Having lived all of my life in Louiaiana about 35 miles from the coast a little southwest of New Orleans, I cringed when I read Franks first post.

In 1964 hurricane Hilda hit us almost head on. The walls of the 2 story home we were in cracked. From our vantage point we could watch as the city around us suffered damage from wind and fire. I was in awe of what I saw but not frightened.

In 1965 I witnessed hurricane Betsy first hand by being in the eye of the storm.  This time we knew the storm was going to be worse than Hilda so we went into a fairly new one story home. I really got scared for this one. The walls were moving and cracking and the rain was being driven through the walls. Betsy flooded New Orleans much like Katrina. I was but 20 years old at the time. Seven days later a friend and I drove to New Orleans dragging a small boat with us planning to go to his aunt's house to see about her. We found her safely in the attic with her dog. The water in her house had gotten up to the ceiling and was still 3 foot deep when we got there. She was one of the lucky one, lucky that her house was a few feet higher than many of the others we paddled over.   There were many death due to drowning as the water topped houses. We paddled over houses where all we could see was a TV antenna above the water. It was horrendous. We slowly made our way back to safety. That event is burned into my mind forever.

During Betsy, many people did as we did and helped get people out. There were many boats doing the same as us, and we were successful in saving and rescuing many people. During Katrina the government stepped in a prevented people from doing the same. There were hundreds of cars and trucks lined up on the highways making their way to New Orleans to help but were turned around by the government. The people suffered unnecessarily.

From that moment on I've always made the decision to leave the area whenever a hurricane threatens. We usually drive to my daughters house 6 hours away in north Louisiana. It's much better to watch it happening on TV rather than in person. I would never put myself or family at risk by underestimating the power of a storm or taking it lightly.

Until you've witness a hurricane first hand, you have no idea of the threat it brings. It doesn't affect only you or a few people around you. It affects the whole city, county, state, and as in this case, many states. I agree with some of y'all about people running to the store to empty the shelves, it's almost useless. With power out for a week or more at the time and roads closed due to flooding, what good is a couple loaves of bread and some milk. Save the money to buy gas to get out of the area. I pray all are safe but I know lives have been lost.

Blessings and prayers for all,
"gene"

Hope all is well with everyone in the storm's path,

FRANK - you really need to learn to be more forthcoming with your opinions and really need to learn to speak your mind!!    Don't hold back, let 'er loose!!

BTW - I agree!!

frank,

growing up in flushing, i never seen such a sight.. then when i came down here to nc, it's every winter. if there is a chance of snow, everyone will hit every store that's open to grab bread, milk and any canned food they can. at first i thought it was crazy. then i noticed that people down here don't clean up the street like they do up in nyc after snow since they don't have the right equipment and it's not nice driving out there. on top of that, people down here are not used to snow and runs into each other when flurry comes down.

that was 28 yrs ago.

now we have good number of yankees down here, and lot of equipment and salt and acid to prevent snow issues. roads are cleared as the snow comes down. but the people hasn't changed. stores still go empty on first warning of possible snow. and funny thing is, i now also go shopping when it snows. to stock up on food. nothing to do down here when it snows but to stay home and enjoy the company of my family.

I hope I'm not misunderstood with this statement, but this is not Katrina. Nothing close. In my area 75% or more of the the homes damaged are 2nd / vacation homes. All the homes on the ocean washed away were monstrous vacation homes. Yes the loss is still horrible but this is nothing compared to carnage from Katrina.

I'm so worried about Pattee.  She hasn't checked in, and last report, they moved the SUV to higher ground, but they stayed hunkered down in their house ON THE WATER on Long Island.  Pattee, please let us know how you are!

Suzi

Mike you're right, this was no Katrina, but only by living through such a disaster do we realize how bad it is. New Orleans was ridiculed by the nation and still is. So it was poorer people that got hurt the most, that doesn't diminish the fact that the storm ravaged the city and the Gulf Coast of Mississippi. Areas of the city and the Mississippi coast were  very high classed areas but the storm didn't distinguish between the rich and the poor. It was consistent in it's fury. No one outside the area thought that it was as bad as it really was. If only they had lived through it, got flooded by it, and survived by climbing onto roof tops, they would have known. Words cannot describe the horror of such an event. Even seeing pictures on the news only give some idea of the reality of it all. I hear prediction of lights back on in a week, trains and subways in a few days. Look over the situation in two weeks and see how bad it really is. Some areas might not be livable for months.

As I said before, Blessings and prayers for all of you,
"gene"

I find it interesting that we hear nothing about the homeless in the cities.  Where did they go?  What happened to them?  I guess nobody cares.  NY and NJ commerce affects the entire country!  Most of the big manufacturing plants are centered there.  Even today I had to write Etrade a letter, and the address was in NJ.  We opted to wait to send it for a week or two...  I have a feeling a lot of retail stores all over the country won't be getting their shipments in a timely manner........

My prayers are with all those affected.  We have it on the TV constantly.

Suzi

Here's a tip. Don't buy any 2013 cars. My bro in law works at the port and all the cars waiting to be shipped were submerged. They'll be salvaged and sold as new.

I PM-ed Pattee...no response yet.  She may have been evacuated, or, is without any power.  Hope and prayers are for you Pattee.


Suzi....Frank.... and, forum members.

Pattee, I told you to run and I hope you did. Prayers going up for you and your family.
"gene"

Mike, yes beware of cars. After Katrina, many were "resuscitated" and then shipped all over the country and sold. If you are buying a used car, best to check its provenance and see if it was a "survivor" of hurricane Sandy. So much electronics in cars these days and that doesn't mix with water.

Starting a new topic for Pattee!  She needs to know we are all pulling for her.

Suzi