Aerial Photographs of Slidell

Here is a link to military fly-over pictures of Slidell, New Orleans and surrounding areas showing the hurricane damage. It may take a while to find your house and not all of the pictures are oriented to the land, so look carefully to find yours.

I found my house and marked it with a yellow arrow. You can see the fences down everywhere and some of the neighboring houses missing a lot of shingles. Click the picture for a bigger version. Also, here is the photo of the whole neighborhood including Meadowlake and Breckenridge.
Here is the same picture of Meadowlake and Breckenridge at the military website in case you are able to get better resolution there. Like I said. Our neighborhood did really well considering what it was up against.

Here was the path of Katrina from the military page listed above, only I have marked the areas of Slidell and New Orleans so my friends can have a better idea of where we are:
To click the squares for close up aerial photos, use this link:http://ngs.woc.noaa.gov/katrina/KATRINA0000.HTM
As you can see, the eye of the storm basically went just east of New Orleans and right over my house. We are amazed that our home held up so well. I thank God that this is one less thing we have to worry about now while we put our lives back together.

Yard of the Month

It's about 7:15 a.m. and they just arrived at the house and called me. It's hit or miss in our neighborhood and apparently we were missed! My next door neighbor's house (to our left) looks really bad and you can see right through the house, but ours is relatively untouched. I can't believe it. Apparently their house is one of the worst in the neighborhood and ours is one of the best, as are the neighbors to our right and across the street.

About 50% of the fence is down and about 10% of it is missing. The windows are not broken. The house is dry. There is a little bit of siding and a few shingles missing, and many of them ripped. They will have to cover it with a tarp or something. Small ripped pieces of shingles are all around the yard. The tree on the right side between our house and the other neighbor's is down (on the right side), but the root ball is still in tact and it might even be saved. It is actually not even our tree.

The shed in the side yard caved in, but is easily repairable (It's one of those big rubbermaid sheds). The lawnmower and most of the stuff is still in it. The kids' playhouse that was in the backyard is totally missing in action. They can't find it anywhere.

Inside the house looks just like we left it, but it smells like death from the rotting food in the fridge. They are not going to open it to empty it until they are done with everything else since it's already overpowering. It's hotter than hell inside with no ac. There is one small area in the roof of the attic that is open to the sky, and some insulation is blown around, but nothing major.

Apparently our house and the two across the street from ours are some of the relatively untouched homes in the area. Sis says we could easily move in and rough it without power or water if we really wanted to. There is a even a trickle of water moving through the lines so the toilets still work. Of course, we really need to wait until there are operating grocery stores and gas stations. (I am imagining what it smells like in the grocery store right now after a week with no power).

They could not find ANY gas south of Birmingham, Alabama (over 300 miles from Slidell). So living there is not really an option until there is fuel available in the area since we would have to drive a long way for food and bottled water.

Our neighbor to the left has a generator running and he is there to keep an eye on things while we wait for water, food, power, and gas to become available again. I have no idea how long that will take, but maybe it will bounce back quicker than we think.

Basically, we got incredibly lucky compared to most people in Slidell. In fact, this month could be our one and only chance to win that coveted "yard of the month" contest for the subdivision. ;-)

HUGE sigh of relief. At least we have a home that we can go back to, even if we can't live there for a while. My heart breaks for so many who don't.

Next on the "to-do" list is to get busy with the schooling and figure out the employment situation.

On The Way

This morning a care package arrived from Aunt Janette & Uncle Jason for the kids. Thank you so much! They were elated. Books, puzzles, crayons, markers, games, snacks. They finally have something new to do. Yippee! They say, Thanks AJ and UJ!!


We have heard from many people who have been back to their homes in Slidell. Some good news from a few folks, but mostly not so great. Everyone says to bring a lot of gas because there is no where to get any for a few hundred miles. So, we spent the afternoon trying to round up some gas cans in Nashville. Apparently the whole city sold out of them. We must have gone to 20 stores. We finally found two but it wasn't enough. At last hubby called a friend who has a big tractor and he had several that we borrowed.

My Dh (dear hubby), Sis, and her Dh are on their way to Slidell right now. It's almost 3 a.m. and I am doing an update for everyone so I have something to do besides worry. I'm sure they'll be fine though. Mostly I'm worried about what they are going to find when they get there. A big part of me wishes I was going there too so I could see it all for myself, but I think I did the wise thing to stay with the kids.

They will arrive at daybreak or later and plan to leave before dark. I hope they are able to call here when they arrive.

Stuff they brought with them: Gasoline, chain saw, lots of duct tape, food, water, first aid kit, three pairs of work gloves, two boxes of Hefty industrial garbage bags, tools, toilet paper, a change of clothing, flashlight, batteries, camera, and a list of things to get from the house if they are salvageable... oh, and Sis's shotgun, tazer and an array of other defensive cool stuff.

Sis put on extra deodorant right before they left and then advised the guys to "do the same" I don't know if they did or not. LOL. ;-)

Please pray that they will be safe on their journey. I'll post again as soon as I know anything.

Getting Ready to Survey the Damage

My next door neighbor from Slidell called me this morning. Her husband got there and said their house looks pretty good from the outside with just some siding missing. But inside, they obviously got a lot of water in the attic and the entire contents of the attic collapsed into the first floor of the house. Everything that was upstairs is now in the kitchen and dining room. She said that her husband told her that my house has a lot of siding missing, but she didn't elaborate. She told me to get my claim with State Farm started immediately.

I swear I must be living in some fantasy where I think we are going to go back with a hammer and some nails and put the shingles back on and never even need to file a claim.

We DO apparently have "loss of use" coverage for our home and State Farm is going to hand us a check as soon as I can get to an office that is open (probably Tuesday here in Tennessee), to cover the living expenses above our normal expenses and to cover temporary repairs. Yay!! I feel so much better now. They do encourage us to do temporary repairs to prevent further damage to our property if we can, but they want us to be careful if we do these repairs ourselves. My neighbor told us to bring some tarps to cover the holes in the walls and plenty of duct tape, nails and enough gas to get back out. We have to save all the reciepts, etc. and hire contractors if necessary, and to take a lot of pictures for our claim.


We'll know by tomorrow exactly what the damage is. Hubby is going to drive down tonight and arrive at daybreak, then hopefully get out of there before dark. Our next door neighbor did report that Slidell seems to be very safe from looting, etc. so that is probably not going to be an issue. My family is not happy with the idea of both of us going down and leaving the kids here, so I have taken their advice and have decided to stay in Nashville.

We have a huge list of stuff to bring down there to make temporary repairs including gas to get back out, duct tape, hammers, chainsaw, food, water, cameras, etc.)

We're headed out to the store right now to buy some of this stuff. It's great to be here in civilization where we can purchase what we need!

I really wish I could go with him and see the destruction and damage with my own eyes, but I'm sure it will still be there when I do get back in a couple of months. I really need to be here for my kiddos. No rush to see it I guess. Part of me is a little nervous now that he is going and we're going to be separated for a little while. I should have plenty of pictures to post when he gets back.

A Nice Diversion

An article in the Nashville paper today listed several of the attractions around town who have opened their doors to Katrina Refugees. So, hubby and I took the kids and spent three glorious hours in The Adventure Science Museum today. The kids were elated to have something fun and exciting to do. One of their favorite parts was called "Down the Hatch"

This series of interactive exhibits follow the path of food through your body from Feed Me, where you toss "food" into a giant mouth, then manipulate its course through the mouth into the esophagus, down to the stomach, and finally through the intestines and out the body. Take a ride down the colorectal slide!

Yes, they literally rode down a poop chute. What could be better than that?


The current thought of the day is that I am probably going to start homeschooling the kids myself starting next week. I'm going to go down to the school book depository in town to get some text books. I used to be a real live school teacher in my pre-child life, so I know I can do this. The idea of putting them in a strange school at the moment just seems like a lot more stress for the kids for no real benefit.

Besides, they are in accelerated classes and are already a grade level ahead of where they normally would be, so even if they missed an entire year of school, they would still not be behind. I just need to stop worrying so much. They do need to keep their skills up though. I talked with my good friend Jeannie today, who has home-schooled her kids for years, and have a good idea of what I need to do. I'll let you all know how it goes. If it turns out to be a really bad thing, we can always enroll in a regular school later. Please save all the, "I told you so's" if that happens. ;-)

We've started a big list of items to get from the house when we go back.

What To Do Next

We spent the morning trying to figure out what to do next. We do not know if Hubby got paid on Monday and cannot get any money out of our bank right now even if he did. Tulane has said it's closed for the rest of the semester (duh!). We don't know if they plan to continue paying the faculty. My web business still pays, but I can't get at that account either! And with the disaster, my website traffic came to a screeching halt. I'm sure it will pick up again in about a week though when people in the rest of the country are tired of watching the news (sad but true).

We do have credit cards and some cash though so we're not destitute. Some friends of mine wanted to help and are sending some gift cards to Walmart for groceries and school supplies.

We are trying to figure out what to do until we can return. We cannot go home for a long time. I really want to stay here with my Sis, but it's a little crowded and I hate putting her out like this. We have many other options (thank you family and friends!!). Having my sisters near me is very comforting and reasuring right now (my other sister is here too, she lives across town). I need my family around me. My sister's husband is the greatest putting up with all of us like this, especially with only one bathroom in the house. Best part about staying here is there is room for the dogs AND they have high speed internet access! YES! It's also not far from home.


My uncle reminded me today that "It's not the end of the world for you or the worst thing that could happen to you. Now, if you'd lost one of your children, THAT would be the worst thing." He is so right. Thanks for reminding me U.B. He understands that I occasionally some of that Irish family tendency to fly off the handle in a crisis. My family is the greatest one in the world though -- they always rally support for each other. The Greatest. I love you all.

We are still working on a plan to go back to Slidell on Sunday for a few hours to empty the freezer, the fridge, secure the house, survey the damage, tarp any roof leaks, and get what we need for the next couple of months. We have hardly anything with us, since we only packed for a three day trip! We are being allowed back in, but they do not want us to stay. I've heard from several people who have gone back so far.

At least we still have a home left to go back to. We are really lucky in that sense. Some parts of our little town were literally destroyed. Here is a a CBS news report on the devastation in Slidell. My insurance agent's house is featured in the video and he is being interviewed. The town looks pretty bad, but from all the emails I've been getting from some members of my church, the neighborhoods near mine are nothing like the devastation shown in this video.

I also got the following from one of the members of our homeowner's association today:

I was in Meadow Lake today. Mostly roof damage with siding missing from a few houses. Some houses show no damage. There is some running water but very little water pressure. I had to tarp holes in my roof where my ridge cap once called home. I lost all my back yard fence as did most houses. A few people rode out the storm and faired well but shaken. There are some families that are moving back into their houses and roughing it. No phone no lights very little water. I could have been much worse.

Another person wrote that people in some of the neighborhoods have put big signs on their houses that say, "Looters will be shot!". ....and I have no doubt that they really mean it!

Everything is going to be fine -- just slightly inconvenient for a while.

St. Tammany update

Update from St.Tammany Parish president for residents: Instructions for residents.

In a nutshell, they really don't want people to come back for a long time.

IF YOU HAVE EVACUATED ST. TAMMANY PARISH, DO NOT RETURN UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE. THE PARISH IS CLOSED. There are no utilities available. There is no gas available. Citizens returning early will only stress the very limited resources available at this time.

They also want people who stayed to please leave if they have reliable transportation. Then it says,

All St. Tammany Parish Public Schools are closed at least until Oct. 1.

Does this mean school will be open on that date? I seriously doubt it. But wouldn't that be awesome?

I called the number posted for citizens to get info. I was shocked that it worked, and expected a recording. A real person answered the phone! He asked us not to come back for a while. When I asked how long, he replied that there will be an update regarding the date and that it will probably be at least "four weeks". Then, I asked if there were police to protect our empty homes from looters during that time. He replied that at this time there has been no looting in St. Tammany, and only a couple of "attempts" and those people were now in custody. He said they were expecting some National Guardsmen on Friday to help out, just in case.

I cannot imagine what the stench will be like in my fridge and my upright freezer after 4 weeks of anarobic decomposition of the food it has in it.

Four weeks. Do you think I should call and stop my newspaper delivery?
(OK, please, allow me a little humor to diffuse the situation, ok?!)

Ramblings of a Refugee

I had another afternoon nervous breakdown today where I sobbed all over the phone -- this time to a friend instead of a relative. I tried to avoid it by staying away from the tv all day today because I just couldn't watch any more. However, I just couldn't help but click over for a quick peek while I was on the computer. I was secretly hoping that victims were finally getting help and things were improving. I was wrong.

It was too much to think about. I shut the door and cried as quietly as I could while the kids played in the other room. They are already upset enough. My 9 year-old daughter came to me late last night in tears and asked me, "What we will do if Daddy's job is gone forever and if he can't find another one ever?" I carefully reassured her that no matter what happens, our family will be fine, and we will always take care of her. I told her that it's her job to just be a kid and our job to worry about taking care of everyone. ....My poor poor baby. When I see them smiling and having fun, it's so easy to forget how much stress they also feel as a result of our displacement.

Later, we drove over to the home of my old college friend, Kathy, who happens to live here in Nashville. We had dinner with her and her two darling daughters and felt almost like normal people for a few hours. Kathy had a large tree down in her front yard that was a victim of Katrina when it rolled through Tennessee on Tuesday as a tropical storm (or whatever it was by that point). The tree was fairly large and was blocking the street. You can see what's left of it in the photo. Those are Kathy's kids in the background behind my three darlings, and our minivan in her driveway.

Kathy told us that she simply called the proper authorities the next day and they arrived in 40 minutes to remove most of it. City workers would only remove the part that blocked the street, so they left the rest. Still, I was impressed with what a civilized society can do. It may likely be the only tree down in the city, and there it was waiting for us to greet it. So there you have it folks: Storm damage as far north as Nashville, TN.


As relieved as I am to hear that our house is probably ok, I am dreading the trip back to Louisiana. With no water or power, we won't be staying long. Part of me still wants to be in denial over all of this. We may try to go this weekend sometime to secure the place and get some things we need for an "extended vacation". Do you think I should call and cancel our newspaper delivery?

My other sister is going to keep the kids at her apartment while we go, and she found a kennel that will take care of the dogs for a few days, no charge. I am very grateful to the Hillcrest Kennel for this offer.

Next time I evacuate, I will remember to bring the dog's shot records. A couple of places we tried wouldn't take them without proof of their current vacines. It's not like I can call the vet to get it. The only proof I have is my checkbook where I recorded the check I wrote to our vet this past June for their annual boosters.


Sometime soon we have to come up with our plan for what to do for the next couple of months. We need to decide where to hang out and put the kids in school. We have had numerous offers from many friends and relatives. We are forever grateful to all of you. One of you may be the lucky "winner" and have us messing up your bathroom for as long as it takes to get our home livable again. :-)

What's the Point?

Now that I am reasonably sure that our house has not been destroyed, the reality of our personal situation is starting to set in. Worrying about our house is pointless, but I need some place to call home.

The people still left in New Orleans are enduring uspeakable horror right now, that's for sure. But most of the people affected by this disaster are a lot like me -- regular people who had the means and the good sense to evacuate when we were told, and are now faced with the idea of going back and picking up the pieces of our lives. There are probably over a million refugees like myself spread all over the South mostly, who are counting on our friends and family to help us out until we can get back on our feet. It will be harder for some than others.

In case any of my friends and relatives didn't see it, CNN showed this blog on tv yesterday at about 3:10 Central Time. (Yes, I saw it with my own eyes! My sister's living room and front porch are now famous). CNN was talking about people who had evacuated and were worried that they had nothing to come back to. They also displayed a couple of the photos of the kids. It was quite a rush to see my own words on the screen on national television and to hear them use my name. I know CNN is reading this, so hey there CNN folks, would you mind sending a camera over to my house today to check it out just to make sure?

The more I learn, the more I think we got really lucky regarding the condition of our house compared to most people in the area, but unfortunately, the house itself is not a home. Our home is the whole community. So the house is probably fine, so what? What do we really have to go back to? The community is paralyzed by chaos and anarchy right now - at least it is over in the toxic wasteland where hubby works (worked). And even in sleepy little Slidell, we won't have school for the kids or a jobs for a long time. We're worried about the criminals too, and we may have to physically defend our homes against them. I'm actually glad that the bridge is out between Slidell and the big city. It will make it that much more difficult for them to get to us (not that we don't have criminals in Slidell, but it's a much different picture.)

Speaking of defending ourselves, my sister gave me and my husband a little gift this morning -- our own personal can of military strength tear gas. Wasn't that thoughtful of her?! We are one of the few families in Louisiana who don't own a gun (three small children in our house you know), so she got this for us to defend ourselves. I guess it's better than nothing. Our two silly dogs sure aren't going to defend us. I wonder if Sis would loan me her Rottweiler?

After seeing what is going on in the city regarding the rioting and looting (which hubby and I both predicted would happen long before the word "hurricane" was even mentioned), I am completely and utterly embarrased to call myself an American or even a human being right now. The death and destruction is even more sickening.

Hubby talked to a friend of a collegue night who is still in the city at Tulane's campus. He says that out the window in the Uptown area of town (the only part still on dry land), they can see gangs of looters going systematiclly from house to house and breaking in to steal things. Note to my friend Devra: you might want to let G know about this to prepare him for the possibility that his nice house in Uptown may be dry, but it's probably been looted by now.

I saw the following at Instapundit. It's an amazing first hand account from Bill Quigley, a law professor at Loyola who is in New Orleans now. He says:

"So it is really a disaster, and the people who aren't in New Orleans, I know, are dying to get back to their houses. But the people who are in New Orleans are, in all honesty, dying, and there could be a lot more casualties unless there's a lot of help real fast."

Even if my home turns out all right, the rest of the situation still looks bleak. It's frightening and discouraging to say the least.

News of Our Neighborhood

These were posted by Stephen from Slidell who went home yesterday (Wed): Photos from the Neighborhood

No pictures of our house yet, but the news is still good. Some of those are taken just a stone's throw (or a tree toss) from our house. The ones labled "Entrance to Breckenridge" are taken at the end of my my street. Also, the photo labled, "View driving down Pearl Acres toward French Branch subdivision" is right nearby too. The photos of Willow Wood subdivision are also not far away, and it has homes that are similiar in construction to ours.

We are relieved to see that the homes are still there and don't really appear to have that much damage. I'm shocked that so many of the shingles are still in tact. Even the windows look ok - at least the ones that don't have a tree through them. We don't have any tall trees in our yard, so even if we lost any of our trees there is little chance of damage from trees to our house. I'm encouraged to see that so many people have returned already from seeing the cars in the photos.

The most encouraging is the picture of the Farmers Market in town which sits demolished but they are still selling all kinds of food out in front of it! Just look at all those juicy oranges!

Also extremely encouraging is this report. about the Slidell area from Stephen via his brother Josh.

We are starting to discuss going home this weekend. I know there will be no food, gasoline, gas, phones, or electricity, but we can check it out and get some of the things we need if we decide to stay somewhere else until conditions improve. Maybe just hubby will go take a look and I'll stay here with the kids. It sounds like many of the roads are open at least, and people are starting to return to little ol' Slidell.

I don't want to get too excited though. My husband's job is over in the HellHole they used to call New Orleans. :-(