Bean
09-05-2005, 11:45 PM
Jeezus... I just got power back about 6 hours ago. What an interesting 8 days it has been. I'll post a log here, its kinda crazy to be right near the thick of things for an international disaster....
Saturday 8/27:
Hurricane Katrina is getting pretty buff as a Cat 3 and is starting to sail our way, we still dont know which way it will turn. It had it initially as us being on the eastern eye wall (which is REALLY bad). During work my manager seems to think its not going to hit us, even after I ask him if we're supposed to report into work on Sunday. During Dennis we had an extra day to prepare (for a storm that never hit us hard).
Sunday 8/28:
I've got a stupid GM manager at my place of work and I basically told him on that day. He kept us open until 6.. that f-ing bastard. I couldnt help my parents prepare because I was at work for 8 hours. No one came in, I didnt make much money (i'm a server at Outback) and I spent most of the time boarding up the restaurant. Towards the end of the night, there were 4 tornado warnings in our area. I SAW one before it touched down. It was about 10 miles north of us and I saw the funnel cloud going west pretty quickly. Winds were already picking up as I got home around 8:00pm. (that fucking bastard). The GM said: "Oh we'll be open tuesday, dont worry about it." I said: "No you wont be open Tuesday, this might not hit us directly, but its going to be much worse than Ivan EVER was."
Monday 8/29:
In the AM the hurricane hits HARD. Winds start really picking up around 12ish and we're seeing hurricane force winds steady for a looooong time. Seeing a couple smaller trees already falling in the neighbors yards. Power was lost around 7am (so you can see my last posts on sunday in the late pm hehe)
In the PM I'm seeing BIG trees fall. There's a 3.5ft diameter pine tree next to the house that cracks at its base and falls the OTHER direction. And then later I see another of almost the same size fall across the yard right onto my mother's rose garden rofl. LOTS of rain, LOTS of wind... absolutely crazy seeing it in the daytime. You can see the clouds move FAST and columns of horizontal rain coming in.
Tuesday 8/30:
No cell phone service, cant get ahold of work at all. The tree that fell across the rosegarden also is blocking the driveway and there are 4 trees down in the neighborhood completely blocking the driveway. After a very busy hardworking day with NO power, turkey sandwiches (until we ran out of turkey) and hotdogs for dinner, I fell asleep around 8:30pm. Father had hooked up the TV to a car battery via a DC-AC converter box and we watched the UHF channels to see the damage. Bayou La Batre is a total wreck, Downtown Mobile is underwater, etc. There's NO pictures coming in from the west of us at all and we knew it was bad.
Wednesday 8/31:
Finally started seeing video from New Orleans in the morning and boy did it look bad. I'm not going into a political discussion on this subject, but I know of some certain Louisiana state employees that need to be FIRED after this whole debacle. I had no clue that most Louisiana's major government officials have a criminal history. Anyway. Of course media attention focuses too much on Baldwin county which is to our east, which got almost nothing except flodding on the coast. Mobile county got the worst of it by FAR in the Alabama area. 190k customers without power out of 192k customers in the Mobile County area :)
Downtown mobile is no longer underwater at this point thankfully and powercrews finishing their analyzing and begin work. Gas lines are PILING up like a mofo. We get generator power from our neighbor that gives us a plug for our freezer and refrig. And other needed items like FANS and lights ;) Cell phones are finally getting signals and I can call into work. They want me to come in if its ok. It sounds like they're busy so I decide to go out and do it.
All the traffic lights are out, there are stupid gas lines blocking the fucking road everywhere. Takes 45min to get to work. Its dead and I dont feel like working. I left early and got in line for gas. My father didnt get gas for the truck and so I filled it up. Got home and worked in the yard chainsawing trees and picking up dead branches.
Thursday 9/1:
Still no power. still images pouring in from Biloxi and Gulfport. Didnt go to work, I worked out in the yard pulling more trees, etc.
Friday 9/2:
Wasnt scheduled to work, pulled more trees down, worked more in the yard. (this is 2.5 acres of land here)
Saturday and Sunday 9/3:
worked in the yard in the AM and went to work in the pm... VERY busy. Tons of power crews and displaced people from Mississippi. We gave free meals to A LOT of people. Was with manager in parking lot at one point talking with some refugees who were camping out in the home depot parking lot next to us, and some people walked up and offered their room for free until the displaced family was able to leave. The manager comped their meal right there as takeaway and they all left together. Its really awesome seeing people around here pull together. I'm ashamed of New Orleans and their behaviour. Definitely not part of the south as far as i'm concerned.
ROLLTIDE!!!
Monday 9/4:
Labor day, and I FINALLY get power. Had a housewarming party for my sister's new home and a celebration for all of us weathering the storm and still having our homes, jobs, and lives.
Sorry I was gone so long :)
Saturday 8/27:
Hurricane Katrina is getting pretty buff as a Cat 3 and is starting to sail our way, we still dont know which way it will turn. It had it initially as us being on the eastern eye wall (which is REALLY bad). During work my manager seems to think its not going to hit us, even after I ask him if we're supposed to report into work on Sunday. During Dennis we had an extra day to prepare (for a storm that never hit us hard).
Sunday 8/28:
I've got a stupid GM manager at my place of work and I basically told him on that day. He kept us open until 6.. that f-ing bastard. I couldnt help my parents prepare because I was at work for 8 hours. No one came in, I didnt make much money (i'm a server at Outback) and I spent most of the time boarding up the restaurant. Towards the end of the night, there were 4 tornado warnings in our area. I SAW one before it touched down. It was about 10 miles north of us and I saw the funnel cloud going west pretty quickly. Winds were already picking up as I got home around 8:00pm. (that fucking bastard). The GM said: "Oh we'll be open tuesday, dont worry about it." I said: "No you wont be open Tuesday, this might not hit us directly, but its going to be much worse than Ivan EVER was."
Monday 8/29:
In the AM the hurricane hits HARD. Winds start really picking up around 12ish and we're seeing hurricane force winds steady for a looooong time. Seeing a couple smaller trees already falling in the neighbors yards. Power was lost around 7am (so you can see my last posts on sunday in the late pm hehe)
In the PM I'm seeing BIG trees fall. There's a 3.5ft diameter pine tree next to the house that cracks at its base and falls the OTHER direction. And then later I see another of almost the same size fall across the yard right onto my mother's rose garden rofl. LOTS of rain, LOTS of wind... absolutely crazy seeing it in the daytime. You can see the clouds move FAST and columns of horizontal rain coming in.
Tuesday 8/30:
No cell phone service, cant get ahold of work at all. The tree that fell across the rosegarden also is blocking the driveway and there are 4 trees down in the neighborhood completely blocking the driveway. After a very busy hardworking day with NO power, turkey sandwiches (until we ran out of turkey) and hotdogs for dinner, I fell asleep around 8:30pm. Father had hooked up the TV to a car battery via a DC-AC converter box and we watched the UHF channels to see the damage. Bayou La Batre is a total wreck, Downtown Mobile is underwater, etc. There's NO pictures coming in from the west of us at all and we knew it was bad.
Wednesday 8/31:
Finally started seeing video from New Orleans in the morning and boy did it look bad. I'm not going into a political discussion on this subject, but I know of some certain Louisiana state employees that need to be FIRED after this whole debacle. I had no clue that most Louisiana's major government officials have a criminal history. Anyway. Of course media attention focuses too much on Baldwin county which is to our east, which got almost nothing except flodding on the coast. Mobile county got the worst of it by FAR in the Alabama area. 190k customers without power out of 192k customers in the Mobile County area :)
Downtown mobile is no longer underwater at this point thankfully and powercrews finishing their analyzing and begin work. Gas lines are PILING up like a mofo. We get generator power from our neighbor that gives us a plug for our freezer and refrig. And other needed items like FANS and lights ;) Cell phones are finally getting signals and I can call into work. They want me to come in if its ok. It sounds like they're busy so I decide to go out and do it.
All the traffic lights are out, there are stupid gas lines blocking the fucking road everywhere. Takes 45min to get to work. Its dead and I dont feel like working. I left early and got in line for gas. My father didnt get gas for the truck and so I filled it up. Got home and worked in the yard chainsawing trees and picking up dead branches.
Thursday 9/1:
Still no power. still images pouring in from Biloxi and Gulfport. Didnt go to work, I worked out in the yard pulling more trees, etc.
Friday 9/2:
Wasnt scheduled to work, pulled more trees down, worked more in the yard. (this is 2.5 acres of land here)
Saturday and Sunday 9/3:
worked in the yard in the AM and went to work in the pm... VERY busy. Tons of power crews and displaced people from Mississippi. We gave free meals to A LOT of people. Was with manager in parking lot at one point talking with some refugees who were camping out in the home depot parking lot next to us, and some people walked up and offered their room for free until the displaced family was able to leave. The manager comped their meal right there as takeaway and they all left together. Its really awesome seeing people around here pull together. I'm ashamed of New Orleans and their behaviour. Definitely not part of the south as far as i'm concerned.
ROLLTIDE!!!
Monday 9/4:
Labor day, and I FINALLY get power. Had a housewarming party for my sister's new home and a celebration for all of us weathering the storm and still having our homes, jobs, and lives.
Sorry I was gone so long :)