Hurricane Isaac

Hurricanes hold special precedence in the lives of the residents of the gulf coast.  There are three phases to a hurricane; 1) pre-hurricane preparations, 2) live action, 3) clean up.
Regardless of the size of the hurricane, there are crucial tasks to be done to prepare.
In no particular order:
* board up windows
* stow away all outdoor furniture/fixtures
* stock up on food, water, pet supplies, batteries/oil (depending on your source of light... you can pretty much plan for the power to go out)
* get out all candles, lamps, flash lights, etc...
* get the generators ready and a few gallons of gasoline
* empty out the freezer/refrigerator if possible
* prep the video camera (powerful storms are AMAZING to watch)

Imagine winds between 80 and 150 mph bending trees low and rattling doors and windows.  Imagine sheets of rain blowing sideways, parallel to the street.  The terms frightening, exciting, boring, stressful, and many others have been used to describe the experience of witnessing a hurricane both live and from an evacuation location.  Some folks who enjoy the storms like to have "hurricane parties" where friends and families get together to ride out the storm at home with snacks, games, good books, and good company.  Others find a safe place to evacuate to, tracking the action via news reports and updates from neighbors.  Despite location and perception, hurricanes are always memorable events... unfortunately, most of the memorable aspects involve destruction.

When the winds have died down and the rain is down to a drizzle, it's safe to venture out of doors and inspect the impact of the hurricane.  Hurricane Isaac mainly blew branches all over the place and caused wind damage to homes within the flood walls.  Such is the destructive nature of a category 1 hurricane like Isaac.  However, the larger the hurricane, the greater the destruction.  The weeks, months, and years following a hurricane are spent cleaning up the debris and repairing property... or finding a new place to live.
Now that you have a brief explanation of what it's like to experience a hurricane, you are ready for an update of how the HH2G crew is faring.  We did have a hurricane party complete with homemade soup, no power (meaning no A/C!), and noisy generators.  Our homes suffered very minor damages.
New Orleans East property (where the shower trailer is located) also suffered minor damages in the way of a few new leaky spots in the roof.  Mickey the cat was safe and sound in one of the trailers during the storm :)

St. Luke (where the air mattresses are) did have quite a bit of damage.  Sections of the church's roof ripped off, and the rear wall of the building separated a bit from the roof.  The result was 2-3 inches of water covering the sanctuary floor, and 4 inches of water sitting under the stage.  St. Luke church members and a few kind volunteers took the stage steps apart to drain the water, and we all pushed the water out the front door with large squeegees and brooms.  The wax on the floor was ruined, but the instruments and other electronic equipment were not damaged.

The Fellowship Hall (where the cafeteria is) had minor flooding in the kitchen, but the real damage happened upstairs in one of the offices.  That specific office holds quite a bit of electronic equipment along with a few pieces of very nice furniture... that office also happened to be the only one with any damage.  A portion of the roof came off of the building resulting in a large portion of the ceiling to cave in which further resulted in rain water soaking the furniture, carpet, and all electronic equipment.

Now for the silver lining!  Several volunteers from All Nations Fellowship (in New Orleans) and a crew from New Iberia assisted us on Labor Day.  They bravely climbed onto the roof to fasten tarps over the damaged sections until repairs can be made.  There is still much to be done in the repairing process, but we're on the way!

The Garden on Marais did pretty well too... except this ooey gooey caterpillar that ate an ENTIRE sweet pepper plant during the 2 days of storming.  He wasn't that big to before Isaac ;)