August 30, 2005
Just letting y'all know we were safely away from home when Katrina hit, although Baton Rouge didn't even really have much of a problem other than electricity and downed trees. Patrick is still there, and our contact is very limited. I am at my mother-in-laws house in Monroe. We were at my parent's house during the storm, and lost electricity in Vicksburg. Not knowing when it would be restored, and having three kids who need hot water and such, we scooted over here to Monroe. We have lights but all the phone lines are busy and we can't make calls out. We can get calls IN though, so family members, PLEASE CALL ME HERE. I can't get you and I need to know how Uncle Clinton and Kim are, and want to touch base with everybody. You guys know the number.
Shannon, please don't go back to Baton Rouge until you and Patrick can talk things over....according to CNN, etc., they are going to set up refugee camps in Baton Rouge for the people trapped in New Orleans. I know there are a lot of innocent people there, but so many of them have gone wild (and understandably so maybe). The looting is horrendous, last night 2 men with machine guns opened fire on a police precinct in the French Quarter and got away. These are some of the very people who will be placed in your city. There are reports in Gulfport of occupied homes being looted. I don't want to sound like an alarmist, but Baton Rouge could well be a dangerous place to be for quite some time. There is going to be a lot of displaced people there who have nothing left and who are going to resent those that do. Please think about this carefully, and at least wait until you can see some cable news yourself and discuss all of this with Patrick before making any decisions. I know you want to be with him, but there really is more to consider than getting power back on. There are going to be food shortages in Baton Rouge too with all of the refugees being moved there. Just going to the grocery store could be dangerous.
Posted by: auntj at August 31, 2005 07:44 AM