Yesterday MountainMama posted about Gustav, the Gulf Coast, and that my area is being drenched right now. I’ll do my best to post updates here on this post about Gustav. I’m not sure how much time I’ll have left with power and internet, because I can hear the wind battering the doors and windows of my home. I am fortunate though, that I am not in an area that needed to be evacuated.
Here are some links to help find family members or to volunteer your services:
Red Cross Safe and Well List
LAVA – Medical Volunteers through LA Dept Health and Hospitals
UPDATE: This video was taken with my Flip Ultra on Sept 2, 2008. FEMA still has not showed up to our area with tarps, water, ice, or MREs. Keep checking back here for more videos and updates.
Update: 8pm – East Baton Rouge Parish still under mandatory curfew. The FEMA supplies have been found. They’ve been in Baton Rouge all day. WBRZ News reported that FEMA had been able to get a response from EBR EOC to facilitate drop-off points of supplies.
Update: 09/03 – I showed up to work early this morning in the dark only to find the national guard blocking the road. The hallways were filled with these men and women sleeping on the floor with machine guns in hand. I don’t know if they realize how much they are appreciated right now. I want to specify that yes, I do have power, but I am one of very few people in this state with electricity. I’m not questioning things, but maybe it is so I can continue to update all of you on what is really happening here. Gas is in extreme short supply. I have drinking water, but in other outlying parishes, they are having to boil water to drink. There are very few FEMA supply points giving out tarps, water, MREs (military ready to eat meals), and ice. The lines were more than three miles long in Baker, LA for these items. Many grocery stores that have lost power are giving away perishable items for residents to consume before they spoil. President Bush was in town today to access the damage. It was kind of funny to see some Louisiana top officials clamoring to be seen right behind the president on TV. My home has become a haven for friends and family searching for light in the dark….literally 🙂 All will be well soon, I hope.
09/04 – Woman’s Hospital is in need of items. See this post.