What the NOLA Blogs Are Saying (Update in Comments)

(9 am. – promoted by ek hornbeck)

Just a few quick links from the NOLA blogs.  Nice thing about these blogs is if you visit one, you end up linking to all the others, and they are all worth reading.

Oyster at Your Right Hand Thief:

I’ve been enjoying the professionalism of Gov. Bobby Jindal’s hurricane preparation updates during the past few days. He’s not afraid to lay a lot of detailed information on his audience. Yesterday he went on for about 10 minutes straight, in granular detail, citing all the numbers of buses, people, and provisions that are coming into New Orleans to help with evacuation and post-storm relief. Afterwards, he described the laundry list of statistical information as a brief “survey” of what is being done. His directness and command of the details was the key thing, throuout. He didn’t seem overwhelmed. He stayed on target. He instilled confidence.

Jeff over at Library Chronicles

Yesterday, the Mayor took a moment away from honoring the victims of the Federal Flood to use them as means to attack his critics.

“The most important work we need to do this third anniversary, in spite of the challenges we face this hurricane season, is to learn, ladies and gentlemen, to respect and honor each other — our diverse culture that is unique to New Orleans. I don’t know exactly who is in those coffins, you don’t know who is in those coffins, but I will bet you they represent every aspect of this great city. . . .

“So when people talk about their love for this great city, and then you go to a blog, or you read something and it is divisive, it is hateful, it is mean-spirited, my question to you is: How you can you love New Orleans if you don’t love all of us?”

Nice.

And here’s Dangerblond:

I saw my neighbor outside cutting his grass. I asked if they were leaving. He said that they were going to Shreveport tomorrow morning, where his company has a hotel room for him and his family.

I ran over to my neighborhood quick-stop. I thought about topping off my almost-full tank, but they were out of gas. My Egyptian friend said they are delivering more gas tomorrow morning. He also said he was staying and keeping the store open. It’s right atop Metairie Ridge, so it might be handy if we get another flood.

There was a man in line behind me. When I left, he said, “good luck to you.” That’s the same thing the people next to us said at Slim Goody’s this morning.

From gentillygirl, who has posted here at Docudharma:

Well Gentle Readers, I think my thoughts on this hurricane’s path is right- we are now seeing more of a westward trend for landfall. Here’s the current NHC track on the storm-

…

Now let’s see the National Guard or the NOLA Gestapo drag me out of thie Fortress.

Sinn Fein Darlin’s… it’s up to us to keep the faith and protect our city

Raymond Ward  at Minor Wisdom:

As everyone knows, we’re expecting Hurricane Gustav to hit the Louisiana gulf coast sometime Monday. People have always been a bit anxious around here when a hurricane is threatening. But this time it’s been a little different. I’ve notice a lot of people who seemed emotionally on edge, myself included at times. This is undoubtedly due to memory of the Katrina ordeal.

Our plan is to stay put. Our house survived Katrina, and 100 years’ worth of hurricanes before Katrina. I don’t think this one will be another Katrina, but if it is, we’re ready for an extended camp-out. We have around 25 gallons of bottled water, several days’ supply of nonperishable food, flashlights, electric lanterns, plenty of batteries, a hand-crank radio, and a camp stove. And if for some reason we must bug out, the gas tanks of our cars are topped off.

Maitri at Maitri’s VatulBlog:

D and I still don’t know if we’re leaving or not. At this time, despite the fact that Hurricane Gustav is still in the Caribbean, the models trend west. What does that mean in terms of rain and surge?  Will the power go out?  Sure.  For how long?  Uncertainty, not anxiety, prevails. This post will be updated through the day, so keep it here and on Twitter if you want to follow along at home (since you obviously have nothing better to do on the Saturday before Labor Day).

7:30AM – Awakened from strange dream about a couple of friends by my brother who wants to know if we’re leaving. “Huh? I dunno. snore Yeah, I’ll come up there if anything happens.”

8:00AM – Turn on TV to flip between local channels. “What? I slept all night and that storm has moved inches? Damn you, Gustav, I want my money back.” Bleary-eyed reach for coffee.

8:30AM – Ok, we’re getting our plywood ready, just in case.

…

5:30PM – Windows boarded by D, while I stood around and looked spiffy. Bob Breck says the high pressure ridge that was supposed to push Gustav to the west may not come here any more. It won’t be a direct hit to the city, but close enough. We’re leaving tomorrow. The question is when tomorrow.

From prytania waterline:

The Guvna is in the middle of his press conference, he just said something I found interesting. He said that the RTA reported at the current pace that only ten thousand people of an estimated 30,000 that may need assistance will be taken out today. Unless there is a surge of folks who get to the Bus/train station a lot of people with little means may be left here. Hopefully this thing will slide further west and not bitch slap the city. But at this time I would say it is still a crap shoot.

And from Humid Haney Rant, some recipes to ponder “While Waiting for Gustav”:

Hurricane Beverage Emergency Preparedness Kit

MANDATORY EVACUATION

1 1/2 oz. Absolute Ruby Red vodka

1/2 oz.vermouth

Clamato

Prune juice

Combine vodka and vermouth in cocktail glass. Fill remainder of glass with

equal parts Clamato and prune juice. Stir. Drink. Ask next-door neighbor

whose fichus tree blew over and crashed onto your roof – even though you’d

warned him for months to uproot it – if you can use his bathroom. Repeat.

CATEGORY 5

1/2 oz. vodka

1/2 oz. tequila

1/2 oz. rum

1/2 oz. bourbon

1/2 oz. gin

Sweet-and-sour mix

Splash of fruit juice

Combine vodka, tequila, rum, bourbon and gin in a tall glass. Fill

remainder of glass with sweet-and-sour mix and splash of juice. Stir, then

garnish with an inverted drink umbrella. Drink during peak storm hours, and

vow not to believe anyone who tries to tell you the hurricane that flooded

your garage and destroyed your shed was just a Category 1.

There’s a lot more.  But I thought I’d give a little flavor of what’s happening now.

I wish everyone in the affected area safety, I hope all those folks who don’t have the means to evacuate are helped.