Atlanta, Georgia - 08/31/05 - 6 AM - 7 AM
Finally brother and company are safe and sound in Atlanta, Georgia. They are now comfortably sleeping at father's friend's house.
Phew... first segement complete.
This hurricane has such a wide affect, not only to the people that had to evacuate but it impacts family members, friends, relatives, co-workers, and the list goes on and on..
Times like this so poignantly demonstrates the signficance of an individual, and how each one of us affects another. Like a drop of water in pond, no matter the size or shape of a drop it still creates a ripple.
Wednesday, August 31, 2005
Birmingham, AL - 08/31/05 - 3:15 AM
Birmingham, AL - 08/31/05 - 3:15 AM
Brother and company finally saw signs of big city life after driving through most of the night from Hattiesburg to Jackson, MS and then taking Highway 20 to Birmingham.
When asked about traffic on the road, he said there weren't too much. The roads were clear so driving condition was good.
After a rest, they headed on towards destination - Atlanta, Georgia.
Brother and company finally saw signs of big city life after driving through most of the night from Hattiesburg to Jackson, MS and then taking Highway 20 to Birmingham.
When asked about traffic on the road, he said there weren't too much. The roads were clear so driving condition was good.
After a rest, they headed on towards destination - Atlanta, Georgia.
Mandeville - status
Mandeville - status
The following is a summary of the posts I searched through on WWLTV.com 's forum for St. Tammany Parish up to page 49. In particular, I was interested in the areas near St Ann Drive and near the on ramp for Causeway bridge to New Orleans.
- St Ann Drive seems okay, just a lot of down trees
- Flooding up to 3 ft to Monroe street was reported, but damage probably not as sever since winds changed directions
- More serious flooding in Old Mandeville and damages from strong winds
- Someone was able to get back to Mandeville via 190 through Covington and then Highway 12 West
- Some parts of Mandeville has power, but in general due to strong winds, there is no phone nor cellphone service, nor electric
- Fontainebleau subdivision at intersection of Rue Chinon & Rue Bayonne did not flood
The following is a summary of the posts I searched through on WWLTV.com 's forum for St. Tammany Parish up to page 49. In particular, I was interested in the areas near St Ann Drive and near the on ramp for Causeway bridge to New Orleans.
- St Ann Drive seems okay, just a lot of down trees
- Flooding up to 3 ft to Monroe street was reported, but damage probably not as sever since winds changed directions
- More serious flooding in Old Mandeville and damages from strong winds
- Someone was able to get back to Mandeville via 190 through Covington and then Highway 12 West
- Some parts of Mandeville has power, but in general due to strong winds, there is no phone nor cellphone service, nor electric
- Fontainebleau subdivision at intersection of Rue Chinon & Rue Bayonne did not flood
Hattiesburgh, MS - Highway 59 N
Hattiesburgh, MS - Highway 59 N
7:45 PM - Finally received word from my brother after 8 hours of communication silence. Turns out that their attempt to head towards Meridian, MS was a complete failure.
Along with many other cars on the road, after 7 hours on 59 N traveling only 10 miles they were told by the police to turn around and head back toward Hattiesburg, MS because Highway 59 is shutdown.
I can hear the frustration in my father and brother's tone as they wondered why weren't they notified earlier by the police as everyone was just leaving Hattiesburg hours ago?
So summary is as of 8 PM on 8/30/05, you cannot get from Hattiesburgh to Meridian via Highway 59.
The authorities told them to head towards Jackson, MS and cross over to Meridian on Highway 20.
So now brother and company is on their way to Jackson, MS and try their second attempt to get to Meridian sometime tonight.
7:45 PM - Finally received word from my brother after 8 hours of communication silence. Turns out that their attempt to head towards Meridian, MS was a complete failure.
Along with many other cars on the road, after 7 hours on 59 N traveling only 10 miles they were told by the police to turn around and head back toward Hattiesburg, MS because Highway 59 is shutdown.
I can hear the frustration in my father and brother's tone as they wondered why weren't they notified earlier by the police as everyone was just leaving Hattiesburg hours ago?
So summary is as of 8 PM on 8/30/05, you cannot get from Hattiesburgh to Meridian via Highway 59.
The authorities told them to head towards Jackson, MS and cross over to Meridian on Highway 20.
So now brother and company is on their way to Jackson, MS and try their second attempt to get to Meridian sometime tonight.
Tuesday, August 30, 2005
Buses, Trains, and Airplanes
Buses, Trains, and Airplanes
For most part of the morning, I've been trying to find possible routes to get family to a larger city that's more equipped and hopefully can provide them with more comfortable shelter and prehaps a way for them to get to the east coast.
Searched Greyhound, Amtrak, and various airlines. A lot of the closer operational stations are closed due to Hurricane Katrina. Looks like the closest operational cities are: Birmingham, Memphis, and Montgomery.
For most part of the morning, I've been trying to find possible routes to get family to a larger city that's more equipped and hopefully can provide them with more comfortable shelter and prehaps a way for them to get to the east coast.
Searched Greyhound, Amtrak, and various airlines. A lot of the closer operational stations are closed due to Hurricane Katrina. Looks like the closest operational cities are: Birmingham, Memphis, and Montgomery.
Hattiesburg, MS - stop over
Hattiesburg, MS - stop over
8/30/05 - 10 AM - 12 PM
Brother called when they arrived at the outskirts of Hattiesburg. They parked at a BP gas station. I am not familiar with the area, but they can see Best Buy from where they were. He reported there are a bunch of people lined up at BP hoping for the gas station to open.
Highway 59 North is littered with fallen trees. There are personnel cleaning up with big trackers to push off the sawed off tree parts to the sides of the roads.
As of last conversation with my brother, not clear when the roads will be cleared.
Good thing parents kept their manual (thanks to my dad's stubborness). With rising gas prices and now lacking of operational gas stations, half a tank on the car can take them at least another 200 miles.
Meridian is their goal for tonight. One of the Red Cross shelters also mentioned that there are a lot of down trees and powerlines. However, considering parts of FEMA is stationed there, hopefully some roads will be cleared enough for my brother and company to pass through.
8/30/05 - 10 AM - 12 PM
Brother called when they arrived at the outskirts of Hattiesburg. They parked at a BP gas station. I am not familiar with the area, but they can see Best Buy from where they were. He reported there are a bunch of people lined up at BP hoping for the gas station to open.
Highway 59 North is littered with fallen trees. There are personnel cleaning up with big trackers to push off the sawed off tree parts to the sides of the roads.
As of last conversation with my brother, not clear when the roads will be cleared.
Good thing parents kept their manual (thanks to my dad's stubborness). With rising gas prices and now lacking of operational gas stations, half a tank on the car can take them at least another 200 miles.
Meridian is their goal for tonight. One of the Red Cross shelters also mentioned that there are a lot of down trees and powerlines. However, considering parts of FEMA is stationed there, hopefully some roads will be cleared enough for my brother and company to pass through.
Columbia, MS - shelter
Columbia, MS - shelter
After family members left Mandeville afternoon of 8/28/05, they headed north in hopes of finding some shelter. They abandoned the route for Texas due to the gridlock from the mass mandatory evacuation. Several shelters along the way were filled to the capacity thus prompted them to travel further north until they stopped in the town of Columbia, MS and decided to bunker down before nightfall.
They were taken into a brick church which is now a Red Cross shelter. Cellphone reception in the church was very poor for both Verizon Wireless and Cingular/AT&T even before the storm. Not sure if it was due to incoming winds, building or tower signals.
Refugees were placed in the gym area. There was power and food. So that was good to hear. I received update from brother on 8/29/05 around 7 am in the morning. Everything was okay and no damaged during the night. At that point, they only received some moderate wind gusts and rain.
8/29/05 - 10 AM
I lost cellphone communication with family at that point. Text Message were not delivered to both the verizon and at&t handsets. Calls kept getting busy signals. Kept refreshing the National Hurricane Center website to look at where Katrina is head and how fast.
8/29/05 - 2:50 PM
A sigh of relief was released when brother rang again. He reported the shelter lost power, but everyone was okay. Everyone was relocated from the gym area to where the pews were before the church sustained roof damage due to high winds. Parts of the roof was ripped off, but since everyone moved to the center of the church no harm done. They were fed lunch and now just waiting for rest of storm to pass.
8/30/05 - 9-10 Am
Brother and company left the Red Cross shelter at Columbia, MS early this morning to head for a bigger town - Hattiesburg, MS.
When they left the power was still out.
After family members left Mandeville afternoon of 8/28/05, they headed north in hopes of finding some shelter. They abandoned the route for Texas due to the gridlock from the mass mandatory evacuation. Several shelters along the way were filled to the capacity thus prompted them to travel further north until they stopped in the town of Columbia, MS and decided to bunker down before nightfall.
They were taken into a brick church which is now a Red Cross shelter. Cellphone reception in the church was very poor for both Verizon Wireless and Cingular/AT&T even before the storm. Not sure if it was due to incoming winds, building or tower signals.
Refugees were placed in the gym area. There was power and food. So that was good to hear. I received update from brother on 8/29/05 around 7 am in the morning. Everything was okay and no damaged during the night. At that point, they only received some moderate wind gusts and rain.
8/29/05 - 10 AM
I lost cellphone communication with family at that point. Text Message were not delivered to both the verizon and at&t handsets. Calls kept getting busy signals. Kept refreshing the National Hurricane Center website to look at where Katrina is head and how fast.
8/29/05 - 2:50 PM
A sigh of relief was released when brother rang again. He reported the shelter lost power, but everyone was okay. Everyone was relocated from the gym area to where the pews were before the church sustained roof damage due to high winds. Parts of the roof was ripped off, but since everyone moved to the center of the church no harm done. They were fed lunch and now just waiting for rest of storm to pass.
8/30/05 - 9-10 Am
Brother and company left the Red Cross shelter at Columbia, MS early this morning to head for a bigger town - Hattiesburg, MS.
When they left the power was still out.
The Start
It's Tuesday 08/30/05, 2 PM. I've been glued to CNN ever since Hurricane Katrina started heading for New Orleans. Like many of people with friends or family in the southern states, when cellphone communications started to deteriorate it brought back feelings of helplessness, worry, panic and frustration as that dreadful 9/11 day.
Members of my family are very lucky as they were able to evacuate Mandeville, LA and settle in a shelter before Katrina touched down on early Monday morning.
Due to the immense devastation caused by the hurricane, news sources are hard to come by regarding situations of smaller surrounding towns. Sitting in NJ, thousands of miles away from my family I can only wait by my phone to receive the next call from my brother as he slowly makes his way to some of the bigger cities where hopefully there is power and gasoline.
When he asked if I was able to reach our friends who left for Texas before Katrina hit, I answer with the same resignation, "no, lines were busy". When he asked about road and power conditions up ahead I can only give him the very limited information that I can find online or the rare conversations exchanges I have with shelter sponsors.
As he makes his way towards Atlanta, Georgia, I'll post as much info as I can.
Members of my family are very lucky as they were able to evacuate Mandeville, LA and settle in a shelter before Katrina touched down on early Monday morning.
Due to the immense devastation caused by the hurricane, news sources are hard to come by regarding situations of smaller surrounding towns. Sitting in NJ, thousands of miles away from my family I can only wait by my phone to receive the next call from my brother as he slowly makes his way to some of the bigger cities where hopefully there is power and gasoline.
When he asked if I was able to reach our friends who left for Texas before Katrina hit, I answer with the same resignation, "no, lines were busy". When he asked about road and power conditions up ahead I can only give him the very limited information that I can find online or the rare conversations exchanges I have with shelter sponsors.
As he makes his way towards Atlanta, Georgia, I'll post as much info as I can.
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