Below are two pictures of the neighborhood/rental property I took upon returning from Alabama. Unfortunately, I'm not the best photographer and lighting prevented these pictures from showing up better than what they did. More pictures may be found at the Baton Rouge The Advocate's site (http://www.2theadvocate.com/multimedia/).
Just a few thoughts from the disaster that was Gustav...
1) It's utterly disgraceful people would break into local schools to steal and vandalize. It may keep students out of school a couple of days, but it's still quite shameful.
2) Society seems to break down anytime a major hurricane hits this area of the country. See the aftermath of Katrina and Rita three years ago for more detailed examples. This time around FEMA left much needed tarps needed in Baton Rouge and other hard hit areas in Houston. While this may be forethought to Ike, I seriously doubt it. All levels of government have done a lot better job than three years ago. However, there is mismanagement and plenty of misinformation in the aftermath of a major hurricane. Maybe we will as a society will have a serious discussion that there are some storms that are too big for the government to handle because of the sheer devastation as well as that government is run by humans who make mistakes. You can everything ready to go, but Mother Nature will ruin even the best laid plans.
3) This storm has been called the 'Katrina' of Baton Rouge due to the sheer amount of damage done. I've had several friends make the comment they were glad it was not as bad as it could have been. I quickly corrected them they left off three important words "in New Orleans." I don't understand the media's obsession with working people into a lather over a looming disaster to turn its back on the story as soon as they realize it's not as bad as it could have been. As I write this, there are still sections of town without power. There are other parishes with especially difficult terrain who are projected to be without power for some time longer because of that terrain. Citizens by and large did what was asked of them by stockpiling goods needed to survive for 3 days. However, it was 5 days before some much needed relief arrived in terms of food being available through government and grocery stores.
4) Because of Katrina and Rita, the population of Baton Rouge swelled to nearly half a million souls. As things returned to 'normal' for me on Monday of this week, I dealt with a city that was not ready to be back to normal solely because of power. It's amazing to me how dependent we have become on electricity. A normally twenty to thirty minute drive suddenly took at least forty-five minutes because the stoplights weren't on. My biggest gripe was that there were no cops stationed at major intersections to help traffic flow during rush hour. I'm sure they had plenty to do, but to ask a city to go back to work with no traffic control assistance from police was a little questionable. At least they were escorting the National Guard to areas where the Guard was needed.
For the above shortcomings (not trying to be too negative), they are small compared to the selflessness I have witnessed since coming back on Sunday. First off is the dedication of the utility crews to restore power as quickly as possible. Crews are working sixteen hours days to turn the lights back on. In one day's time, the proportion of customers to have the power turned back on was reduced by a third for customers of one utility company. Astounding!
I was still east of town Sunday when I got call from a number I didn't recognize. It was a member of the Stillwater congregation wanting me to find them a place to spend the night while they minister to those without power. Fortunately, I've developed a friendship with one of the ministers at a local congregation who was able to find room for 22 'angels' on short notice. While I'm sure this is not the only bunch of volunteers to descend on the city to help, it's always reassuring to know that while the media doesn't report on these special persons, they are out there and don't go completely unnoticed.
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