My son went through Hammond today (9/3) and there are some places (mostly commercial) which have power. Word is that it's still going to be days before they can get power up elsewhere. There was some cell phone service there.
Downed trees all over (Covington / Mandeville) getting cleaned up, but a terribly long way to go. No word yet on when power might go back on. Covington nursing homes in real need for some items, particularly personal hygiene, fans (very hot in there, and the floors sweat and are slippery).
Jefferson Parish people will be allowed back in their parish and into their homes starting at 6 a.m. Monday morning. The line to get into the parish starts at 6 p.m. the night before. (I don't know where this forms or what routes you'll be allowed to take. WBRZ will announce it. Let me know if there's a need for me to report here, but they'll probably put it up on their website.) The parish president warned that you needed to have enough gas to get you there and home again, because there was absolutely no gas to be had in the parish.
Plaquemine Parish got fed up because they just now got a FEMA representative to show up there today. That's just insane. (See the Plaquemine photos below.) They asked for permission to break through their levee two days ago -- the water in their city was much higher than the water in the river, and there was no way to drain it, and no one would call them back. They finally took it upon themselves to blow the levee so they could drain the water and start finding bodies... this is not supposed to impact the water in New Orleans.
Carl and I volunteered at the LSU Triage and I have much positive news from there, they are doing an amazing job. There are some needs. More about this in the morning.
Posted by toni at September 3, 2005 10:35 PM