HURRICANE PARTY W/O A HURRICANE

MONDAY---Donna would sit in her car and listen to the radio to keep informed about Gustav location. The winds started picking up before lunch Monday. We lost our electricity about 2 pm. Water blew through the screen on the east side, to 6 feet onto the patio. The fountain water is blowing sideways.

The new patio was finished the first week of August. Better roof, withstand heavy rains, quieter, more stable, Hurricane Gustav was putting it to the test. Wayne threatened us girls, if the patio roof acted like it was going to blow off, we girls were going to sit on it, to hold it down. Roof held without our help. The screen kept the mosquitoes out. The patio became our ‘party room’. We lived on it for 3 days. The kids moved their mattresses to the patio. We used those mattresses 24 hours a day. Donna, Morgan and Cory slept on them and we set on them to play cards. A lot of the time we were fighting the animals. Twix cannot jump, she could climb on the mattresses. Taffy the cat didn’t come out until the winds died down, but he and Morgan fought over who was going to have the middle of the mattress. He would use his feet to push, but Morgan hung on and said NO.

The oak tree in our back yard was my gauge for the winds. When the wind came from the east, the lower branches would bow down, it reminded me of a ballerina doing ‘toe touches’. Once the wind came from the west blowing the limbs up, it was catching a ‘girl’s petticoats’. When the winds gusted, it was scary, was ‘the old man’ going to hold on tight, or give up and blow over like so many others.

The kids taught us new card games. One was called BS, yes, that’s it.... The object was to lie about your hand and convince the other players you were telling the truth. Yes, they told their grandmother to ‘lie’. Another game Morgan taught us, involved drinking ‘shots’ when you play the wrong card. Since we do not drink, we laughed a lot. Wayne and Cory tried to teach us poker, after 1 hand they gave up, girls are a 'lost cause’. Morgan told us about a card game that involved ‘little green men and shots’. We didn’t attempt that one.

The first day of every hurricane the kids go 'skim surfing'. Morgan's instructions were to throw the board in the ditch, jump on and surf toward the concrete culvert. It was not easy.

We bbq every night, ribs, hamburgers, sausage. Ate in the apartment under kerosene or butane lamps. Who says you can’t have a romantic supper during a hurricane.

TUESDAY—Two of the kids’ friends came over, Derrick and Taylor .They had evacuated New Orleans with their mom and sister, but were bored in the hotel with electricity. Even with electricity some people are not happy. Wayne and I walked outside to see where we needed to dig ditches to drain water. Turned around, Morgan had the leaf rake, Cacie had the push broom. So we cleaned up limbs in the rain. Then Donna got a shovel to dig one ditch, Morgan and the boys dug another one. Had fun working in the rain.




Wednesday-- Morgan stayed with us, she came in on Saturday night. We had the three kids until Scott called Wednesday to pick-up Cory and Cacie. They had a good time being together. We laughed and laughed. Morgan doesn’t know when she can go back to school or work, she works as a hostess/waitress in a restaurant near SELU. Still no electricity in Hammond.

Wayne and I went to McComb for food. Michelle had gone on line for police dept in McComb and Natchez, Natchez was 100% without electricity. McComb had most of theirs. We filled up the gas tank, met a man from BR who had the back of his pickup full of gas cans. Some belonged to neighbors. Went to wash clothes, met families from Clinton, Amite and NO doing the same thing. Went to WalMart for food supplies, met a woman from BR. We weren’t the only ones looking for supplies.
Ate at Ruby Tuesday, never again, lousy service, food wasn’t worth the money.

Morgan went to visit a friend in BR, got caught in 2 ½ hours of traffic. Coming home her ‘low fuel light’ came on. Donna gave her directions to the Mercedes Benz dealership. Donna got there first, Morgan missed a turn. Donna got her back on the right road, then, Morgan’s cell phone went dead. Donna was relieved when Morgan pulled into the parking lot.





Thursday—Donna had to go to work without phones and computers, they didn’t do much.. Morgan went with her but found no gas, another night her car had to sit on the parking lot.

Lights came on this morning. The alarm system started beeping, very annoying. I called the alarm service, the receptionist would not tell me anything because I did not know the 'secret password', I might have been a burglar. We have not used the system in 8 years, it took 2 calls to get information to turn the 'beeping' off.

Friday—Donna and Morgan got to the gas station at 6 am, did not start selling gas until 7:30, their gas tanks are full. MB is supposed to close at 3 pm, still no phones or computers. No work can be done on cars, can’t order parts.

Wayne, Morgan and I raked the yard. Back yard had small limbs and leaves. Front yard under the big tree by the driveway lost big limbs, most of them were picked up Tuesday when we had help. Yards are looking good, all the debris is on the side of the road. Started picking up trash on Thursday, we are hoping we have our regular pick up Saturday.

I cleaned out my refrigerator and freezer, in the ‘old days’ they said your refrigerator would absorb the smells. That was a stink I do not want to smell again. Nothing left but cokes. Donna is cleaning out hers tonight for trash pickup tomorrow.

THREE WEEKS LATER---Most of the trash has been picked up in the subdivision, Greenwell Springs Rd is still a mess. Trucks working on the lines, trees littering the side of the road.

We saw trucks and vans from GA, WV, KY, TN and MH. They came a long way to help us get back to normal. Thanks.