I hope the admins will forgive me, but having ridden out the hurricanes last year, I can't imagine the kind of feelings going on in the Louisiana areas with a Cat 5. I hope that all of the artists from there, as well as everyone, is as safe as they can be... ShadowWind

Looks like it's going to be realy bad. Everyone is flocking to the Super Dome for shelter. We'll get some of the fallout here in the Carlotte North Carolina area over the next few days. but nothing like those folks down in the gulf area are going to endure. Brightest Blessings Tom

Thanks guys!! I live in New Orleans, and packed up my computer and my family yesterday and hit the road headed west! It took me all afternoon, and most of the night to get here, but my family and I are safe and sound staying with family in Texas. If this one hits New Orleans, it's going to be like ground zero, and I pray for the people that didn't or couldn't evacuate, because it doesn't look good at all!!!! They keep saying on the news up here that this will be the storm to hit NewOrleans to remember :( God only knows if I'll have a home to return to. Thanks again for your thoughts and prayers!! I as well as all people in the storms path greatly appreciate it!! Deb

Glad you made it out of there Deb. Many have not and from what I understand, New Orleans is already below sea level and they are expecting 25 to 28 foot storm surge. sigh This is not good. Not good at all. I certainly hope there are no "Hurricane Parties" going on there. If any of you are having one,don't be foolish...get the hell out of there. This is no storm to mess with at all. Tom

Hey Tom, Yeah, and the storm surge is what scares me most, because as you stated, New Orleans is already below sea level. I doubt they're having any "Hurricane Parties" anywhere in the city. I think everyone is well aware at just how serious this one is. Deb

I hope those people in the Superbowl will be safe. But if the lower level of the Superbowl floods, and all the surrounding area floods, then the sewer and water pumps will fail, and there will be no electric power. They may have to bring helicopters in to evacuate some people, or at least to supply them with MREs, blankets and drinking water.

Netherworks and his wife evacuated as of Noon today. Tallameia and her family have made it to thier destination safely... National Guard is giving anyone that has remained behind a 10% chance of survival IF they don't head over to the SuperDome. GOt a friend in the Lousiana National Guard.

My thoughts and prayers are with them as well.

Been following the WWL forecasts. Earlier tonight people were still hanging out on Bourbon Street partying, but they showed it again later and all the people were gone, hopefully to the SuperDome. Hope all of the people manage to get out.

The link is:

http://www.wwltv.com

and click on their Live Forecast. They've had to evacuate, so they are working out of LSU right now, but for those in Louisiana that have their computers, may want to check that out.

my family and I are safe and sound staying with family in Texas I was thinking about you. I'm glad to hear you've got a safe place to be. I love New Orleans, I hate to think of the damage that's going to be done there. :( bonni

I heard estimates to get the pumps running again running from 4 weeks to 6 months. Apparently there are pumps that are used to drain water after storms, but if it takes that long to repair them... Mahray

Attached Link: http://www.wwltv.com/

They are telling people who are heading to their attics to take axes and hatchets with them so they can hack their way out to get on the roof so they don't drown.IN THEIR ATTICS. What a mess Tom

I spoke to one of the teachers at the Chalmette High School and they used it for an evacuation center... there is water up to their knees on the 2nd floor right now :( That is the High School that my daughter goes to right by my house, so I can safely assume I have little to nothing left :( I'm just sick. And yes!! There are people on their roof tops waiting for search and rescue people to pick them up. Deb

I'm at a loss of what to say Deb. I'm so sorry. Tom

I'm so sorry to hear that Debbie, just getting caught up on the hurricane news. Terrible stuff. Well it's good though that you are safe and as they say things can be replaced. Hang tough...

Debbie I am so sorry! Sending hugs and prayers your way.

Deb I am so sorry to hear this news, I was praying that your area would not get hit :[ Please keep us posted, and we are all glad that you and your family are safe and dry. Hugs Dee-Marie

Big Hugs to you Deb I am sorry to hear that you might have lost everything but at least you and your family are safe. Sandy

Sorry to hear about this, Debbie. My thoughts are with you at this time. Edit: Is Renderosity going to be affected by this in Nashville, which seems to be in the path now?

Message edited on: 08/29/2005 19:36

People might have been able to get to the Superdome, but anybody with pets, special medical needs (like refrigerated medicine), or computer livelihoods was well advised to throw everything necessary in a car and skedaddle to higher and drier ground. New Orleans may be a romantic city, but the combination of wind and water is dreadful. :( I'm glad to hear of folks getting out safely. Carolly

It's not over yet either. Although downgraded to a tropical storm,we now have to be concerned with tornados,heavy rain and flooding,and thunderstorms. I was in a tornado back in 2001.It was the most awesome and terrifying experience of my life and I never want to go through that again. Tom

Debbie, I'm so very sorry to hear that your house is probably... well, not your house any more. :( I hate to think about the damage done to New Orleans. It's such a beautiful, historic city. It just breaks my heart. bonni

I've never been to New Orleans but always wanted to go. Everyone says it's so beautiful. My brother and I were just talking about going down there to help out with the recovery effort for a week or so. Tom

The news this morning is so heartbreaking. My heart goes out to you and your family Debbie and also everyone who lives along the Gulf Coast and whose lives changed forever yesterday. I was upset about the high cost of gasoline this morning. Here in Wisconsin it shot up to $2.97 a gallon today due to the hurricane. How lucky I am to only have gas prices to worry about. My prayers are with all of our southern neighbors.

"Here in Wisconsin it shot up to $2.97 a gallon today due to the hurricane." Sounds like price gouging somewhere along the line to me. The hurricane can't have affected the cost of already-refined gas this soon, although prices did rise on the crude oil market.

As for price gouging...yep. That and Wisconsin's bogus $.30 per gallon sales tax on gasoline.

My prayers and wishes to those who have been affected by this terrible storm. Debbie, I can only imagine how heartbroken you must feel! It's times like this when we realize how important it is for us all to pull together. This is such a tragedy. 8-(

Bless you and all the rest, from what I'm hearing on the news, it's only getting worse :(

Yeah,..I heard it was getting worse also. Something about the Governor calling for a complete evacuation of New Orleans. (about the same size as Charlotte NC the radio announcer said, I've not seen the news on TV yet this evening but I heard on the radio that 2 main levy's broke and the pumps are not working. Only when there is equal pressure on both sides (the BOWL "New Orleans" and the Gulf) will they be able to start pumping out the city. Tom

I have family in Gulfport, MS. I've received scattered reports on them. The surges were 35-40 feet. Hwy90 and the I-10 bridge are gone. Power is estimated to be out for 3-4 weeks. Marshall Law is in effect. Cells phones come and go. Land phones are gone. I can't get an idea of the food and water supply because communication is so shaky right now. But I did get news that some of my family are ok. Haven't been able to get news about all of them. Deb.. I grew up in MS. I so hope you can return home soon and find that it is still there.

Humm.....and then there are those that don't believe that global warming even exists - mighty strange we have seen a big increase in these storms each year and its getting worse and worse. Its a well known fact that the warmer the water temperature is, the more these storms are fueled. sigh Im terribly upset to hear that you may have lost everything Deb. I know lots of people are in the same situation, but that doesnt make it any easier to accept. It must be a very humbling situation. I know we have had lots of loss in our area due to some of the famous F5 tornado's but nothing in comparison to the damage Im seeing on the news channels. My heart goes out to every person down there (except those looters) I could understand them taking necessity's like food and water, but TV sets, Microwaves, Shoes, Clothes, Toys, etc. that they cant even USE or do anything WITH right now? Its pretty hard to use a TV without electricity, so what do they think they're gonna do with all this stuff; pack it all on their back while they evacuate out of the city for heavens sake? To me that is the lowest of low, and for those that are doing this looting for any other reason than basic essentials, I have no sympathy whatsoever for them. That part of 'human nature' (if you can call it human instead of animal) is repulsive to me.

I'm with you Candee. I also was wondering what they thought they would do with the stuff. What's even worse, they are stealing guns and weapons. Disgusting, simply disgusting.

"Here in Wisconsin it shot up to $2.97 a gallon today due to the hurricane." The gas dealers have the edge on the looters though; they can do it legally :P

Better pull out the bicyles. And start jogging to work. The refineries won't be up and running for weeks. The oil companies don't care about prices and have no plan to start up with limited production. Instead they are going to drag their feet in the name of "Safety inspections". I predict the price of gas is going to reach over $5.00/Gal. by the end of next week. Maybe even by the end of this week.

Actually there is oil to refine - plenty of them to pick up the slack in the Texas area as well as others. With today's lifting of the regulations today on the process required (currently) to refine the oil - that should speed up the production a lot. Its not like ALL our oil is refined in LA - only a part of it. I believe I heard 25% of the oil is refined there. I actually predict that gasoline will go up slightly over the next day or so but then I look to see it level off with these new temporary requirements lifted to fill in the gap. Now what would NOT surprise me is in the near future, having gasoline rationing like took place back in Carter's administration! I also feel that the strategic oil reserves should have been opened up before the storm, when we were already having consistently increasing prices. I feel that we are being legally price gouged! I dont think its time to panic yet though...but pulling out the bicycles and walking more - and taking public transporation was already a good idea long before now. Maybe we would not have contributed so much to global warming if we had & would not be in this situation now. Things as simple as fueling your vehicles at night to prevent from dirtying up the air is observed how often? I see folks lined up at the pumps whenever they darn well feel like it without any consideration at all - as long as its convenient for them that's all they care about! :(

$2.99 per gallon here in North Carolina. The lines at the gas station remind my of the "Gas Crunch" of the 1970's under the Carter Administration. Tom

oops..Crossposted with you CandeeKis

Gas is $3.19-$3.29 from what I hear in the Michigan area from a friend. Here in Florida, it's still about $2.73 in our area thus far, but that's sure to climb probably over the next few days. It's not just the refining, but the fact that alot of the Gulf oil rigs were shutdown or are damaged and speculation has a lot to do with gas prices as the cost of each barrel goes up. The news is horrific out of that area and my thoughts are with them. I think it would be a good idea to give to the Red Cross who will be instrumental in getting all of this done. ShadowWind

To get this thread back on track, I wanted to mention something to those who might want to pledge some assistance to those in need after hurricane Katrina. This weekend is the Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon. Our local coverage of the telethon will be asking for Katrina relief during the first four hours and last four hours of the telethon. I did a search for Jerry Lewis and Katrina, and it appears that several of the local stations that are covering the telethon will also be asking for Katrina relief, and it appears to be associated with the American Red Cross. If you don't have any luck getting through with one of the other options (they are overwhelmed and it takes a long time to get through) the MDA Telethon will be another avenue for donations.

Just a note to everyone, you can send money to Debbie's Paypal account through her Renderosity address if you want to help her out. DebbieM@renderosity.com hugs Deb. We love you. (thank you for the link, hawkfyr)

Glad to hear that you are okay Debbie, and even if you did lose your house. You still have your life and that of your family....and that is what is important in the end. Best of luck, Rebekah