The hurricane story you haven't heard

Unless you grew up in the left hand bottom corner of the boot-shaped Great State that is Louisiana. To be honest, the film "All Over but to Cry" is the most I've ever heard about Hurricane Audrey. Folks don't like to talk about it.

A church member told me her ladies group gathered clothing and shoes for the victims and a little boy selected shoes when he really wanted the brand new red cowboy boots. When asked why he passed on the boots, he said he needed shoes to go to church. Another old timer told me he never fished again after pulling dead bodies from the water.


Yeah, yeah, I know you've read hurricane stories here before but this is the harrowing tale of loss and survival during the 1957 Hurricane Audrey and you will cry your eyes out. Watch it to develop an attitude of gratitude and count your many blessings.

One by one.

It aired on Louisiana Public Television and I hope you'll get a chance to see it.

This is America

My life partner TiVo found a PBS documentary about the New Orleans Vietnamese community and their struggle before, during and after hurricane Katrina called "Independent Lens:A Village Called Versailles".
Culturally, their work ethic and self-sufficiency served them well in rebuilding after the hurricane but their quiet flying-beneath-the-radar way of life made them targets of a proposed land grab and an "emergency" landfill. Watch the documentary to see the best and worst of what America has to offer and a unique perspective of immigrant culture.
Here's a short youtube clip.

Bad weather day off

Thinking about our Yankee brethren this week while they endure snow storms and it kinda makes me jealous. Those folks get a day off, stay home, cook, hibernate, take pretty pictures and then complain of being bored.
Closer to the Gulf of Mexico coast line on the left handed side of the boot shaped state, when we get a day off work because of incoming severe weather, we're hammering shit down before running for our lives, spending money on hotel rooms, worrying that looters will steal our crap and wondering if we still have a home after the hurricane.
Cali folks with their wildfires, they know our pain.

Enjoy your snow days, you Yankee rat bastards. Sure hope your cable doesn't go out, that would be horrible.

It took me 3 years to watch it

When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts - Acts I & II

Spike Lee's documentary of the effects of Hurricane Katrina was released three years ago and I wasn't ready to watch it then. I recorded it August 28th and finally finished it today. It took several sittings to complete. (Not sure I'll ever get to Acts III & IV.)

My friends all know that I am barely aware of hurricane paths or ever prepared for "big weather". In 1997, while living in New Orleans, I had a garage sale the very day everyone evacuated from Hurricane Danny. The shoppers kept asking why I didn't cancel the sale and when was I leaving? Huh? In anticipation of moving in a couple days, my cable service was transferred to a new address and I hadn't a clue that an evacuation order had been called. And no idea that they meant leaving town! My friend Chrysanthemum and I were the last to leave; she to her parents in Mississippi, me to my folks in southwest Louisiana.

Fast forward, in 2000 I left New Orleans to return to my hometown and bought a house. So, while floating in my pool on Saturday August 27th, 2005, I answered my phone to John asking if my offer of lodging was still good. Huh? (again). There's a hurricane coming through, don't you know this? Nope. But, of course, he and his mother and two grandmothers were more than welcome to evacuate to my house. The year before, they stayed in a nearby Texas town while "evaporating" from a hurricane. I insisted that they stay with me "next time" because hotel rooms can be a bit cramped for four adults.

They packed up in one vehicle with limited items and an ice chest of snacks and drove hours over the usual three hour drive time. We all thought they would be away from home for 2-3 days maximum.

Their most important need was constant television updates. I rarely watch live television so we quickly learned the channel numbers of The Weather Channel, CNN, Fox News and every news outlet. For the first time in my life, I felt guilty that I only owned one TV.

The telephone was the next important tool. Thankfully, I had just opted for the unlimited long distance plan. They took and made phone calls from every relative, every friend from every state.

We heard reports of folks offering lodging to perfect strangers and there is just no way this single girl would do that, but I was happy to accommodate my friends and comfortable they wouldn't kill me in my sleep.

We watched the poor and wretched line up to enter the "Shelter of Last Resort" AKA the Louisiana Superdome. We cringed when we saw two cute little white college girls in line and wondered why the hell they didn't have another plan.

This official warning from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration scared the shit out of us:

URGENT – WEATHER MESSAGE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NEW ORLEANS LA 413 PM CDT SUN AUG 28 2005

…EXTREMELY DANGEROUS HURRICANE KATRINA CONTINUES TO APPROACH THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER DELTA…

…DEVASTATING DAMAGE EXPECTED…

MOST OF THE AREA WILL BE UNINHABITABLE FOR WEEKS…PERHAPS LONGER. AT LEAST ONE HALF OF WELL CONSTRUCTED HOMES WILL HAVE ROOF AND WALL FAILURE. ALL GABLED ROOFS WILL FAIL…LEAVING THOSE HOMES SEVERELY DAMAGED OR DESTROYED.

THE MAJORITY OF INDUSTRIAL BUILDINGS WILL BECOME NON FUNCTIONAL. PARTIAL TO COMPLETE WALL AND ROOF FAILURE IS EXPECTED. ALL WOOD FRAMED LOW RISING APARTMENT BUILDINGS WILL BE DESTROYED. CONCRETE BLOCK LOW RISE APARTMENTS WILL SUSTAIN MAJOR DAMAGE…INCLUDING SOME
WALL AND ROOF FAILURE.

HIGH RISE OFFICE AND APARTMENT BUILDINGS WILL SWAY DANGEROUSLY…A FEW TO THE POINT OF TOTAL COLLAPSE. ALL WINDOWS WILL BLOW OUT.

AIRBORNE DEBRIS WILL BE WIDESPREAD…AND MAY INCLUDE HEAVY ITEMS SUCH AS HOUSEHOLD APPLIANCES AND EVEN LIGHT VEHICLES. SPORT UTILITY VEHICLES AND LIGHT TRUCKS WILL BE MOVED. THE BLOWN DEBRIS WILL CREATE ADDITIONAL DESTRUCTION. PERSONS…PETS…AND LIVESTOCK EXPOSED TO THE WINDS WILL FACE CERTAIN DEATH IF STRUCK.

POWER OUTAGES WILL LAST FOR WEEKS…AS MOST POWER POLES WILL BE DOWN AND TRANSFORMERS DESTROYED. WATER SHORTAGES WILL MAKE HUMAN SUFFERING INCREDIBLE BY MODERN STANDARDS.

THE VAST MAJORITY OF NATIVE TREES WILL BE SNAPPED OR UPROOTED. ONLY THE HEARTIEST WILL REMAIN STANDING…BUT BE TOTALLY DEFOLIATED. FEW CROPS WILL REMAIN. LIVESTOCK LEFT EXPOSED TO THE WINDS WILL BE KILLED.

AN INLAND HURRICANE WIND WATCH IS ISSUED WHEN SUSTAINED WINDS NEAR HURRICANE FORCE…OR FREQUENT GUSTS AT OR ABOVE HURRICANE FORCE…ARE POSSIBLE WITHIN THE NEXT 24 TO 36 HOURS.

Our local churches offered space for New Orleans evacuees when all area hotels were filled. My church housed diabetic patients, feed them and attended to their every need.

Rumors abounded in Baton Rouge, Lafayette and Lake Charles that the thugs of New Orleans were taking over their cities. We heard astounding things here and everyone was advised to "start locking their doors".

Hurricane Katrina hit coastal Louisiana then headed to Mississippi and Alabama, bringing severe damage mostly due to storm surge. New Orleans and their displaced breathed a sigh of relief they dodged the bullet.

Then the levees broke.

I was at work when I saw the news on my computer. The 17th Street Canal levee break was blocks away from John's house and his mother's and another levee break close to his maternal grandmother's house. Whether it is 2 feet of water or eight, it was gonna be bad. For John and his mom, it was 9 feet. Mary's house "took water" in the ground level. All was lost. Three houses, two cars, two and a half house's entire contents - gone.

Their anticipated 2-3 "hurrication" turned into a life changing tragedy. All the while, they were perfect house guests.

We watched the looting, the riots and snipers. It chilled and amazed me that only 202 miles from my front door, New Orleans became a third world country overnight. How tenuous our hold on a lawful society! Yet, one hour to the west of New Orleans, Baton Rouge had power, water and order.

My guests stayed for three weeks and my entire community welcomed them. Strangers would walk up to them and say "I couldn't help but to notice that your car is from New Orleans and we are praying for you and your neighbors." The ladies were ready for their now overdue weekly hair styling so I recommended my high school friend's salon. They made the appointment and when she learned their plight, she refused payment. Another need, another recommendation: a friend fixed their windshield at no cost. An emergency dental incident resulted in pennies on the dollar bill. The neighborhood Catholic church had fellowship each night with meals from every restaurant in town. Other churches distributed clothing and household items. My reporter friend did a feature story on my friends. Two of their New Orleans evacuee friends relocated in our area saw it and called. My family and friends asked me every day what they needed. UPS boxes arrived with clothing, Ernest's gigantic hook-up box of brand new designer duds for John. Eileen sent a huge supply of fragrance and beauty goods from her luxury store employer. Out-of-town friends sent every imaginable thing.

I cried every day at work and held up a positive face at home. The second weekend they attended Catholic church on Sunday and I went to my church. We both appreciated the break from reality. During the church service, we offered prayers for all those affected. We had communion and I completely lost it. I leaned on the communion rail and couldn't get up because I was heaving with sobs. I backed into a hallway and tried to compose myself before walking back to my pew. Several congregants patted me on the back or hugged me on their way past. What a comforting place and time.

Eventually, a North Shore house was procured and they left. They were ready to "go home" and reclaim some degree of normalcy. Their agony was just beginning with the insurance companies, paperwork, phone bills, ongoing cable service charges, utilities, bureaucracy, etc. My house was quiet but I actually missed them.

They embarrassed me with their gratitude.

This year, on the anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, John's mom sent me an e-mail:
On this Katrina anniversary, we send you thanks for taking us in during a very difficult time in our lives. We'll always be grateful to you, Leezra.

My response:
Hello, I still cannot see images of Katrina destruction without tears. And I still feel guilty that I told your mom that she should have had more faith that New Orleans would do well when the hurricane seemed to go through the area without massive destruction. We didn't know the worst was yet to happen, AFTER the hurricane with the levee breaks. It taught me that it ain't over until it's over.
It was a blessing to have "you people" in my home. I was proud of my community's outpouring of support to our New Orleans neighbors. I was proud of my friends and family that inquired about you and yours. It is EASY to care for good people like you.
And then, a month later, WE were running from a hurricane and taking refuge in someone else's home and relying on their kindness and I like to think that we had already experienced the perfect dress rehearsal of how to act. Always pleasant, always gracious and keeping a sense of humor - like you did. We now know how to better hosts and better guests.
And it is my forever hope that we won't ever need to use those skills. Please know that you gave me more than I gave you.
Love,
Leezra

FEMA blames Louisiana's gluttony for low MRE levels‏

FEMA's argument, contained in a retort to comments made by Louisiana governor Bobby Jindal last week, is that basically the responsibility for the problem lies with the storm victims of Louisiana, who gobbled up food and water at an "extraordinary" rate after Gustav swept through."

The governor made it clear that "it is nutty to tell the people of south Louisiana that we are simply eating too much and are choosing MREs over our terrific local cuisine," Jindal's spokeswoman Melissa Sellers said.

Hi, this is SkitzoLeezra of Louisiana reporting AND because I am a south Louisiana girl, I KNOW WHY so many MREs were taken: Hunters and campers now hoard them! You heard me, MREs are the perfect self-contained and chemically heated camp food and everybody wants them or knows someone who wants them. AND folks buy and sell MREs on eBay! Grab 'em while you can!

Hurricane Ike at the cemetery

They say one of the benefits of living in Louisiana is that you may see your dead relatives after a hurricane. That's right, the coffins pop out of the ground if the water table rises. During hurricane Rita, some coffins were sucked out the ground and found 3 miles away. This eerie sight caught my big ole eyes. Some coffins pushed out of the ground, another filled with water and one pushed 50 yards away.





These photos illustrate how high the water went over the fence, dragging debris with it.

Hurricane Ike

This is what a hurricane does. Reduces your refrigerator to an ice chest with rapidly melting ice. But fret not, another ice chest is devoted to Coca-Cola and beer.

Hurricane Gustav

To all of you who inquired (and Ernest),

Folks from far and wide were evacuating through our area. Stopped by my local convenience store when I saw a caravan of cars pulling into the parking lot. I noticed that their license plates were from out of the area and they all piled out. Thinking they were lost, I lingered and waited for their approach but they didn't. And I kinda felt bad that I took this photo but it touched me.

Along with my sister Rikki Tikki Tavi and her brats, I went to Houston to accept the most gracious hospitality of Kay. The best kind of evacuation house offer? The kind where the owner isn't home! That way, you don't feel like you are in the way and they don't fuss over your every need. PLUS, you can root through their stuff before they get home! Right, people?
Houston received no rain but the brats were bored so we visited what I call the Third Tier of Hell aka The Children's Museum. THAT was the worst part of whole trip. The best part was Walter allowed me to face paint him. A nice curvy mustache and goatee. He drew the line at bushy evil eyebrows. Those stupid ass kids with butterflies and such on their faces - pansies, I tell ya.
Our home area had some wind and localized power outage of an hour or so. Happy to report that no alcoholic beverages were harmed by Gustav.
Mallys asked if I was pro-active and pre-dug my meat hole. Well, she is MUCH smarter than I because I never once considered a pre-dig! A scratch here and there but not a dig.
Someone mentioned this morning that 2 more hurricanes are out there. I don't know anything about them and ask that you not share information with me. La LA la la la.
Happy to be home,
I am,
Skitzo Leezra

Hurricanes and Skateboards

Last week, my life mate, TiVo, recorded an unlikely show for me. Using his artificial intelligence and my Wish List key word option of "New Orleans", TiVo found "DRIVE skateboarding" on Fuel TV.

Skateboarder dude Mike Vallely visits New Orleans (Season 2 Episode 3) to survey the hurricane Katrina damage. Mike begins in the historic French Quarter with beautiful video of skateboarders. The interviews are geared toward the skate culture before and after Katrina (in New Orleans speak, that is pre-K and post-K). New challenges and playgrounds are created by storm debris, abandoned buildings, and junked construction materials. But the tour of the Ninth Ward erased all thoughts of skateboarding and Mike was eloquent in his words that he could not consider skating where so many lost so much. Black and white images of terrible destruction illustrate without deliberate emotional manipulation.



As a 42 year old woman whose only link to skateboarding is my junior high boyfriend, I am not Fuel TV's desired demographic much less a DRIVE skateboarding viewer. But I am a fan. I thank Drive for respecting the pain of the damaged areas. The victim's trauma was not trivialized by skaters having fun on their ruined properties. And skater kids can see a different view of New Orleans and hurricane Katrina aftermath not found anywhere else.



Check out the 3 minute video,
http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=2017754651



http://www.driveskateboarding.com/



http://www.fuel.tv/

Rita Evacuation & Aftermath

Hello Good People!

Well, we evacuated on Thursday to travel north to Natchitoches, Louisiana. The usual 2 hour trip took 10 hours. 120 miles away and we still had powerful winds, downed trees and electricity outages.

My front yard tree is down but no loss, it was a stupid looking tree anyhow. Lots of shingles off my roof, now in the pool. Sections of the fence are down. One very yucky water stain on the living room ceiling where the attic vent cover blew off and rain fell directly into the house. Luckily, no water damage to furniture or carpet. Power has been off for 10 days now.

This single girl lost condiments only as there were no food stuffs in the 'frig. The frozen vodka has suffered. I found a home for the room temperature beer.

The FEMA folks handed out MREs, ice and water here in our area of Louisiana. Woo hoo! Good looking military boys handing out ice! My brother Rollo asked them if they ever sang "ice, ice, baby" but the young Army buck said that he had too much self respect to sing Vanilla Ice tunes while performing his assigned duties.

I foolishly stayed in my house Monday evening thinking I would catch a breeze through the open window. Um, no. I sweat my balls off. Ya know how a big dog cools off by submerging in a water filled laundry tub? That was me. Rollo hooked up a generator and window unit and we were able to sleep in front of it for 3 nights before I shagged my ass to Houston to enjoy air conditioning and restaurants and ice. God bless Danielle for providing hospitality!

Our city advised us to bury any thawed meat products. Rollo and I had many a laugh about his "meat hole" and how much time it took to pack it and we wondered if it were somehow wrong to place cheese in your meat hole. Lots of sweating over the meat hole, I tell ya.

Good riddance to Rita.
The only 'ritas were like are MARGARITAS!

I Got Hot Nuts!

This weekend Will and I went with John to retrieve items out of his Katrina flooded house in New Orleans. It was truly as awful as I imagined.

We had a few laughs though. John has totally subscribed to the hand-out way of life. If there is a line for something free, he gets in it. Kind of like a reverse Mardi Gras parade.

As we approached the Seventeenth Street levee, we saw a charity group distributing MREs and water. John instructed Will to slow down 'cause he spied another guy with snacks. We rolled down the window in time to hear the guy say, "I got hot nuts." Of course, I giggled. He then asked Will if he wanted some hot nuts. Will said, "I don't believe I do." I cackled and shouted to the guy that maybe he should put some ointment on his hot nuts. He grinned.

So then we went in the house to see what we could see. Will scrambled up the attic stairs like an agile monkey and we salvaged some Christmas and Mardi Gras decorations. At one point we were all standing on the sidewalk, taking a breather when Will dropped this gem. "Dude, your house is FUCKED up." Thank you for that report, Will.

So then God got Will back when Will cut his wrist on the garage door glass. We Cajun-rigged it with electrical tape and paper towels. Thankfully John's misshapen head sustained no injuries.

Oh, John made us stop at another distribution site so he could get some hand sanitizer. He walked away with a crossword puzzle book, 4 candy bars and a box of 100 Tampons. The tampons he gave to me.

While in John's bedroom, John reached into his closet to show us a piece of clothing. Will stopped him from disturbing the contents and rustling even more moldy dust. He said, "There are a lot of clothes in there but not a bit of fashion. Leave it."

That is our report from New Orleans, Louisiana.

Hot nuts or tampons, anyone?

Pack your meat holes!

Right after our hurricane, I heard on the radio that our fair mayor asked all homeowners to dispose of rotting food by digging a meat hole in their yard. He further said that it was permissible to place cheese in your meat hole. And eggs, if your meat hole is large enough. It is okay to have a both a front meat hole and a back meat hole. That is, for your front yard and backyard.
My brother Rollo dug a large hole for his rancid meat and he said it was so hot that he actually perspired into his meat hole. Then he packed it so much that his meat hole was mounded. (Now, eight months later, the meat hole is just now getting level.) The neighbor Pete recommended lime for the meat hole but I find that I like lemon best. For those keeping a kosher household, separate the meat from the dairy in two different meat holes.
And keep an eye out for dogs, they'll be rootin' around your meat hole if you don't watch out.