Thank you all for your concern. We just did get out of New Orleans yesterday.
My wife and I decided to ride out the storm. We both rode out the last big one in 1965 so we thought our luck would hold out. Well... It did... sort of.
Our house was built in 1911 and is a two story. It held up to those 150 mile winds like a champ. Little roof damage that's it. But then the waters came. I was looking out my front door the morning after the storm passed. The wind was still blowing at about 40-50 miles and hour down my street from right to left. But I noticed a funny thing. The trash in the street was moving from left to right. This means there was a current going down my street faster than the wind. I knew this was not good. We watched as the water rose. My wife began to mark every hour where the water was on our steps. We also watched as our car took on more and more water. The water stopped before it got in the house. It was about 3.5 ft at it's highest point in front our house. Now comes the waiting game, waiting for the water to go down. The smell is getting worse and so are the mosquitoes. At this point we still have water and gas but that goes out over the next three days. Of course electricity went out the first day.
The treat of violence is in the air. I helped a few old and sick people evacuate in boats and I was concerned I would be attacked for the boat. Nothing ever happened only a couple of treating comments. Looting was WIDE spread, that is why we stayed as long as we did. I am so afraid we will go back to an empty house. The news says there are National Guard on every corner but that is far from the truth. The Guard was not in there until the fifth day. Too little and too late for me.
I find in today's society few people are ever willing to take responsibilty. It is always someone else's fault and this situation is no different. FEMA blames the local government and the locals blame FEMA and we the people suffer. There were two levees that broke. That was the major problem. If it wasn't for those two breaks it wouldn't have been nearly as bad. Now they are talking about 60-80 days before the city is dry. New Orleans was the biggest city in the state. As of today we have an estimated 10,000 people and they are try to force those to leave. We will be a ghost town. How could the city, state and federal governments allow this to happen? Well that is another blog.
I did take some great food photos of some of our Katrina meals. Right now I am at a friend's computer near Baton Rouge, Louisiana and I can't upload the photos. I'll be in Shreveport, Louisiana for the next 6-8 weeks. By then I hope they will let us back into New Orleans. I don't know if I will have internet access or the ability to upload my photos while away. I will try and I will try to start posting new recipes.
If you want to help me you can send hundred dollar bills (only kidding)OR just tell everyone you know to subscribe to my blog. I really appreciate your concern. If you want to know more details about my experience just let me know. I want to be careful not to talking about Katrina too much, after all this is a food blog.
OK, on to a positive note. The French Quarter did not get any water. As soon as the restaurants start to open I'll be out interviewing chefs. I have one interview with Chef Tom Weaver from the Court of Two Sisters that I hope to get up soon depending on my internet availabilty. I did this interview a week before the storm.
Thanks again folks and tell everyone to help me by subscribing to my blog.
