Katrina/Rita report

[9296D21B14]

First post, been learning/lurking since 1/05. I went through Katrina in my 100+ year old house located about 90 miles due north of New Orleans in a very rural area and about 70 miles west of the eye as it came inland along the La/Ms border. Family ok, house ok, vehicles ok, dogs ok, trees not so good. No power for two weeks, no phones about the same. Several 110 year old white oaks toppled over in the front yard. I saw three of these 80' foot trees go over at the height of the storm. Not fun. Lost 15 acres of mixed woods around the house. Flattened. Every tree. All in all we were blessed given the devastation for this entire region. Before you might ask, we could not evacuate as we work for the state and have mandatory shelter staffing duties.

BITOG helped us survive. No lie. My new generator (Generac 5500w gas) got a good break in and then some. FWIW, it seemed to do better on B/S 30w than Mobil 1 10W30. The Mobil 1 left a bit of foam at the top of the oil filler neck and was consumed enough to trip the low oil sensor once while the B/S did not. Is this normal? The small engine forum helped greatly here. In order to pass the time until civilization sort of returned, I finished an initial ARX clean cycle on the 92 Nissan truck and a second rinse on the Mazda Protege. Also drained an ARX clean on the Craftsman riding mower. Sweet. All four of my high mileage vehicles have gotten ARX treatments on engine, transmission, and P/S with very good results. Thanks, Frank. The fleet is currently on Havoline 10w30 or Rotella 10w30 dino HDEO. Next is getting very well reaquainted with my chain saw.

We had Direct TV when the generator was on so we sampled national and local coverage throughout. Also, battery radio. I was born and reared in NOLA but have lived here for over 25 years. The blame game rhetoric regarding government reponse was and is laughable. In addition to being an oil/DIY nut I am also a weather nut. The Weather Channel is the background noise to my regular routine. I went through Betsy, Camille, Elena, Andrew, Georges, Ivan, and various TS's. This one was very different. I had supplies, a generator, 50 gallons of gas, and an eye on the projected path. 60 hours before landfall on Friday afternoon the experts shifted it west 150 miles from the FL panhandle to it's eventual landfall. Very little time for individuals or authorities to prepare or execute plans. I planned to be self sustaining for 3-5 days. It lasted 13 days before power was restored and even then we were very lucky to have it back on that soon. I traveled 90 miles west to Baton Rouge after 5 days to resupply gas. None to be had locally for over a week. I felt like I was in a scene from 'Mad Max.' I think I got the last 28 gallons in BR. After that gas availability eased. The general discomfort and stress did not.

A few observations. Don't depend on government in times of general civil breakdown. My neighbors and I looked out for each other. A truck from a Pennsylvania church brought a little ice after about a week. Thus, I have since lessened my life long prejudice against carpet baggers. Just a little. Never saw FEMA or Red Cross. Many local people 'stretched the truth' to get emergency food stamps. Don't ask me how I know. I need a bigger gun and way more ammo. My two large and rather poorly socialized outside dogs (Blue Heeler and Lab mix rescues) got extra rations even though they need to be on a diet. Looters were in the area but not on the property. The little dogs that stay inside and provided comfort and distraction also got even more spoiled. Also, some people are really mean. Negative comments on rebuilding NOLA and Ms. seem to have subsided since Houston almost got whacked. I am reminded of one of my favorite aphorisms from athletic competition, 'adversity does not build character, it reveals it.' Rita took power away for a day. The persistent 30 mph south winds were almost more unnerving than the Katrina 130 mph ones. Go figure.

Anyway, thanks for being BITOG. I am over the internet access withdrawal and will resume my daily visits. Next on the to-do list after clearing several tons of oak tree from the driveway is stocking up on LC, FP, and some Neutra! BTW, did I read somewhere recently that Avian flu is out there just a mutation away from human to human transmission? I better get to the gun shop soon...

 

[Schmoe]

I lived through a couple of Super Typhoons while on Guam, and I can definently relate to your observations and feelings. Guam has a different approach to typhoons, or hurricanes, depending on what side of the international date line you are on. First, all homes are built of concrete. You will not find wooden homes there. Second, most of the power is located underground and they don't lose power as often, it still happens, but not a much as you'd think. Third, everybody knows "the deal" Everybody fills up their vehicles two days prior, or when a Category 2 alert is issued. Gas companies know that and they start bringing in extra fuel and leave a tanker parked on site ready to be unloaded at every gas station, you'd be surprized just how many gas stations their are for 210 square miles. Fourth, every home has at least 4 to 5 ice chest. The local ice company ramps up production when a Category 2 is issued. No price gouging. The only thing the government does is provide emergency services. People understand that and the ten years I was there, I never saw anything like the looting that happenen in NOLA over on Guam.
Your foaming, well that usually is an indicator to oil overfill. Surprized one oil does it and the other does not.
Glad to hear your OK. Sounds like your getting ready for a real workout with the chainsaw. All you need now is a wood burning stove and you'll be set for the winter. However, I doubt you'd use it that much that far down south. Maybe you can sell it up north, the way the heating bills are going up, might be a idea.

 

[Pablo]

9296D21B14 - GREAT WRITE up.

Shoot me your address via PM and I'll send you a couple quarts of Amsoil Straight 30 (ACD) for your generator. No charge.

 

[moribundman]

quote:

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I traveled 90 miles west to Baton Rouge after 5 days to resupply gas. None to be had locally for over a week. I felt like I was in a scene from 'Mad Max.' I think I got the last 28 gallons in BR.

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I'm glad that you're okay and that you didn't lose everything, though it a shame about the old trees. I think some of us are, I know I am, dying to hear a bit more about your 90 mile trip and what you experienced and saw along the way.

quote:

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GREAT right up.

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Pablo, I'm not going to fall for your trap!

 

[Pablo]

Caught again. Dang!

Anyhow I agree with excessivelymoribund - details of the almost odyssian meets madmaxx journey would be excellent!

 

[9296D21B14]

Wow. Replies and requests from some of the board's big hitters. I'm humbled. The BR trip. On day three, (Wed), my neighbors tell me they are going to BR to refill gas for their generator. They used to live there and know the area very well. By then I am dehydrated and weakened from the stress, heat, and a bit of the runs so I pass on the convoy idea. Huge mistake. Decision making and judgement can be early casualties on the edge of apocalypse. However, we do ask for them to call our son out of state to let him and the rest of the family know that we are OK. Later that same day the neighbors report that gas was plentiful everywhere in the BR area by either credit card or gas. And they did reach our son with the message. That helped a lot. So, day four, (Thurs), still pretty weak, I leave in the '98 Protege (202k on the clock) with 5 empty gas cans, a couple of credit cards, 2/3'rds of a tank in the car, $4.26 in cash, a bottle of water, a cell phone with no reception, and a 22 Remington rifle with a 10 shot clip wrapped in a towel in the front seat. I told you I need a bigger gun. I file a float plan with my wife saying this is the route out and back and if I'm not back by tomorrow, maybe the neighbors can come search for me. No gas or power in Kentwood on I-55, cash only gas near Greensburg further west with a 75 car wait, no gas or power in Clinton. Now I'm 50 miles from home and the scouting report from the day before is null and void. Reports of car jackings swirl in my head. Who would want a '98 Pro with 202k? Another cash only station about 30 miles north of BR. People filling 55 gallon drums in the back of pick ups. The Vietnamese proprietor is looking very nervous as there is no security. I leave. Credit cards don't work without phone lines. We did not cash a check before the bank closed on the previous Friday because the storm was going to Pensacola. Now I'm in Zachary north of BR but no gas anywhere. I finally pull into a station and spend the $4.26 after a twenty minute wait just to sure I can get back home. 35 mpg never felt so good. While in line, others tell me no gas in BR. Communication is now at word of mouth only. The city has doubled in size over three days with NO evacuees and still has power outages. I resign myself to failure and head back away from BR and stop at a Shell with no gas. I ask the clerk if they expect delivery that day. I am willing to wait. She says no but tells me there is a station 5 miles to the west with gas. Give her a wink and say thanks. YES! I pull into a Chevron that takes credit cards and begin to pray that they don't run out before my turn. A clerk increases the price on the sign by 10 cents a gallon while I'm in line. A really nice local guy behind me in line topping off his late '80's Corolla tells me the station won't allow gas cans to be filled. NO! I am on the outside lane and ask him to cover for me. He does. The pay at the pump works, I top off the car, fill the 5 cans with literally trembling hands, careful not to spill a drop, and head back home. A block away a WalMart is open. I need a prescrition refilled and some groceries. Don't forget the TP. It takes over two hours. It's blistering hot and I vent the gas cans in the trunk every 15 minutes while I wait. It makes me nervous to open the trunk and see 5 bright red filled gas cans. I pick up a cell and reach my older brother in Dallas. He's at a lake for the weekend. I'm fighting for survival. Surreal. We laugh about stuff but on the inside I am about to have a panic attack. Heading back east, the landscape returns to trees and power lines down everywhere. Every place I passed on the way out still has no gas. When I get home, we treat ourselves with an extra hour on the generator. We also roll up $165 in dimes that my wife has collected over the years from pocket change and kept in her curio collection but we forgot about before I left. Life is good. It will still be 9 days before power is returned to us. I wish I had some 00 shells for the 20 gauge. Not that kind that fizzle like in Mad Max.

 

[moribundman]

That "adventure" creeped me out for good. That's some nice writing there. Thanks for sharing!

 

[Sam3]

HEY! Someone send 929 the ""WELLCOME""

Please.

Man, I sleep right through Betsy, but if our 4 foot white oak had gone the other way I'd or we wouldn't be here.

Sam3 Out.
.

 

[andyd]

im just curious, how many people own guns? I'm a peaceful type and up here in MA and in my area there doesnt seem to be much need for firearms? How widespread was the looting in your area 9296D21B14?

 

[Sam3]

 

[Sam3]

I tell you,
They look for the one's who arn't willing or ready to fight. The easy pickings.

Edit to add>
Yo, peacefull type,
I take it Your family didn't fight in the American Revolution??

 

[Pablo]

My guns would come in mighty handy!!!

 

[Sam3]

Pablo, Let me know if you need an Ammo man.

 

[andyd]

quote:

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Originally posted by Sam3:
I tell you,
They look for the one's who arn't willing or ready to fight. The easy pickings.

Edit to add>
Yo, peacefull type,
I take it Your family didn't fight in the American Revolution??

---

prolly not, but a direct anscestor of mine, Benjamin Church, led the expeditionary force that ended with King Phillips head on a pole outside the Plymouth stockade in the 1690s. Whats your point?

 

[Sam3]

My Point??
If it every comes to where you need protect your loved ones I hope you never need more than a lawyer.

 

[Pablo]

When lootie and his buds show up for my beer. I will be armed. Is that wrong and somehow unpeaceful?

 

[andyd]

Actually when I typed that , I was re-thinking my stance, But to this point I've never felt the need for a gun. My question to 9296D21B14 was how widespread was the looting in his area, 90 miles North of NO where looting was made big news of. Im not a gun control advocate, I just never felt the need to own a gun. Ive always been more worried about people in suits ripping me off than my neighbors.

 

[9296D21B14]

Regarding looting. Yes, it happened near me. 20 evacuees from NO at a local Red Cross shelter at our school were removed for breaking into nearby houses. The parish seat (25 miles away) had a gas station broken into and burned. Same town had a clown in a dually try a smash and grab at a Winn Dixie grocery within sight of the town and parish police stations. He got away. A coworker reported groups of men walking the highway at 1:00am near her home just a few miles from us. Across the parish in Bogalusa very near the storm path, the looters hit, in order, pharmacies, pawn and gun shops, liquor stores, ATM's, department stores, and jewelry stores. Then any place with a cash register. Later when I worked another shelter, a radio operator for the sheriff stated his neighbor's generator shut off one night. The looters had stolen his gas supply and even siphoned the generator while it was running. Another coworker donated her 5 gallons of gas to power a donated generator at a school shelter she was working. She put the can down for 5 minutes, turned around, and it was gone. Police told armed citizens patrolling their subdivisions to shoot to kill. Less paperwork for them and easier to store a corpse than jail a suspect. The notion of self arming is probably a bit delusional in terms of actual protection. Most looters will seek unoccupied dwellings so just being there helps a lot. However, carjackers in NO apparently dispensed with the usual pleasantries of demanding the car or else and just shot the car's occupants first and then took the car. In our area, I believe most people understood that with the popularity of hunting nearly everyone had firearms in the home and would not hesitate to use them. An armed citizenry is a polite citizenry. Even in a rural area, we are also plagued with high rates of meth abuse, crack addiction, and good old alcoholism. I heard a quote attributed to the late Eric Severeid of CBS news to the effect that we are all only seven meals from anarchy. It would be hard to dispute that notion at this point.

Andyd, how far are you from Boston? I saw a report that an explosion from an LNG tanker in the harbor would create much the same conditions mother nature created here. Just something to think about.

Pablo, thanks for your kind offer but I'll probably pass. I did buy a can of PF from a local distributor for my Sentra but haven't used it yet. What I hope I need now are some tips on long term generator storage. I am sick of hurricanes. Again, thanks to all!

 

[Schmoe]

Wow. In this day and age, I just can't believe that something akin to the looting you described would still be happening in a non-third world type country. Hate to stereotype, but I'm sure the looters have nothing to loose in the first place. I get this real eerie feeling now and have been thinking the "what if's" where I live. Like you, I only got a .22 semi automatic with a 18 round slide. May get something bigger and for you non-gun types, well, I'm sorry you feel that way but when push comes to shove and it's your family that may be shoved, I be danged if I'm going to be caught empty handed. But like you 929, there are a lot of hunters in this town and they would not hesitate to use them, sober or drunk. I'm trying to mentally create a picture of your situation and of instances you described surrounding you, and it truly, truly scares me.
Never thought I'd say it, but I'm kind of glad I live in a sparsely populated state, lot's of country boys that would help you out and band together should it be warranted. Hang in there 929, things WILL get better. It might not happen this afternoon, but it will happen none-the-less.

 

[kloppilt]

Maybe you should upgrade your .22 to this?