Post by laura on Sept 10, 2005 14:39:44 GMT -5
This is a generic note that we can just put in to respond to the many emails we have gotten from friends and family, so please excuse us.
Laura and I along with our two youngest, Emily and Katie left town 24 hours before the storm. We took along my parents and Laura’s parents in a two car convoy. We began the journey at 3:30 AM to avoid some of the traffic, and by the grace of God made some good travel decisions that avoided the worst of the bottlenecks.
We headed to Mansfield, Louisiana, a small town south of Shreveport. A good friend has a vacant house there. He is a dentist and practices in Mansfield but lives now in Shreveport. He and his wife have been wonderful in taking care of us and the elderly parents. We have gotten meds for them and a school in Shreveport for Emily and Katie. Right now they commute about 35 minutes to school, but we may consider moving them into Shreveport at some point.
On the Sunday following the storm, and a day before they let residents reenter Jefferson parish, Laura and I decided to make an attempt at reentry into the westbank of Orleans Parish (Algiers). Laura and I got up a 4 AM and with gas cans loaded in the car, we began a 4 hour drive to Baton Rouge. We met up there with our son Stephen, Tom and Phil, dental friends in Baton Rouge, and Phil’s son Paul. We went armed. All I can say is God allowed us to get through the three check points and into Algiers.
Thankfully Algiers did not flood. Virtually every house has roof shingles off, from a few to many, but structurally, the houses are intact and just need power. Sadly many many trees are down and a good many are on houses. Huge trees faired no better than small ones. Light structures like carports, fences or signs are often destroyed and clearly, the winds were enormous. Never have I seen the amount of limbs and trees that are laying about, and I went through Betsy and Camille. It was clear that the eye went just to the east of Algiers.
Our church seemed to have only minor damage, but we did not have long to look around. Due to traffic and checkpoints we did not gain entry until mid-afternoon and they asked us to be out by 6 PM. So we did a quick check of our office, and a few homes, grabbed a few items and left.
The westbank in my opinion is in pretty good shape and should be back to limited operation sooner rather than later. I am certain it will not be 3 months before power is restored as some estimates on TV have said. In fact I will not be surprised if it is in within a month of the storm, or less. We will return to start cleaning up once we confirm we have electricity.
New Orleans will be forever changed, but our God does not change. He is always good.
Charlie Hogue
Laura and I along with our two youngest, Emily and Katie left town 24 hours before the storm. We took along my parents and Laura’s parents in a two car convoy. We began the journey at 3:30 AM to avoid some of the traffic, and by the grace of God made some good travel decisions that avoided the worst of the bottlenecks.
We headed to Mansfield, Louisiana, a small town south of Shreveport. A good friend has a vacant house there. He is a dentist and practices in Mansfield but lives now in Shreveport. He and his wife have been wonderful in taking care of us and the elderly parents. We have gotten meds for them and a school in Shreveport for Emily and Katie. Right now they commute about 35 minutes to school, but we may consider moving them into Shreveport at some point.
On the Sunday following the storm, and a day before they let residents reenter Jefferson parish, Laura and I decided to make an attempt at reentry into the westbank of Orleans Parish (Algiers). Laura and I got up a 4 AM and with gas cans loaded in the car, we began a 4 hour drive to Baton Rouge. We met up there with our son Stephen, Tom and Phil, dental friends in Baton Rouge, and Phil’s son Paul. We went armed. All I can say is God allowed us to get through the three check points and into Algiers.
Thankfully Algiers did not flood. Virtually every house has roof shingles off, from a few to many, but structurally, the houses are intact and just need power. Sadly many many trees are down and a good many are on houses. Huge trees faired no better than small ones. Light structures like carports, fences or signs are often destroyed and clearly, the winds were enormous. Never have I seen the amount of limbs and trees that are laying about, and I went through Betsy and Camille. It was clear that the eye went just to the east of Algiers.
Our church seemed to have only minor damage, but we did not have long to look around. Due to traffic and checkpoints we did not gain entry until mid-afternoon and they asked us to be out by 6 PM. So we did a quick check of our office, and a few homes, grabbed a few items and left.
The westbank in my opinion is in pretty good shape and should be back to limited operation sooner rather than later. I am certain it will not be 3 months before power is restored as some estimates on TV have said. In fact I will not be surprised if it is in within a month of the storm, or less. We will return to start cleaning up once we confirm we have electricity.
New Orleans will be forever changed, but our God does not change. He is always good.
Charlie Hogue