Radified Community Forums - KATRINA: The Angel of Death stalks the Big Easy

El_Pescador

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Re: KATRINA: The Angel of Death stalks the Big Eas
Reply #15 - Sep 5^th, 2005 at 2:21pm

Rad wrote on Sep 5^th, 2005 at 3:25am:

"... Glad you are alive..."

Perhaps I am alive, but I never realized that the moment would occur in my life when I would envy the dead. I doubt there will be any time for avocation or enjoyment for me well into the unforeseeable future.

thorin wrote on Sep 5^th, 2005 at 9:38am:

"... William Golding's 'Lord of the Flies'... Please be prudent... one bed & airconditioning a little west of you..."

Great minds must think alike, for I independently arrived at the "Lord of the Flies" analogy while walking through the ruins of Slidell early in the afermath.

As to being prudent, my 4x4 Toyota truck has been the only conveyance of potable water and bag ice able to make it into my stricken neighborhood. If my truck breaks down or I become physically dysfunctional in any fashion, those armed citizens providing the only security thereabouts may in deep trouble. All their vehicles are disabled, and even though MREs, ice, and water are available five miles to the east it may as well be five hundred miles. Logistics is the bitch - you can send all the relief supplies imaginable, but those last five miles are where things choke up.

On a scale of 1-to-10 for suffering, deprivation, and a bleak future my family is registering roughly 0.35 - but I know of others in the community hitting 9.75 or higher. To genuinely care for me and mine, go in my name about the Dallas vicinity to find a refugee mother with small children whose menfolk stayed to face the storm. Offer them a shower, home laundry service, a home-cooked meal, and a night of comfort with safety.

David_L6 wrote on Sep 5^th, 2005 at 10:10am:

"... glad to hear you are OK..."

Alive and kicking, yes; OK, no.

NightOwl wrote on Sep 5^th, 2005 at 11:34am:

"... wonderful to see your posting... I do not envy the *hell* that all in that region are facing.

Imagine the worst, then multiply it tenfold. I spent a lifetime learning and then practicing a profession as a marine biologist to manage, enhance, and preserve the commercial fishing industry along the Gulf Coast - and while many of my former constituents are dead or dying, the remainder are facing a future impacted by devastation that is positively off-the-scale.

EP

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Rad

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	Re: KATRINA: The Angel of Death stalks the Big Eas Reply #16 - Sep 5^th, 2005 at 3:07pm When did you leave?
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David_L6

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Re: KATRINA: The Angel of Death stalks the Big Eas
Reply #17 - Sep 6^th, 2005 at 11:53am

Is there anything that I can do? I am off for a couple more days (go back to work Friday). If you think the police will let me in the area, I can go to Sam's Club, Wal-Mart, grocery store, etc. and pick up some supplies for you and bring them down. Like 4 or 5 of those big 120 quart ice chests filled with ice, bottled water, samich meat

,..... whatever you need.

Just let me know if I can do anything.

David

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El_Pescador

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Re: KATRINA: The Angel of Death stalks the Big Eas
Reply #18 - Sep 6^th, 2005 at 1:46pm

Rad wrote on Sep 5^th, 2005 at 3:07pm:

"... When did you leave?...

I left Sunday night in high winds to ride out the storm at my daughter's place north of Interstate 12 a little west of my home on the south side. Incredible wind damage over there, but no flooding other than the river bridges being overtopped by swiftwater. All other conditions pretty much as described earlier.

Serious looting going on north of Lake Pontchartrain by Central American gangs. I had a personal encounter when I stopped to help a band of them who I mistakenly thought were broken down and stranded, but they declined my offer of compressed air, ice and water from the cargo I was ferrying in from Baton Rouge. They were impressed by such generosity from a gringo El Viejo I suppose, and I managed to drive away unscathed. While offering to assist a disaster relief organization last night, the topic came up and the supervisor said that by his estimation over 100 goblins have been terminated with extreme prejudice but such political incorrectness will forever remain urban legend whether factual or not because nobody is talking - and never will. Our crabs, crawfish and catfish are continuing to grow fatter with each passing day, and now I understand why most Coast Guardsmen are reluctant to dine on crustaceans or scavenger fish.

David_L6 wrote on Sep 6^th, 2005 at 11:53am:

"... Just let me know if I can do anything..."

Bring chainsaws and a stouthearted friend for just one long hard day to cut up a beautiful old pecan tree uprooted in my back yard (and while you are at it, clear the rest of the yard when cutting up the small tree lying on top of my bassboat). With an empty pickup truck bed and some sort of trailer, you can carry a good load of some of the best 'cooking wood' there is back to America (i.e., west of the Amite River) which will ease my sorrow to know it will not be wasted.

EP

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	Re: KATRINA: The Angel of Death stalks the Big Eas Reply #19 - Sep 6^th, 2005 at 2:32pm Fascinating to hear accounts from somebody who actually lives there.
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Re: KATRINA: The Angel of Death stalks the Big Eas
Reply #20 - Sep 6^th, 2005 at 3:37pm

El_Pescador wrote on Sep 6^th, 2005 at 1:46pm:

Bring chainsaws and a stouthearted friend for just one long hard day to cut up a beautiful old pecan tree uprooted in my back yard (and while you are at it, clear the rest of the yard when cutting up the small tree lying on top of my bassboat). With an empty pickup truck bed and some sort of trailer, you can carry a good load of some of the best 'cooking wood' there is back to America (i.e., west of the Amite River) which will ease my sorrow to know it will not be wasted.

EP

I can go buy a chainsaw, but I'll have to come down alone. If you're serious, call me (collect is OK) or e-mail me. I'll PM my number and address to you.

The wood stays there though. Not interested in hauling a truck load of wood back up here that I wouldn't use. Wink

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	Re: KATRINA: The Angel of Death stalks the Big Eas Reply #21 - Sep 6^th, 2005 at 4:00pm That wood would be valuable. You should call a lumberyard. I bet they would come get it and pay you a pretty penny for it. They would also cut it so as best to preserve its value.
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El_Pescador

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Re: KATRINA: The Angel of Death stalks the Big Eas
Reply #22 - Sep 7^th, 2005 at 1:41am

David_L6 wrote on Sep 6^th, 2005 at 3:37pm:

"... I can go buy a chainsaw, but I'll have to come down alone. If you're serious, call me (collect is OK) or e-mail me. I'll PM my number and address to you..."

Many local seven-digit phone calls are impossible in Baton Rouge, and almost no toll calls nor toll-free calls can be made out of here. Both wired and wireless telephone systems are positively overwhelmed. Remarkably, eMail has become the only reliable method of communication for southeast Louisiana since the US Mail is not being distributed - you have to go pick it up at your local Post Office in the unlikely event that it is even open.

I drove up a major thoughfare today for four miles to file a claim with Allstate - it took almost two hours up and way over an hour back. The Allstate mobile unit was overwhelmed and could accept no more applicants today, so I went shopping at Home Depot for relaxation - bought ninety dollars worth of HD plastic bags to dispose of watersoaked possessions at curbside.

Too late to work out anything this week. Right now, my only concerns are my two rat terriers - Cingular Wireless called my middle daughter back to work in Covington - so now I am the only caregiver extant in Louisiana for them as the tomcat in her dwelling is totally intolerant of canines. My medical and prescription insurance was terminated due to a SNAFU of some kind two days before Katrina, my MDs office and the publicly-owned hospital across the street went under 8 feet of water so as to be offline indefinitely, and I have not seen a pair of socks that belong to me for the last ten days.

EP

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Re: KATRINA: The Angel of Death stalks the Big Eas
Reply #23 - Sep 7^th, 2005 at 4:16pm

Hi El Pescador. Thanks to David L6 who posted at the Outhose I've been able to track you down. I'm so very sorry for what has happened. It's diificult to read the papers without choking up. I read this morning that the Vancouver Search and Rescue Crew just returned after a week in The Big Easy and were reluctant to talk about what they experienced other than to say it's far worse than photo's, reporters or television can convey. Ickie started a donation site at the Outhouse for donations to the Red Cross and I gave what I could. I wish I could do more as this is just heartbreaking. Cry

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Re: KATRINA: The Angel of Death stalks the Big Eas
Reply #24 - Sep 8^th, 2005 at 5:11pm

membrain wrote on Sep 7^th, 2005 at 4:16pm:

"... I read this morning that the Vancouver Search and Rescue Crew just returned after a week in The Big Easy and were reluctant to talk about what they experienced other than to say it's far worse than photo's, reporters or television can convey..."

To reiterate an earlier remark, I never thought I would see the day when the dead were to be envied. There are still folks stranded south of Lake Pontchartrain - some have committed suicide out of despair when day after day their waterborne rescuers come into sight only to retire under gunfire from the goblins. All of my former agency's technical people were ordered withdrawn early on, and only the law enforcement branch is left onscene with instructions to avoid combat. Prior to evacuation, thugs with assault rifles essentially commandeered the Superdome under the noses of outmanned and outgunned city and state police ordered to avoid confrontation at all costs. 'Lord of the Flies' pales to the order of college-boy pranks, but rumor has it that as long as the news media can be held in abeyance

'DeGuello'

has finally been sounded. We will never know for sure in our lifetime, and it may forever remain myth.

EP

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Re: KATRINA: The Angel of Death stalks the Big Eas
Reply #25 - Sep 8^th, 2005 at 6:44pm

El_Pescador

Quote:

To reiterate an earlier remark, I never thought I would see the day when the dead were to be envied. There are still folks stranded south of Lake Pontchartrain -

some have committed suicide out of despair

Are you *okay*? I know things are not good in that part of the world--but do you have family or friends for *moral support*?

I literally started crying when I posted the above--I wish I could give you a hug.

No question is stupid...but, possibly the answers are Wink

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(This is an old *NightOwl* user account--not in current use. Current account is NightOwl without a dash at the end.)

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	Re: KATRINA: The Angel of Death stalks the Big Eas Reply #26 - Sep 9^th, 2005 at 4:16am Checking in. More hugs from the West coast. Watching the news with great interest. Seems like a nightmare.
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El_Pescador

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Re: KATRINA: The Angel of Death stalks the Big Eas
Reply #27 - Sep 9^th, 2005 at 12:44pm

Rad wrote on Sep 9^th, 2005 at 4:16am:

"... Watching the news with great interest..."

This is all quite ironic, actually. For days, a battery-powered AM radio was my only source for news coverage of Katrina. When I crossed the border into the Zone of Normality west of the Amite River, there was scant time to watch TV after I crashed, then restocked and resumed ferrying potable water and ice back into St. Tammany Parish - Louisiana counterpart to county - with my Toyota 4x4 pickup (regrettably, in accordance with Murphy's Law, the A/C in my truck died while on the road). While most Americans have had around-the-clock TV coverage of the disaster, I have seen very little of it. What I miss most of all is reading the comic strips in the New Orleans Times-Picayune at breakfast time. I don't know if it is even being printed anymore.

It has been a very long time since I have seen the 'thousand-yard stare', but when resupplying at the Wal-Mart Super Centers (now reopening with generator-powered electricity) I can spot it now and again. The absolute lack of disaster-profiteering is very commendable. Prices for some storm-related supplies and equipment are rock-bottom at Home Depot and Sam's Club, and I have seen no gouging at all beyond brief gasoline price spikes which have since been rescinded.
Quote:

DISPATCH TO TRAPPER

Coonasses are resilient and not easily quashed.

Quote:

DISPATCH TO DAVID_L6

Team of retirees from ICRR coming down from McComb, MS at dawn SAT to clear trees and gut house.

Armed US Marines now patrolling neighborhood around-the-clock handing out canned water, ice and MREs. Things looking up.

EP

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	Re: KATRINA: The Angel of Death stalks the Big Eas Reply #28 - Sep 9^th, 2005 at 4:02pm Good deal Pesky. Thanks for the update.
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Re: KATRINA: The Angel of Death stalks the Big Eas
Reply #29 - Sep 9^th, 2005 at 4:03pm

El_Pescador wrote on Sep 8^th, 2005 at 5:11pm:

'Lord of the Flies' pales to the order of college-boy pranks, but rumor has it that as long as the news media can be held in abeyance

'DeGuello'

has finally been sounded. We will never know for sure in our lifetime, and it may forever remain myth.

EP

I hope the Goblins get what they deserve!! Sorry to hear about your Pecan Tree, I know from personal experience how aperson can become attched to a beautiful old tree. It breaks my heart to hear you've got to gut your house. This catastrophe beggars the imagination.

The Times-Picayune is printing again. Their on-line edition is at: http://www.nola.com/t-p/ From what I understand this was the only way desperate folks could get word out about their situation by posting there for quite some time.

You're in my thoughts and prayers. (I guess Katrina was my 'Foxhole'). Cry

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