Hurricane Katrina will probably take my internet.

[Merck]

As some of you may know there is a major hurricane about to wreak unprecedented havok to the southeastern part of Louisiana with the eye of the storm possibly going right over New Orleans. Anyone who has lived in New Orleans knows that most of the city is actually below sea level, forming a bowl basically. I'll be staying with my parents in a safer area but more than likely I won't have power, let alone internet, for quite some time. I'll try to keep you all updated whenever I can. Currently Katrina has winds of 175 miles per hour. Please say a prayer if you are religious for the people in this part of the country as this is going to be possibly one of the wort, if not THE worst hurricane to ever hit the U.S. I should be able to keep this updated up until we lose electricity so I'll be reporting back here.

[SantaDreamsToo]

Im not religous but ill pray for you...

[Clairity]

I too have sent a prayer your way.

[Seeker]

Stay safe and stay on high ground. You will be in all of our thoughts and prayers.

[mistikal]

A prayer from me too...

[Tornado Joe]

What??.....SURF\'S UP!!!? If only she were the real Katrina.... Seriously man, hoping things turn out ok down there. As of now Katrina has been downgraded to a Cat 4 - I know it's still bad, but maybe them prayers are workin. Hope to have you back on here safe and soon!

[Alex D]

http://uhohwereintrouble.ytmnd.com/ Jokes aside, keep safe, okay?

[Rakkantekimusouka]

Originally posted by Alex D http://uhohwereintrouble.ytmnd.com/ LMAO Originally posted by AlexD Jokes aside, keep safe, okay? Good luck, Mercky...I'll be thinkin' about ya.

[Mystical_Journey]

Stay safe dude.

[irishcream]

Hey i i have everything crossed for you...i hate hurricane season in the states, my folks are over in Florida, and i always dread the news saying it's hit where they are...they've been lucky this year...

[Seeker]

Merck update: Ophelia says he called her number on Tuesday, so he is still kicking. I've run a mapquest on his address. Bad news, his place is in one of the lowest spots in the city, near both the lake and the 17th street canal levee break. I've been trying to call him this morning, no luck, guess I am one of the millions trying to call into the NOLA area.

[OpheliaBlue]

I'll keep trying his number today

[Etrain]

Don't know him all that well, but I hope he's okay.

[Seeker]

For those of you interested, I've drawn a black box around Mercks neighborhood. Still no luck getting him on the phone.

[OpheliaBlue]

Originally posted by Seeker Still no luck getting him on the phone. Same =/ But instead of the hurricame message, I just got a busy signal. Good sign?

[Seeker]

Yes, good sign! I noticed that they changed the all lines busy message to the hurricane message sometime around noon.

[Tornado Joe]

Hey guys, Isn't Merck in the Coast Guard or something? National Guard? If he's down there, wouldn't he be busy with rescue efforts and such? It would be nice to hear from him, but we may also want to consider the fact that he's likely to be very occupied if that's the case. Other people need him more now that us, I suppose. Still, I'm hoping he'll have just a few moments to drop us a line.

[OpheliaBlue]

Originally posted by Tornado Joe Isn't Merck in the Coast Guard or something? National Guard? If he's down there, wouldn't he be busy with rescue efforts and such? That's entirely possible. The last hurricane, he was called in to prepare for possible evacuation. But since he was able to call me yesterday morning, I thought perhaps he wasn't called to duty. Guess we'll know soon enough. So yeah, now "all circuits are busy" so we gotta wait for all the other fretting family/friends to get their calls in.

[spirits_awakened]

I pray to the lord that he will give you strength

[Flying-Eagle]

*Prays* =)

[OpheliaBlue]

Still not getting through. Getting a busy signal now, whatever that means. =/

[Merck]

UPDATE: Well I am safe and doing really well considering. I stayed at my parent's house in Slidell which is across Lake Ponchartrain from New Orleans. Fortunately their house did really well. We only have some shingles missing and lots of fallen trees in the neighborhood. We don't have any electricity and probably won't get any for at least a week or two, maybe even longer. We do have a power generator though so we are doing fine and we also have gas to boil water and cook food. I just noticed we have internet now too so I thought I would let you all know I'm doing alright. As far as my home is concerned in New Orleans, I'm sure it went under water and it very well could be a month or even longer before I'm able to even get back into the city since the bridge on Interstate 10 crossing the lake is now missing some sections. I have been able to drive around and see some of the damage in Slidell and its just unreal. So many people have lost everything. I have also heard about violence in New Orleans which doesn't surprise me at all. I have been making runs to Baton Rouge to restock supplies like fuel and food but we were very prepared for this so we are simply living inconvenienced which is more than I can say for a very large number of people from this region. Cell phone reception here is completely nonexistent so I have been making calls when I am up near Baton Rouge, LA. Once I have finished helping my family here and other people in my neighborhood I will report to my National Guard unit to assist them as I'm sure they needed it. I just felt that my family needed me and made the decision to stay with them until they had things under control. Still, lots of other people need help so I will probably be really busy with that but I will try to keep you all updated. Most likely it will be years before the New Orleans metropolitan area is back to normal. That is, if it can recover from this horrible disaster. Thank you all for the prayers.

[Tornado Joe]

[i]previous message irrelevant -- edited out Great to hear from ya, Merck! Thanks for the update and keep them comin should your situation change.

[OpheliaBlue]

I'm happy you're safe Merck, as well as your family. And I'm glad you're there to help so many people. I know they will need it. Thanks for updating us on the situation and keep us posted whenever you can ok? Again I'm happy you're ok at least. Please stay that way.

[Leo Volont]

I'm glad he mentioned that he was evacuating. I've been following the news. Civilization within the City itself has collapsed. Starving people are being turned around in their escape from the City by armed neighborhood associations treating everyone coming from the city as dangerous looters... their fears being largely justified by the appearance of armed gangs of pillaging looters who shoot at the rescue helicopters, and police. There have been numerous reports of rape, robbery and extortion. I hope Merck had gotten far away from all of that. But then I pray mostly for the rest of the World, that somehow it be protected from the influences of this Dysfunctional American Psychie that the Americans so wish to export throughout the World. They hold up "Americanism" as though it is the Highest Religion, but then we can see, with the application of just a bit of stress, what Americans become... what their materialistic nihilism leads to. The People of Sodom and Gemorah probably behaved better.