Tom, I think that is the shortest post you have ever made to ETS. <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

And one of the most touching.

Again, thank all of you for the support. Like I said before, I am fine. It is the people coming out of New Orleans, Slidell, Gulfport and Biloxi that we now see every day that need our help. And a lot of it.

.....CLIFF

Friday, 2 September

Still no power at home, so our morning routine of bathing and dressing in the near-dark is becoming rather, well, routine. Not a complaint, mind you - there are thousands who have no home to have power at - but we are getting used to our dabbling in Amish-ness.

More folks trickled in to St. Luke's last night - some from Women's Hospital; some just showed up looking for a place to stay. We now have about 20 housed in various church offices and meeting rooms full time, and several staying with parishoners who have power. One family reported being turned away from another local church before coming to St. Luke's, because of fears about the unrest here in Baton Rouge (more about that later) Served "Continental Breakfast" this AM for everybody.

One of the families we are housing lived in Lakeview, mid-way between my parent's house and my in-laws. They were evacuated out day before last, in a boat down West End. They said that my parents house was still standing, and that the water did not appear to have reached the second floor. Hopeful news. Now, let's see if we can get back there before the looters.....

Overnight, our little cow-town of Baton Rouge has become the largest city in Louisiana. Due to the influx of people, everything is running short, including tempers. But the stores do seem to be getting resupplied, though gasoline, ice and bread will mean a looooong wait in line. There are no hotel rooms available, and the apartment stock has pretty well dried up. Realtors tell me that homes are selling fast, as people realize that they may be here for months, or for good. Commercial space is also, I am told, getting scarce, as New Orleans business try to get up and running again. I have heard several reports of people saying that they, and/or their businesses, will stay here and not go back. Boom time for Baton Rouge, though I wish it were under different circumstances.

Now, about the "unrest" here in Baton Rouge. The initial news reports about the near rioting downtown, the looting, the robberies and the carjackings have been loudly denied by the local authorities. Too loudly, for my tastes. The City, for all it's insistance about business as usual, closed all of it's offices downtown until Tuesday, and SWAT teams are patrolling the streets. When the plain-spoken Fred Rayford is parsing his words and evading questions, well...... I know of two people who have been either robbed at a gas station or carjacked, and one of our volunteers at church, who works downtown, claims she witnessed an incident on North Boulevard and saw the results of the looting. My take is that SOME incidents are happening, but not to the extent claimed in the initial news reports. We will still be cautious, lock our doors, and exercise that Second Amendment thing.

More later,

.....CLIFF

Mail still works. I mean, my monthy bills keep showing up. <img src="/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" />

And no, I don't mean to imply that I need financial help. Doing fine there, now that the banks got reopened.

In the greater scheme of things, I'm sitting pretty. I got a roof over my head (and it's my own roof), my family is safe, and I got work. It's the thousands coming out of the affected areas that need the help.

Fair winds and calm waters, Cliff. Sounds like you have your plan in action.

Saturday 3 September

Several more people dribbled in last night and today; some from from Women's Hospital, and some just from off the steeet. More horror stories of the looting in New Orleans. Christ. We fed 'em and found a place for them to stay. It's starting to get crowded.

Have received more clothes and food stuffs. Our parish hall looks like a Dollar General store. Many folks come in, and we tell them to take what they need. It is on the honor system, and most (if not all) do only take what they need.

I didn't stay last night, but came back this AM. When I got there, someone had already made biscuits and had breakfast going. We are going to have to redo the sleeping arrangements in order to accomidate the 150 or so temporary students that the Day School is taking in. They need several of our rooms for classrooms, so we are going to put dividers up in the fellowship hall and the library and make that the dormatorry and day room. The family in the Bride's room will stay put. Everyone took it in stride. We also turned off the TV. No sense in being bombarded with the horrors you just went through, or are facing.

A quick word about the reporting from New Orleans. It sucks. It sucks big. So much has been incorrectly reported, blown out of perportion, or just plain hyped to fill air time. Get Heraldo, Williams and the like out of there. Or better yet - TURN THEM OFF!

We are feeding dinner to the people staffing the new calling center the State has set up for the Emergency Operations Office. Last night hamburgers for 65. Doing it again tonight.

The Emergency Operations Center is just a few blocks from St. Luke's, at the Department of Public Safety (DPS) campus. My office has a project in that campus, but it has been put on hold for a while. The DPS campus is abuzz with activity - trucks, vans and HUMVEES from all sorts of agencies, and heliocopters of all types. Large, event-sized tents are being erected for additional space.

We helped many of our evacuees (I hate to call them refugees...) who needed to file paperwork with FEMA, the Social Security Office, their banks, etc., get to those offices. Parishioners shuttled them round and waited with them The wait was, well.... lengthy.

Had a group from California who went to Texas, bought relief supplies, and drove them to Baton Rouge. Someone had a connection to St. Luke's Episcopal, so they came here. Showed up with two SUV's worth. Amazing, this Faith thing.

We sent a trailer loaded with food and several hundred gallons of bottled water with two priests from St. James Baton Rouge, who were going to Washington Parish. Thousands there without any utilities, they said. They got back later in the evening, with a list of more supplies needed.

To all who have contributed to the relief effort.... thank you. Thank you so very much.

Got power at the house today, courtesy of power crews from Michigan! A good thing, as the house was beginning to reek and we really needed to wash clothes. Since we have power, we brought several evacuees back to the house to shower. St. Luke's has no useable shower facilities, alas.

More later,

.....CLIFF