Elphaba and I are alive and well.
all of the stories you have heard are only a tip of the iceburg. what nasya said is correct. my apt building is very strong and sufered zero structural dmg. elphaba and i were in no danger from our home being destroyed and having our posessions taken away. we took numerous pictures both durring and after the storm. when we get to a more permanent location we will post them for you to see first hand to what mother nature can do with she gets seriously pissed off.
a basic recap on what happened to where we lived:
we went to bed the night before the storm was supposed to hit and woke up to no power (duh) and alot of howling sounds throughout the building. we walked around the building taking in what was happeneing from start to finish. when the storm finaly ended we were all simply outside talking normally and saying what we would be doing in a few days when we were back to normal. we soon realized normal would never come. elphaba was the one that actually noticed the water was still rising. we wernt worried yet but when we awoke the next morning that all changed. the water was almost 3 feet higher then it was when we went to bed, and was still rising. it got to the point when we couldnt even go to to the 1st floor cause of the water. the water was, and still is, highly toxic mixed with gasoline, sewage, and who knows what else. we spent most of our time onthe roof till rescues began about 3 days l8r.
elph and i managed to get boated out but we had to wade through that disgusting water for about half a mile to a mile to try to get to the area that wasnt flooded. a cop that took us from our apt building took us out of the building but ditched us at a police station that couldnt shelter us. i took the remainng group to my work where people we call "stormriders" were supposed to be still there. we got there but the SR's got evaced long ago. elph was dissheartened but i refused to give up. i took her to a place at the end of canal st. to plan our next move. i
REFUSED to take my girlfriend to that hell holes that the convention center and the superdome had become. we fell in with a group of avout 55 or so tourists that we clicked with. we all slept on the concrete steps of the canal st. ferry and got taken to an evac point the next morning.
the evac side was no picnic. it smelled strongly of the bodies that were recently removed before we arived, im glad elph didnt have to see that, and of human waste. our group banded together to make sure we stayed as 1 group and to get out as a group. and 12 hours l8r we all did. at 8pm, 2 school busses were aquiered by some state troopers for us to get our group out. we traveled all the way to baton rouge where we were denied entry to the airport due to overcrowding. we had to go to alexandria, la to get out of the state. most of the group had to get to houston cause they already had reserved flights and othersw had to get whole new flights cause their airlines canceled their flights. but none really complained cause we got wat we hoped for, "
to get out of new orleans".
elph's mother had to reserve a ticket from the tiny airport, it only had 3 destinations, Atlanta, Houston & Memphis. she goofed it and booked it for the 10th by mistake even though it was the 3rd
. it took a total of 6 days to get to my family. i was the last of my entire family to leave the city and our mothers screamed with relief and delight when they heard our voices alive and well. i omited the really bad things we witnessed cause the news has told u most of it. and they are not exaggerating.
my city is ruined. the dome and the convention center will forever be branded with horrible reputations that followed the storm. elph and i well not be returning there to live. our 2 cats, that we were forced to leave behind, are our main and last priority of things that must be done before we leave for north dakota. we have good leads on gettin gthem out and we are confident that they will be returned to us. we layed out as much food as we had, a few weeks worth, and enough water to last even longer then that. they may be thinner but they will be alive and with us again. we dont know when we will be able to return to the game but we are comming back for certain. i'll have to relearn how to play my rdm and my smn, not to mention thf and blm for elph, but im looking forward it. i will be around posting so i'll keep up with whats going. thank you all for the kind words and support for those of us that were hit by that bitch of a storm Katrina.
Zaltana :wink:
