The Frying Pan and The Fire – Evacuating for Gustav
So many of you have contacted me, and I want to tell you all the story, but thought I would put it here for everyone to read. Information on UNO’s and New Orleans reopening is in red at the end. Let me know if you have any questions!!!
First, you may want to know that I was unable to leave until Sunday morning because my car broke down on Friday. I’d had no indication anything was wrong until Thursday evening on my way home from work. Afer calling around on Friday I finally founf a place that could take it. Every other place was 30-40 cars deep. I took it to a Midas on Canal. They tried to charge me $800 to replace my alternator and my battery. I finally talked them down to $606. I fully intend to report them for price gouging when I return. They knew it was my only means of evacuating, and that I virtually had no choice but to pay whatever price they asked. This is the bad side of what happens in an emergency. In any case, they didn’t finish my car until Saturday, so I simply could not leave before Sunday.
Saturday evening (having cleaned out almost all edible food from my refirgerator, a couple of us headed down to Frenchman Street for dnner. Driving around the city was eerie. There was nearly nothing open, and all shops and hosues were boarded up. There was a cop on almost every other street, and the streets were dark. There was a palpable sense of anxiety. It was as if it was an eletrical current in the air…. At dinner, though we tried to talk about other things, table talk was all Gustav, Katrina, and can we get another round please?
We made it an early night. We stll had cars to load, and short naps to get before we left our homes to weather who knew what….
I left New Orleans at 4 am on Sunday morning. I was caravanning with some friends, and my car was packed tight with what I was bringing to evacuate, my dog, my two cats, and the tiny two month old kitten that had come running out of an abandoned house next door. The kitten put its little paws on my foot and meowed and purred and I couldn’t leave it to potentially drown, so took it with me. I’m calling it karma, because I feel like it must have some very good karma.
I was trying to beat the contraflow, which had been scheduled to start at 6, but was moved up to 4, so got stuck right in the middle of it. Merging onto I-10 was scary to begin with. The cars were inching along, and it was nothing but break lights as far as the eye could see ine ither direction. Contraflow didn’t start till the other side of the lake, and it took us over two hours just to get to the lake. had WDSU on the car radio and listened to the reports non-stop. I was addicted to information and ouldn’t turn it off. People who’d already been driving for hours were stopped on either side of the road, walking dogs, stretching legs, and eyeing the marsh in the distance. Everything felt like a very dark dream, even after it got light. I joked that I felt like was in a David Lynch film. Especially as I was listening on the radio to reports of how SUCCESSFUL contra-flow and the evacuation was going. I must have been hearing those reports from an alternate universe.
It took me almost 8 hrs to make it to Hattiesburg, MS, which should be about an hour away from the city. The state police kept closing off exits, as each of the gas statons there ran out of gas. By the time we got to Hattiesburg it was about noon, and I had run out of snacks and yet to have a meal. It would still be a while. Myself and my friend travelling with me are vegetarian, so the few fast food places we encountered were almost all off-limits, and every Burger King we came to for much of the day was out of veggie burgers. I lived on penauts and sweet tea between then and the time we finally found food, around 3 pm that day.
To everyone that sent me text messages – thank you. If not for you I wouldn’t have been able to stay awake, and as it was almost impossible to get a call out, you are life-savers. Perhaps quite literally! This is one of the good things about people in an emergency….
After eighteen hours of driving I made it only as far as Tuscaloosa, AL.
By the time we made it to Tuscaloosa I couldn’t go any farther. I was exhausted, sore, and the animals were restless, hungry, and thirsty. I had been feeling as if I was driving drunk for a number of hours. I was so tired I’d lost depth perception, and the never ending stream of brake lights was merging into one funny looking red dot. I knew that we could go no further.
I was very upset and we got off the interstate and started going around begging for rooms. There were none to be had. had been trying to book something or days, so was not surprised. My phone was also dead at this point, and two women at one of the hotels took pity on us, let me charge the phone, and gave us some water and fruit. It was after 9 now, and the only meal we’d had since 3 am was the 3 pm one in Laurel, MS.
Eventually, they gave us a room (after I both broke down in tears on them, and then translated for them and a Spanish speaking guest). It was well after 11 pm at that point. It had become over a twenty hours saga at that point. We were at a Hilton Garden Inn and these women, Antesha and Brianne, were incredible. They are not only what Guest Service should be, they are good, kind people. I am writing to Hilton about them….
We came the rest of the way to Chattanooga, where I have friends, yesterday. And then had a pitcher of very strong margaritas.
Bill and Nancy are in Ponchatoula. They have no power, but do have a generator, and so far, so good there…. Everyone else I know is safe so far. If there is anyone in particular you want to inquire about, let me know.
In the meantime, the University of New Orleans has decided that classes and normal operatons will not resume until Monday, Septemeber 8th. Stay in touch, and check the website for more details. Also, if you are a NOLA evacuee reading this Nagin is urging people not to try to return until late Wed or Thursday at present, as power is out in over two-thirds of city and water and sewage sytems are not working properly. The city remains on curfew. And who wants to live under martial law – AGAIN? We all remember the troops of National Guardsmen filing past the Parkview Tavern with their machine guns in one hand their beer in another. It inspires such confidence….
Stay safe everyone. And thanks again for your many kind calls, emails, texts, and well-wishes.
Jeni
you are trying get money from abroad. Do yourself a favor and talk to your bank before leaving – sometimes banks can waive certain international fees for a limited period if you talk to them in advance. And also, make sure you let your credit card companies know you will be abroad. Many of them now have theft protection plans where they monitor your spending, and if they see (or if the computer sees) spending out of the ordinary, they will close the card. I’ve known a number of people this has happened to, and it really is simple to fix ahead of time by letting them know. Also, make sure you have numbers you can call FROM your destination (ie a US 1-800 number probably isn’t helpful) in case your card gets lost or stolen…. Although these numbers are readily available on the internet, sometimes it takes some surfing ot find the right one, and you don’t want to be having to surf the net while you’re in panic mode because your wallet or purse has just been stolen.
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