A recap of the first 8 days
So, how did this all begin? Well, it came up quickly. Often, we are watching named hurricanes come into the Gulf. We hear about them long before we have to make a decision to evacuate. For some reason, Katrina was not in our mental radar. Perhaps because she had hit Florida already and then was projected to shoot sharply north.
Friday, August 26
I didn't realize that we were going to have to pay attention at all until Friday afternoon. Shaw was on a weeklong trip with the freshman class, and he was due home in the late afternoon Friday. I was out taking pictures of residents at the nearby nursing home for the 7th grade service-learning program. Saw our headmistress, 5/6 science teacher and tech person in the student center poring over an image on a laptop. It was the "spaghetti" model of the hurricane track, very recently updated. Three of the four possible models showed the hurricane headed directly to nola. We passed out slips at carpool that afternoon that reminded people that if Orleans Parish Schools were closed on Monday, that we would be too. Still this was not that alarming. We have had school closures for hurricanes that passed too far to the east or west to do any damage at all. In fact, days like that are often sunny and breezy with low humidity. The Gulf version of a snow day.
Shaw came back from the trip close to 5 p.m., and I popped in to the school's beginning of the year happy hour briefly, then we headed home. Still no major plans -- discussion of how inconvenient it would be to evacuate right now -- Shaw having just come back from a trip, yada yada. We watched the weather at 10 p.m. and saw that things did not look that good. But folks not from the area need to understand that many named hurricanes come into the Gulf every year. If we left for each of them, we would never be home at all! So we still weren't sure what we would do. We were watching the storm track and the intensity. The hurricane was still far away. Off to bed.
Saturday, August 27
Restless sleep. I was up at 6 a.m. Watched the news. Hurricane still headed this way, and gaining strength. I didn't want to wait in long lines for gas like I did for Ivan, so I got dressed and headed to the gas station and to the grocery store. Happily, no lines. Bought food, bottled water and ice for the freezer.
Still not sure if we were evacuating. Certainly not mentally excited about it! Wanted to have all options open. Watched a lot of weather on Saturday. Talked to our neighbors across the street, who ended up with a reservation in Nachitoches (about 4 hours away to the northwest of nola.) Called our friends in Birmingham to check if we could come there. Not ideal considering the track of the storm, but we didn't really have much other nearby choice, plus it's our favorite place to evacuate to -- great friends.
I watched more tv -- listened to the Mayor at 1 p.m., I think. It was pretty clear from what he was saying that we would be asked to evacuate. Our policy is to go when the mayor says go. Got out the "hurricane list" -- started gathering important papers, passports, birth certificates, wills, mortgage stuff, teaching certificate, insurance stuff, etc. etc. Gathered together photo albums, journals, quilt made by great grandmother, guitar, cat supplies, etc.
Had some cake with the neighbors -- we had planned on getting together Sat. night, but that was not going to happen -- then Shaw and Terry got to work on boarding up the two houses. Takes five and a half hours to board up both houses -- screwing in pre-cut, pre-labeled boards. This even with four windows in the front of our house with closable shutters that don't require plywood. Again, it is a huge hassle to evacuate.
Finally ate some dinner, continued to pack and watch the news. We tried to decide when we would leave. The options were 4 a.m. or wait for the news at 6 a.m. and see if anything had changed. If we had waited until 6 a.m. for Ivan, we would have seen that it had turned, and maybe we would not have sat in traffic for 8 hours just to get to Baton Rouge, and then return the next day to a sunny day and an unscathed house. That's what makes this all so complicated -- it's disruptive and uncomfortable to evacuate. This time the traffic flowing out of the city did look much better. The contraflow evac plan went into effect at 4 p.m. on Saturday.
So we keep packing. This is where it gets hard. What clothes? Tons of clothes? Three days worth of clothes? We have evacuated twice and never spent more than three nights away.
Jewelry? Other items? Threw a bunch of stuff pretty quickly together. Almost all casual vacation-type stuff. Exhausted.
It's 11 p.m. We have moved some stuff away from windows, covered some furniture (but now in hindsight don't feel like we moved or covered nearly enough) and I head to bed. Shaw is still taking care of a long to do list. Something wakes me up at two a.m. Can't sleep. Nonstop Katrina coverage on the tv. The thing is the size of the Gulf of Mexico. I now have no interest in waiting until 6 a.m. We work to finish getting ready to go. Plants and lawn furniture moved, porch swing inside, water and gas turned off, car loaded. When we evacuate, we always mentally say goodbye to everything, but do we really believe ourselves?
Sunday, August 28
We hit the road at 4:30 -- go about two miles and Shaw realizes he's forgotten his wallet. We turn around and go back. Phew! So we're really on the road at about 4:45. Don't see much traffic leaving the city at this hour, although it is far more brisk than typical on a Sunday at that time. As we leave town, we are surprised at the number of homes and businesses still not boarded up. I think a lot of folks ended up boarding up on Sunday.
There is lightning flashing in the distance, but the sky is clear. I breathe a huge sigh of relief once we have crossed the twin spans on the eastern side of Lake Pontchartrain. Now we won't be trapped by rising waters -- even though the lake looks fine at this hour. Note that this part of I-10 was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina.
We drive north in the southbound lanes of I-59 in the dark. Very disorienting. Police cars blocking the on ramps, flares and lights flashing. Center reflectors are red, indicating that we are officially going the wrong way. Traffic is a little heavy, but moving well. And the further we go north, the lighter the traffic gets.
Sun comes up, I drive. We are both exhausted. Shaw hadn't slept yet at all. He sleeps now. Every license plate we see seems to be from Louisiana. So we are not the only ones who evacuated into the projected path of the hurricane. Quick breakfast at Hardees, then more driving. Listening to Garden State soundtrack. Odd how so many of the lyrics seem to speak to people leaving their homes possibly forever. Probably just because that's where my mind is. "Let go, let go . . ."
We arrive to our wonderful friends' house at 11:30 a.m. on Sunday. Amy is making cupcakes for a Cub Scout meeting, the boys (2nd and 4th grade) are adorable, and we are all in good spirits. We beat the traffic, we are in a beautiful setting, we are happy to see our friends, punchy from lack of sleep, etc. No hurricane has hit yet. We are still hopeful. These suckers so often turn!
An afternoon of hanging out with the kids, napping, ping pong, foosball, settling the cats in to their new temporary home, visiting, and watching TV as the hurricane continues to bear down on NOLA. Finally to bed.
Monday, August 29
Hurricane day. Our friends headed off to school and work. We watched the TV. Watched the roof tear open on the Superdome. Watched the storm go slightly east, directly to Biloxi. Watched and watched, then finally took some breaks. Wow -- New Orleans spared the brunt of the storm again! We got groceries for our friends in antipation of the storm coming this way.
We fretted about power outages -- they had been without power for 6 days for Ivan, and the track was similar. Wondered if we would evacuate here only to have a tree fall on our car.
Called more family and friends, watched the power flicker, but did not lose power. Amazing!
Amy cooked delicious food for dinner, and we were sad about Gulfport and Biloxi, but relieved about New Orleans.
Tuesday, August 30
No school for the kids or for Amy! (She's a teacher.) Our host house is unscathed, but one big tree down in the wooded yard -- conveniently barely on the driveway. Rob and Shaw work to cut enough branches away to get the vehicles out.
Happy moments with our friends -- playing UNO on the back porch, dinner together.
In the evening, I check out the news online and on TV. Bad news. New flooding in NOLA. Levees broken, water rising. How depressing. Lots of Internet on Tuesday -- found the bulletin boards on nola.com -- read a lot of stuff everywhere. Trying to get as much news as possible. Reading Chris Rose's column makes me cry. Watching the looting on TV makes me even sadder, and weary. How can this all be happening???
Wednesday, August 31
A gorgeous sunny day in Birmingham. I spend lots of time on the phone with insurance companies getting claim numbers so that we can get what we need when we can return. I relax on the porch, watching cardinals, hummingbirds, chipmunks, blue jays - sure beats the news. Can't keep watching every minute. Shaw and I make a list of what we want to get out of the house when we come back. We talk about possibilities -- what we might do for the near future -- but we are not ready to make a definite plan. We are waiting to hear from our school -- which is not flooded, yay! We are hopeful. We do normal things like go to the drugstore for toiletries, help the kids with homework, eat dinner together and marvel at how these two little boys that we are staying with have become real people -- with incredible senses of humor, great stories -- it's really fun! Then we watch the news on Wednesday night -- the horrifying lack of planning, the people trapped in their homes, the devastation on the Gulf Coast. It is really too much to absorb. We feel so lucky, every minute, to be in such a comfortable situation. We feel so helpless and angry about those that are still trapped in inhumane conditions.
Thursday, September 1
I make contact with colleagues! I find out that a faculty member from school has set up a blog for us! I email tons of people. I read messages from so many people who are so near and dear to me. I am thrilled to be in contact. I spend a lot of the day on the computer. Then homework help. Shaw weeds and plants rose bushes for the family. We pick up the fourth grader from football practice. We joke about being the new au pairs/butlers/maids/gardeners for our friends. We feel so lucky to be integrated into the family. On Thursday night, Amy and I finally get their wireless connection fixed -- such liberation! I can now use my laptop to access the Internet, rather than sitting in their bedroom to do this. This is the last night of news for a while. It is too much to watch. I keep updated online.
Shaw and I have been taking a walk through the neigborhood every day, but I am antsy. I go outside on the driveway and do yoga with the second grader. Thank goodness for these kids!
Friday, September 2
We venture out. We go to a bookstore to get a gardening book for our friends. I buy two of my favorite cookbooks -- I need recipes to help with cooking for the family. I hope that the books are still home when I return. I burst into tears. I get myself back together. We get a new litterbox, socks, some cat toys etc. at Wal-Mart. We buy things we normally wouldn't like a Snickers bar at the checkout. Good old consumption to take your mind off of things . . .
We make a giant leap. We get something we have never had before - - cell phones! We each get one -- the poor salesperson has to teach us everything - -we are completely cell phone illiterate! Shaw stops at the local high school to meet the Physics teacher there -- possibly to sit in on a class or two. He calls me from the parking lot. We leave each other silly messages on the cell phones. At the grocery store, I look over and Shaw is on the phone. I chide him, "Are you pretending to talk on the phone?" He says, "No, I'm talking to you, babe." Sure enough, when I check my messages, I hear, "Hey, babe, I'm talking to you, babe." Levity in the midst of all of this.
In the evening, the TV news starts showing the horrific scenes at the Convention Center. I spirit the second grader upstairs with a request that he let me read a book to him. We read "My Dog Never Says Please" and look at I Spy books together -- especially the treasure hunt one. Second grader to the rescue, again!
Saturday, September 3
Cell phone extravaganza. It is the weekend. I have unlimited minutes. I start calling people. Everyone is thrilled to hear that we are ok. I spend a ton of time on the phone. I also reach some dear friends from school. We cry together. We so want to go home. Emails start rolling in too.
In the afternoon, Amy, Shaw and I try to volunteer at the Red Cross shelter here. Too many volunteers. They ask us to come back tomorrow.
Happy, happy news -- I discover Google Earth and find our house. The pine tree in the yard appears to be standing! Uptown looks so good that I cannot believe that I am viewing a post-hurricane photo. Our roof looks mostly intact. What a relief.
Friends of Amy and Rob's come over for dinner. Today is the 12 year anniversary of Shaw's and my relationship. We have always celebrated two anniversaries -- one on Labor Day weekend, and our wedding anniversary the first weekend of Jazz Festival. We toast. More hurricane stories. Post dinner, I am exhausted and go to bed early.
I have a computer routine now -- every night I look at the Times-Picayune ( nola.com ) website and look at the photo gallery and breaking news. I check the school blog. I check my email. I am a junkie for new information. News from anywhere. But we have not watched TV for two days.
Sunday, September 4
We go to the Red Cross Shelter and are not turned away. Our orientation consists of a three minute explanation from a Red Cross worker -- telling us where things are, mostly. We are told that it's a pretty organic situation and that we should do whatever work needs to be done -- we should be proactive and figure it out. Just as we are starting to get to work, we hear someone call Shaw's name -- It's the 5th/6th math teacher! We hug and cry and hug and cry. He is staying with family in the area. What a thrill to see a familiar face. We help set up cots on the upper floor of the civic center. The governor is coming, so everything is buzzing. There are camera crews and media. I think I manage to avoid being on camera.
We talk to kids and adults. I meet a girl who is a student of one of my former Teach For America teachers. We listen to a lot of harrowing accounts. Shaw and I have been out of New Orleans for a week -- these poor souls just arrived in Birmingham yesterday. They were at the Convention Center amidst the chaos. They talk about how they tried to maintain order, help the elderly and the children, with no assistance at all from Red Cross, FEMA, the local police or the National Guard. Their stories are chilling.
We leave and return with a cell phone charger that Amy purchased for one of the evacuees. It is amazing how calm and well the evacuees look, considering their circumstances less than 24 hours prior. We speak to one woman, Patricia, who was in her attic for days, with no means to get out. Each story is more poignant than the next. Happily, the kids are now playing with new toys, and everyone has a bed where they can get some rest.
We count our blessings yet again. We have a lovely dinner with Rob's parents and family - everyone is so wonderful; we are so grateful -- I keep getting emotional.
Today we would have gone to Ship Island -- a barrier island off the coast of Gulfport. We do it every year for our anniversary. I am not sure that Ship Island currently exists. It is probably severely damaged, at least.
Monday, September 5
A great normal day. Helping with housecleaning. Organizing the play room together. Reading books with the kids. Helping with homework. A walk in the woods. Putting off other plans and ideas for one more day. Still clueless about our next steps. In the evening, we watch news again for an hour and a half. At least things are better than they were.
Friday, August 26
I didn't realize that we were going to have to pay attention at all until Friday afternoon. Shaw was on a weeklong trip with the freshman class, and he was due home in the late afternoon Friday. I was out taking pictures of residents at the nearby nursing home for the 7th grade service-learning program. Saw our headmistress, 5/6 science teacher and tech person in the student center poring over an image on a laptop. It was the "spaghetti" model of the hurricane track, very recently updated. Three of the four possible models showed the hurricane headed directly to nola. We passed out slips at carpool that afternoon that reminded people that if Orleans Parish Schools were closed on Monday, that we would be too. Still this was not that alarming. We have had school closures for hurricanes that passed too far to the east or west to do any damage at all. In fact, days like that are often sunny and breezy with low humidity. The Gulf version of a snow day.
Shaw came back from the trip close to 5 p.m., and I popped in to the school's beginning of the year happy hour briefly, then we headed home. Still no major plans -- discussion of how inconvenient it would be to evacuate right now -- Shaw having just come back from a trip, yada yada. We watched the weather at 10 p.m. and saw that things did not look that good. But folks not from the area need to understand that many named hurricanes come into the Gulf every year. If we left for each of them, we would never be home at all! So we still weren't sure what we would do. We were watching the storm track and the intensity. The hurricane was still far away. Off to bed.
Saturday, August 27
Restless sleep. I was up at 6 a.m. Watched the news. Hurricane still headed this way, and gaining strength. I didn't want to wait in long lines for gas like I did for Ivan, so I got dressed and headed to the gas station and to the grocery store. Happily, no lines. Bought food, bottled water and ice for the freezer.
Still not sure if we were evacuating. Certainly not mentally excited about it! Wanted to have all options open. Watched a lot of weather on Saturday. Talked to our neighbors across the street, who ended up with a reservation in Nachitoches (about 4 hours away to the northwest of nola.) Called our friends in Birmingham to check if we could come there. Not ideal considering the track of the storm, but we didn't really have much other nearby choice, plus it's our favorite place to evacuate to -- great friends.
I watched more tv -- listened to the Mayor at 1 p.m., I think. It was pretty clear from what he was saying that we would be asked to evacuate. Our policy is to go when the mayor says go. Got out the "hurricane list" -- started gathering important papers, passports, birth certificates, wills, mortgage stuff, teaching certificate, insurance stuff, etc. etc. Gathered together photo albums, journals, quilt made by great grandmother, guitar, cat supplies, etc.
Had some cake with the neighbors -- we had planned on getting together Sat. night, but that was not going to happen -- then Shaw and Terry got to work on boarding up the two houses. Takes five and a half hours to board up both houses -- screwing in pre-cut, pre-labeled boards. This even with four windows in the front of our house with closable shutters that don't require plywood. Again, it is a huge hassle to evacuate.
Finally ate some dinner, continued to pack and watch the news. We tried to decide when we would leave. The options were 4 a.m. or wait for the news at 6 a.m. and see if anything had changed. If we had waited until 6 a.m. for Ivan, we would have seen that it had turned, and maybe we would not have sat in traffic for 8 hours just to get to Baton Rouge, and then return the next day to a sunny day and an unscathed house. That's what makes this all so complicated -- it's disruptive and uncomfortable to evacuate. This time the traffic flowing out of the city did look much better. The contraflow evac plan went into effect at 4 p.m. on Saturday.
So we keep packing. This is where it gets hard. What clothes? Tons of clothes? Three days worth of clothes? We have evacuated twice and never spent more than three nights away.
Jewelry? Other items? Threw a bunch of stuff pretty quickly together. Almost all casual vacation-type stuff. Exhausted.
It's 11 p.m. We have moved some stuff away from windows, covered some furniture (but now in hindsight don't feel like we moved or covered nearly enough) and I head to bed. Shaw is still taking care of a long to do list. Something wakes me up at two a.m. Can't sleep. Nonstop Katrina coverage on the tv. The thing is the size of the Gulf of Mexico. I now have no interest in waiting until 6 a.m. We work to finish getting ready to go. Plants and lawn furniture moved, porch swing inside, water and gas turned off, car loaded. When we evacuate, we always mentally say goodbye to everything, but do we really believe ourselves?
Sunday, August 28
We hit the road at 4:30 -- go about two miles and Shaw realizes he's forgotten his wallet. We turn around and go back. Phew! So we're really on the road at about 4:45. Don't see much traffic leaving the city at this hour, although it is far more brisk than typical on a Sunday at that time. As we leave town, we are surprised at the number of homes and businesses still not boarded up. I think a lot of folks ended up boarding up on Sunday.
There is lightning flashing in the distance, but the sky is clear. I breathe a huge sigh of relief once we have crossed the twin spans on the eastern side of Lake Pontchartrain. Now we won't be trapped by rising waters -- even though the lake looks fine at this hour. Note that this part of I-10 was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina.
We drive north in the southbound lanes of I-59 in the dark. Very disorienting. Police cars blocking the on ramps, flares and lights flashing. Center reflectors are red, indicating that we are officially going the wrong way. Traffic is a little heavy, but moving well. And the further we go north, the lighter the traffic gets.
Sun comes up, I drive. We are both exhausted. Shaw hadn't slept yet at all. He sleeps now. Every license plate we see seems to be from Louisiana. So we are not the only ones who evacuated into the projected path of the hurricane. Quick breakfast at Hardees, then more driving. Listening to Garden State soundtrack. Odd how so many of the lyrics seem to speak to people leaving their homes possibly forever. Probably just because that's where my mind is. "Let go, let go . . ."
We arrive to our wonderful friends' house at 11:30 a.m. on Sunday. Amy is making cupcakes for a Cub Scout meeting, the boys (2nd and 4th grade) are adorable, and we are all in good spirits. We beat the traffic, we are in a beautiful setting, we are happy to see our friends, punchy from lack of sleep, etc. No hurricane has hit yet. We are still hopeful. These suckers so often turn!
An afternoon of hanging out with the kids, napping, ping pong, foosball, settling the cats in to their new temporary home, visiting, and watching TV as the hurricane continues to bear down on NOLA. Finally to bed.
Monday, August 29
Hurricane day. Our friends headed off to school and work. We watched the TV. Watched the roof tear open on the Superdome. Watched the storm go slightly east, directly to Biloxi. Watched and watched, then finally took some breaks. Wow -- New Orleans spared the brunt of the storm again! We got groceries for our friends in antipation of the storm coming this way.
We fretted about power outages -- they had been without power for 6 days for Ivan, and the track was similar. Wondered if we would evacuate here only to have a tree fall on our car.
Called more family and friends, watched the power flicker, but did not lose power. Amazing!
Amy cooked delicious food for dinner, and we were sad about Gulfport and Biloxi, but relieved about New Orleans.
Tuesday, August 30
No school for the kids or for Amy! (She's a teacher.) Our host house is unscathed, but one big tree down in the wooded yard -- conveniently barely on the driveway. Rob and Shaw work to cut enough branches away to get the vehicles out.
Happy moments with our friends -- playing UNO on the back porch, dinner together.
In the evening, I check out the news online and on TV. Bad news. New flooding in NOLA. Levees broken, water rising. How depressing. Lots of Internet on Tuesday -- found the bulletin boards on nola.com -- read a lot of stuff everywhere. Trying to get as much news as possible. Reading Chris Rose's column makes me cry. Watching the looting on TV makes me even sadder, and weary. How can this all be happening???
Wednesday, August 31
A gorgeous sunny day in Birmingham. I spend lots of time on the phone with insurance companies getting claim numbers so that we can get what we need when we can return. I relax on the porch, watching cardinals, hummingbirds, chipmunks, blue jays - sure beats the news. Can't keep watching every minute. Shaw and I make a list of what we want to get out of the house when we come back. We talk about possibilities -- what we might do for the near future -- but we are not ready to make a definite plan. We are waiting to hear from our school -- which is not flooded, yay! We are hopeful. We do normal things like go to the drugstore for toiletries, help the kids with homework, eat dinner together and marvel at how these two little boys that we are staying with have become real people -- with incredible senses of humor, great stories -- it's really fun! Then we watch the news on Wednesday night -- the horrifying lack of planning, the people trapped in their homes, the devastation on the Gulf Coast. It is really too much to absorb. We feel so lucky, every minute, to be in such a comfortable situation. We feel so helpless and angry about those that are still trapped in inhumane conditions.
Thursday, September 1
I make contact with colleagues! I find out that a faculty member from school has set up a blog for us! I email tons of people. I read messages from so many people who are so near and dear to me. I am thrilled to be in contact. I spend a lot of the day on the computer. Then homework help. Shaw weeds and plants rose bushes for the family. We pick up the fourth grader from football practice. We joke about being the new au pairs/butlers/maids/gardeners for our friends. We feel so lucky to be integrated into the family. On Thursday night, Amy and I finally get their wireless connection fixed -- such liberation! I can now use my laptop to access the Internet, rather than sitting in their bedroom to do this. This is the last night of news for a while. It is too much to watch. I keep updated online.
Shaw and I have been taking a walk through the neigborhood every day, but I am antsy. I go outside on the driveway and do yoga with the second grader. Thank goodness for these kids!
Friday, September 2
We venture out. We go to a bookstore to get a gardening book for our friends. I buy two of my favorite cookbooks -- I need recipes to help with cooking for the family. I hope that the books are still home when I return. I burst into tears. I get myself back together. We get a new litterbox, socks, some cat toys etc. at Wal-Mart. We buy things we normally wouldn't like a Snickers bar at the checkout. Good old consumption to take your mind off of things . . .
We make a giant leap. We get something we have never had before - - cell phones! We each get one -- the poor salesperson has to teach us everything - -we are completely cell phone illiterate! Shaw stops at the local high school to meet the Physics teacher there -- possibly to sit in on a class or two. He calls me from the parking lot. We leave each other silly messages on the cell phones. At the grocery store, I look over and Shaw is on the phone. I chide him, "Are you pretending to talk on the phone?" He says, "No, I'm talking to you, babe." Sure enough, when I check my messages, I hear, "Hey, babe, I'm talking to you, babe." Levity in the midst of all of this.
In the evening, the TV news starts showing the horrific scenes at the Convention Center. I spirit the second grader upstairs with a request that he let me read a book to him. We read "My Dog Never Says Please" and look at I Spy books together -- especially the treasure hunt one. Second grader to the rescue, again!
Saturday, September 3
Cell phone extravaganza. It is the weekend. I have unlimited minutes. I start calling people. Everyone is thrilled to hear that we are ok. I spend a ton of time on the phone. I also reach some dear friends from school. We cry together. We so want to go home. Emails start rolling in too.
In the afternoon, Amy, Shaw and I try to volunteer at the Red Cross shelter here. Too many volunteers. They ask us to come back tomorrow.
Happy, happy news -- I discover Google Earth and find our house. The pine tree in the yard appears to be standing! Uptown looks so good that I cannot believe that I am viewing a post-hurricane photo. Our roof looks mostly intact. What a relief.
Friends of Amy and Rob's come over for dinner. Today is the 12 year anniversary of Shaw's and my relationship. We have always celebrated two anniversaries -- one on Labor Day weekend, and our wedding anniversary the first weekend of Jazz Festival. We toast. More hurricane stories. Post dinner, I am exhausted and go to bed early.
I have a computer routine now -- every night I look at the Times-Picayune ( nola.com ) website and look at the photo gallery and breaking news. I check the school blog. I check my email. I am a junkie for new information. News from anywhere. But we have not watched TV for two days.
Sunday, September 4
We go to the Red Cross Shelter and are not turned away. Our orientation consists of a three minute explanation from a Red Cross worker -- telling us where things are, mostly. We are told that it's a pretty organic situation and that we should do whatever work needs to be done -- we should be proactive and figure it out. Just as we are starting to get to work, we hear someone call Shaw's name -- It's the 5th/6th math teacher! We hug and cry and hug and cry. He is staying with family in the area. What a thrill to see a familiar face. We help set up cots on the upper floor of the civic center. The governor is coming, so everything is buzzing. There are camera crews and media. I think I manage to avoid being on camera.
We talk to kids and adults. I meet a girl who is a student of one of my former Teach For America teachers. We listen to a lot of harrowing accounts. Shaw and I have been out of New Orleans for a week -- these poor souls just arrived in Birmingham yesterday. They were at the Convention Center amidst the chaos. They talk about how they tried to maintain order, help the elderly and the children, with no assistance at all from Red Cross, FEMA, the local police or the National Guard. Their stories are chilling.
We leave and return with a cell phone charger that Amy purchased for one of the evacuees. It is amazing how calm and well the evacuees look, considering their circumstances less than 24 hours prior. We speak to one woman, Patricia, who was in her attic for days, with no means to get out. Each story is more poignant than the next. Happily, the kids are now playing with new toys, and everyone has a bed where they can get some rest.
We count our blessings yet again. We have a lovely dinner with Rob's parents and family - everyone is so wonderful; we are so grateful -- I keep getting emotional.
Today we would have gone to Ship Island -- a barrier island off the coast of Gulfport. We do it every year for our anniversary. I am not sure that Ship Island currently exists. It is probably severely damaged, at least.
Monday, September 5
A great normal day. Helping with housecleaning. Organizing the play room together. Reading books with the kids. Helping with homework. A walk in the woods. Putting off other plans and ideas for one more day. Still clueless about our next steps. In the evening, we watch news again for an hour and a half. At least things are better than they were.
posted by carla at 2:20 PM
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