I say it hit, well, it did, but early in the morning, while I was sleeping. I say early, but the lights had gone out and we weren't sure of the time. I will assume it was around eight in the morning, after a night of getting online, talking with friends, and playing scattegories with friends, that I found the hurricane striking in full force.
I said the building(s) we were in were cinderblock, and this is true, minus the roof. We watched the neighboring roofs get blown away; it wasn't the whole thing, but enough to let water in. Our roof managed to stay intact.
A strange occurence happened now. A loud noise, howling, moved over us, and off went the A/C unit from the roof, or rather rolled across it. We decided by the trees that had been mangled that a tornado may have passed by us. But, nevertheless, the roof begins to come off our building after this, and we decide it's time to move to the large church across the way. It's too much time to describe the set-up now, I am writing by flashlight.
We cross the way, and then... Now I am writing by flashlight. Well, we make it and get our supplies, stock, etc. Funny as I was walking to the vehicle, my glasses flew off my face. They always seem to fall off at the most inopportune moments. Back to flashlight. I played pokemon leafgreen during most of this., and then I use my ipod some. Oh yeah, and when I opened the car door the wind almost took it off its hinges. Anyway, the storms continued into the day, and I drowned myself into pokemon to ease the tension. Funny thing, pokemon becomes so much more dramatic in a hurricane. But only in the most surreal sense. I could still feel a gnawing worry in the back of mymind(or was it my stomach?).
When I came away from pokemon, I napped. That is about all you can really do, to pass the time: sleep. Sleep early, sleep in, tsake a nap. No electricity sucks. New Orleans is a nightmare right now. No one has call the few remaining radio stations from Slidell. In fact, no one has reported from Slidell. A woman is stuck in her attic with an 8 month old baby and a 5 year old. Fools for not listening to a mandatory evacuation, but you still pity them. Looting. People walking their dogs. Levees breached. Thousands of people in the superdome, cramped up, holes in the roof. Hurricane Katrina has struck.
Later today it cleared up. Seems the wind had pulled a door off the hinges on the west side of the church, the glass shattered, carried by the winds in about a 30 yard radius.
I see quite a few trees missing from the line to the left of us.
The roads were finally partially able to be gotten on. We went to check on our house. On the way we see friends, and take them to their house. Trees are down everywhere. Tin as well. We have to carefully druve under powerlines and branches hanging over the road. Oaks have been pulled up by the roots. We make it to our house.
3 branches on the lawn. This is the damage. Across the street a brick house has a large oak through it. On the intersection another oak, larger and taller, is leaning down, suspended by piowerlines.
This is the same mess everywhere we pass. God. is. Good.
