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Things in New Orleans are better than I could have hoped for. Damage seems to be what you would expect from a cat 3 storm. I am watching WDSU TV this morning, the reports are encouraging. If Katrina weren’t our benchmark the damage would probably be perceived as heavy.

No catastrophic flooding is the big thing, no major looting, no 1000+ people dead. Things definitely went better this time. Luckily this was not the mother of all storms, if it had been a Katrina with a Ktrina storm surge we would have been in big trouble.

Now we will have to see how our fearless leaders get everyone back, every day the city is empty the economy will suffer.

For the most part it looks like the Big Easy is going to be ok. You might notice an edge to my post from here on out I’m ready to go home. ASAP. I will not be happy with politicians who try to delay the return of citizens . If it is delayed it will certainly be taken into consideration the next time the tell me to leave.

1:41 PM Mobile AL.

It is still pretty breezy here in Mobile, the power has flickered on and off for the last hour, much to the chagrin of my my nephew playing his X-box. I have been watching WDSU they are broadcasting nationwide on direct TV. It has been helpful getting news from a local source. Last time I checked Travers Mackel reported that the wave action causing the over topping situation is calming down it looks as if the wind direction is changing and starting to push some of the water out. So far so good in New Orleans if we can make it a few more hours the possibility of levee failure and catastrophic damage will lessen.

I am starting to feel a little guilty, I am very comfortable, have been eating like a king, and taking frequent naps. I know there are many of my displaced friends who are not enjoying the same kind of conditions.

Another band is hitting as I write this, it is one of the stronger ones we have seen today, in spite of that conditions here are improving.

I don’t have to wash my car, sitting in the driving rain all of the dirt has been washed off it, I may be able to dry it in a day or two.

Even though New Orleans is still experiencing hurricane conditions I am already thinking of returning home. At a news conference a few minuted ago the governor said that he was going to aggressively work on getting people back home after the storm. I will hold him to that, it is vital that we get back quickly and get the economic engine running as fast as possible. Not only are we still rebuilding houses and infrastructure in New Orleans from Katrina and the flood, the economy cannot afford to be down for weeks or months. I would say that New Orleans is not quite out of the woods yet, but things are going as well as we can expect when getting hit by a cat three hurricane.

Mobile Al. 9:44 am

It is quiet here the bands are not as strong as they were earlier, if no tornadoes spawn it should be ok here. Reading the local coverage from New Orleans, things seem to be ok so far. No reports of levee failures or home flooding. I hope that continues, I remain in a positive state of mind, a couple of days ago this was looking a lot worse.

The road in front of my sisters house has not washed out it has a tendency to do that after heavy rains. The ditch on the peanut field side of the road is full,

The ditch on the house side is draining pretty well.

It’s not over yet, I am still concerned about New Orleans. At the same time I am keeping in mind that this storm could have been a lot bigger, with a lot more storm surge. There is a report from WWLTV that water is lapping over the top of the Industrial Canal but no reports of levee failures. Keep your fingers crossed that they don’t give. A little over topping is not the end of the world, a failure as we know can be catastrophic.

Watching CNN I just have to shake my head and think of the song Bring on the Clowns. Anderson Cooper is talking about the number of people who stayed in the region, that he reports at 100,000.
Then he goes on to say that, based on computer models 100 people may drown. WTF give the computer models a rest and report what is actually happening instead of writing movie scripts with your computer modeling. Then something real happens, the lights go out behind the reporter. A power failure in the French Quarter. Now that’s news. The camera points down the street lights are on down the block. Ahhh a local power outage. That’s something that someone from New Orleans in exile might want to know. I’m not going to watch this all morning I will give it a rest for a couple of hours.

Here in Mobile at 6:17

The winds are picking up and it is raining steadily, I would descibe the conditions here as tropical storm like. The possibility of losing power is real but all in all Mobile should come through this thing ok. The question is how much water the storm surge pushes in. While this storm can do a lot of damage especially in New Orleans where infrastructure is still fragile, it is no Katrina and the media should stop comparing it to Katrina.

Mobile Al. Aug 31,2008 5:00 Pm

Gustav has arrived at 5:00 pm on the dot heavy rains and wind started here. It has been breezy most of the day, this is the first of the rain bands and it is really coming down. I have a couple of videos but I am having trouble uploading it my connection is by satellite and the weather is messing with it. I would guess the wind was about 40 mph and the rain came down at a very heavy rate. It lasted about 5 minutes and now it is dead calm. The storm is passing south of Mobile right about now. People are prepared here, but not panicked. We filled a 20 gallon drum with gasoline for the generator this morning. I will upload the vids whe I can get a reliable connection which could be a while.

Now I know why I don’t evacuate for hurricanes, eight hours of bumper to bumper traffic. I rode out Katrina and the experience was not nearly as awful as evacuating east on I-10. One thing about traveling I-10 at 10 miles per hour is that you get to see thing that you don’t notice when yu drive 70 MPH. I had a conversation with a women in the car along side of me for about two miles of the three hour exit from New Orleans. There was a pick up truck with teenagers in the back singing gospel songs. From Slidell to Biloxi I was behind a car with a dvd player in the back the kids were watching Harry Potter and the Goblet of fire. I got to watch most of it the kid in the back seat kept blocking my view with her head.

I left at 8:00 pm and arrived at 3:45 am I am having a drink writing a post and hoping that my home town isn’t ruined by this storm. I am not upset or even anxious. This is something I have no control over so there is no point in wasting my valuable emotional energy. Hope everyone is safe, and I hope we will all be home soon.

I am playing a waiting game of watching the weather, and ready to go if I have to. I don’t want to go and if current projections hold out I should be ok. I still have time to make up my mind but at this point it is too early for me to make a decision. I have taken care of the housr on Prytania St. got my laundry done, picked up needed supplies. (except batteries ). I have a bunch of rechageable that are charged I just don’t know where I put them when I moved. The neighbors in the old neighborhood and my next door neighbor in my new neighborhood are staying or haven’t made up their minds. If I have to go I have a full tank of gas and know the hassle it might be to get out at the last minute. I am willing to deal with it. For the first time in years I am facing a possible hurricane hit being only resposible for myself. It makes a big difference in the anxiety level.

As I drove to the other house this morning there were quite a few people who live on Tchoupitoulas St who were packing their cars and leaving. The assisted evacuations are taking place across the Metro area. Is it an over reaction? I don’t think so no one wants a bunch of stranded people in the city. Cell phone craziness has already started, I was talking to a friend who has evacuated to Hammond to be with her daughters. While speaking to her I wound up on a conversation with two other cell users. It was kind of funny they were surprised and said who are you? I replied who are you? I will post later on what I do, right now I am hanging tight. I have seen too many of these far away projections change over time. I am in a position where I don’t have to make up my mind yet. I am prepared for multiple scenarios.

My sister and mom were in town for the day, they just got back to Mobile. They report heavy traffic headed east on I 10 I guess some folks are leaving early for their Labor Day vacations. Watching the Guvna, With Say Ray, and Ed “cranes int the sky” Blakely staning in the background. Conditions could bring it our way beut it is still not in the Gulf od Mexico and is not moving fast at this time. THe worry is that the Gulf is pretty warm and these things can grow quickly in the warm water. Whatever happens will happen, hold on for the ride.

In honor of the victims and the survivors of Hurricane Katrina and the Federal Flood I will not post tomorrow.

As you may have notices the time and date on my blog are not accurate this item posted Aug. 28

The citizens of New Orleans are pretty nervous right now, making plans to evacuate. Businesses implementing their emergency plans. Our organization is definitely better prepared than we were for Katrina. The outcome could be the same storms don’t follow scripts. Every one is different and you never know what might happen. I am not pushing the panic button yet. I have been through this drill many times and know that what they project today may not be the case tomorrow. I won’t predict whether we will get hit or not, I am ready to go if I have to but I won’t if I don’t. I have seen people over the last couple of days whose emotions run from fear to depression. I am feeling somewhat indifferent, there is nothing I can do to change what will happen I am going to go with the flow and hope for the best. With any luck this thing won’t come our way. The problem is that it is going to go someones way and that can really ruin a person’s day and in some cases their lives. Everyone who lives here and who lived here during Katrina and the federal flood should have made plans already.