Well, the wind is starting to pick up in ye olde BR. EAS was activated a few minutes ago because they sighted funnel clouds in Livingston and East Ascension, I think. My lights have already started to flicker, and those low-lying hurricane band clouds are starting to circle in. They're hard to describe unless you've actually sat through one of these storms, but, I think they're quite pretty.
Surprisingly enough, they're anticipating 70-80 mile per hour gusts up here. Which is quite strong for Baton Rouge. Most shingle roofs are only rated to 75 miles per hour, so, things could get pretty interesting.
I spent the day walking around the yard and thinking: "Is this a potential missile?" "Is the wind going to pick this up and slam it against the Jeep?" "Where the fuck do you put a scooter in Tropical Storm force winds?" "What's the best way to weigh down a garbage can?" (fill it with bricks) and laughing at idiotic media speculations like "Could Baton Rouge experience a Storm Surge?" (we're a 100 miles from the gulf) The other part of the day I spent looking for ice and d-batteries, no where to be found. Gas has already shot back up to 3.70 - it was 3.59 even 3.42 in some places.
Jindal was on almost 24/7 today. It was kind of overkill. But I understand, there is no way that anyone is going to be able to crucify him for inaction the way Aunt Bea was nailed (and somewhat rightfully so) after Katrina. Nagin to was taking the initiative and invited the looters to cross his happy ass. It's theater and PR, but, they do appear to have done what countless other previous evacuation orders have failed at, that is, systematically counterflowing the population out. I don't know what the difference was this year, but, despite and LSU game they were able to handle the New Orleans countraflow in a matter of hours. There were no 18 hour drives to Houston. Props.
In 2005 on my birthday, we watched New Orleans flood on T.V., this year it's a day late. I wonder if I'll get a birthday hurricane next year? Hopefully, next year at this time I won't be here.
I don't really have anything to say, maybe tomorrow if I have lights, I'll describe the interesting things that have been blown down the street.
brandon [email] said at 4:34 AM 09-01-2008: After an initially promising band of high winds, thunderstorms, alleged funnel clouds (but alas, no funnel cakes) this hurricane has established itself as the most boring hurricane ever.
Right now, it's breezy outside - BREEZY. Even my cats are yawning. I'm tempted to run up and down the street tumping over garbage cans, placing fallen limbs on cars, turning on garden hoses to flood back yards, strewing trash, releasing hounds, and chasing hookers indoors. I've watched the latest episode of Metalocalypse twice. I've been able to do laundry/run the dishwasher/ hell, I just got off the treadmill.
I should be scooping vienna sausage from a bowl by candlelight.
I'm sorry, but this Hurricane is the Episode I of my Hurricane experiences, it is the Superman IV: The Quest for Peace of tropical weather; It is the Mondale/Ferraro of cyclones. It stinks and I don't like it. F- would not checklist again.
amanda [email] said at 5:08 AM 09-01-2008: With all the talk on the news about "surges," I've been wondering if John McCain or President Bush will become confused, slip up and automatically respond, "the surges are working. I stand behind the surge."
brandon [email] said at 10:10 AM 09-01-2008: Even the surge is boring. 7 feet? Al Quaeda laughs at your pathetic surge, Gustav, go back to your knackebrod and smorgas.
brad [email] said at 1:27 PM 09-03-2008: I'm in Louisiana now, but my family and I are far enough west that we didn't get more than a little rain. My parents know some people in Baton Rouge who got a tree through their house, though.
john [email] said at 12:12 PM 09-04-2008: Brandon probably doesn't have power or internet for a while if anyone wants to take shots at him now for saying that the hurricane was boring.
brandon [email] said at 8:55 PM 09-04-2008: Hi Y'all, I'm on a friend's internet connection out on Bluebonnet, he's near the hospital, thus full powa.
Baton Rouge is under an indefinite 8pm curfew. They do arrest and take people in, it's fucked up. 91 so far, according to the news.
Southdowns, where I live, looks like a bomb went off. I've been quoted a month until I get power back. Bullshit, you might say, but, the grid is entirely fucked. Old Goodwood, Broadmoor, Shenanindoah, Sherwood Forest, Highland Road, University Town, too. Fucked. The University itself lost a lot of its Oaks, including a bunch of the gorgeous ones in the quad. They gave up trying to revive their power grid and hooked into Entergy. Demco reported a 100 percent loss of their transmission capabilities, they have crews rented from Canada trudging around in the woods at this very moment. Demco customers supposedly will get power back in a week.
Gas lines are ridiculous.
Anyway, it's stressful. It's not Katrina, there was no loss of life or evacuee problem. But, it's like an EMP bomb went off.
Gah.
Generators are expensive.
Goodwood Library was, um, inundated. The roof leaked and put a tremendous amount of water inside. I was there this morning for about 3 hours pulling up carpet and whatnot. I smell like it. There's no power there, so, as soon as the heat hits that building, well humidity and books are not friends.
Something like 4,000 trees fell. Most of them on powerlines. About 400 on houses.
I had to throw away everything in my refrigerator.
Uh, I'm going to post a shit load of videos and pictures on flickr.
It's a clusterfuck.
The mosquito eradication planes are unable to fly because there are no lights on towers, homes or houses, so you can't go outside, because there are literally hordes of the little buggers.
Anyway, I hope everyone else is alright. This is miserable.
brandon [email] said at 1:22 AM 09-05-2008: Yeah, actually it's a combination of sprayer trucks and the planes. The trucks kill the ones that are already there, the planes kill off the entire population. When you're talking about an animal that has a very short life cycle, measured in days from egg to adult, vigilance is crucial. You're also talking about a place that used to succumb to periodic yellow fever breakouts. So, you know, it's important to keep this particular insect down.
Anyway, kind of drunk. It's not a total loss yet. We have a lot of distance students, and considering that a lot of them made it through Katrina, it should be fine, in terms of them working with us. Still, Maslov's hierarchy applies. And, its 90 degrees in my house.
Eh, Entergy's site sez September 24th. And the radio has said worse.
I was talking with one of the scientists who does the SRC-1 model for hurricanes, they scored perfect predictions on this storm, Katrina, and a couple of others, and they're saying, currently that IKE is coming our way. Their model says that it's coming this way:
http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/graphics_at4.shtml?5day?large
jeff [email] said at 10:07 AM 09-05-2008: Cable going out is what I don't get. The infrastructure is scattered and I was getting internet throughout the storm while the cable modem was on battery backup. It wasn't until well after things blew over that this huge outage occurred.
I'm amazed at how fast the roads have been cleared and to see so many people clearing their neighborhoods overnight (initially) and in the rain.
john [email] said at 12:00 PM 09-05-2008: Both of my parents and my sister are without power for at least a month they are told. My dad had roof damage and he can't find anyone available to even come and give him an estimate because everyone is booked. It's impossible to get through to State Farm he says. Meanwhile, his roof is leaking into the house and he's got to patch it up himself until some roofing company can find the time to come and look at it. Might sound easy to some, but try doing it in an attic that's well over 100 degrees with no power for power tools. He's also got a tree that has partially fallen and is leaning over his house and threatening to fall all of the way. He can't find anyone to help him fix that problem either because in his neighborhood of fallen tree damage, finding available people with tree removal equipment is pretty much impossible too right now. Fuck, why has Louisiana become such a magnet for hurricanes now? There are thousands of miles of coasts and they keep coming towards Louisiana. When is Miami going to take a big one? Louisiana could use a break.
brandon [email] said at 6:20 PM 09-05-2008: Looks like Ike is gunning for Miami. That sucks about your dad. They have all these shady guys rolling around in trucks with their numbers scrawled on the side, maybe he could flag one of them down and see if they can do roof work.
