Uhh, not good

[William from NOLA]

It was about 25 miles east, but the outer eye wall still went over. But, if you look on the bright side, it's not nearly as bad as it could have been.

We took a lot of back roads and got up here is fairly good time. It took us about 2 hours to get out of the city before we could really start moving.

I forgot to tell you guys what they said on the radio. They basically said, you need to evacuate "frankly, because we don't have enough body bags."

At least we got in contact with my crazy neighbors (they stayed). They said it only flooded up to our third step (most houses here are raised about 3-5 feet), so we are very glad for that. That means there was no water in the house, garage is a different story, but that is fine. I just want to know the wind damage now. My guess is that a window or two is blown out and most if not all of our roofing shingles have blown off. We just had a new roof put on about 2 years ago and it's only rated to take up to 110 mph winds.

[William from NOLA]

Here's some stuff I just found:

Though damage is extensive, Ebbert said if the storm had passed just 10 miles west of its track, the city would have been inundated with 25 feet of water.

Ebbert said it could be two months before electricity is restored to all of the city.

All the rain produced by Hurricane Katrina is good news for mosquitoes, according to Doug Van Gundy, entomologist with Wellmark International, a producer of pest management products.

“Mosquitoes will likely flourish after Katrina, when rain and floodwaters create new breeding areas in blown-over trees, clogged drains and debris,” Van Gundy said. “A female mosquito lays up to 300 eggs at once, which can mature in as little as four days. Consumers should be vigilant about protecting themselves.”

He says that protective clothing and insect repellants ought to be used liberally during the next several weeks.

Catastrophic power failure
Monday 2:10 p.m.

The region's electricity system suffered catastrophic damage Monday from Hurricane Katrina. Entergy customers should be prepared to be without power for a month or more, said Amy Stallings, Entergy spokeswoman.

Severe damage apparently occurred to all elements of the power grid, from the plants that generate electricity to the big transmission lines that carry power to communities to the distribution lines that connect to homes and businesses.

[ridr4lif]

So i guess we wont be seeing you online when you get home. No electricity for at least a month?! Thats insane. I hope you have a good generator at home.

TEDD

[William from NOLA]

I have none, but there is a honda dealer right down the street and we might be picking up one.

I'm seeing more and more through the internet. It's looking worse and worse. The northshore here must have catastrophic damage because you cannot find pictures or video of it. My uncle has a house in that area. He really wants to find out what he's looking forward to. All I can tell him now is to pray that he has something to come back to.

Here's a stream of local news:
http://www.cbsnews.com/htdocs/videoplay ... iaType=wmv
check the videos on the side for a clip of one idiot slamming into standing water in his car.

[Chris from Washington]

Glad to hear that your house is intact.

I wouldn't even know what to do, if I got home and my house was gone

[William from NOLA]

Well, the faster they get the pumping stations back online, the faster the floodwaters will receed. We have two of four up. Half of the city cannot even try coming back until next monday.

Now we have to make decisions. Do we buy a generator? What food can we keep that will last without electricity?
I have VERY glad we have job security. My dad is an airport fireman and we don't have to worry about if we have money when we return (well, we have to worry about our credit union for money now).

I'm not even sure if I will be able to get to work for the next few weeks. I'm still waiting to find out if I have water in the house or not. Phone systems are completely down.

[NorthQuad]

Damn, all that looting going on is a friggin shame. Watching it makes me a little sick. They're all brave enough to steal other peoples belongings but as soon as the camera is on them they run like little biatches. They're all running around with full arms, full shopping carts, hell they even have there kids in on it. How F-in pathetic is that, nothing but bottom feeding trash in my eyes.

[William from NOLA]

Forget what I said about the flooding. 80% of the city is underwater. My house alone most likely has 7-10 feet of water in it. There is a 2 BLOCK long break in the levee. We don't even know when we will be able to even get back into the city.

I'm pretty sure my dad's truck has been flooded. But at least my van was raised up in a parking garage so we might have that.

Here's an idea for my house:
http://www.nola.com/hurricane/katrina/p ... a06a07.pdf
(A7) Filmore and Orleans is about 5 or 6 blocks away from my house.

Complete paper:
http://www.nola.com/hurricane/katrina/

[sinister audio]

damn that sucks man. i hope you guys can get everything straightened out alright.

[MobileAudio219]

Forget what I said about the flooding. 80% of the city is underwater. My house alone most likely has 7-10 feet of water in it. There is a 2 BLOCK long break in the levee. We don't even know when we will be able to even get back into the city. [/url]

Atleast you left before it hit. I'm glad to hear you and your family are safe, in the end thats really all that matters.