Here’s another picture from our trip to Pug City.
In other news, yesterday, i went with my dad from here in Baton Rouge to Kenner and Metairie, which are both suburbs west of New Orleans. Overall, the suburbs weren’t hit THAT badly by katrina. Yes, we’re displaced, but homes are mostly intact. My parents house didn’t even get any water in it.
That doesnt mean things are ok, though. There are tons of people without jobs. Doctors have no patients anymore, so they’re scrambling to figure out what to do. Anyone who owns a store like Symmetry, where i got tricia’s engagement ring, is screwed — They’ve got no customers to buy anything.
My sister, who is a Junior in high school, is still looking for a school to attend here in Baton Rouge. School’s going to be gone in the ENTIRE CITY for a whole year — everyone’s going to have to figure out what to do.
Also, for the last hurricane that came close to new orleans, i went with my parents and tricia to Memorial Medical Center (Baptist Hospital) in uptown new orleans. This time, I was going to do the same thing, until sunday morning, when tricia and i decided not to go there.
my sister has a friend who went with her mother to the hospital. my dad ended up getting out via an airlift (memorial medical center has a helipad) — but they only airlifted patients and hospital employees out. Any hospital employee family OR anyone who had camped out there waiting to be admitted was put either on claiborne avenue or taken to the convention center.
My sister’s friend (a 16 year old girl) was just dumped at the convention center
Every hospital in new orleans was stormed by armed groups of individuals looking for drugs, while the doctors and patients were STILL THERE. Doctors and Nurses were giving each other IV’s to stay hydrated. One of my dad’s residents went catatonic, and we’re not sure if she’s recovered yet.
Anyway, that’s the bad stuff. More positively, those 2000 dollar debit cards you’ve probably been hearing about from FEMA? Well, when I signed up for fema aid, I gave them my bank routing information, so yesterday morning, i had that 2000 dollars in my bank account, without having to wait in any lines. Pretty cool, huh?