Whistling in the Dark...

Well, it's been 5 days since Gustav hit us. It turned out to be a very destructive storm. The levies in New Orleans held, and that city is looking pretty good. However, other parts of the state were hit harder. Baton Rouge still has hundreds of thousands of homes without power (including ours), along with traffic lights, etc. We're feeling pretty blessed because our home was relatively undamaged and the city still has water and sewage running. A lot of our shingles were ripped off, though, so we had some water leak into our home (which means more damage in the walls and above the ceiling). But other than that (and no power), we're fairly well off. We have lots of food stockpiled so we're ok in that department.

The one thing we really needed was ice, so yesterday morning at around 6, we headed off to the nearest FEMA distribution center to pick up some. The line was already forming when we got there, though we were near the front. By the time they started distributing items a little after 8, though, the lines were probably a half mile or more in two directions, with two lanes in each direction. We were glad we couldn't sleep and so went early. The Army Corps was there distributing MREs, bottled water, tarps, and ice. They just loaded stuff into the back of cars, except for the tarps, which they asked if you needed. We didn't, so just took the food, water, and ice. I was never so excited to receive two bags of sleeping water (Malagasy for ice).

Right now we're holed up at school in my office, since there are lights, internet, microwave, and most importantly, AC. Geaux Tigers!