[Original post: September 1, 2005]
We're still in central Louisiana, among the cottonfields and hummingbirds, waiting, waiting, waiting. The latest news, as most of you probably know, is that the city is being cleared, so they can find all the dead and stop looters from taking everything (not to mention killing other people, carjacking, and shooting at rescue helicopters: the Wal-Mart on Tchoupitoulas was broken into, and all the guns were taken).
Our mayor, Ray Nagin, says it will be 12-16 weeks before we'll be allowed to return, though possibly we'll be allowed back in after a month to assess damage and salvage things. We hear there's about five feet of water in our neighborhood, but we can't be certain. I'll feel very lucky if that's the worst of it - if we don't have a tree through the roof letting rain pour in, or a kicked-in front door and ransacked house.
Some of our friends are still in the city, we think - can't be sure of this, either, because cell phones with 504 numbers are still a problem. For those of you who know our friend Rebecca Lewis and her family,
they're safe in a Dallas hotel, but her sisters stayed in Metairie and cannot be reached yet.
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