Scared Monkeys Discussion Forum

Please post any information, email addys, needs, offers, etc regarding this hurricane Gustav that looks like it will become a category 5.

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New Orleans - Evacuation Information

http://www.wwltv.com/video/?nvid=57429&live=yes

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,413941,00.html

(http://www.foxnews.com/images/428079/3_26_083008_gustavview_450.jpg)
Nagin Orders Mandatory Evacuation of New Orleans as Gustav Approaches
Saturday , August 30, 2008


 New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin ordered the mandatory evacuation of New Orleans, while Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal warned residents that the state "could see flooding worse than Hurricane Katrina," as Gustav approached the Gulf Coast.

The announcement turned informal advice to flee from Gustav into an official order to get out.

Nagin said Saturday that the evacuation becomes mandatory at 8 a.m. Sunday on the city's vulnerable west bank. It becomes mandatory on the east bank at noon.

The announcement comes as officials continued to evacuate the elderly, disabled, poor and others without means ahead of Gustav's march toward the Gulf Coast.

"[This is] as bad as it gets," the Republican governor said, quoting the National Weather Service.

An estimated 1 million residents fled the Gulf Coast Saturday, ahead of any official evacuation order, according to the Associated Press, but after the National Hurricane Center issued a hurricane watch for Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and part of Texas.

The watch area includes New Orleans, where residents marked the third anniversary of Hurricane Katrina's devastation on Friday. The watch stretches from east of High Island, Texas, to the Alabama-Florida border.

Hurricane Gustav strengthened to a dangerous Category 4 storm Saturday, prompting officials to plan a special advisory and some Gulf Coast residents to leave town ahead of mandatory evacuations.

Data from an Air Force reconnaissance aircraft indicated that Gustav's maximum winds have increased to close to 145 mph, making the already-deadly storm an extremely hazardous Category 4 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson hurricane scale.

The advisory was issued about 2 p.m. EDT to modify an earlier warning.

Gustav could strengthen even further to a Category 5 hurricane just before or shortly after it passes over Cuba into the Gulf of Mexico, according to the National Hurricane Center.

New Orleans residents, with the memory of devastating Hurricane Katrina still fresh in their minds, didn't waste time getting out of the city on Saturday.

Click here for satellite, radar and tracking maps at MyFOXHurricane.com.

Click here for photos.

Lines of people waiting for buses to take them out of the Big Easy grew longer and traffic grew heavier on main highways as Hurricane Gustav strengthened into a dangerous storm on track for the Gulf Coast.

"I'm getting out of here. I can't take another hurricane," said Ramona Summers, 59, whose house flooded during Katrina. She hurried to help friends gather their belongings. Her car was already packed for Gonzales, nearly 60 miles away to the west of New Orleans.

New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin said a mandatory evacuation hadn't yet been issued, but could come later in the day to begin Sunday morning.

He said he was confident the levees wouldn't fail the way they did during Katrina if Gustav hits New Orleans.

"We have invested a significant amount of money in levee protection, so I’m not anticipating the same type of levee flooding we had with Katrina," Nagin told reporters Saturday. He said he was expecting street flooding, and city officials would be working through the night in preparation for the monster storm.

As for whether or not New Orleans could survive another devastating hurricane, Nagin said it would be difficult.

"Emotionally can we handle it? I think there's a lot of fragileness in the city," he said. "It’s going to be a tough one, but New Orleanians are very resilient."

A line well over a mile long stretched in six loops through the parking lot at Union Station Terminal in New Orleans. Under a blazing sun, many led children or pushed strollers with one hand and pulled luggage with the other. Volunteers handed out bottled water, and medics were nearby in case people became heatsick.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) was already working feverishly to avoid the kind of problems that surfaced in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. FEMA said it expects a "huge number" of Gulf Coast residents will be told to leave the region this weekend.

Joseph Jones Jr., 61, wore a towel over his head to block the sun. He'd been in line 2 1/2 hours, but wasn't complaining. During Katrina, he had been stranded on a highway overpass.

"I don't like it. Going someplace you don't know, people you don't know," Jones said. "And then when you come back, is your house going to be OK?"

The city had yet to call for a mandatory evacuation, but began ushering out the sick, elderly and those without their own transportation on Saturday. The state has a $7 million contract for more than 700 buses to carry an estimated 30,000 people to shelters.

Many residents said the evacuation was more orderly than Hurricane Katrina, which struck three years ago Friday. But not everyone was happy.

Elizabeth Tell, 67, had been waiting on the corner since 6:30 a.m. for a special needs bus to take her and her dog, Lee Roy, to the station. It was three hours before the first bus arrived, completely full of people in wheelchairs.

"They're not taking care of us down here!" she shouted as the brown-and-white spotted hound mix panted inside his hip-high plastic kennel.

Many residents weren't waiting for a formal evacuation call. Cars packed with clothes, boxes and pet carriers drove north among heavy traffic on Interstate 55, a major route out of the city. Gas stations around the city hummed. And nursing homes and hospitals began sending patients farther inland.

Police and firefighters were set to go street-to-street with bullhorns over the weekend to help direct people where to go. Unlike Hurricane Katrina, there will be no shelter of last resort in the Superdome. The doors there will be locked.

Those among New Orleans' estimated 310,000 to 340,000 residents who ignore orders to leave accept "all responsibility for themselves and their loved ones," the city's emergency preparedness director, Jerry Sneed, has warned.

There were signs Saturday morning of people racheting up their plans to leave. ATM machines were running out of cash. Long lines were sprouting up at gas stations as motorists filled up their cars. Cases of bottled water were selling briskly at convenience stores.

Gustav swelled into a major hurricane south of Cuba and could strike the U.S. coast anywhere from Mississippi to Texas by Tuesday.

Forecasters said if Gustav follows the projected path it would likely make landfall on Louisiana's central coast, sparing New Orleans a direct hit. But forecasters caution it is still too soon to say exactly where the storm will hit.

"Any little jog could change where it makes landfall," said Karina Castillo, a hurricane support meteorologist at the National Hurricane Center said.

One shop along Magazine Street, its windows covered up, showed a flash of New Orleans' storm humor. "Geaux Away Gustav," it read, giving it a French flair.

President Bush called Gulf Coast governors Saturday and told them they would have the full support of the federal government, White House spokesman Scott Stanzel said.

Officials plan to announce a curfew that will mean the arrest of anyone still on the streets after a mandatory evacuation order goes out. Police and National Guardsman will patrol after the storm's arrival, and Gov. Bobby Jindal has said he requested additional search and rescue teams from other states.

Jindal also said the state would likely switch interstate lanes on Sunday so that all traffic would flow north, in the direction an evacuation would follow.

By midday Saturday, Gustav was about 185 miles east of the western tip of Cuba and just 55 miles east-southeast of the Isla de Juventud. It was expected to be moving northwest near 14 mph.

Hurricane force winds extended out 60 miles in some places.

Cuban officials raced to evacuate more than 240,000 people

The center of Gustav was to pass over western Cuba later Saturday and strengthen is forecast after it reaches the Gulf of Mexico.


The second major hurricane of the Atlantic season has already killed 78 people in the Caribbean.

Haiti's Interior Ministry on Saturday raised the hurricane death toll there to 66 from 59. Gustav also killed eight people in the Dominican Republic and four in Jamaica.

Cuba grounded all national airline fights, though planes bound for international destinations were still taking off at Havana's Jose Marti International Airport.

Authorities also canceled all buses and trains to and from the capital, as well as ferry and air service to the Isla de Juventud, the outlying Cuban island-province next in Gustav's path.

The U.S. naval base at Guantanamo, Cuba, was hundreds of miles to the east, out of the storm's path.

Gustav could strike the U.S. Gulf coast anywhere from the Florida Panhandle to Texas, but forecasters said there was an increasing chance that New Orleans will get slammed by at least tropical-storm-force winds, three years after devastating Hurricane Katrina.

As much as 80 percent of the Gulf of Mexico's oil and gas production could be shut down as a precaution if Gustav enters as a major storm, weather research firm Planalytics predicted. Oil companies have already evacuated hundreds of workers from offshore platforms.

http://www.wwltv.com/local/orleans/stories/wwl083008bhorleansevac.2afaf5f8.html

“You need to be scared. You need to be concerned,” Nagin said during a Saturday evening news conference. “You need to get your butt out of New Orleans. This is the storm of the century.”

. . . .

Nagin said that the Westbank will be the first hit, with water being pushed up by a storm surge that could potentially hit 20-feet and higher. He said that because the Harvey Canal is not completed, leaving the area vulnerable to catastrophic flooding.

“For the Westbank, you were spared in Katrina,” Nagin said. “This is not that type of storm. The Harvey Canal is not complete. There’s holes in it. The surge will punch holes and will fill up the Westbank.

“This is not the storm to ride out.”

Here is my suggestion for those who are generous enough to offer their homes to others or just want to help in some way.

Create a hotmail email account specifically for this.  You can always delete it later.  When you register your email address at hotmail you don't even have to use real information.  I have used klaasend as a first name and scaredmonkeys as a last name.  Then you can feel pretty safe about posting your email address in the forum. 

www.hotmail.com

That way people can email you directly and I don't always have to be the go-between.  You can just leave a message in this thread...."email me at xxx@hotmail.com if you need some place to stay"

Make sense?

Minnie_Mouse215@yahoo.com


It's on my profile,

Just want people to be safe,
Please get to a SAFE place

I wouldn't wait!!!

I'm about 30 miles south of St. Louis on I-55.  Our home is open and your pets are welcome.  scaredmonkeysnoopy@gmail.com

What to do....what to do....They are saying that while we are safe from any storm surge , we will experience some high sustained winds and possibility of tornadoes, and lots of rain....People we are in contact with that are on the road are going nowhere slowly....I am going to get some sleep and get up early and see what Gustav is doing...
I am more concerned about the trees surrounding my house than anything else with this one....Will post tomorrow...Nighters!

This is a great idea Klaas.  I will use dihannah1@yahoo.com.   Though, I am not in a position to take anybody in, due to remodeling, I will send any neccesities, so plese do NOT hesitate to ask, we are family.

One other thing I can think of is maybe a central place for Monkyes who have to evacuate, a place or somebody to contact they are ok, so we at least know everybody is safe.  Maybe an email, a phone number or some way  somebody can track and relate each and every Monkey is safe.  I know if I don't know, it will make me sick to my stomoach  with worry.   I'd even give my my phone # for those to call and provide updates if necessary.   I am really surprised at how many here are so close to the danger and it may be hard to know who, especially the newbies, who is in danger.   I understand this may be difficult for those displaced, but I would like to figure out something with everybody's ideas.

This may sound silly or too difficult, but I'm open to suggestions.  I want to know ALL is safe, and then send anything necessary to help those in need.

Love ya all and please stay safe!

This is what I would expect and do with my own family and I consider you all family, so need to know you are all fine.

Shell just mentioned something over in the Caylee thread.

If you evacuate, be sure to take your FAMILY PHOTOS.

Well along those lines, a message can always get to us via me, Red, Dana or Dugga.

klaasend@scaredmonkeys.com
red@scaredmonkeys.com
dana@scaredmonkeys.com
dugga@scaredmonkeys.com

See a pattern in the email addresses, LOLOL.  ::MonkeyHaHa::  Easy to remember.  You can even send emails from many phones. 

http://www.earthcam.com/usa/louisiana/neworleans/bourbonstreet/

Above link for cam says live, but I can't tell if it is or not.

http://neworleanswebsites.com/cat/en/lc/lc.html

traffic looks backed up on the I10 and 610 split.

True that.  Late afterthought, if they can email, then they should be able to post.

Hey, I feel left out!  I wanna @scaredmonkeys.com email addy too    ::MonkeyHaHa::   j/k

Prayers for all of you facing this monster storm. I will be praying consistently throughout the days and nights ahead until this is over.
Sneed's words are haunting me:  This is the storm of the century......

If I can help in any way just message me at njackson1245@neto.com

You're right Dihannah1...if they can E mail they can probably post. That's why I am thinking it would be a good idea for those having to evacuate to send some of us posting E mails a message soon and get a phone # for contact later when they arent able to keep contact by posting. That way they could give someone a call to keep us all updated regarding their safety as I know that a lot of us Monkeys are going to be worrying about our missing Monkeys until this is over.
My prayers are with all of you.

Slapping my head here.................Thanks Klaas for posting the e-mail addresses! I can be contacted with this e-mail addy:

crazybabyborg@scaredmonkeys.com

There are a lot of folks being flown from New Orleans to Knoxville, and I'm thinking of going down to help out for a day. If there is anything at all I can do for any monkey, just e-mail me!!

I said anything, but a large pet might prove difficult, right now. But I'd figure it out for a monkey!  ::MonkeyWink::

There is a good interactive map at this site:

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/storm/content/storm/homepage/index.html

If you click on any of the points of Gustav's predicted path, the legend will give you the predicted wind mph, and estimated hour it will be at that location.

I'm in Buffalo NY and that's pretty far for most to travel. Please know if anyone does need to come to this area, they have a home available. Also, if you need anything sent to you, I would be more than happy to help you out. Whatever it is, just holler.  mrskub@hotmail.com

Please stay safe Monkeys and do what the officials are telling you to do. Don't take chances. Houses and belongings can be replaced. You only have one life. My prayers for everyone.

Contraflow started as of 4 a.m. This means that ALL lanes of traffic from I-12,I-10, and I think Airline Highway will be only flowing away from New Orleans.... this will help immensely with the traffic situation..... mandatory evacuation times in the New Orleans area is staggard. My parish is NOT under mandatory evacuation at this time.Not sure if we will leave or not anyway.Most of the people in this area are waiting to let those who really need to go get out.

(http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w214/iliketoN0KTEM/ERTETE.jpg)

(http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w214/iliketoN0KTEM/ETRERTE.jpg)

I'M FAR AWAY IN CT  BUT I HAVE ROOM. I HAVE A EMPTY APARTMENT
    blondeonahd@gmail.com

Gee, thanks Carpe  ::MonkeyLaugh:: I needed ot be reminded of the other 3 that are targeting us  ::MonkeyHaHa:: jk -- it's all a part of living in the hurricane prone areas.

Seriously -- everyone stay safe. PLEASE listen to your local authorities. They get their info from National Hurricane center.

I hope everyone has prepared. Even though I was only 10 miles from Andrew's eye (right in that eyewall) it took Katrina for me to be prepared for Wilma. If you're staying because your authorities say it will be somewhat 'safe' -- make sure your prep and supplies are in order (it's amazing what you can get that is battery operable these days)

As Carpe's pic points out -- do not head to the southeast coast of the US if you are looking for safety. Too much unknown at the moment.

If you are not seeing the pics from Cuba and Isle of Youth -- Gustav was not kind.

You are all in my thoughts and prayers.

CBB.... I can't get that to work....

updated 3 minutes ago
Gulf Coast residents flee as Hurricane Gustav nears

MIAMI, Florida (CNN) -- As residents fled the Gulf Coast, Hurricane Gustav bore down on the southern Gulf of Mexico, closing in on areas still trying rebuild after 2005's Hurricane Katrina.

As of 8 a.m. ET, the eye of the Category 3 storm was about 375 miles (605 kilometers) southeast of the mouth of the Mississippi River, the National Hurricane Center in Miami said.

The storm was moving at 16 mph (26 kph) on a path that would take it across the central Gulf of Mexico on Sunday and toward a Monday landfall on the northern Gulf Coast, forecasters said.

The storm has maximum sustained winds of 120 mph, with higher gusts, making it a Category 3 hurricane, forecasters said. The storm could increase to a Category 4 storm, with winds of 131 to 155 mph, forecasters said.

Maps of Gustav's path shows it could strike southern Louisiana and other areas battered by Hurricane Katrina ...

More:
http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/weather/08/31/gustav/index.html

(10:00 ET)

I was waken by a call from a friend who was waken by a friend who was waken by a friend.  I believe it called an information chain.

Anyways ... there is an 8:00 prayer meeting organized by one of the larger churches in the community.  Apparently... there will be a collection taken and ... the goal is to pay for one month's rent at 15 apartments outside the hurricane area for the purpose of accommodating evacuees.

Hubby is on a fishing trip but I will be there.  Just waiting for long time neighbours to pick me up.

Janet 

Cubbee? I'm not good with technical stuff, but I just tried it and it worked for me. I may have something downloaded that you don't or maybe it was just down for updating when you tried it? Can anyone else besides me see this map?

From the National Weather Service hurricane warning message for NO:

IN THE AREA NEAR LANDFALL OF THE EYE...EXTREMELY DANGEROUS WINDS WILL CAUSE EXTENSIVE DAMAGE...AND ALL MOBILE HOMES WILL BE DESTROYED. HOUSES OF POOR TO AVERAGE CONSTRUCTION WILL BE SEVERELY DAMAGED OR DESTROYED. MODERATE TO MAJOR DAMAGE WILL OCCUR TO WELL CONSTRUCTED HOMES. MANY GABLED ROOFS WILL FAIL ALONG WITH SOME EXTERIOR WALLS. ALUMINUM AND LIGHT STEEL ROOFS WILL BE TORN OFF BUILDINGS AT
INDUSTRIAL PARKS. PARTIAL ROOF AND EXTERIOR WALL FAILURES ARE LIKELY AT LOW RISE APARTMENT BUILDINGS...ESPECIALLY THOSE OF POOR TO AVERAGE CONSTRUCTION. SOME WINDOWS IN HIGH RISE OFFICE BUILDINGS WILL BE BLOWN OUT. AIRBORNE DEBRIS HAS THE POTENTIAL TO CAUSE ADDITIONAL MAJOR DAMAGE...AS WELL AS INJURIES AND A FEW FATALITIES. NEAR TOTAL POWER LOSS IS EXPECTED WITH NUMEROUS LINES AND POWER POLES KNOCKED DOWN. THE AVAILABILITY OF POTABLE WATER WILL BE DIMINISHED AS FILTRATION SYSTEMS BEGIN TO FAIL. NUMEROUS TREES...ESPECIALLY SMALL TO MEDIUM TREES...WILL BE DOWNED...SNAPPED OR UPROOTED.

 ::MonkeyLaugh::

I just spoke with Cajun...she and her 4 poochies have decided to stay because she has made other plans.  Her Hubby has to stay with his medic untit..she is taken care of if the need arises,

So...I can take 2 people and pets here at my humble abode.  Plenty of Love and food. DSL and Dish TV...smokers welcome, have decks out front and back...ie smoking places. Yes Klaas I haven't completely quit yet. Fenced in back yard too. And a full bar...LOL

Destiny

Janet...may I have the honor of washing and fluffing your wings...I only make this offer to the very *special Angels*...You are one...Des

If it doesn't violate any rules of privacy, can we please start an accounting of where our monkeys are that are in the path of Gustav? I'll plot it on a map and post it, if someone can help me out on the info. I want to be able to see the locations and contrast it to where it comes ashore and what news there is about those locations.

OK.....................Where are our monkeys on this map? Who's staying and who isn't?


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Streaming NOLA news on one screen

http://www.maroonspoon.com/wx/gustav.html

Thank you Destiny but ... the credit goes to all God's "Angels" who organized this event.

Destiny ... it was so inspirational.  Over one thousand turned out for this prayer meeting.  Mind you ... this church does have a congretation of over one thousand at each of their services ... 9:00 AM and 11:00 AM.  However ... this morning the services were up to 9:30 AM and 11:30 AM to accomodate the 8:00 AM gathering.  My neighbours and I played hookey from our home church and ... just stayed.  Seemed to make sense when you consider the congestion in the parking lot.  LOL

Anyways ... considering this church was not the home church of many who were present ... the Pastor told us to grab our local newpaper on Wednesdays and ... there would be an announcement as to whether the goal was reached.

Nevertheless ... the mission will go forward.  A (rich?) member of their congregation has pledged any shortfall.  Consider the first of the month is looming ... our prayer is that there will still be vacant accomodations that have not be rented out or ... it was mentioned that renting several rooms with cooking facilities in hotels/motels may be an alternative.

Anyways ... it is all in the control of God and his "Angels" and ... some of His "Angels" on right on this thread.  The good hearts of Monkeys is truly overwelming.

Gotta go ... as my neighbours dropped me off at home ... as a courtesy ... I offered to make them lunch.  Guess what they accepted.

 ::MonkeyShocked::

 Now I have to figure out what to make.  They should be back her in about 20 minutes.


Janet

11:45 AM

Hi Kermit

I hope you have a good day.

 ::MonkeyWink::

Janet

Janet,  I agree with Dest.  you are a true angel!

Dest.  I may just come for a little R and R, the way you make it sound.  kidding aside,  It sounds like a great place for those who need a safe place to go if necessary and a very thoughtful offer.   Evacuees, please take advantage of all the offers, if you are in need.  We are all here in support and prayers in one way or another!

CBB,  Your idea is similar to what I was trying to come up with on the last page, but didn't think of a map.  What a wonderful idea!   I hope our Monkeys take advantage, so we can stay up to date.  I am willingou to help you in any way I can, but it will mostly take those evacuating to provide the info.   So I will stay on standby until you need my help.  Just let me know, you have my email.

God Bless all the Angel Monkeys and those seeking safety!

It is working for me Cbb

Just wanted to say PLEASE everyone be SAFE....God BLESS!!!

pbxo

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Way cool Hurricane situation page

http://www.vuetoo.com/vue1/Situationpagenews.asp?&af=&sit=1791&z=&np=

Not Sure how long these will keep working.    Web Cams

http://tinyurl.com/5mwpuc

http://www.dotd.louisiana.gov/press/traffic_cameras/no_cameras.asp

Newsreporter live in New Orleans saying the outer bands are rolling into New Orleans... tornado warnings in a couple of parishes...

New Orleans Imposes a Curfew as Residents Flee Hurricane Gustav
Sunday, August 31, 2008

NEW ORLEANS  —  The city of New Orleans imposed a dawn-to-dusk curfew to begin on Sunday at sunset ahead of Hurricane Gustav's devastating winds and rains that were on a path to strike the Gulf Coast.

The Big Easy increasingly took on the eeriness of a ghost town as thousands heeded a mandatory evacuation order, and police and National Guard troops clamped down on the city to prevent the kind of lawlessness and chaos that followed Katrina three years ago.

Painfully aware of the failings that led to that horrific suffering and more than 1,600 deaths, this time, officials moved beyond merely insisting tourists and residents leave south Louisiana. They threatened arrest, loaded thousands onto buses and warned that anyone who remained behind would not be rescued ...

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,414166,00.html

updated 1 hour, 15 minutes ago
Hurricane winds could hit Louisiana by Monday morning

CNN) -- As forecasters warned Hurricane Gustav could hit Louisiana on Monday with devastating effect, officials pleaded with Gulf Coast residents to flee and Republicans said they'd abbreviate the opening day of their national convention.

As of 5 p.m. ET, the eye of the Category 3 storm was about 215 miles south-southeast of the mouth of the Mississippi River, the National Hurricane Center in Miami, Florida, said.

Hurricane-force winds could hit Louisiana's southern coast by sunrise Monday, and the storm's center could hit southwest of New Orleans by early Monday afternoon, CNN meteorologists said.

Those in the projected path of the storm -- particularly those in New Orleans, which was battered three years ago by Hurricane Katrina -- should leave without delay, said David Paulison, administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

"It does not make sense to put you, your family or first responders at risk by just sitting there when there's plenty of opportunity to get out," Paulison said Sunday.

New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin, who demanded city residents evacuate, said the city will impose a "dusk-to-dawn" curfew and will cease efforts to help people leave the city Sunday afternoon ...

http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/weather/08/31/gustav/index.html

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Anybody here?

Where's the thread - i can find it one way and not the other

Oh here I am - I cook beautifully - what do you need?

Not really cooking, but you know we are in the midst of this storm and I am sure to lose my power sometime tomorrow, I have a couple of Digiorno Pizzas for my son and was wondering should I cook them now, refrigerate, wrap in foil and heat on propane grill or try to cook them on the propane grill?

Yes you should absolutely cook them now and just re-heat them on the grill. They'll be fine as long as you can keep them pretty cold for awhile.

That is what I was thinking.... We have like 15 bags of ice and a couple of huuuuuuge ice chests so I can put my food in one of those when the power goes out....Thanks!!!

I would cook them, maybe not now, but tomorrow before the power goes out, refridgerate them, and they will keep for days. My crew will eat them cold, but they are easy to rewarm.

Pizza is like turkey, it lasts for ages.

Cubbee! Help me plot out where our Monkeys are! Where are you and where is anyone else you know of? I want to know so we can follow the strorm and know if you guys are ok!!

I'm patting my foot here and feeling like a Mother Hen, but so be it!  ::MonkeyHaHa::

I want to put you guys on the map so we will know what is going on with you even if you cannot post. Please, anyone, help me do that! See, I already have a marker. I just have to place them in the right spot!   (http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c100/crazybabyborgs/monkeyface1.gif) I can even color the markers so we'll know which monkey is where.

I want to place the markers on this map in the right location:(http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c100/crazybabyborgs/map.gif)

But I HAVE to know where everyone is!!!   :smt100

As I said, I grew up on the Gulf Coast and have been through many a hurricane. I forgot the name of it (20+ years ago), but I was in Houston when one of the hurricane eyes went right over. Power was out for days. I had a newborn and hubby was backpacking in California. My heart goes out to all of you in the storms path.

Cook them now, and when you've finished wrapping them, be sure and place them in a clean garbage bag or something waterproof. Be careful about letting the water from melted ice get food particles in it. Even when kept cool that can set up bacteria that can be ingested from drink can tops, etc..  ::MonkeyWink::

CBB, I remember a while back you mentioned JL. Do you still keep up with the sustainers group? I put in my time too, but am an inactive sustainer now. I really enjoyed those active years.

OOps, talking to myself.

Thanks monkeys! I am going to cook them now, as ten miles up the road they are already without power....
Shell, for Andrew my son was a toddler and he was miserable and so was I for almost a week of no power...
Katrina was 2 weeks and it is not looking good this time either......

CBB... I am in French Settlement , La.

Shell, I sort of gave it all up when my Dad became ill. I had my hands full for a year before he passed and at this point only contribute to the huge "garage sale" they have as a fundraiser. That's when I clean out stuff and make it available for pick up. I do however, tap them for resources occasionally when I encounter an indigent patient in need of dental work, or help with prescriptions, etc. They're great to release some funds for a good cause! Yes, I miss the great work and comraderie. Those were good times.  ::MonkeyWink::

OK, Cubbee's plotted. Is this about right Cubbee?

(http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c100/crazybabyborgs/mm.gif)

I absolutely love Louisiana. My Mom and Dad lived there (Lafayette)when he was transfered and they stayed some years after he retired. I love the food, the people, the accents and the charm.

Looks about right to me!

I do too... but it has it's moments... like right about now...

(((Cubbee))) big hugs sent your way

I never got much sleep during a hurricane. It would be so much easier to take if the electricity would stay on.

Hurricane preparing and hurricane times always jived me up, and I guess it still does and I am not even there!  Shoot, be fun if we could play cards or some game to keep you occupied. Is what my sis and I did.  ::MonkeyHaHa::

(http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w214/iliketoN0KTEM/JHJHJH77676.jpg)

Fox News Channel (cable) says it heading toward Lafayette.

Stay safe and wise, Monkeys!

LOL.... I know... I am tired, but cannot sleep.... we have the cards and the dice ready to go!

Thanks Ibe.... as Shell says it would be so much easier if I didn't know I was going to lose my electricity!

cubbee, wish you had come to stay with me!  I am worried about everyone that way.  Daughter's boyfriends family is in Gueydon below Lafayette where the hurricane will go on shore.  Many people are dead because they thought they could "ride it out." I really don't think it is something to take for granted or let it "jive" you up!

Actually, as far as I know CBB you don't have a scaredmonkey email addy.  Just Red, me, Dana and Dugga  ::MonkeyHaHa::  But you can create a hotmail one like I did.  ::MonkeyWink::

Uh-huh! I tried it out before I posted it, and it sends the message to my private e-mail, just like the messages sent "internally" between you and Mods are duplicated and show up there! The weird thing is that they don't show up on my messages within the forum! I was surprised, but it did work! Now, don't ask me why or how because I didn't do anything to set it up that way! When it worked, I felt so fooloish because I didn't know it would work and had posted my hotmail account to posters for various reasons in the past! Pretty Kewl, huh?  ::MonkeyWink::

Casa...if I were that close to the coast, I would have got the hell out of Dodge.... I am not even under mandatory evac...

Cubbee? I was just wondering what you were doing. Are you still making preparations?

CBB... I think Lisa is near Covington La and I know Cajun Miracle is in Kaplan,,near Abbeville...she is in a coastal area and I want to call her soooo badly, but it's kinda late.... ::MonkeyConfused::

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This is a great site with multiple live (streaming video too) of Gustav

http://www.maroonspoon.com/wx/gustav.html

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WDSU NEW ORLEANS LIVE COVERAGE

http://www.wdsu.com/video/17356407/index.html

CAJUN UPDATE...

Just got off the phone with Cajun...she said the first feeder bands are starting to hit them...she and hers are doing well right now. She is going to try and read here for a bit soon...saving her laptop for emergancies if needed when power goes out, but also said she can charge the batteries for cell phones in her car...so I'll stay in contact with her throughout the storm. She send Monkey Hugs to all...and Thanks all for our Prayers....Des

Just stopped by to tell all monkeys in the path of Gustav they've got some more prayers coming, even though I'm not around much.  Stay safe everyone. 

Des, we got the first feeder bands last night....

cubbee -- just downgraded to cat 2 which is still pretty windy

expecting lots of water

biggest issue is still the levees -- on the west side of the river.

expecting the eye to land in about 60 -90 minutes -- to the west of nola by a good distance.

good luck -- i hope your hurricane kit remains unused.

hugs

Thanks sharon... we have already had one death in our area..

http://www.2theadvocate.com/news/27734059.html

Cubbee? You're still up and going! How are things for you? Do you know where Cajun is located? They just said that a barge in the industrial canal seems to be missing and that if that is confirmed, they will have to go out in these conditions to locate it. It could damage a levee otherwise.

http://www.maroonspoon.com/wx/gustav.html

UPDATED MONKEY LOCATIONS:

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Awesome link! Live coverage!

bumping for CBB...

Just got it Mum..Thank You!  ::MonkeyWink::

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You are Welcome CBB....I think there was a new Monkey Jenn...with numbers, down there as well, but the post would be lost in old thread somewhere!

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Hurricane Gustav Makes Landfall in Louisiana as Category 2 Storm
Monday, September 01, 2008

Hurricane Gustav made landfall Monday morning as a slightly weakened category 2 storm, blowing towards southern Louisiana in Houma, southwest of New Orleans. But its winds walloped the Crescent City, with waves lashing the Industrial Canal on a levee opposite the one that breached and flooded the Lower 9th Ward during Hurricane Katrina three years ago.

The storm made landfall at about 10:30 a.m. near Cocodrie, the heart of the state's fishing and oil industry, with winds just shy of 110 mph. Earlier, a weather station in Southwest Pass, La. recorded a sustained wind of 91 mph, with a gust of 117 mph just before 5 a.m.

Water overtopped the Industrial Canal levee into the Upper 9th Ward, though it appeared to be structurally sound. City officials said that a barge and two ships — among them a decommissioned Navy ship — had broken free in the canal, but crews were able to tie down the barge soon after.

A railroad bridge across the Industrial Canal is in the down position causing a 3-foot backup of water, The Times-Picayune reported. Officials said the bridge could be lifted, but cannot sustain hurricane-force winds.

More ...

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,414306,00.html

TRACKING ... refreshed every two minutes.

http://media.myfoxtampabay.com/myfoxhurricane/

Gustav just downgraded to a Catagory 1: http://www.foxnews.com/

Mere sent me this link to some good photos:

http://comment-blog.advance.net/cgi-bin/mte/mt-search.cgi?index=adv_photo&sort_by=photo_order&filter_gallery=Gustav%20makes%20landfall&limit=20&searchall=1&IncludeBlogs=4500&offset=0


and this is another good link:


http://www.nola.com/hurricane/index.ssf/2008/09/report_water_coming_over_indus.html

As of right now oldest daughter's inlaws and youngest daughter's boyfriend's family is being hit with 90 mph sustained winds and higher gusts.  They are in DeRidder and Gueydon.  DeRidder near Lake Charles and Gueydon near Lafayette.  Please pray that things go ok for them!  Thanks!

They are in my prayers casa...

Look out for Hanna & Ike

Posted by SunnyinTX...In Caylee's thread...Thanks Sunny

Reply #1821 on: Today at 05:26:09 PM » Quote 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I just talked to Cubbee....they are fine.....she says the wind has died down.....not nearly as bad as it was......no flooding where she is....no electricity either...she sends her love to everyone and thank everyone for the prayers and good wishes.....I don't have time to read right now...have we head from any other monkeys who were in the path of Gustav???

Levee failing in Braithewaite

This is about 40 miles south of Lisa and east of Cubbee

Braithwaite levy overtopped...residents must leave!

Another area they need the winds to change or there will be major problems....Casa can you help out any? Not familiar with the towns they are mentioning.  Trying to catch news, but my family should be home soon to feed me!  TIA

Mum what towns are they naming?

Braithwaite is a small town on the Mississippi River below New Orleans.

Oh no! My prayers go out to the people of Braithwaite.

Cubbee on phone with me right now...she said there is lots of damage in her area.  She said trees are down everywhere.  She is upset, but she's okay...power may be off for a while...has ice in ice chests. Doesn't have a clue how long she will be without power. 

Star on the map is Braithwaite:



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Gustav evacuees urged to stay away
updated 52 minutes ago

NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana (CNN) -- Hurricane Gustav didn't pack the wallop of Katrina three years earlier, officials said Monday, but they urged almost 2 million evacuees to stay away from the Gulf Coast for another

"Power lines are down all over the city; there's a significant number of homes and businesses that are without power," Nagin said.

Still, he said, Gustav didn't do the damage feared a few days ago, a possible repeat of 2005's Hurricane Katrina.

"I'd probably call Gustav, instead of the mother of all storms, maybe the mother-in-law or the ugly sister of all storms," Nagin said.

Across Louisiana, more than 800,000 people were without electricity, and some may not see it restored for two weeks or more, Gov. Bobby Jindal said.

At a news conference with Jindal, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff urged Gulf Coast residents who evacuated to stay away until damage could be assessed.


More:

http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/weather/09/01/gustav/index.html

Hi All,
My family and friends are all OK. I live southwest of Lafayette and my daughter lives near Morgan City (near landfall). We had high winds and as of today, we're still getting feeder bands with rain and tornadoes. No damage to my home, just trees, branches and leaves everywhere. My electricty was restored last night but the rest of the area is without. My cable and internet just came back on today.

I spoke to Cubbee last night and she's OK but still doesn't have electricity. It's still cloudy with rain showers, but once the sun comes out, then the heat and humidity will be horrible.

Thanks to all for the prayers. This could have been so much worse.

Cajun Miracle

HANNAH


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Good to see you Cajun - glad you are OK

Cajun! Glad you are OK! We had you on the "Watch Map!"   ::MonkeyWink::

Great to hear from you Cajun...our prayers continue...

So happy to read that you and your family are fine....with not a lot of damage...thank GOD!!!

I just spoke with Cubbee...she is getting a generator on Thursday.  Lots of trees down and the infrastructure as far as electricity seems dire right now...they are telling them 4-6 weeks before they can return power....she's definitely not happy.  She fed the neighborhood chicken fingers today so they wouldn't ruin...cooked them on a butane stove.  She is in good spirits and just wanted info about the Caylee case...so I know she's fine.

Great news Cajun...Glad you and your family are all safe. Thanks for checking in and letting us know.

Oh My...4-6 weeks!  Glad to hear she is in good spirits. Tell her we are thinking of her. Thanks for the updates Lala's.

CUBBEE UPDATE...she called a little while ago...they are OK...lots of trees down...no electricity...the main power supplies are down and it could be 2-3 weeks before 1/3 of the electricity in the area is restored.....but a generator is on the way...her BIL had to go to Arkansas to get generators...they are on a 6AM-6PM curfew...Natl Guard station not too far from her.....hope to get ice today....if not they will have to start throwing food out...she asked if there was any news coversage about the damage in Baton rouge...I told her I hadn't heard any....she wanted to know about an update on Caylee...I told her about NG and Padilla last night..also about Cindy...she was....ggggggggggggggggrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr...said to tell everyone hello and she misses us

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Hanna

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IKE

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We had two days of rain and some cooler weather that is being attributed to Gustav.  I remembered not to complain as getting too much rain is nothing compared to those hit much harder by this storm.  {{{{{Cubbee}}}}}  Even if you can't read this, it's some positive energy coming your way.  I'll remember all the southeastern monkeys in my prayers as more storms form and head for them. 

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,420783,00.html

Hundreds of Thousands in Gulf Coast Ordered to Evacuate Ahead of Hurricane Ike
Thursday , September 11, 2008



 HOUSTON —

Authorities in the Houston area and along the Southeast Texas Gulf Coast ordered hundreds of thousands of people to evacuate Thursday as Ike bore down with hurricane-force winds that stretched across more than 200 miles and were expected to gain even more strength.

Forecasters issued a hurricane warning for the Texas Gulf Coast from the Louisiana state line to near Corpus Christi. The warning, which also extended east along much of the Louisiana coast to Morgan City, means hurricane conditions could reach the coast by late Friday with the front edge of the storm before its powerful center hits land over the weekend.

Ike is expected to become at least a Category 3 storm, meaning winds upward of 111 mph, before it comes ashore, the National Hurricane Center in Miami said.

Hurricane Ike Aims at Houston; Evacuations Called (Update4)

By Brian K. Sullivan

Sept. 11 (Bloomberg) -- Hurricane Ike tripled in size in the central Gulf of Mexico on a weekend collision course with the 5.6 million residents of the Houston area. Traffic jammed highways as Texas coastal communities evacuated.

The system's strongest winds extend as far as 115 miles (185 kilometers) from the eye, up from 35 miles yesterday, the Miami- based National Hurricane Center said today. Ike's wind field is now larger than that of Katrina, the storm that devastated New Orleans in 2005, said Jeff Masters, the director of meteorology at private forecaster Weather Underground Inc.

``The total amount of energy is more powerful than Katrina, so we could be seeing a storm surge that could rival Katrina,'' Masters said. The storm is so large ``the location doesn't matter much; it is going to inundate a huge part of the Texas coast.''

Three houses away from Galveston Bay in LaPorte, Jamie and April Ybarra packed their two children, two dogs and cat into a Chevy sports utility vehicle and prepared to leave.

``I think the call for evacuation came a little late,'' Jamie Ybarra, a 32-year-old safety coordinator, said. ``You hear the roads are crowded; you hear people are losing their cool.''

This is the third time the family has evacuated in three years, April Ybarra said. And ``we may not be coming back here for awhile.''

Galveston, parts of southern Houston and areas south of the city and near the Texas coast were under a mandatory evacuation order that started at noon today. Hurricane Ike is following a track similar to the 1900 Galveston hurricane that killed 8,000 people, the deadliest storm in U.S. history.

Felt Before Landfall

Ike was a Category 2 hurricane with sustained winds of 100 mph, up from 80 mph yesterday, the center said in an advisory at 4 p.m. Houston time. Its central pressure is more like that associated with a Category 3 or 4 storm, Masters said.

``It is a massive storm; it is impacting in terms of its scope 40 percent of the Gulf,'' said Michael Chertoff, U.S. secretary of Homeland Security, in a conference call from Washington. ``The most important message I can send is, do not take this storm lightly. This is not a storm to gamble with. It is large and powerful and carries a lot of water with it.''

The storm is 400 miles east-southeast of Galveston and moving west-northwest at 10 mph, with landfall south of Galveston forecast for early Sept. 13. Because of its size, Ike will be felt along the Texas coast long before its eye makes landfall.

Strengthening Likely

The center's forecasters said Ike may strengthen to at least a major hurricane with Category 3 intensity, meaning sustained winds of at least 111 mph, before landfall. Other forecasters predict Ike may become a Category 4 storm, the second-strongest on the five-step Saffir-Simpson scale, packing winds from 131 to 155 mph.

The storm is forecast to sweep through the center of the Gulf, missing the offshore Louisiana oil and natural gas fields. The Gulf is home to about a quarter of U.S. oil production.

Even so, about 96 percent of all oil production in the Gulf has been shut in along with 73.1 percent of natural gas facilities, according to the Minerals Management Service, a bureau of the Interior Department. Some facilities have been closed since Hurricane Gustav struck Louisiana last week.

Exxon Mobil Corp.'s Baytown facility, 17 miles east of Houston, is the country's biggest, with a capacity of 586,000 barrels a day. The Louisiana Offshore Oil Port, which is the largest U.S. oil-import terminal and handles 13 percent of imports, said it closed marine operations because of Ike.

Chemical Plants Closed

Dow Chemical Co., the largest U.S. chemical maker, and competitors such as DuPont Co., LyondellBassell Industries and Texas Petrochemicals Inc. are closing plants in the Houston area. The Texas Gulf Coast produces two-thirds of the nation's ethylene, used in products from plastic bags to auto parts.

President George W. Bush declared an emergency for Texas, his home state, and Governor Rick Perry readied 1,350 buses to evacuate residents in preparation for Ike's landfall. As many as 7,500 Texas National Guard members are on standby.

Houston's population is 2.2 million, making it the fourth- biggest U.S. city, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, and its metropolitan area, with a population of 5.6 million, is the sixth-largest in the U.S.

Officials in Harris, Brazoria, Chambers, Matagorda and Galveston counties ordered about 564,063 people to leave homes that are now in Ike's path. Television news reports showed miles- long traffic jams in the area.

Governor Urges Prudence

``My message to Texans in the projected impact area is this: finish your preparations because Ike is dangerous and he's on his way,'' Perry said in a statement. ``If your local officials tell you to evacuate, follow their instructions.''

Jim Rouiller, a meteorologist with Planalytics Inc. in Wayne, Pennsylvania, said he's particularly worried about storm surge damage around Galveston Bay, on the coast southeast of Houston, which may be in the top right quadrant of the storm field where rains and winds are most powerful.

Galveston's seawall is 17 feet high and the forecast storm surge is 20 feet high.

``If that's breached, a whole refinery complex goes under water,'' Rouiller said.

Some parts of the Texas-Louisiana coast may get as much as 15 inches of rain, the hurricane center said.

Ike could inflict between $5 billion and $15 billion of insured damage depending on how much it intensifies, said Steve Smith, atmospheric physicist for the Carvill reinsurance broker.

NASA Center Closed

NASA's Johnson Space Center heeded the evacuation order, preparing to shut its 1,600-acre facility in Houston that houses Mission Control and the training ground for astronauts.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=ahOZo8NH9e20&refer=us

Sep 17, 10:58 PM EDT

Some of Ike's missing may have just washed away

By JUAN A. LOZANO and MONICA RHOR
Associated Press Writers
 GALVESTON, Texas (AP) -- The death toll from Hurricane Ike is remarkably low so far, considering that legions of people stayed behind as the storm obliterated row after row of homes along the Texas coast. But officials suspect there are more victims out there and say some might simply have been swept out to sea.

Exactly how many is anybody's guess, because authorities had no sure way to track those who defied evacuation orders. And the number of people reported missing after the storm, whose death toll stands at 17 in Texas, is fluctuating.

Search-and-rescue crews cleared out Wednesday after plucking survivors from Galveston and the devastated Bolivar Peninsula, and authorities are relying on Red Cross workers and beach patrols to run welfare checks on people named by anxious relatives.

"We don't know what's out there in the wilds," said Galveston County medical examiner Stephen Pustilniks. "Searchers weren't looking for bodies; they were looking for survivors."

As the hurricane closed in, authorities in three counties alone estimated 90,000 people ignored evacuation orders. Post-storm rescuers in Galveston and the peninsula removed about 3,500 people, but another 6,000 refused to leave.

Nobody is suggesting that tens of thousands died, but determining what happened to those unaccounted for is a painstaking task that could leave survivors wondering for months or years to come.

Authorities concede that at least some of those who haven't turned up could have been washed out to sea, as at least one woman on the peninsula apparently was, and that other bodies might still be found.

"I'm not Pollyana. I think we will find some," said Galveston County Judge Jim Yarbrough, the county's highest-ranking elected official.

Pustilniks' office brought in two refrigerated tractor-trailers to store bodies until autopsies are performed. One sat in front of the medical examiner's office Wednesday morning with a sign on the side: "Jesus Christ is Lord not a cuss word."

By the afternoon, five deaths had been reported in Galveston County: one man who drowned in his pickup, another found inside a motel, two dialysis patients who could not get to their treatment, and a woman with cancer whose oxygen machine shut down.

The stench of rotting animals and livestock polluted the once-picturesque community of Crystal Beach, where about two dozen people stayed behind. One survivor told of seeing a friend wrenched from the rafters by the storm's fury and swept out to sea.

In evacuation shelters hundreds of miles from the coast, displaced residents - like the loved ones of victims of 2005's Hurricane Katrina - scrolled through address books and blog postings and anxiously dialed relatives, friends and neighbors not heard from.

On an Internet forum where survivors listed notes giving their whereabouts and asking for news of the missing, the messages revealed the growing anxiety and frustration of those desperate for some word about their loved ones.

"Anyone know Rosa who lived on the end towards the bay in gilchrist on Dolphin rd? She didnt have a vehicle and last we heard she was staying?"

And this message: "If ANYONE KNOWS WHERE MY FATHER IS OR KNOWS IF HE IS ALIVE AND WELL, PLEASE PLEASE LET ME KNOW. I AM HEARTBROKEN!!"

In Galveston County, where about 15,000 residents stayed behind, officials did not have an exact number of missing residents. The Red Cross is helping track down the missing by setting up registries at shelters and sending workers on welfare checks, Yarbrough said.

At Galveston's emergency management center, 12 phone lines rang constantly with calls from people trying to find relatives. As the calls came in, the city's beach patrol would go to the homes and check.

Sometimes, the searches end in relief. The Red Cross quickly found an elderly Galveston couple reported missing Wednesday morning by relatives in Wyoming, Yarbrough said.

The search echoes the chaos following Katrina in 2005, when bodies were turning up more than a year after the storm as ruined homes were dismantled and families returned after months away. Katrina killed more than 1,600 people.

In that storm, there was no way to track people who left the city. The situation worsened when more than 100,000 New Orleanians who took refuge in Houston had to scatter again a few weeks later for Hurricane Rita.

Authorities opened a center in Baton Rouge, La., to take reports of people who were missing. And just as Ike survivors are doing now, volunteers there turned into amateur detectives - digging through Web sites that sprouted for missing families and calling nursing homes and hospitals.

The center for the missing closed nearly a year after Katrina, when authorities said they had finally exhausted leads.

Brownsville resident Amy Woodside has posted several messages online trying to track down friends who may have succumbed to Ike.

"I'm worried about everybody who is still unaccounted for," she said. "We may never find some of them."

---
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/I/IKE_THE_MISSING?SITE=FLTAM&SECTION=US

Hi everyone!   

I just wanted to say that all of your concern for the people impacted by Ike and your help with Tim & TES needs have really brought a tear to my eye!   It is heartwarming to know that people care...the Monkeys have proven time & time again how big their hearts are!

It has been so overwhelming catching up with the destruction Ike has caused along the Texas Gulf Coast.  Our power & internet has just been restored...after almost 2 weeks!    The pictures of the Bolivar Peninsula are just desvastating....we lost our home (summer vacation home) there in Gilchrist and our business in Crystal Beach.  We have not been able to enter into the area yet...but have pored over the pics trying to find our property...and as far as we can tell...it is all gone.

Many of the people listed as missing from that area are people we know.  One in particular, is heart wrenching to us.   A close friend who lived full time in Gilchrist...just around the corner from our house has not been heard from since the day before the storm was to hit.  Her last words implied that she could not leave due to the Rollover Pass bridge washed out and the ferry to Galveston had stopped operating the night before......the only 2 ways out of Bolivar.   Knowing Gail as I do, I am sure her love for Reba, her Great Dane, is the reason she did not evacuate.  Many storms prior she would not leave Reba behind & stayed to ride the storms out.   We tried so hard to get her to leave...to bring Reba to stay with us in Houston...but  not knowing the enormousity of Ike...we were a little too late in reaching her.   It just breaks my heart to know that they both may have been washed out to sea.  I still hold out hope that she will be found safe somewhere...along with Reba...but as the days pass...my hopes are diminishing. 

Please include Gail & Reba in your prayers...and all the people who have lost their lives, homes & loved ones in this devastating storm.  I am afraid the aftermath will affect many of us along the Texas Gulf Coast for years to come.

Again, from the bottom of my heart, thank you all for expressing the biggest hearts I have ever seen!

Beachwego...Thanks for sharing your heartwrenching experience with us. My thoughts and Prayers are with those still missing, especially your friend Gail and her dear Reba, and with you and your family as you try to put things back together again.

Thank you so much, Mum!!   It was so kind of you to reply..and..to include Gail & Reba in your prayers...my heartfelt appreciation!!

Hiya Beachwego,
     I just now read this thread and wondered how you are doing?  I am so sorry about your friend.  Our friend's front row house on Boliver is gone.  I love Crystal Beach and the people there.  I still cannot believe Ike.  God bless poor Gail and her dog.
   

Beach.... glad to hear that you are okay.... sorry for the loss of your properties...

I am especially sorry for the loss of Gail and Reba... they will remain in my prayers.....

http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/10/02/ike.missing/index.html

300 people still missing since Ike hit Texas
By Mallory Simon
CNN

(CNN) -- Alligators loom over submerged cars. Mountains of debris are embedded in the ground. Cows, trucks and the remnants of homes are sunk into the ocean. And unverified sightings of missing loved ones are still making the rounds.

More than 300 people are missing since Hurricane Ike hit the Texas coast last month, and the obstacles to finding them are frustrating family and friends who desperately want to know if their loved ones are dead or alive.

These family and friends want answers: Why are so many still missing? Why is the first organized search for bodies, to be held Thursday on the battered Bolivar Peninsular, taken so long?

Local and state authorities are conducting Thursday's search and have been working with the Laura Recovery Center, a missing persons organization. The center helped compile a list of missing people and police are using the information to go door-to-door looking for answers.

"We are hopeful most of these people will be found, that a lot of them were evacuated to shelters, or don't even know they've been listed as missing," said Bob Walcutt, executive director of the Laura Recovery Center in Friendswood, Texas. iReport.com: Are you looking for loved ones?

"We are hoping to get more answers as people call in or as school starts, but another week with this number could be a different story," he said.

As of Thursday morning, the number of missing hovered at 300, including 24 children. Laura Recovery Center volunteers, working with the Galveston Police Department and Galveston Emergency Management, have been fielding calls from family and friends of people missing since Ike hit September 12.

A majority of the missing come from the hardest-hit Texas towns of Crystal Beach, Port Bolivar, Gilchrist, Texas and Galveston.

Traci Turner, of San Diego, California, doesn't know where her sister Danielle Chapman is. The last time she spoke to her was right after Hurricane Gustav hit the Gulf Coast, about a week before Ike came ashore.

At that time, Turner's sister Danielle Chapman said she and her family, who were on the west end of Galveston Island, were all OK.

Chapman, 32, and her sons Joel, 15, and Addison, 12, lived in a home at the far west end of island, past Jamaica Beach.

Turner said despite arduous online searching she has seen no news or photos about that area, and has heard nothing from her sister and nephews since Hurricane Ike.

"My heart is hurting. This is my little sister and I love her to death," Turner told CNN.

"These are her kids. I love them to death and they are gone. I don't want to say it -- maybe they have been washed out, maybe they haven't -- maybe they are in a shelter. Either way, they are still missing."

Adding confusion to her search,Turner said, the recovery center took her sister and nephews off the list because someone called to say he or she knew their whereabouts.

Turner hasn't been able to talk to the person who called in the tip. So without any proof that her family is still alive, she cannot rest easy.

"Not until I hear a voice or see pictures of them," she said.

Turner, like many others, wishes a streamlined procedure were in place to find residents in an evacuation zone.

Chapman and other evacuees may not have a phone number for their relatives, Turner said. There should be a main number everyone knew to call, she said, so families across the Gulf Coast wouldn't be left in the dark as to whether their loved ones are dead or just scattered across the state.

The frustration about the post-Ike recovery runs deep for Robin Huber, pastor of a church that was destroyed along with her home in Gilchrist. Huber estimates only seven homes are still standing in Gilchrist, which is surrounded by huge piles of debris. Watch Galveston residents return home »

Cars and dead animals float in the bay, she said.

The amount of debris is unfathomable, Huber said, and it was hurled with such force that residents can barely dig through it.

"Imagine that all of these homes were picked up and dropped from a high airplane," she said. "It looks like a bomb exploded here and the pieces are so stuck in the earth, it's impossible to pull out. Who knows what is in there."

Cars and trucks litter the road leading to the highway as if they were trying to escape at the last moment, Huber said.

When she was allowed back to Gilchrist after the storm, Huber swore she saw a body leaning out of a submerged car.

"Nobody could get to them because they were still under water and because of all of the alligators in the area," she said.

Huber, like others, wants to know why officials haven't been searching for bodies.

"When there's a disaster everyone focuses on it for a week then everyone forgets," Huber said. "That's the problem right now. Why are there not more people out there looking for bodies?"

"I have people saying to me 'Do you know where my daddy is?'" she said. "All I can say is 'Don't give up,' but now we are going on three weeks."

On Thursday, search teams will begin the first organized search in five "hotspots" -- debris piles across the Bolivar Peninsular, according to The Associated Press.

Chambers County Judge Jimmy Sylvia has been asking for help from the governor's office since the hurricane hit, according to CNN affiliate KTRK-TV.

"I don't have a clue why it is taking so long. You know it really should be Galveston County pushing because those are Galveston County folks that would be up here in my county," Sylvia told KTRK-TV.

State Rep. Craig Eiland told KTRK-TV that the delay will be investigated.

Now, two weeks after the storm hit, the phones at the call center are steadily ringing.

Walcutt said the center and the Red Cross are continuing to crosscheck their lists.

Between calls from the public and checking with shelters, Walcutt said 317 people have been found and taken off the list, including 51 on Wednesday alone.

The Laura Recovery Center Web site lists the names of the missing along with their towns and photos. On the site, family and friends can create their own missing person fliers and upload those photos.

The center is working with local authorities, who are in some cases going to knock on the doors of the missing, Walcutt said.

For Huber, the struggle won't end until all the answers are in.

"They say Lord won't give you more than you can handle, but right now it's getting pretty close," she said.

Ike's missing

People reporting missing after Hurricane Ike, from a database by the Laura Recovery Center.
http://www.chron.com/databases/ikemissing.html

I also posted this in the Missing Thread:





http://scaredmonkeys.net/index.php?topic=3601.0

Thank you all for your kind words...our loss was huge in one sense...it was our summer home that held so many happy fun memories of our years with our children growing up....but it is really so minimal with the realization of how many are still missing..and..must be presumed deceased & all the others who have lost their way of life with primary homes & business swept away.

I do want to follow up with Gail & her dog Reba....Gail has been found...many of you may have read about it in the news...as she was the first to be found & identified of all those that are still missing.  As of now, Reba has not been found...and probably never will be...but I will choose to believe they are together...for I know how dearly Gail loved Reba.
Just to show the power of nature, Gail was found 10 miles inland on one of many many piles of debris carried by the storm surge from Bolivar Peninsula.

I would like to include the email I received after I learned of Gail's passing and my inquiry regarding Reba, her Great Dane.  I think it is important to remember that each who lost their lives in this storm or is still missing is a person with a story..with friends & family who loved them...not just a number...not just a body....not stupid as I see so many saying so with such contempt for those who did not evacuate.  Unless anyone is familiar with the Bolivar Peninsula, they have no idea how these people were trapped...so many were swept away in their cars while trying to leave...at least 12 hours prior to the deadline given to them by county officials to be out...others did make the decision to not leave...as our friend, Gail, made for reasons that we may not understand ... but to them were valid.


I am sorry for your loss of a good friend and neighbor.
 
My name is Jackie xxxxx and I lived in Nature's Best on the corner of Hwy 87 and Yacht Basin Road.
 
We haven't found anything of Reba, except two dog collars.....one was black, that I found near where her house stood before, and the other JoAnn found at the end of her road, near where Gail's jeep was found crushed.  That one was Reba's favorite, the pink with her name in rhinestones.  It was just laying in the road, flat.(We speculate that it was in Gail's car, but don't know for sure.)
 
Gail is gone, and I believe Reba is as well.  Reba had become so old that she was having many physical problems....urinary and her bone structure now showing signs of leg turning out....Gail told me on Thursday, that Reba could no longer jump into the jeep......we discussed steps, even a flat board on an angle to get her into the back seat....but Gail said she couldn't get her in.....
 
I believe that Gail also chose to not put Reba thru anymore stress, I pleaded with her to get out and not put herself and Reba what they went through with hurricane Rita.  I told her the stress of it would probably kill Reba, but she still didn't budge on leaving....her most common phrase, "me and Baby girl  will be fine.....I have never had water in my house before, it's on the highest piece of ground around here!"
 
All of us, friends.... pleaded with her to leave and even her most significant other, Neil, also couldn't get her to leave.  Gail made her choice to stay, but Friday night on the last phone call, she admitted that she screwed up this time.  Water was already inside her house....she told of things floating by, and even said her jeep was floating...........
 
After going down last weekend and seeing where her house stood, words cannot express how much devastation exists.  The Morrison's new renovation to their house withstood IKE, but it has damage....JoAnn and Monroe begged Gail to go there, because it was so high off the ground. (Gail said she just couldnt break into a neighbors home & did not feel Reba could manage it...if she had done so..she would have survived)  One of her neighbor's, Rob, who works for the FBI, flew in by helicopter on Monday, after the storm.  He said that there was nothing.........and found no signs of Gail.  We knew in our hearts that it wasn't going to be good.  I am very thankful that they found her body, but more amazed that she was the first one identified....but JoAnn had been in constant contact with the Harris county, Chambers county, and any police in the area....telling them we knew the last time on Friday night she was spoken to and how scared she was about how bad it had become.
 
We will be having a memorial for Gail, because her two children are in so much distress, I can't say for sure how soon.  Gail's daughter, Amy, is supposed to fly in on Monday....and do something with Gail's body.......just not sure what.
 
I will notify you when something has been determined...............thank you for writing,
my phone number is xxxxxxx or work xxxxxxx.
 
God bless................Jackie

Beachwego ~  I read your post with tears in my eyes.  Thank you for sharing with us and please let us know when you find out anything more.  I read earlier today the cadaver dogs hit on 5 locations in Galveston, which lead them to believe there are victims buried under debris/rubble.    I don't know how many more could be washed out to sea.  Very, very sad.