Hurricane Gustav -- still lingering a bit in the BR area

Baton Rouge is a sluggish, rainy city this morning covered in fallen tree limbs and branches, and quite often, simply entire trees. The electricity is out nearly everywhere. Only one radio station is really operating, but it's operating on more than one frequency today and providing good information. This one was pretty rough for the surrounding area, though not for me personally so much. I have a ton of tree crud in my yard, but no trees actually fell. For me, Katrina was worse in that a tree fell in my yard that time. However, overall, this storm was much worse than Katrina for the Baton Rouge area and it's being compared to Andrew by many people. After Katrina, most people had power back on within a few days. My power was only out one day during Katrina. But this time, they're telling people to be prepared for the power to be out for up to two weeks, which is very reminiscent of Andrew.

A whole lot of fences have been knocked down this morning because something heavy fell on them, but I didn't notice too many houses with damage, which is a blessing. There's lots of crap in the streets. Driving is a series of obstacle courses.

South of here, many of the parishes are still closed and have much heavier damage. New Orleans seems to have taken the hit relatively gracefully this time, which is a saving grace. Little Houma took it head-on, though. It's been many years since I visited Houma, but I wish them the best. It's a charming place with kind people who have a good sense of humour. Almost everyone evacuated there, but they won't be allowed to return until Friday at noon! I wish them all well wherever they have landed for the duration . . .

The state's emergency web-site is giving lots of info. I'm at the office today to provide some IT support, if required.

Lots is going on, but I actually think things will be feeling mostly back to normal by the end of next week . . . Except maybe for Terrebonne and some other coastal areas . . . Thankfully, though, much was learned after Katrina and Governor Jindal has staked his reputation on being better prepared in spades than his predecessor was during Katrina. So far, that motivation has led to many good things. Hopefully we'll prove to have weathered Gustav much better than Katrina, statewide. And that is very good thing . . . It's a glum day, but I think brighter days will be ahead soon.

Here's hoping no other storms head our way this season!