Our objective is to get to our Village and complete as much salvage as possible and get to Kevin's house to salvage as much of his family's clothing as possible, and document the damage to his house for FEMA.
The drive over through New Orleans was uneventful, there was some but not much evidence of damage, but once we got on I-310 and exited into US90W we saw increasing damage.
The telephone and power poles were all leaning north, we saw many ravaged trees, mostly pines and the beautiful oaks, but the cedars and cypress are for the most part undamaged. The oaks are a signature for this coast. They are protected by law but Gustav had no respect for law.
On LA660 it was clear the road was impassable earlier. Gustav, a category 2 storm uprooted oaks, pines, cypress, limbs and tree tops chain sawed off litter the shoulder of the road. I saw one uprooted oak in a front yard, the periphery of the roots was maybe 15 feet in diameter. The tree was just lifted out of the ground.
When we got to his home the roof was laying in the front yard but otherwise it looked salvagable. Then we went to the back. Kevin says a cousin watching it related the story.
There was a lull in the wind and they ran over to get some items from the house. Then, a big wind blew up and peeled the roof.
We went over to our Village.
It was a hard trip also.
Just before the turn of LA3087 onto 660 we see a long line of cars waiting to get into the Baptist Church that is giving out food and supplies, and tarps.
After the turn to the Village we find the a sign saying the bridge over Bayou Blue is closed.
In the lot we see all the pods are gone and all that is left is the metal ductwork that fed cooling or heating air.
The big tent, framed with strong aluminum piping, had collapsed.
Inside, we find crushed water bottles, cots, smashed containers of sleeping bags, overturned shelves.
The RV's were unharmed but also hard to pull out of the mud and muck.
Well before the storm, one of our village managers would sit on the porch of the dining hall habitually and spit watermellon seeds. Several seeds sprouted and a robust mellon vine grew.
The mellon survived Gustav!
Yesterday Ike, the next storm, looked like it has Mississippi in its sight. But today it still is tracking west, it looks increasingly likely it may miss us. We will have to wait until Tuesday or Wednesday to know.
We are re-organizing out materials and supplies, anticipating another evacuation sometime between Tuesday to Thursday, depending on how Ike's storm track develops.
I have not even unpacked.
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