COME ON HOME!

ACCORDING TO NOLA.COM, ALL CHECKPOINTS HAVE BEEN LIFTED DUE TO THE AMOUNT OF PEOPLE WAITING TO COME IN, SO I GUESS IT'S JUST THE TRAFFIC YA'LL HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT.

Local Update

My friend Laura came back early this morning after driving in traffic all night. She got in through Jefferson Parrish by coming over the Causeway and then taking the back roads to Riverbend. She lives a few blocks past The Maple Leaf, and she has power. I heard on the radio yesterday that The Maple Leaf did not have power (when they were inviting people to drink warm Budweiser and were powered by generators), and I'm going to drive around and see which neighborhoods have power and which do not. She said people entering Orleans Parrish directly are being turned away.


In Markey Park on Piety, we heard rumor that there were MRE's and vodka at Spain and Rampart, but a nice National Guard officer who called Josh "Sir," went and checked and said that no help/comfort stations have been established yet because no one is allowed back in the city.


I met a stranger at the park too. He grabbed my press pass and said I didn't need it and should have made it dirty and that I should have been interviewing him as he surveyed "The Bank." I told the rule was that if you stay, you can't be an asshole.


I'm going to drive around soon and see what's going on as far as power goes.

Man Falls Down Leaving Country Club

Apparently, the cops aren't only getting their information from the news; I saw them huddled around the corner store on Dauphine right before Vaughn's (not open) as I drove back to Poland Ave. I saw no signs of flooding on Kentucky or Japonica or under the St. Claude or Claiborne Bridge. I took some pictures that I'll upload soon. I took Poland all the way to Tonti and didn't see any signs of flooding, and it started raining pretty hard while I was driving.

On the way back down Poland, I saw a convoy of NOPD/National Guard vehicles crossing the Robertson Bridge into Holy Cross, so apparently it's okay to drive over there. I obviously have no idea what they were doing and didn't want to find out.

Driving back to C's house on Royal, I stopped behind a pick-up truck at Louisa and Royal. An older man had walked from the direction of The Country Club (which according to local weird C.I.A. Mike is open) and fell down on the curb. He didn't fall in a way that looked dangerous. It was more the kind of stumble a very drunk person makes. The truck in front of me drove away, and I rolled down my window and asked the guy if he was okay.

"I can get up now," he slurred, and sat there in the pouring rain.

I did not give this man a breathalizer test, so I am not going to say he was drunk, but he appeared to be very drunk.

Now that I don't drink, it's not that I think people shouldn't be drinking, but drunk people do careless things all the time. I've noticed that the Phoenix and Smitty's are opening, and these people are eventually going to stumble home.
I hope somebody's watching over them, because I'd hate to be drunk here now.

I can't imagine being drunk or even drinking when things are this serious. So maybe that was the little voice that urged me to stay - my sobriety?

I can also see how an officer of the law would be really annoyed to have to stop to help a person b/c he was so drunk he fell down.

So people in New Orleans who are drunk: you might want to stay at home. The cops aren't exactly being nice, but they're not in the mood to help anybody.

Interview with bywater resident

"Nagin's hyperbole "The mother of all storms" is going to hurt New Orleans the most. He shot is wad too soon." - Bywater resident (more to come)

Hi Jenny Jams

I'm glad you actually motivated me to drive back there (I was a little scared to). You can rest, I saw no signs of flooding at all on Kentucky or Japonica or Poland. I drove all the way to Tonti before I saw some power lines down and turned around. Definitely no flooding there. When I figure out how to put pictures on here, I'll upload some.

Interview with bywater resident

"Nagin's hyperbole "The mother of all storms" is going to hurt New Orleans the most. He shot is wad too soon." - Bywater resident (more to come)

Hi Jenny Jams

I'm glad you actually motivated me to drive back there (I was a little scared to). You can rest, I saw no signs of flooding at all on Kentucky or Japonica or Poland. I drove all the way to Tonti before I saw some power lines down and turned around. Definitely no flooding there. When I figure out how to put pictures on here, I'll upload some.