Shelby's House and Other Houses

This was pretty bad. This is the house of my friend who didn't have power OR water for 2 weeks.

















Of course this is not even the worst of it. Quite a few people's houses were smashed by trees, like these houses on Park Boulevard:



































Photographs by Shelby Goddard and Tracey Duncan

Debris Removal

So there was a big pile of debris, about half the size of our house, sitting at the front of our yard. It was made up of many branches that used to be in our trees.

When I came home on Wednesday not only were there 10 or 12 honorable city workers picking up the stuff, but also 10 or 12 National Guard people running around in the backyard with a chainsaw. They said they'd come again yesterday but I'm not sure they showed up, which is actually a good thing because now maybe my husband will have something to chop up with his new chainsaw.

Here are the pictures of the scene:




This is only about 1/4 of the pile that was there because the crew had already picked up most of it by the time I arrived.
















It's really funny to see so many people you don't know in your yard.













Unfortunately I don't have any pictures of the National Guard, who were in uniform, but at least I got some of this neato orange debris removal machine.
































I think it took three of those big army trucks to get all of our debris.








I heard yesterday that 40% of people in Baton Rouge still don't have power and I can believe it; a good number of my friends are still without.

Way to go, City

As I type the National Guard is here, in my yard, picking up debris. I wonder if they edge, hm.

Amazed

After 7 days without, we have power back!

Right after the power came on some tree people magically showed up to clear the huge branches hanging from several of our trees. (Although, there is still a massive pile of branches at the front of our lawn - supposedly the city has a contract with a debris service and someday they'll take our pile away...

Many stoplights in Baton Rouge are still out and many people still don't have power in their homes. One of my friends doesn't even have water.

Curfew is still 10. It's easier to get food and gas now but there are a lot of stores without milk and other important foods and many businesses without power as well.

After Gustav

We are still without power but hopeful that it's coming soon. We think that within Hurricane Gustav we got our own special tornado, which whirled off the tops of three of our biggest trees. We had 15 or so very large branches fall, 4 or 5 of them so large they could have crushed our cars. None of them fell on our house or cars however; we are very
lucky.

Damage in Baton Rouge is extensive with most people still without power and most traffic lights still down. Many trees were completely ripped out of the ground or snapped in half. There are large piles of debris in front of every lawn.

Two people, an old couple, were killed when a tree fell on their daughter's home, to where they had evacuated from Abbeville.

It's hard to get ahold of either food or gas with long lines at the very few places that are open. We had a curfew of 6 for a few days, and then 8, and now it's 10. If you don't make it into wherever you're trying to go by 9, you're sunk.