An update...
Still no power... Honda EU2000i generator still happilly purring along. It's not as hot and humid around here as it was a few weeks ago, so nights really aren't that bad (with fans running). Water is working in my area, but there has been some concern about sewerage, since the wastewater lift stations that move the "stuff" along don't have power, meaning that it would be only a matter of time before the sewers backed up. Thankfully, the city stationed large generators today at these lift stations around the neighborhoods, so sewerage shouldn't be a problem.
Apparently, the airspace above Slidell is the designated in-flight refueling area, as there's a tanker aircraft doing laps overhead everyday, with a helicopter or two occasionally pulling up behind for a fill-up.
I've discovered the joy of MREs, which FEMA is handing out along with bottled water and ice. Seriously, the MREs are really not all that bad. Maybe after a few months of eating them everyday, I'll have a different opinion.
All my carpet is out, but I have not yet started tearing out sheetrock. The house is a total mess right now, with furniture and stuff scattered everywhere. Before I can really start working, I need to get better organized and get some of this junk out of the house.
My neighbor and I had quite an adventure cutting down a tree that had fallen on his house. He was going to have a professional do it, but it could be a while before they could come out, and he was anxious to have the roof tarped before it rained. So, we decided to tackle it ourselves, rigging a winch cable from his truck up through a block attached to another tree to partially support the downed tree as we cut it piece by piece. I'm a lumberjack!
One of the last big unknowns for me was the condition of our office, which is in N.O. but high enough so that we were confident it did not get water inside. Instead, looters were what we were worried about. A few of my partners tried to get in there on Thursday, coming all the way from Baton Rouge, but were turned away just a few miles away from their destination. Fortunately, a neighbor of mine who happens to be a police officer was able to get me in there today (yes, I was armed). Seeing the city that I've worked in and around for so many years mostly abandoned and occupied by heavily armed troops and law enforcement from all over the country, along with countless low-flying helicopters buzzing around, was a surreal experience.
Anyway, I got our server (which contains some files that I don't have anywhere else), several other Macs, a little paperwork, and a big plastic tub full of over 500 CDRs that represent all the work we've done over the past 11 years or so. I had a set of these with me at home, but our 3rd copy was (and probably still is) submerged in Lakeview subdivision, just a few blocks from the now infamous 17th St. Canal. One set will continue to stay with me, while the other will go to one of my partners who is currently staying in Florida.
Because I was limited to what I could fit in the police car, I was not able to get our 60" HP plotter, which was very disappointing because our one remaining big client has a large medical conference coming up next month that will require many posters. However, we've been thinking about adding a second plotter (the same type, just a smaller 42" model) before the storm hit, so we've decided to go ahead and get one of these now so that we don't miss out on this big job and another one that will be coming up a few months after.
We'll be setting up temporary office space in Baton Rouge (about a 1.5 hour drive), though I'll probably be working from home quite a bit.
My real concern now is with my 2 partners... both of them have homes in Lakeview, which got around 10 ft. of water. The worst part is that neither of them thought that this would happen, and did not take ANYTHING important with them when they evacuated. It's a similar story for my dad (who I heard from a few days ago). He lives in that area as well... the walls inside his house are covered with all sorts of family artifacts, old photos, antique stuff... all gone.
So, as I'm ensconced here on a sofa in my cement-floor living room, surrounded by flood-damaged furniture and plastic boxes of stuff taken from shelves, sulking at the repair work that will take several months to complete, I am acutely aware of how fortunate we are. On the other hand, though our house is still intact, most of our favorite places are either gone or heavily damaged.
The marina in Pass Christian where we kept our boat is pretty much gone. Same thing for the marina in Gulfport, with the super-nice harbormaster who always made our stops there so pleasant, and the Marine Life Oceanarium next to it is gone too. The buildings on Ship Island were washed away (or blown away), and the storm likely altered the island itself, along with our favorite day trip destination, Cat Island. The bridge I drove on every day to get to work is in pieces. My beloved West Rigolets Lighthouse (
http://www.pmgraphicsllc.com/mike/wrl) probably did not survive the storm. Our favorite Mexican restaurant is badly damaged. Our second favorite Mexican restaurant was flooded about 5 ft. Our third favorite Mexican restaurant is gone. Even our fourth favorite Mexican restaurant got some water in it, though hopefully it will reopen in the next month or two. (By the way, yes, I love Mexican food.)
In short, it's difficult to comprehend the destruction this massive storm wreaked on this area... I've only seen a tiny portion of it.
--Mike