Damocles

It seems unreal - popped onto to bike and took the short ride to The Quarter, which is, predictably, deserted. The weather seems normal - that is, hot, humid, a smattering of clouds.

Decatur Street @ the French Market is normally full of vendors and shoppers

Looking Down Bourbon to Canal

There are more media than locals on the streets. Invariably, the first question locals asked after seeing me with a clunky digital camera was, "Who are you with?"

When I told them myself, and that I'd be blogging events, they all wanted me to take a pic and give them the link.

Response from the MSM was, shall we say, a bit chillier. You could almost see the disdain in their face when I mentioned I was a blogger.

Some AP crew - the talking head wouldn't give me her name

Of course, there will ALWAYS be someone on the street. NOPD showed up and took him to a shelter about an hour after I snapped this.

Sleeping It Off

I did manage to achieve another aim. I found a small grocery store still open on Dauphine, so I picked up a few odds and ends (coffee, snacks) that I could have done without, but still wanted.

The latest reports say that that it's about 24 hours til it gets interesting, and this idyllic weather will seem as unreal as gale force winds seem now.

Hunkerin'

Mandatory evacuations have been issued for the entire city, and the coastal regions of, from what I can tell, the entire state. Curfews are being issued at dusk.

Non-buggin' diehards like me have been told not to expect any emergency services, they're not going to endanger emergency personnel, so don't even bother to call.

Nagin's exact words, well, a paraphrase, were, "you're gonna be chopping yourself out of your attic by yourself." They're evacuating very nearly all of the emergency folks to keep them out of harm's way.

I don't know if I believe him, or if he is taking artistic license to scare folks into evacuating, but Nagin claims that he know of not a single building in the city that has been engineered to withstand winds of more than 140 mph. Not even the downtown office buildings.

Gustav is currently running about 135, and was almost 150 earlier today.

Well, time to get some sleep. I'm going to try and get up early and take the bike through the French Quarter before things get too bad. It'll be weird to see it deserted. I want to take the camera and see what I can shoot.

St Bernard Bugout

The St. Bernard Parish firefighters are leaving, as they don't think that their trucks are gonna survive if they stay. They're going to redeploy, and return as soon as possible afterward.

For you people that aren't familiar with LA, "parishes" are what you call counties. St. Bernard parish is the eastern part of New Orleans, one of the lower lying parts of the city, and one of the hardest hit by Katrina. It was 99% flooded.

Orleans Parish is the older and higher part of the city - what most of you saw if you've visited. The French Quarter, Garden District, etc. Katrina got 80% of it.

The first fire station just re-opened in St. Bernard a few months ago.

New Atlantis

Nagin had a press conference in which he stated the dilemma for West Bank residents in the direst tones. He says that the West Bank levees are incomplete, and at best eight feet high. While Gustav is predicted to generate a storm surge of twice that height.

Unless something radically changes in the predicted track, the West Bank is about to pull an Atlantis.

I personally don't have high hopes for the levees anywhere.

Why Aren't You Gone?

Good Question.

First, I'm prepared. I've got food and water for weeks, batteries, and all the stuff you need.

Second, I'm in a good place, though in a bad location. Well-built multi-story house, cinder block ground level, (for twisters) three stories plus an attic, (for floods). The house took about five feet of water during Katrina. It'd take a 30 ft. flood, minimum, to drown me.

Third, I've ridden out storms before, most notably Allen in '80. I'm former Marine infantry, first aid instructor certified, blah-blah-blah, so I feel as though I can pretty much handle whatever could happen. Only real likely Bad Thing I can forsee getting me would be a tornado with no warning. I feel safer here with my gear as opposed to huddling in a shelter somewhere.

I'd rather be on hand to help with the immediate aftermath if it's bad. Think of me as an unofficial First Responder. Rather be a sheepdog than a sheep.

So, I figured while I'm here, I might as well post an eyewitness account of the festivities. I've got still and video cameras, and will post what I can for as long as the power, and then my UPS, holds out.

Gustav is presently hammering Cuba. Things are supposed to be getting interesting here in about 24 hours. I'll snap a few "before" pics tomorrow when it gets light.