I discovered over Labor Day that there”s no more helpless feeling than to be stuck in the middle of Tennessee when friends and family in Louisiana are working to put their lives back together.
And knowing the burden Baton Rouge is under - more “displaced Americans” than Houston with far less press attention - the wife and I decided last weekend to send our Goodwill clothes down to the town I used to call home.
Problem was, when all was said and done we had close to 300 pieces to give away. Shipping it, obviously, became impractical. I had other things I wanted to bring down to my boy Dave as well, so a relief road trip was hastily planned.
TCL joined in so he could spend some time with his Displaced American Sister and his folks, and we headed down Tuesday afternoon for a very quick trip.
Some random observations:
Mad Max - South of Birmingham, buying gas became an issue. In Tuscaloosa, the station limited purchases to $25, which was just enough to refill the Santa Fe. Luckily, that tank took us all the way to Hammond, as we noticed just one open gas station - with a long, long line - between. On I-59, we saw motorcycles with gas cans strapped to the back and SUVs with two or three gas cans tied up top. I had filled up a five-gallon can, but we didn”t have room for it. This was not a normal world.
Supply & Demand - I”m still having some trouble figuring out the economics of current gas prices. In Atlanta - where there”s plenty of gas - prices were $2.99 a gallon. In Tuscaloosa - where they were limiting the amount you could buy - the price was $2.79. In Meridian - where only one station had gas - the price was $2.49. In Hammond - where we were the last to get gas before the station shut down early at 9 p.m. - the price was also $2.49. In Baton Rouge - where things were pretty much back to normal by then - the price was $2.79. Something other than supply and demand was at work here, but I”m not sure what it was.
Blackhawk in Town - Nothing drives home the gravity of the situation like seeing a squadron of Blackhawk helicopters outside of the emergency HQ building in Baton Rouge. A couple of blocks away, the Michigan State Police had set up their own command post - although it wasn”t clear how they might have been helping things.
Home Street Advantage - As we”d been warned, traffic in Baton Rouge was pretty horrible. Thankfully, I still retain my side-street knowledge. South Stadium to West Lakeshore to Dalrymple to State worked nicely when gridlock through LSU kept us from The Chimes.
The Salvation Army sucks - Sorry. They do a lot of things well, but getting clothes to people in need is apparently not one of them. Despite a line out their door at their Airline thrift store, I was told “we”re overstocked” and was turned away. The fine folks at St. Vincent de Paul, however, welcomed my big batch, which we heaped on top of an already-huge pile of donations. The woman working there knew what they needed most - men”s pants - and asked me if I had any, what size they were, etc. Say what you - or I - will about churches, but the Catholic charities in south Louisiana get the job done.
Don”t call it a cage - Mike The Tiger”s new habitat is phenomenal. The celebration of its opening is obviously overshadowed by the triage unit next door in the PMAC, but the TAF deserves big praise for an environment that”s truly world-class.
Wrong turn in Biloxi - We decided to head home down I-12/I-10 when we heard it was clear and open. Needing a bathroom break in Mississippi, we got off in Biloxi. I didn”t realize, however, that we got on I-110 heading south. We bailed at the first exit, where we came as close as we would to Katrina”s destruction. Piles of mattresses and other junk from a hard-hit motel were out on the street, and a decent-sized boat rested in the median. Once we got back on the north side of I-10, we stopped at a convenience store whose outside ice chest had been pried open (probably by police) to get at the cubes inside.
Surge - Traffic on the I-10 bridge between Biloxi and Pascagoula was routed onto just one span (there was very little eastbound traffic, but westbound was backed up for miles). About mid-way across, we noticed a shrimp boat that had been pushed inland and came to rest at the I-10 span. This is about four miles from the gulf.
I wish we could have stayed longer, but I had to get back to my normal, easy life. Dave gave me good-natured crap about having to get back to see Weezer and Foo Fighters Thursday night. But we”ll be back down soon.
Entries (RSS)