wondering which of my family will get to spend a few months as guests in my home.
Update 9/8:
My mother finally got a call through. She is back home, and amazingly little damage to her house (mostly debris damage). Her car was parked on the 1st floor of a downtown parking garage though, in an area where the water supposedly was up to the second floor... so that's probably a total loss. They won't let anyone into the city itself right now though, so she can't actually check it.
A friend of my aunt checked on her house - and by some miracle it did not take any water nor has it been looted yet. That whole neighborhood was under water according to Google, but apparently this house was on some type of ridge. They won't be able to return for a few months though, and the schools there are closed until next year, so now they will be staying temporarily in Orlando.
It turns out my grandfather and other aunt rode out the storm at home - and their homes made it through as well. I am sure this scared the heck out of them though, and maybe next time they will heed the evacuation warnings.
A few other relatives and friends of family have lost their homes, vehicles, livelyhood, or all of the above. They are all staying with relatives who have taken them in. Everyone is now accounted for though at least, which is good.
My stepfather is the only one we haven't heard from since shortly after the storm hit, but we assume he is out of harms way (most likely still in Houston). We haven't gotten any calls through yet to him, but have no reason to think he isnt doing OK now.
What a mess this situation has turned out to be.
Update 9/10:
Finally heard from my stepfather, he is currently in Baton Rouge and waiting for Jefferson Parish to re-open, but he is OK. His apartment is in bad shape, but he thinks that only the basic furniture was ruined - he managed to get the expensive stuff out or placed above the waterline.