Wednesday, August 31, 2005

Still no direct information on my mom & her parents. I got in touch with the PR/ media information department of the hospital's parent company Tenet. Their rep told me NorthShore had fared the best of all their hospitals in the region with very little damage. It had supplies and backup power, with much of the regular power & phone lines expected to be up again by the end of today. I am still getting the busy signal there, but a regular busy, not the recorded message or the super fast no-connection busy signal. So I can just keep calling.

I was also relieved to learn that a dialysis machine can be hand cranked without electricity.

My dad was able to evacuate his mom from the West Bank to Baton Rouge where my sister and her mother in law picked up the relay to take my grandmother to my great aunt, her sister's house in Texas. She can stay there indefinitely, which seems necessary at the moment.

My dad headed back to New Orleans to continue efforts there.

I had some news to tell all of y'all but I was waiting because it isn't official yet, but Jacob & I bought a house. The contrast to what so many people I love are going through right now is very disconcerting.

That's the latest.

Angie and Shelly - thanks for the family updates - I'm thinking about you guys. My folks and sister are in Houston right now with friends and plan on coming to Austin this weekend. I think they're just taking things a few days at a time - trying to plan for the future seems so overwhelming. My heart goes out to all the people in New Orleans, Mississippi and Alabama. Right now I'm waiting for the Red Cross page to load so I can make a donation. It seems a good sign how busy their website is.

What I've seen so far:
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/business/national/12516228.htm Kenner Regional Medical Center in Kenner, La., Meadowcrest Hospital in Gretna, La., and NorthShore Regional Medical Center in Slidell, La., remained open with back-up power but suffered water and wind damage, the company said. Damage included flooding, broken windows and leaking roofs. All the hospitals were without local power and phone service, Tenet said Tuesday.

http://www.dentonrc.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/texassouthwest/stories/083105dntexkatrinamedical.ceff2f9.html The company's 203-bed Kenner Regional Medical Center in Kenner, 207-bed Meadowcrest Hospital in Gretna, and 174-bed NorthShore Regional Medical Center in Slidell, remain open with back-up power but also suffered water and wind damage. Most hospitals had supplies and generator power for three to five days, but the effects of Katrina would last much longer. “They're short of suplies and diesel, and without people to get to them,” Zeuschlag said. Hospitals elsewhere in the state were in trouble, but the extent of the damage wasn't clear, the Louisiana Hospital Association said. Association President John Matessino said his group was working with the Office of Emergency Preparedness, FEMA and other authorities.

Tuesday, August 30, 2005

So in the confusion of the extremely brief phone call with my dad this morning, we miscommunicated. He actually has NOT spoken to my mom or her parents since the storm hit. My sister got to speak with Dad briefly tonight and she said he sounded better than I described this morning. They'd been pulling hundreds of people from rooftops and chopping people out of their attics. I probably spoke to him immediately after a long shift of that.
My sister reported that dad sounded cautiously optimistic. He said that though it is really terrible, the news is sensationalizing it a little bit, and the destruction is not (yet) quite as even handed as the media reports lead you to believe. I hope the abandonment of the levees and pumping stations won't make national news reports an accurate foretelling, as lake waters contine to rise in all of the city on the east side of the river. Dad and his mom have been evacuated from the downtown to the Westbank somewhere, probably Gretna. He's going to try to get my grandma to my sister in BR, and she'll bring my grandmother to my great aunt's house outside of Houston where she can stay indefinitely until there is someplace to return. It also sounds like with the arrival of the National Guard, my dad won't be doing as much of the really dangerous work for a while. He was actually going to get to sleep tonight.

My mom and her parents are in the NorthShore Regional Medical Center in Slidell. I know Slidell in general looks really really bad, but based on what we've heard about the hospitals in that area, we're hoping they should be ok. Another hospital in the area was evacuated, but power, water, food, etc to the remaining ones was being made a priority. Anyone who happens to see any specific information about conditions at the North Shore Regional Medical Center in Slidell please email me the link or post it here. That area has been in total communication blackout since the storm, which was why it was so unbelievable that my dad had news about them this morning. As it turns out, it was unbelievable, but a miscommunication the family was all eager to believe. We can actually reach voicemail ocasionally now, so I'm hoping some of the grids are coming back up and we'll be able to get in touch with them by cell or land line tomorrow.

Those of the family who work for national or even statewide companies are beginning to try to work out arrangements to work remotely or in a Houston, Alexandria, Baton Rouge, or Layfayette office. Now out of direct harm's way, those who still might have jobs are desprately trying to keep income coming in. So many businesses will be gone cause small locals can't afford to rebuild or larger companies will simply close up the New Orleans branch and relocate. A family group of aunts and cousins are examining the possibility of extended stay housing in Houston. most of them only have a change of clothes or so, but that is already so much more than so many others right now.

No one has talked much about property though we've all been scouring the forums for reports on neighborhood conditions. Some of our homes we know are total loss. For one or two we hold out hope they may be on slightly higher ground, but none of that may matter tomorrow morning as waters continue to flow through the breached levees they've abandoned trying to fix. I'm also hoping the dogs were able to get high enough up in the second story of the house to stay out of trouble. I know that seems a pretty petty concern given everything else, but I do think it all the same.

Thanks to y'all who've sent well wishes. I'm so glad to hear that Steph's & Angie's families were out of harm's way. The pictures coming in today look pretty grim.
My sister evacuated to stay with friends in Baton Rouge. My aunts and cousins evacuated to Houston. My dad had to stay in New Orleans for his job. His mom went with him to the "vertical evacation" staging area, one of the downtown hotels. Thank goodness he managed to convince her to evacuate at least that far. Her neighborhood seems to be part of the lake now.
My mom stayed with her parents. My grandmother is in the hospital and my grandfather just had surgery, so my mom stayed in the NorthShore Regional hospital to the east of the city, with them.
The last time I know someone talked to them was before the eye had reached where they are, Monday morning. At that time water was leaking into the hospital room. Yesterday no one could get in touch with my parents or grandparents as all the phone lines and cell towers are jammed or out of service.
My parents had to leave the family dogs in the house because no one else could get to them to evacuate them.
Late last night I was able to get my dad's voicemail so I left a message telling him I love him. First thing this morning he called back waking me up. The call was twenty seconds or less, and not a great connection. So my dad is ok, and indicated that my mom and grandparents are as well. I wish I'd had more composure to ask for details of when and how he talked to them. He's a stoic, but he sounded quite choked up. I'm sure he's already exhausted and doesn't have much sleep in store, because there are lots of people to rescue while there is still time.
I hadn't really cried, even watching the incomprehensible aerial footage where familiar places are nearly unrecognizable submerged rooftops. When I got off the phone though I just started bawling.