Post #182792 by Formikahini on Mon, Aug 29, 2005 2:03 PM

I know no news from PJ, but I have heard from a friend who stayed in his home in the French Quarter (!) and all was well there at that time (@ 10:00 AM my time). There was no water in the house and the pumps for the streets in his area were holding.

As of 1:00 PM there, the levees were holding (built only to withstand Category 3!), save one breech which was not catastrophic. The 5-ness of the storm did cease before it hit New Orleans, and it veered east. Good for NOLA, bad for Gulfport, Pass Christian, Mississippi in general, etc.

When I told one of my New Orleans refugee houseguests over the phone (from school here) that I'd seen internet footage of Gulfport WITH THE GULF OF MEXICO IN THE STREETS (NOT rain!), she quipped, "Weeeell, Gulfport is really just a buncha strip malls; it's not gonna be too hard to replace it! Not like New Orleans!!"

I'd sure hate to be one of the 8-10,000 in the Superdome with no electricity. You coastal Californians just don't KNOW heat 'til you've been in that city. And I've never been there without being to escape, running from my AC'd car to the AC'd buildings! Phoenix was withering at 103 degrees, but that Southern humidity thang, baby. Man

Going home to my houseguests (2 humans and a canine) and to watch news footage. Keep those states in your prayers.

alice b