Steve, Edna -- check in if ya can....

Ya know how Mom worries.... the hot dogs just won't taste too good till I know my chickens are safe.

Hugs BD

Barb,
Don't know how Steve and Edna are (should be fine at this point), but they are running poor Jimbo crazy.  Between phone conferences and meetings, they're running him ragged.  

Shelters start opening tomorrow.  You can't book a hotel room anywhere in Monroe, Natchez or numerous other places.  I think they are going to start the contraflow out of New Orleans on Saturday.  Gov. Jindal has already declared a state of emergency and there are 3,000 National Guardsman activated (he said that there would NOT be another repeat of post-Katrina).

AND, there's a new kid on the block, Tropical Storm Hanna!  Hopefully, she'll just fizzle out (she's out in teh Atlantic and looks to head up the east coast).

C'est la vie!

Carolyn

Ready Mom.

Sis arrived here tonight to bring Mom and Dad back with her to Georgia tomorrow. Got plenty of fuel. The generator and chainsaw are ready. Food and water stocked. And, since I recently went out of cycle,...plenty of beer.

Still have things to do but I'm going to see how it tracks. If we have to evacuate we may just go to the Smoky Mountains and hike.

If you're interested Delta, PM me. I'd like Jimbo to have my cell number in case he's down here and needs something.

Edna?

Thanks Barb.

Steve G

Funny thing; how I was thinking of you guys and knowing I needed to "check in" with the family.

Certainly do not want to see anywhere near a repeat of Katrina; but I do believe Gustav is on his way for a visit very near here.

Family is taken care of here; property being secured; necessities bought.

Now is just the wait on evacuation orders; spoke to our parish president today while out to lunch and she said Saturday will be the tell all day here for us.

So, am OK for now.

thanks for checking on us "mom";


Steve - be well and wishing you the best (OH, and great news on the cycle being over)

Delta, you and Jim be well and safe too.



hugs,
EDNA

Not sure where y'all are located, but the contraflow will probably start around midday on Saturday.

Gustav needs to go away!  Jimbo was on the phone/Blackberry/computer last night until almost 10.  Today, he has to make a trip to LA Tech (university) to tell them that the Feds will be taking over their gym for a critical needs shelter.  He'll spend most of today and probably the rest of the weekend setting up the Special Needs Shelter in the coliseum of our local university (did I mention that he does not get overtime for all this extra time?  He gets what is called *K* leave-if he works *x* amount of hours, he gets the same amount as leave, which really doesn't do shit for him, considering that between annual and sick leave, he has 34 months accumulated).

Think I'll have generator to the house and put it on the front porch, just in case we get storms this far up.  There are no hotel rooms left anywhere close.  One would have to start looking at Little Rock or Memphis now.

:(

Any Clusterheads needing shelter -- the farm is open and headache ready  -- Edna you and Steve know you're welcome (animals also) ... And Carolyn you know the way if you get flooded. And ya'll know I mean it....

Hugs BD

BarbaraD wrote on Aug 29^th, 2008 at 10:54am:

Any Clusterheads needing shelter -- the farm is open and headache ready  --

PLEASE, Gustav, GO AWAY!!!

Don't force any clusterhead to have to stoop so low as having to accept Barb's invite!!!  Don't they suffer enough, just having clusters?

Chuck

BarbaraD wrote on Aug 29^th, 2008 at 10:54am:

And Carolyn you know the way if you get flooded. And ya'll know I mean it.... Hugs BD

Barb,
Thanks, but if we get flooded where we live, won't be going anywhere, because the rest of Louisiana will have been wiped off the face of the earth!

Praying for all of you.Please keep checking in folks.

Svenn

Does anyone remember why they orignally named hurricanes after women?  Because the f*ckers are so damned unpredicatable.  Here's the latest prediction model from Weather Underground

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According to NOAA, Gustav is now a Cat 3 with a central pressure of 965 millibars (as the intensity of the storm increases, millibars drop).  Max sustained winds are 95 KT (104.9 MPH) with gusts up to 115 KT (132.5 MPH).

Look here for info on what this storm *could* become.

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As of this morning, all special needs and critical needs patients are being evacuated from the coast of LA (the whole damned coast, not part of it).  Jimbo's feet hit the floor at 6 this morning and he was on the phone before he got his first cup of coffee.  He's gone now and no telling when I'll see him again (at least he's *here* and not down south).

This could all turn out to be for nought.  Don't know if any of you remember Hurricane Lily, but the night before she was supposed to hit around Lake Charles, she was waffling between a CAT 4 and 5.  Got up the next morning and the bottom had fallen out, she was a CAT 1 and came in around New Iberia.  She was still a bad storm and we had 60 mph winds up here, 200 miles from the coast, trees down and electricity lost.

Generator's ready, all I have to do is go get some gas to fill it.  I'll be checking my oil lamps later on today.

Ain't life grand?

Nagin ordered mandatory evacuations for visitors, beginning at 8:00 this morning.

Nagin is a "Cone of Uncertainty".

Steve G

Don't care for Nagin either.  From the pictures that I've seen, it does look like *some* people are evacuating.  Do these people in New Orleans not realize that if New Orleans even gets an indirect blow, that the levees won't hold?  

You can see from this pic that Gustav is probably going to hit the central part of the coastline of LA.

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OF course, Gustav is now a Cat 4 hurricane, with 150 mph winds (sustained) with a central pressure of 942 millibars.  And it hasn't even hit the *warm* spot in the Gulf yet.

Hopefully Jimbo will be home around 8 tonight and then he can get some sleep, turn around and repeat.

Carloyn,
I'm sure you probably have pretty good info available but these sites are dynamite.

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Keep safe, It looks like NO may not get the direct hit but these things way to unpredictable, especially 3-5 days out.
Been there done that to many times to count and I don't envy you looking down the barrel.

Thanks Karma.  I use NOAA and weather underground for most of my storm tracking.

Hope Gustav misses the warm water loop in the Gulf.

The coastal parishes are under mandatory evacuations now.

Gov. Jindal has ordered 30 school districts closed at least until Thursday, "SECTION 1: The following thirty (30) school districts will suspend classes for Tuesday, September 2, 2008, and Wednesday, September 3, 2008: Avoyelles, Bienville, Bossier, Caddo, Caldwell, Catahoula, Claiborne, Concordia, DeSoto, East Baton Rouge, East Carroll, Franklin, Grant, Jackson, LaSalle, Lincoln, Madison, Morehouse, Natchitoches, Ouachita, Rapides, Red River, Richland, Sabine, Tensas, Union, Vernon, Webster, West Carroll, and Winn."

I do hope the *people* who choose to ride Gustav out, don't get into too much of a bind, because there will be no shelters in New Orleans or immediate rescue operations.

Got a PM from Steve Geebee.   They have evacuated, per mandatory orders from the governor.

See y'all later.  Headed to northern Georgia.

I'll be in touch.  

Steve G

I can't begin to imagine what you all are going thru right now but we are all wishing and hoping that everyone stays safe.

We get some nasty nor'easter storms here on the east coast but nothing like the force that this hurricane is packin'.

I know you are all busy but when you have a chance, please check in with us to let us know that you are okay.

If there is anything we can do to help, don't hesitate to ask.

Haven't been good about prayin the last few yrs.  But...sending em your way. This looks terrible - again! Wishing you all the best and praying for everyone's safety!

just checking in on a friend's computer

Have evacuated; am in Arkansas, my cell has no service; waiting now and safe

Barb; I left a voice mail for you from my sister's cell that does have service off and on

Prayers needed now for all of us; will keep in touch and hopefuly we're all spared major devastation


thanks for the thoughts,

EDNA

Hoping that everybody gets to see something incredibly boring when it comes to Gustav. Hold on and stay safe.

Charlie

Things do NOT look pretty, on the weather channel!

Edna and Steve, VERY glad to hear that you two, at least, will be safe.

Mega prayers heading to the affected area ...

Chuck

Ok, heard from Edna and Steve (ok I'm a little late - they already posted) and they're ok - Steve's on the way to GA and Edna's in AR.

This just struck me as funny (not ha ha but funny). During Katrina we were searching the globe for these two (remember?) - so communications HAVE improved! We found them after several days, but it was a nightmare not KNOWING... I think they got the message AFTER we found them and decided that WE CARE.

Relatives in Houma have gotten out (except for cousins who are nurses and we're in contact with them - Danny(cousin) was in NO during Katrina and was one of the "last"ones out - He's not happy about staying, but says "he's needed", so....

Daughter-in-law called yesterday and said no gas or food in Shreveport (shelters full). Told son to BRING FOOD home with him. Looks like Gustav is going to do a lot of damage inland as well (flooding etc).

Right now, I'd say if anyone has any prayers handy - it's about time to start saying them.... There's several million people who could use some help from the Man Upstairs....

Hugs BD

BarbaraD wrote on Sep 1^st, 2008 at 7:49am:

Right now, I'd say if anyone has any prayers handy - it's about time to start saying them.... There's several million people who could use some help from the Man Upstairs....

JEEZE!!!

What the bejeebers do you think I HAVE been doing, you cranky old broad!!!

SHEESH ... ... ...  wimminz!!!

To all in need of them, regardless of what the old battle axe says, MEGA prayers headed your way!!!

Chuck

I heard on the news Shreveport was full with the shelters.  You all just watch out for tornadic activity too!!  Don't need anyone in Oz unless they want to be. ;)

You won't believe it, but up here at the farm the sun is shinning... not a cloud in the sky (of course this is Texas and that could change in 5 minutes.... and probably will - according to my knees and head!).

Heard from a friend in Houston this morning and it hasn't started raining there either (yet). They're expecting flooding there soon...

I think we're all glued to the TV today. It hit at a Cat 2 so it's not as "bad" as expected but bad enough. Keep the prayers up...

Hugs BD

On CNN.....Industrial Canal in N.O. looks a bit iffy.  Fingers crossed on this one.

Also, here's a good link to follow local news coverage.

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Watching this carefully.

You folks keep your heads down, and report back when you can...okay?  We worry.  

All the best,

George

All the major shelters in North LA are full at this point, BUT, if needed, other places can open shelters.  

It's 10:15 and Jimbo's still asleep.  He got in about 3:30 this morning (after pulling a 21 hour shift).  Well, make that *was* asleep.  I can hear him stirring.  Got his coffee made and now he's outside on his phone (probably his blackberry too).

It's cloudy and windy here, but it's not from Gustav.  We probably won't get anything from him as they are indicating it is tracking NNW.  Now if Tropical storm hanna will just go ahead and die an early death, all will be well.

I haven't been hearing much on Hanna -- what's the latest on her? That WILL be bad if she picks up right behind.

Still glued to the TV, but they're just saying the same things over and over.... Any news - let us know... Get that boy some coffee and find out what you can...

Hugs BD

Well, I missed the time.  Jimbo said that he got in about 4:30 this morning.  It's 11:41 am here and he's gone again.  Don't even know if he will make it home for supper tonight.

Still don't know if the critical needs shelter (supposed to be run by CDC) is up and running.  The special needs shelters are at capacity.  All shelters here are at capacity and they are looking at opening up more.

They are experiencing the *winds* in Baton Rouge now.  The winds are gusting here and I live a pretty far piece from Baton Rouge.

Well, had to call Jimbo back to check the generator.  I haven't used this one before, so he had to show me how to crank it (and make sure it would crank).

So, come hell or high water (and where I live, there ain't no flooding), I'm ready.  Generator's ready to go, heavy duty power cords are on the porch and oil lamps are full with trimmed wicks.

Barb,
TS Hanna is still out in the Atlantic (and believe it or not, there are several other *hotspots* out there, just waiting to grow up!

Go to this page and you can track Hanna, although it looks like she'll come in somewhere around the Georgia/South Carolina coast (of course you can never tell until it's much closer to land).

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This page shows where the other *hotspots* are.

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Here is the storm track for Gustav (doen't look like we'll get much, maybe a little rain and some wind).

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Well, we *escaped* this time around!  Some wind damage up here (*we* didn't have any) and now we're under a flash flood warning.

Jimbo got home about 11:00 last night and now he gets to turn around and do it all over again.  His duties won't ease up until the Special Needs Shelters are shut down and the last refugee sent home.

Unfortunately, Tropical Storm Ike is projected to come across Cuba and end up in the Gulf.  AND, drum roll please, there are two more storms brewing out in the Atlantic.

At least it looks like we're *safe* from Hanna, but the people in Georgia/South Carolina are in her sights.

It's barly sprinkling here this morning. So far the rains have missed us. The radar is showing storms in Texarkana (about 40 miles N of here) but they're going right over us (so far).

The deer were out at the feeder this morning and didn't seem the least bit disturbed so I can't really figure out what's gonna happen around here. Strange weather....

Oh well - it's Texas - could change in 5 miutes... we'll just have to see...

Hugs BD

Back home.  

Thanks for the vibes.  No damage.  

Went back into cycle Monday night. I thought stress was not a cycle trigger.  Oh well..

Thanks again.

Any word from Edna?

Steve G