Am now in Baton Rouge...

[LAwxrgal]

...and the scope of what has happened here and just to my east is just beginning to sink in. There are helicopters everywhere, lines for everything, and what's worse, this area will never, ever be the same.

I literally ran away from Armageddon. It feels like it anyway. The fact is that Katrina was as bad as I thought it was going to be and then some. The only saving grace from my perspective is, the bulk of the devastation occurred east of me. One jog west or a landfall around Morgan City could have changed everything.

I've also learned that my sister's boyfriend's sister and niece were stuck in New Orleans and are still missing.

It's terrible what has happened from New Orleans eastward into Mississippi. I am particularly disgusted at what happened in the nursing home in St. Bernard Parish. Why did the staff escape and the patients didn't? They should be arrested and charged with multiple counts of negligent homicide. I'm afraid more stories like this will come out in the days ahead, in the areas largely neglected by the media.

I took a pass by my house for the first time since I ran away from Armageddon. Since I am west of the city, my house fared pretty well. I have minor shingle, roof, and tree damage, but it's nowhere near as bad as I feared, which is a blessing. I am west of New Orleans and while it's bad there, it's nowhere near as bad as it is from the city eastward.

Before Katrina hit, I still possessed that childlike sense of wonder at their power and majesty. I now have a healthy fear of what they can do. My entire view of hurricanes has been changed forever.

I was removed from hurricanes. They happened to other people in other states. They didn't happen in Louisiana. What was so jarring was that Katrina happened in my state. She happened in the state next to it. Areas forty miles east of me are devastated. Some communities are no more.

I am counting my blessings. At least I have a house to return to. And a life to continue living.

[baygirl_1]

I hope they find your missing friends soon. And I'm glad your home is in relatively good shape. I hope that you'll be able to return to your home sooner rather than later. I have a friend who lives in Kenner and her grandmother lives in Metairie. Her apartment (ground flood, no less) is fine! But, her grandmother's home appears to be a total loss. I continue to pray for all of you.

[azskyman]

Before Katrina hit, I still possessed that childlike sense of wonder at their power and majesty. I now have a healthy fear of what they can do. My entire view of hurricanes has been changed forever.

I was removed from hurricanes. They happened to other people in other states. They didn't happen in Louisiana. What was so jarring was that Katrina happened in my state. She happened in the state next to it. Areas forty miles east of me are devastated. Some communities are no more.

I am counting my blessings. At least I have a house to return to. And a life to continue living.

It will change your life forever...it really will. My life-changing weather event was witnessing 24 people (mostly children) die and 450 injured from an F4 tornado back in 1967. I remember details like it was yesterday.

That will happen to you as well.

I am glad to see you are safe, have a new respect for these storms, and that you feel fortunate for what you have, not what you have lost.

[Downdraft]

In reading your posts I'm struck by the human experience of it. Like all of us, myself included till last year, we've loved following these storms. It isn't till you experience them that you change your mind. Over and over I am struck with the similiarity in what people say about their experience of being in a hurricane. If we tend to humanize these systems we see them as angry, all consuming and without any trace of something good. Your emotions now are totally human your life has been changed and will be forever. Thanks for your posts and your expressing your feelings in the human terms that make them so easily understood. I am glad your safe and I pray those you love and care about made it through this also.