Hurricane Gustav

[SFL Cat]

Originally Posted by Alan T

I lived in Georgia for 21 years and barely remember any Hurricanes or tropical storms that hit Georgia. They always seem to either break west and attack Florida, or they tend to get pulled up the coast and go either out to the Atlantic more, or end up hitting further north such as Charleston or such.

The last track I saw had it taking a really hard northern turn and heading up to Georgia. I'm thinking you might be right and that it breaks west and hits either central or northern Florida.

[RPI-Fan]

How come all of the news outlets are ignoring the fact that in the last 3 hours G's track is much more northerly. Even if it goes back to the northwest, the northerly jog would put it almost square onto New Orleans?

[SFL Cat]

I've read New Orleans has been pretty much been evacuated. Is that not true?

[Eaglesfan27]

New Orleans is estimated to be about 90% evacuated, but I wonder how good those estimates are.

In any case, everyone is settling down for sleep here. We are supposed to start getting tropical force winds in Prairieville at 3:00 AM tonight and hurricane force winds starting around 8 or 9 PM if it holds the most recent track projection. Not sure if I'll have power when I wake up tomorrow, but if I do I'll post an update.

So far, other than one nasty band around 8:30 PM, it has been a quiet night, at least weather wise.

[SFL Cat]

Good luck.

[Lathum]

gl 27 and doug and anyone else

[PurdueBrad]

All you guys that are down there, good luck.

[Arles]

Wow, the news just showed a split screen of Bourbon Street the night before during Katrina and tonight. In the first, people were drinking, walking around and all the bars/restaurants seemed open. In the second, it looked like a ghost town with only a few police showing up.

No matter what happens, kudos to the state for taking this seriously and limiting the impact before it begins.

[Tigercat]

The last numbers I heard was 2.2 million estimated evacuated.

To reduce the number of possible casualties, a landfall in St. Mary's parish is probably one of the best places a hurricane can landfall in the state. If the storm isn't going to just do a uturn away from land, which we can only hope for, the projected path would be relatively lucky.

I just hope those millions that evacuated don't stay next time if they aren't affected by this storm.

[Doug5984]

Well we still have power, cable, direct tv (just to show all those nay sayers- it does work in the rain). Cranking the AC down now in to prepare for losing power. Looks like it never really strengthened up like they said it was going to which is a very good thing.

[Eaglesfan27]

I just woke up and am surprised to see everyone in the house is still sleeping. We still have power and DirecTV as well although the HD channels are spotty. We are getting winds of 30-50 MPH right now and it is expected to intensify throughout the morning and afternoon with sustained winds being in the hurricane force range this afternoon. So far, everything is good here.

[Flasch186]

hang in there fearless leader.

[Honolulu_Blue]

Good luck, EF.

[DaddyTorgo]

GL EF & Doug & anyone else or relatives! Hoping for a best-case scenario.

[Buccaneer]

It's not looking too bad at the moment. Only minor flooding, wind damage in the NO area. There is a concern about the water going over the Industrial Canal levees but no breeches. We don't know about the Houma area but there are some patrols out and they are able to get around. The oil platforms and ports seem to be ok, as oil prices are going back down.

[Buccaneer]

The lake level is lower than the outflow canals so water is going into the lake (i.e., away from the city). There are power outages everywhere but a lot of generators are also running.

[Pumpy Tudors]

Good luck to everyone down there. I'm hoping that you're all safe, and I'm hoping that some members of my family will have homes to return to.

[Cringer]

Glad to see this thing continued to weaken down to a 2 over night. Still a hurricane but any weakening is a good thing. Hope all goes well. Dolly was about the same so I know it can still cause damage.

[Doug5984]

Watching all the footage on WDSU, which is out of new orleans but streaming on Direct TV. Everything appears to be doing well, some overflow over the levee, but its holding up. They really do need to raise those, and do a better job- no reason no to.

Here in Lafayette the wind is picking up a little, a little rain- but nothing major- we have afternoon thunderstorms worse than this right now. I know the eye will be approaching here in about 2 hours, but so far it is very easy going. Hope I will be able to still say that in about 4 hours.

[DaddyTorgo]

Originally Posted by Doug5984

Watching all the footage on WDSU, which is out of new orleans but streaming on Direct TV. Everything appears to be doing well, some overflow over the levee, but its holding up. They really do need to raise those, and do a better job- no reason no to.

Here in Lafayette the wind is picking up a little, a little rain- but nothing major- we have afternoon thunderstorms worse than this right now. I know the eye will be approaching here in about 2 hours, but so far it is very easy going. Hope I will be able to still say that in about 4 hours.

Doug - didn't realize you were in Lafayette - my dad grew up there, and my mother+brother just passed through last month!

[duckman]

I'll be damn. Oil prices fell when Gustav hit.

[claphamsa]

apparently Gustav has passed over NO now..... and is losing strenght with no water... hopefully it dies out quick!

[terpkristin]

Originally Posted by claphamsa

apparently Gustav has passed over NO now..... and is losing strenght with no water... hopefully it dies out quick!

Unfortunately with Hannah behind it and newly named storm Ike out there, too.

My bro, sister-in-law, and nephew made it safely to Austin. When they got there, they said that they don't intend on living in NOLA again (they evacuated after Katrina and lived in Arkansas for awhile before moving back to NOLA last November/December). I wonder if that's something said in the heat of the moment, though.

/tk

[claphamsa]

I think hannah is supposed to come further north... into NC area.

[Buccaneer]

Looks like the last bands are coming through Slidell and NO. After that, it's a matter of keeping all that water back and out.

[Buccaneer]

In total, almost 2 million residents evacuated the Louisiana coast, but some in New Orleans opted to brave the storm.

"It really didn't look as vicious as, obviously, Katrina did," Jack Bosma said. Watch gales batter home, reporter »

He said the wind scattered his back gate across his yard, but his power was on, and neighbors had been congregating on his porch.

"It's really, quite honestly, basically, just like a bad storm. It doesn't seem that drastic at all," he said.

That will prevent about 500,000 people from evacuating next time.

[rowech]

Originally Posted by Buccaneer

That will prevent about 500,000 people from evacuating next time.

Yep....I said the same thing. Everybody called this so big and bad and not to say it won't hurt, but obviously nothing like what could have happened and now, people will stay and fight it out next time.

[miami_fan]

Having lived in Florida most of my life, this is and has been a standard quote in every storm. To be honest, I said exactly the same thing a couple of weeks ago when Fay was rumbling towards my area. Of course that was after I had prepared to leave, check the weather reports, and realized that we were only scheduled to receive about 4 inches of rain with winds that were less than we had turning a thunderstorm the week before.

I realize there is a fine line that has to be walked when forecasting and covering storms such as this. I just wish we could find the right balance between not taking it seriously at all and making every storm "the storm of the century"

But sadly yes, thousands of people will not evacuate the next time based on the results of this one.

[JW]

Eagles Fan, you there?

I know the national media story is that there is no Gustav story since the Industrial Canal flood wall in New Orleans did not breach. But that is so far from the truth. Lots of serious damage all over the state.

I live in the northeastern corner of the state and we had 40-50 mph gusts last night and are still having lots of rain. A big tree branch is laying on top of a stand-alone carport at the end of my driveway. Fortunately it is the leafy part of a huge branch from a neighbor's oak tree,so the carport held and it didn't fall on my wife's Jeep underneath it.

Three houses down is a house with some visible roof damage. The ridge cover at the top of the roof has been ripped up.

19k people in my parish (county) alone had no power this morning. And 66k throughout northeast LA. Lots of trees down, roads closed, damage.

And we are just on the edge of Gustav. People in south central Louisiana suffered extensive damage from Gustav.

And right now what is left of Gustav is over the Shreveport area. This hurricane affected the entire state. The whole thing.

Best wishes to all who were in the path of Gustav.

[Doug5984]

Lost power at my house, rode out the storm at my parents house on the other side of town. We lost direct tv signal for about 5 minutes, but that is all.

My side of town, lots of branches down- quite a few trees down, some trees on houses. But all in all, I'd say we are lucky this storm never developed into what they thought it would. I'll be letting my yard dry up today, but tomorrow I'll pick up sticks, put my stuff back where it goes- cut the grass, and we'll be good as new. That is the case for most people, but not all.

I find it quite amazing how quickly people pick up after a storm like this- driving around town, it seems like almost everyone has already picked up their front yards, neatly stacked the limbs at the rode for the city to pick up. And a fresh cut on the lawn.

And great news new orleans was good, for the most part- and they will be hosting the Saints game this weekend.

[JW]

Severe damage in Baton Rouge among other areas. Some people in Baton Rouge will likely be without power for up to three weeks. St. Francisville also got hit hard. It looks like the east side of the eye took it really bad as it came in.

[Doug5984]

Originally Posted by JW

Severe damage in Baton Rouge among other areas. Some people in Baton Rouge will likely be without power for up to three weeks. St. Francisville also got hit hard. It looks like the east side of the eye took it really bad as it came in.

My hunting camp is in St Francisville, as the storm originally looked like it was going to go straight up Vermillion Bay I was planning on evacuating to St Francisville, glad I didn't go that way.
Yeah I heard Baton Rouge had been hit pretty hard, here in Lafayette they are trying to get power back to everyone in the city by tonight, which to me is simply amazing they can even shoot for that.

[Buccaneer]

Originally Posted by JW

Eagles Fan, you there?

+1

[JW]

Now we are having flash flooding in Monroe. Media is describing it as "massive." It isn't massive, but it is the most I've ever seen. Lots of low areas flooded, cars drowned, water in houses and apartments. We're mostly flat so I'm not talking about deep water, but two-three feet of water in low places is enough. We just had a deluge for several hours, got caught up in one of the rain bands and it was tracking right over us for a while.

[Pumpy Tudors]

My mom and sister evacuated from Gretna (right across the Mississippi River from New Orleans) and went up to Natchez, MS. They lost power in Natchez, and now they're heading elsewhere for a few days until they can return to Gretna. *sigh*

[Doug5984]

It seems the rain really hit hard a little more inland, we hardly saw any rain in lafayette. My backyard typically floods on one side a few inches deep in a good afternoon thunderstorm and there was no water at all yesterday, or today.

For those wondering about EF, there are a lot of power outages around Louisiana (from what I heard 14 of 14 main lines are down that feed the outer areas around BR, they really need to strengthen those, no reason for all 14 to fall in a cat 3 hurricane)

[stevew]

Originally Posted by JW

Severe damage in Baton Rouge among other areas. Some people in Baton Rouge will likely be without power for up to three weeks. St. Francisville also got hit hard. It looks like the east side of the eye took it really bad as it came in.

I really hope that EF27 merely lost power, and that nothing seriously bad happened. I think all the rest of the dudes in the region have checked in, or am i missing someone?

[LloydLungs]

Originally Posted by Buccaneer

That will prevent about 500,000 people from evacuating next time.

I think what's really going to prevent evacuations next time is that the parish governments were very heavy-handed about not allowing people back into the parishes to return home/inspect their property after the storm. Their justification for this was that there was no power restored, sewerage was dicey in some areas, and people would be living in very uncomfortable conditions (and I know they didn't want to deal with locals complaining to them about lack of electricity). But sending out state troopers to restrict people from returning to their homes on that basis is a very shaky idea, especially since many evacuees didn't have power where they were either.

[Eaglesfan27]

Originally Posted by JW

Eagles Fan, you there?

I know the national media story is that there is no Gustav story since the Industrial Canal flood wall in New Orleans did not breach. But that is so far from the truth. Lots of serious damage all over the state.

I live in the northeastern corner of the state and we had 40-50 mph gusts last night and are still having lots of rain. A big tree branch is laying on top of a stand-alone carport at the end of my driveway. Fortunately it is the leafy part of a huge branch from a neighbor's oak tree,so the carport held and it didn't fall on my wife's Jeep underneath it.

Three houses down is a house with some visible roof damage. The ridge cover at the top of the roof has been ripped up.

19k people in my parish (county) alone had no power this morning. And 66k throughout northeast LA. Lots of trees down, roads closed, damage.

And we are just on the edge of Gustav. People in south central Louisiana suffered extensive damage from Gustav.

And right now what is left of Gustav is over the Shreveport area. This hurricane affected the entire state. The whole thing.

Best wishes to all who were in the path of Gustav.

I'm back now. Gustav did a MAJOR hit to Baton Rouge. Local police are saying it is the worst hit ever to the area. My work building lost its roof and suffered major structural damage. It is estimated that it will take a year to repair it to habitibility. I've been working at shelters all week long and next week we'll start working on a mobile airconditioned bus.

As far as my home, we were lucky. Several neighbors had roof damage. Several others had trees fall on their homes including one down the street from me where the tree split his home in half. We had one big branch fall, but it landed harmlessly in the back of our yard. With our army of evacuees we chopped it up and carried it out to the curb in a few hours. The last 4 days have been very unpleasant as our power has been out for just over 100 hours. We've had interior temperatures in the house during the day of 88 degrees. At night it has typically been above 80 while everyone has been trying to sleep. I'll never take electricity or AC for granted again. I'm extremely thankful we didn't get hit worse, and even more thankful that the power and AC are now back up.

[Eaglesfan27]

Dola -

Yesterday's news conference on the radio said that it will be 3 weeks until 90% of my town has power. I feel very fortunate to be on the police station's power grid (they are less than a quarter of a mile from our development.) We are one of the first sections of our town to get power back and there are many parts of Baton Rouge that still don't have power including everywhere around my work.

[Eaglesfan27]

Originally Posted by LloydLungs

I think what's really going to prevent evacuations next time is that the parish governments were very heavy-handed about not allowing people back into the parishes to return home/inspect their property after the storm. Their justification for this was that there was no power restored, sewerage was dicey in some areas, and people would be living in very uncomfortable conditions (and I know they didn't want to deal with locals complaining to them about lack of electricity). But sending out state troopers to restrict people from returning to their homes on that basis is a very shaky idea, especially since many evacuees didn't have power where they were either.

So true. Kathy's grandparents desperately wanted to go back on Tuesday to see their home in Kenner, since we had no power and were all miserable. They were upset that they were delayed from returning until Weds.

[GoldenEagle]

Good to hear from you EF.

[FrogMan]

Originally Posted by GoldenEagle

Good to hear from you EF.

+1

FM

[Pumpy Tudors]

EF, I'm glad you're OK, and you seem to be very fortunate (considering the surrounding area and your neighbors). I wish you and your family the best of luck in recovering.

[Eaglesfan27]

Thanks guys. I do feel very fortunate. The only significant inconvenience remaining is the 8PM curfew (which is understandable.) With power back, the only other minor inconvenience is that our Sat dish was either damaged or just misaligned by the wind, but lack of TV seems like a very minor deal at this time.

[stevew]

glad to hear it was really minor. Maybe you can rabbit ear some OTA-HD football on sunday at least?

[Buccaneer]

Brian, very glad see you and that everything's ok. I did have to chuckle about your house being 88. Without AC, the top floor of our house exceeds 90-95 every summer, the main level is at 85-90. But then again, it's a dry heat and we have lots of fans and it does cool down at night.

[Eaglesfan27]

Yeah, the heat by itself isn't so bad. It never bothered me when I lived in California. It's the near 100% humidity that has been a killer the last few days. I've been sweating just sitting still around the house.

Turns out I have a minor casualty of the hurricane. I unplugged my computer completely before the power went out and just replugged it in. Despite precautions, my computer isn't working. Turns out after trouble shooting with Dell, 2 of my memory chips are bad. At least, this is a repair I can do myself and I can use my computer while I wait for the parts to get here, just has half of the usual memory.

[Buccaneer]

Originally Posted by Eaglesfan27

Yeah, the heat by itself isn't so bad. It never bothered me when I lived in California. It's the near 100% humidity that has been a killer the last few days. I've been sweating just sitting still around the house.

Turns out I have a minor casualty of the hurricane. I unplugged my computer completely before the power went out and just replugged it in. Despite precautions, my computer isn't working. Turns out after trouble shooting with Dell, 2 of my memory chips are bad. At least, this is a repair I can do myself and I can use my computer while I wait for the parts to get here, just has half of the usual memory.

What?? You don't want a Dell guy come and do it???

Related story. I have a good friend at work who has, like me, been building our own PCs for years. He had tons of trouble recently, ending up replacing the usual suspects like the power supply, disk drive and motherboard only to come and find out that it was a bad memory chip (he had four 1gb chips). Really no easy diagnostics to find something like that since it masks itself as something else. I think he did find a memory diagnostic software that can be run from a bootable device but this was the first time he or I experienced something like this.

[Eaglesfan27]

Originally Posted by stevew

glad to hear it was really minor. Maybe you can rabbit ear some OTA-HD football on sunday at least?

Just set up the OTA-HD thanks to my youngest evacuee who climbed behind the TV to move the necessary cables to get the OTA-HD working. Also, apparently as a Super Fan subscriber, I can watch any game normally on Sunday Ticket via a stream on my computer.