What's today? Sunday? I haven't posted since Wednesday, because, frankly, I have been busy. Busy taking care of unfortunates who tried to evade Hurricane Rita, without success.
Why someone would evacuate northeast is beyond my powers of comprehension. Every hurricane that has ever hit Louisiana has turned to the northeast after landfall. Evacuating from Lake Charles to anywhere in central Louisiana is like jumping from the frying pan into the fire. We missed the brunt of the storm, but we have power outages, we have trees down. Tornadoes came through the area. This is day three of the exercise and we have pretty much been on our own. I did see some gummint help yesterday, but we are bursting at the seams with evacuees. We have evacuees from Katrina and from Rita in this area.
Last night I slept for six full hours. The first time since Wednesday. In another couple of hours I will be back at work, doing whatever needs to be done for the unfortunates who came here to hunker down. Every deputy is involved in the operation. I have heard names on the radio that I haven't heard in years. Guys with desk jobs in headquarters are weilding chainsaws or answering calls. Either serving at a shelter, or helping clear roads, or answering calls for assistance, we are at 100% strength, doing yeoman duty for our citizens. The local police departments are likewise completely engaged. No looting, by God, not on our watch. No citizens who need help if we can possibly get to them. You call us, we'll be there, even if we have to clear five miles of road to get there.
Looking outside at the weather, the rain seems to have died down and the wind has moderated. We need good weather to begin the cleanup, and I think we'll have it for a couple of days. Some rain, certainly, but not so windy we can't put bucket trucks in the air. Yesterday, during the brunt of the storm, we worked at ground level, doing what we could to help folks. The power crews couldn't work because of the wind. Those folks are going to do the yeoman duty for the next couple of days. Telephone and power crews are going to have more than they can pray over.
More posting as I get a chance. Today is going to be a long one.
You are doing a good thing. God Bless.
ReplyDeletePawPaw...good to see you "out and about" I've been pretty quiet in my reading lately so as to not disturb the "daysleepers". You have my utmost admiration. Your presence inspires others to try harder, to be better..
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