My thoughts on Katrina and Hurricanes

[Dave223]

Ok Fellas,
   I want to attempt to give my thoughts on what happenes during and after katrina,Rita,Gustav and Ike. These for me were the most stressful hurricanes I have gone through and Ive been here for 43 years (all my life). Please keep in mind that Im not a writer and this is what happened to the best of my recollection. I will add to this post as i remember things so they may be out of sync somewhat.Please feel free to ask questions about anything and I will answer the best I can. Im not a survivalist, just someone who tends to plan ahead and take care of a wife,2 kids and a MIL.
 I live in a small town south of NO called Chauvin.You can find it on Google if you like, Its 19 miles to the end of the road, and the last sign of land on this highway.
 
  Anyhow we start to prep, pickup loose items in the yard, pickup a few food items (not something we worry about too much here) Help the older neighbors with things. We also fuel up all the vehicles and containers, start an run the generator, check connections, get 2 window a/c units ready, things like that. I usually get a few things like rope, 2 cycle oil, AMMO, we wash clothes, dishes and things. We get our important papers out and go through em, making sure everything is there. They stay in waterproof containers under our bed so they can be loaded into the vehicle.
  Anyhow, I tend to get a few supplies..things like 100' of 1/4 rope to tie things and whatnot. 1/2" rope to pull trees or stuck vehicles if needed. You get the idea. I bring my boat to friends or family farther north for safe keeping, and keep my pirogue handy in my truck. We load up vehicles with bug out supplies, clothes go in my wifes Tahoe, papers, and things that need to be dry also. the generator, fuel cans, rope, chainsaw, pirogue, hatchet, hand tools for vehicle repairs and anything else that i think we may need goes in the back of my truck. My guns except for my 12 gauge gets wrapped in a blanket and places behind the seat of my truck. the 12 gets put up front with me.
 Keep in mind that if/when we evac, we tend to look at most things as replaceable. The keepsake that my granny gave me doesnt matter anymore. Im looking for 2 things when I pack, things I can use, and things I can pawn or trade if the cash flow starts getting low.  At this point my wife or myself goes to the bank and drains all the accounts except for whats written in checks. we divide this between ourselves and I usually take half of what I have and hide it in my truck. If we get separated,we both have money. Oh yeh, we both have a truckers road atlas under the seats, they tend to show the least used backroads.  I carry water purification tablets also, its easy to find water and purify, easier than having it occupy a space in the back of my truck at 8lbs per gallon.
  We keep first aid kits in our vehicles all the time and i have 2 of the 10 q-beams that are rechargable,plus they have a 12 and 120 volts chargers. I use these in my boat so its something we use anyhow.  Ok I will add more later, its time to play cards, Dave
 

[Dave223]

 Ok so ..preparations
 Another thing we do is call all of our family members, we verify travel plans, cell numbers, things like that. My mother and my brother live in Colorado so we give all of our family members her phone number. This allows each person to call and receive info on everyone who calls in, instead of calling each person individually. If someone has an emergency, then my mom has the resources to locate whatever they need(hospital,auto parts) and tell everyone else the who what when where and how. Understand where Im going with this? Sorta like a central dispatch that is out of harms way.
  One thing I learned from Gustav was that gas cans are a hot commodity. I left here and stayed in Vicksburg, MS. and had trouble finding them that far away!
 We tend to not worry about food as far as meat is concerned, we mostly stock up on can goods, etc. Down here we  have alot of marshes and swamps, when the water comes up the animals head to and bunch up on the ridges and levees. Any hunting seasons that are open get suspended but if it comes to it, we can paddle the pirogue and 22 a couple rabbits and even a deer if need be.
   Ok on to the storms and what happens...
 

[Dave223]

One thing I ask from everyone who reads this: What happened with the people of NO and what they did, that IS NOT they way we act down here. No looting,killing,etc. We are for the most part a quiet, hard working folk who come back and get our lives back in order. We help our neighbors and folks who cant help themselves, we repair our homes, get back to work, put it behind us and learn from it! With that said:
 Katrina
 I remember when they put us in the cone of uncertainty, in the Gulf and a Cat1 storm. We woke the next morning and it was a 3-4 storm? and headed for NO. I remember thinking "oh boy, here we go !!!" If it passes to the East, we are ok, it pulls the water out. If it passes to the West, we are done! It pumps the water in, along with the tidal surge. Nothing to do but prep and wait.
 At the time I was a maint supervisor for a Hampton Inn here, so along with getting things ready, I had to get it ready because it was booked solid with people seeking shelter. I made res for my family to stay there with me, got things done at home and went to work for 26 hours straight. I dont remember what time it started blowing but    I do remember the power going down at night, that left us with no radio,tv,internet, basically flying blind as to whats happening. Now its a waiting game.
 I remember getting 12 hour light sticks from Lowes before hand so we hung em down the halls and in the stair wells so the guests would have some light to walk with.
 I can remember watching from the windows as just about anything that was cheaply made or half rotten blew away, signs blowing down the highway, shingles everywhere etc.
 We had some news crew staying with us at the time, not sure who they were but I know it wasnt TWC. They had some sort of way to get info and they asked me where a certain town was, this was where the eye wall was at that time. I showed them on a map and it was directly across from us, the storm was halfway past us and on the downswing. Now its tornado time! The wind begins to switch at this point and everything we watched pass is starting to blow back again. The good thing is, from this point, the wind is  going to be slowing down. We made it past the worst, we will survive this!!!!
 Sometime around daylight the wind is 40-50mph, I start to venture outside, trying to assess the damage to the hotel. Some minor damage, but nothing structural, we begin the clean up and finish around 4-5 pm. Most of the people leave and we start getting rooms ready, we have out of state utilities crews coming in to help and they are staying with us to help get the town back up and running. I remember the power coming on about 7pm and the guys rolling in. After talking to them , I find out they got our grid online so they could have a/c. I go to bed at this point and sleep, and sleep....
 

[Dave223]

The next morning we venture down to our house, not sure whats left or if its still standing. As we ride down the road, i see trees down everywhere, power poles leaning over so far I could change street light bulbs from my truck window. Some houses are damaged but nothing like I see tornados do, mostly shingles or poor construction. 
 I get home and find that I have 6 shingles missing, 6...I stand there and just about cried, hate to admit it but its the truth! The feeling of knowing my family was ok, my home was ok, and the stress of it all leaving was overwhelming.
 On the way back we listen to the radio. At this point its our only news source,all the cell towers were down and cable was out. We hear reports of NO flooded, people going to the Superdome, people stuck in their attics, people looting, killing, beating others for the supplies they had, dead floating in the water, etc. I can remember thinking "how can this be?. This cant be real, it cant be happening this close to home". (we are 60 miles or so from NO)
I get back to the hotel and call my brother in Colorado, he tells me that people are fleeing NO and to be careful. He tells me whats being shown on the news an its bad. He also tells me he has 2500 rounds of 223 and 3 rifles that can shoot it, he can be here in 22 hours. I tell him to hold off.
 I hear on the radio that ammo,gun sales and alcohol sales are suspended until further notice in our area. Curfews are inside from dusk to dawn, anyone out will be arrested, no questioning, just arrested and held.
 At this time I check my ammo (didnt consider it before this), I have 12 rounds of no7  12 gauge...great!
 At this point I just remember spending 1-2 days working, getting my roof repaired and seeing to the hotel.
    I hear that they are sending ppl from NO to our civic center to stay so we volunteer one day to help there.
We arrive and start helping..unloading trucks of supplies, I venture inside to talk to some people, see whats going on. I see folks laying around on cots, complaining about the food, that its hot,all sorts of stuff. i go outside and I see volunteers from all over the US in the heat, cooking meals, sweating, trying to do whatever they can...At this point Im disgusted, I gather my wife and we leave. I will not return. Let em starve,I no longer have sympathy for these people.
    Over the next few days and weeks we hear all sorts of stories and rumors, we see pics on tv of NO and whats happening. I still dont believe its real sometimes, that it happened so close. At this point we decide, if its not friends or family, they are on their own when TSHTF. We take care of our own from this point on.

[Dave223]

A few things about katrina come to mind.
 Some asked why it took so long to get supplies to NO. If you look on a map, there are only 7 ways into NO. 4 of those ways, the bridges cross lakes. If I remember correctly, they all had some sort of damage. 1 road follows the river, 2 come in from the south where we were. EVERYTHING was blocked for a while with downed trees and debris. It takes time to clear to get thruough. If its flown in, whos there to distribute?
  We were told they needed boats and people to do search and rescue. We also found out that most of the boats were being commandeered by the police and NG, used and abandoned. Some people had their boats taken at gunpoint by criminals! Needless to say, no-one I know took their boat.
  One deputy I know here told me they were doing S&R and they were fired on while in their airboats...they radioed the NG. The Ng came on scene and lit up the building, no problems after that.
 I remember seeing 2 guys leave the hotel every morning with each a soft gun case. I got to talking to em and found out they were with the rail road (dont know which one). I inquired about the gun cases and started talking guns with em, they opened the gun cases and I was shown a HB Rem 700 scoped out and a Galil. After much more talking They were guarding the train depot and had dropped a few people that were breaking into the cars (can anyone confirm that this is possible?).
 At this point I dont know much about the gun confiscation in NO, nothing more than what I read in the NRA mags. i know it didnt happen in Terrebonne Parish. I dont know what happened to the people in the civic center here either.There was no flooding here, it passed to the East of us.We stayed in the hotel for 6-7 days until power was restored to our home.I lost 2 freezers full of meat and seafood,it cost approx 300$ to replace over a month or so. Life returned to normal for us I guess, until IKE entered the Gulf a few weeks later....

[Victor3]

 Thanks much, Dave. Could you go into a little detail though? (just kidding)

 Glad to hear that you and yours were able to get through it all okay and were prepared to help yourselves and those around you. Stark contrast to what went on with many in NO.

 Lots of food for thought in your posts. In reading them I was thinking about how your experience would compare to mine here in CA if we had a major earthquake. Major difference is that we would have no advance warning; need to be prepared as best we can with that in mind.