I Wish You All the Best. (Off-topic)

[novicerr]

Thoughts and prayers with all also. I was in Corpus when Celia hit in 69 (I think it was). That was bad enough. Everyone leave and be safe.
Forgot to make this train related. Take Amtrack if you must to get out of harms way.

[Anonymous]

Good news: Winds down to 165MPH. They say it's going to get right back up, though, as it's going through a period of re-strengthening.

uspscsx

[espeefoamer]

[:(]I saw some of those weather reports from New Orleans. It really looks bad.This storm may be the worst on record.High winds are exprcted to down power lines as far away as Pittsburgh and Cleveland.Since New Orleans is below sea level,it is also below the level of Lake Ponchatrain,which is rising.Those in the affected area are definately in my prayers.

[rexhea]

Bump!
Dave9999, seeing your pictures reminded me of crossing Lake Ponchatrain to New Orleans on AmTrak. I don't know how long that trestle is, but it seems like it takes for ever to cross the lake and when you look out the window and down all you see is water on both sides...nothing else. Makes you wonder how it can survive any storm.

REX

[Anonymous]

Bump!

Only hours away from landfall, down to 160 now though.

uspscsx

[grayfox1119]

To all our MRR friends and their neighbors that find themselves in "harms way" this evening, please know that our prayers are for you in this time of potential great loss. Please God, spare the lives of our brothers and sisters, earthly goods can be replaced, but not our friends and neighbors.

[cspmo]

Why did't governor Louisiana use Amtrak to evacuate New Orleans, for those who had no way of leaving?

[Anonymous]

Think that is scarey. Wait till you see your latest gas prices. Crude is all ready well over the $70 dollar figure. Allan.

[Berk-fan284]

Good luck to you guys and your loved ones.

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by cspmo

Why did't governor Louisiana use Amtrak to evacuate New Orleans, for those who had no way of leaving?

From experience (we took Amtrak to NO in 92, and got stuck in the city during Andrew), the Amtrak tracks run right along the Lake, and even the mildest of waves would make them treacherous. Plus, the train tracks cross over the lake for miles, as someone else mentioned. And finally, the storm gates on the levies take a while to close, and they seal off the train tracks as well, so once they start closing them, no trains can get in or out of the city.

And worst of all, the Crescent is no longer a daily train -- Amtrak cut it to 3x a week, which means it probably hasn't even been in town since Friday or Saturday morning (it leaves NO at around 6am or so).

[rexhea]

Bump!
Central Gulf Coast MR's check-in if you can. How you doing Dave9999?

REX

[Anonymous]

How far north has it impacted? I have a pal in Shrevesport LA and haven't heard from him. According to the radio, people are now stranded on the roofs of their homes, as well as now there is talk about all the crypts may pop open [xx(]

[Anonymous]

I live rather close to Slidell LA which got hit rather hard. I evacuated to Opolousa yesterday. Things have been ok here. I am worried though that my house is either gone or about 6 feet under water. Not a good feeling. I'm probably going to try to make it back tomorrow. The layout I'm sure is destroyed but I'm more worried about the house and neighborhood. At least the family is safe. (I did bring a couple of my favorite locos with me too)
I have friends that I work with that live farther south in St Bernard around Chalmette, and supposedly they have around 6-10 feet of water there in areas. Also have a friend in Picayune MS. He left, but his house is probably levelled. Flooding is massive and wind damage is pretty horrible too. Not sure of the death count so far, probably not too high because the majority of people did evac. Good luck to any of you dealing with the same thing I am.

-Lister

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Lister

I live rather close to Slidell LA which got hit rather hard. I evacuated to Opolousa yesterday. Things have been ok here. I am worried though that my house is either gone or about 6 feet under water. Not a good feeling. I'm probably going to try to make it back tomorrow. The layout I'm sure is destroyed but I'm more worried about the house and neighborhood. At least the family is safe. (I did bring a couple of my favorite locos with me too)
I have friends that I work with that live farther south in St Bernard around Chalmette, and supposedly they have around 6-10 feet of water there in areas. Also have a friend in Picayune MS. He left, but his house is probably levelled. Flooding is massive and wind damage is pretty horrible too. Not sure of the death count so far, probably not too high because the majority of people did evac. Good luck to any of you dealing with the same thing I am.

-Lister

[wow] [:(] [wow]

At least you and the family are okay. Good luck...

[Anonymous]

I was watching the news and they're saying that the winds were 200+ kph when it touch land. That's scary!

[Anonymous]

Yeah, I think it hit as a Category 4 with 145 MPH winds. I wasn't here at the time it hit, but I've watched The Weather Channel a lot today.

Todd, Dave, and anyone else that lives there...check in as soon as possible, as we'd all like to know if you're all right.

uspscsx

[dave9999]

I'm alright. We don't have power and the wind is still kicking... about 60 MPH with higher gust.
My DSL is also down, so I'm surfing the old dial-up connection.

New Orleans might have gotton lucky(all things considered, that is).The storm surge wasn't
as bad as predicted. Still, they were hit pretty hard.

Rex,
Watch out! I looks like it's coming your way. Batten down the hatches and stay safe.

Here's a photo that I took earlier in the day. Dave

[Anonymous]

Dave-Ouch! That photo shows exactly why I choose to live inland.. Really glad to hear that you're alright! The best to you and yours.


uspscsx

[dave9999]

By the way, it may be awhile before we hear from Todd. They had said that Gulf Shores was
inaccessible... at least the southern most parts, along the gulf.

They also said that it could be a month to several months before power is fully restored
to New Orleans. Reminds me a little too much of Ivan! We were over two weeks without
electricity... Dave

[rexhea]

Well, we just had our first tornado warning here in Tuscaloosa. There was one spotted about 5 miles north of my house. Rains are intermittently heavy with sustained wind at 25 and gust to 43mph. Suppose to get worst through the evening, but I believe the really bad winds will be about 50 miles West and beyond (unless she changes her projected path).

Lister: I sure am sorry that you were in its way. I hope things aren't as bad as you think.

DaveGator: Glad you are fine. Man, downtown Mobile is flooded out.

REX

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by uspscsx

Dave-Ouch! That photo shows exactly why I choose to live inland.. Really glad to hear that you're alright! The best to you and yours.


uspscsx

??? [:)] Here in Central Illinois, we have some pretty nasty thunderstorms that will bend the trees almost horizontal, with flash flooding and power outages that can last for days. We have a little toen called South Pekin, was a division point for the old CNW that has been 30-50% wiped out a few years in a row by tornados. The picture Dave posted reminds me of some of those storms we get every now and then, what I wouldn't give for a little more rain in these parts, as we are still having a drought effect around here, only rained maybe 3/4 times this summer.

[Anonymous]

The winds are down to 75 MPH, the pressure's 960. This thing's still kickin', though.


uspscsx

[Anonymous]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I was just watching The Weather Channel, and, did I hear Stephenie Abrams say that the bridge from some place in LA to some place in MS(Or close to that)Was completely wiped out and a few casinos were on the wrong side of the road? Amazing.

uspscsx

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Lister

I live rather close to Slidell LA which got hit rather hard. I evacuated to Opolousa yesterday. Things have been ok here. I am worried though that my house is either gone or about 6 feet under water. Not a good feeling. I'm probably going to try to make it back tomorrow. The layout I'm sure is destroyed but I'm more worried about the house and neighborhood. At least the family is safe. (I did bring a couple of my favorite locos with me too)
I have friends that I work with that live farther south in St Bernard around Chalmette, and supposedly they have around 6-10 feet of water there in areas. Also have a friend in Picayune MS. He left, but his house is probably levelled. Flooding is massive and wind damage is pretty horrible too. Not sure of the death count so far, probably not too high because the majority of people did evac. Good luck to any of you dealing with the same thing I am.

-Lister

I just saw them showing pictures of Slidell, and, there was no water? All I saw(and all they mentioned) was a lot of wind damage.

uspscsx

[SpaceMouse]

I don't watch a lot of TV, but this morning I spent a few hours watching the video clips of the storm damage in the South. It looks like they got the begeezes kicked out of them.

My sincere wishes is that all of you down there are safe and comforatble and that if you were in the harder hit areas that you have a home to return to when you can.

[Anonymous]

I just spoke to a friend in Shreves Port, they are far enough away that they didn't get any damage, though he said that their DSL is out, since it comes out of New Orleans. Which is odd??

Also heard reports that New Orleans is 80% underwater or water damaged, something about the levys are over flowing. I also thought I heard of 25 foot swells??

[SpaceMouse]

A 200 foot section of Levee broke and you are right 80% of New Orleans is under water--or 44,000 homes flooded between 6-10 feet of water--and it is still rising.

[Anonymous]

It's getting harder to watch the news and hear all the stories. One woman in particular lost everything and added to that her father has a heart condition, all that remained of her home was the foundation. Sadly, I'm sure there will be reports of numerous others.

[Anonymous]

We have a tornado watch in effect 'til 9 tonight for us. Although, why bother, the last tornado we had as back in '80, although it was an F3. It injured 12, mainly because it stayed over rural areas.

uspscsx

[SpaceMouse]