DATELINE SEPT 25, 2005
We were told to evacuate on the 22rd of September, Thursday since the storm surge model could have us on the Eastside of the storm with high water. Packing up all of our belongings in the cars and RV we traveled to Lake Lincoln State Park in Missississppi where we were put up by Mississippi for a nominal fee of $12.00 per night for a total of $36.00 for a camping spot! (nobody charged us for the 9 days in Rayne, LA for Katrina) ! In the park were plenty of RVs with Federal Types from the Relief Efforts in New Orleans area! One of the bunches were Federal Postal Inspectors complete with their Command Centers loaded with all kinds of Satellite Gear! We were given a tour of these things since I had my ham gear set up nearby and had struck up a conversation with one of these Postal Guys. The cover story is that they are down in New Orleans to reestaablish Postal Service and to see if any facilities had been "Comprimised" but with the firepower they carried, who has seen postal types with 10MM Glocks lately, but then these were "Postal Inspectors" who liked playing cops.
Another bunch on the otherside were New Orleans Policemen who were real cops and had evacuated and were joined by their wives who were enjoying the first real weekend even though it was an evacuatation! Their stories were hair raising since they stayed there during Katrina! My 86 year old Father in Law had brought some seafood and made a seafood Gumbo for them since MREs had been their staple for days on end. The looting stories are all true but what they did not tell on the news is how the high end stuff like banks and the Safety Deposit boxes in the vaults got snatched! New Orleans has a large marine repair industry with lots of acytlene cutting rigs and it seemed that someone knew how to jimmy open the bank vaults get to the goodies inside! Boy what a story! The Banks were hit and the street looting was nothing, but organized, the stuff they found stashed was unbelievable! Like who going to steal a 1 metre plasma screen TV when you don't have any electricity! One warehouse had stuff stashed inside with a Pit Bull chained up to guard it, the National Guard shot the dog and secured the warehouse and then an hour later some gangbangers showed up to claim their stuff and had a little shoot out with Guardsmen who said Bagdad was never this bad. 2 Gangers killed 6 captured and they weren't even from New Orleans! Better armed than cops, AK-47s (Not legally sold in the states) but not a match for the bagdad trianed dudes!
Got back to the Bayou this afternoon, some minor flooding here but it seems coastal erosion has allowed even a distant storm to send water up in Louisiana well over 50 kms from the coast with the strong south winds!
We were told to evacuate on the 22rd of September, Thursday since the storm surge model could have us on the Eastside of the storm with high water. Packing up all of our belongings in the cars and RV we traveled to Lake Lincoln State Park in Missississppi where we were put up by Mississippi for a nominal fee of $12.00 per night for a total of $36.00 for a camping spot! (nobody charged us for the 9 days in Rayne, LA for Katrina) ! In the park were plenty of RVs with Federal Types from the Relief Efforts in New Orleans area! One of the bunches were Federal Postal Inspectors complete with their Command Centers loaded with all kinds of Satellite Gear! We were given a tour of these things since I had my ham gear set up nearby and had struck up a conversation with one of these Postal Guys. The cover story is that they are down in New Orleans to reestaablish Postal Service and to see if any facilities had been "Comprimised" but with the firepower they carried, who has seen postal types with 10MM Glocks lately, but then these were "Postal Inspectors" who liked playing cops.
Another bunch on the otherside were New Orleans Policemen who were real cops and had evacuated and were joined by their wives who were enjoying the first real weekend even though it was an evacuatation! Their stories were hair raising since they stayed there during Katrina! My 86 year old Father in Law had brought some seafood and made a seafood Gumbo for them since MREs had been their staple for days on end. The looting stories are all true but what they did not tell on the news is how the high end stuff like banks and the Safety Deposit boxes in the vaults got snatched! New Orleans has a large marine repair industry with lots of acytlene cutting rigs and it seemed that someone knew how to jimmy open the bank vaults get to the goodies inside! Boy what a story! The Banks were hit and the street looting was nothing, but organized, the stuff they found stashed was unbelievable! Like who going to steal a 1 metre plasma screen TV when you don't have any electricity! One warehouse had stuff stashed inside with a Pit Bull chained up to guard it, the National Guard shot the dog and secured the warehouse and then an hour later some gangbangers showed up to claim their stuff and had a little shoot out with Guardsmen who said Bagdad was never this bad. 2 Gangers killed 6 captured and they weren't even from New Orleans! Better armed than cops, AK-47s (Not legally sold in the states) but not a match for the bagdad trianed dudes!
Got back to the Bayou this afternoon, some minor flooding here but it seems coastal erosion has allowed even a distant storm to send water up in Louisiana well over 50 kms from the coast with the strong south winds!