When we were young and immortal, my friends and I would greet the periodic hurricanes that came through New Orleans with Hurricane Parties. We laughed in the face of the winds and knew (as all young people know) that nothing would hurt us.
I don’t think they are laughing this morning in the Crescent City, and I’m definitely not amused, even from my distant perch in Texas. Katrina appears to be taking aim at the Big Easy – and I’m very worried.
I remember taking my father’s canoe into the streets after tropical storms or other hurricanes, and entertaining myself by seeing if I could walk up MacArthur Blvd. against the waist-high floodwaters. Those were little bitty storms in comparison to what is coming.
We still have many friends there, and I don’t know if they have evacuated. I hope so. I can’t imagine there will be anything short of complete disaster there. Holding my breath…
Update
I reached my friends, and unfortunately most of them are not able to get out. One of them is a police officer (and obviously critical), and his mother (my “second mom”) just had surgery. She, and a daughter/grandchildren, have removed to a Methodist church that has four stories. Sadly, she could not take her animals with her.
Leave a Reply Cancel Reply
Read Next
Even after reading this article twice, I’m at sea. In today’s online Houston Chronicle is a story by Allan Turner and Cynthia Garza called, “Efforts to halt execution of black woman surge“. Is the issue that Frances Newton is black? …
So – it begins at last: Algiers charter schools open In the face of all the terrible destruction, this chance to re-create NOLA’s school system is possibly the brightest star shining right now. I’m sure that all parents – particularly …
Itâs kinda fun to take a day off from the blog now and then. I haven’t done that in so long, Iâd forgotten! And wouldnât you know it: interesting events continued to occur while I spent the day doing âmomâ? …
The state and local governments along the Gulf Coast that took such heavy damage from Katrina are going to get some money from the federal government to keep their public services in place for a while – or at least …
I write the All About Algiers column for the Times Picayune and would like to interview you about your blog for an upcoming column. Can you email me with a time to call you or call me at 504 363-9090. Thanks.