I should clarify - it's not that we're 'evacuated', a person's fire plan is to either stay and fight or leave. So on high fire risk days, we go! It's still like an evacuation. So yes, we left again and guess what? Monday a fire breaks out a couple of towns away from where we were staying!! But DH's nephew has everything ready to defend his house so I watched them get their fire plan into action which was to top up their ginormous water tank, check the sprinkler system that's on the roof, fill pails with water and have mops by the pails then put them all around the house so that if a cinder falls you can douse it with a wet mop, change into all cotton clothing which is slower to burn, get wool blankets out to wet and put over yourself... have I missed anything? Oh yeah, then sit on the porch and watch the smoke and wind, listen to the news, and wait to see if the fire spreads our way. To be honest, we would have been safer if we stayed home! But on Monday the big worry was south east of here and, fortunately, nothing happened. Tomorrow, Friday, is another high risk day but I'm not sure if we're going to the nephew's house. Maybe we'll just spend the day at the mall. Then, if something happens in our area we'll go to the nephew's house. I don't know. This is getting very tiresome. I want these fires to stop already but someone told me she heard they were predicting a few more months before it's all settled. MONTHS!! And then yesterday we saw a new plume of smoke in the hills out yonder. So I called 000, our 911, and told the lady that I saw smoke coming from a hilltop but I couldn't tell her the name of the hill top and was just guessing about the area the hilltop was in. She suggested I check the CFA website to see if there was anything written there about the plume but I said it just started as I had been watching the mountains all morning and this one area suddendly started smoking - I called her as soon as I saw the plume of smoke. The lady asked if I saw flames. I said I was too far to see flames so she gave me this xyz number to call and report it. So I call xyz and I'm talking to this guy who seems absolutely clueless as to what to do and eventually suggest a number to call. And guess what number he gves me? xyz... I yelled at him and said that it's his number and asked him if he didn't know his own number. Sheesh. So then he gave me another number and I speak to that person who eventually says she'll transfer me to somebody else who might be able to help. So I'm talking to this lady and she says I've called the wrong number and that I have to call 000. I tell her that's who I started with but they didn't want to know. So this lady asked if I could see flames and I said no and then she said that 000 wouldn't do anything about it until ya saw flames. So I said, "Well, isn't it a bit too late by then? I mean, if you see flames the fire's on ya and you're dead." She was silent. So I then threatened to tell a popular news journalist here about the inefficiency and run around I was receiving and there was a big silence so the lady switched me to someone else and they said a fire truck would come by to have a look. So from when I first called to when the fire dept came was about 1 hour. The fire crew said it was a flare up within contained lines, and really that was what I was trying to find out, if the new fire was in a containment area, or even backburning by the CFA itself, or something new that needed watching. I kinda think it turned into something they needed to watch because after dark we could see trucks up there. I never felt threatened by this fire cuz it really is too far from my place, but it was extremely frustrating that when I reported it, no one seemed to want to respond. Thanks Luvs and Karen. Karen, your arm feeling any better?? LOL SHould probably ask that on 'your' thread. lol Thanks Nona. Why can't Bella write on here? I think that very weird. Glad to hear her son was safe. Well, will fill you in as it happens... or, as I'd prefer, DOESN'T happen. ;-)

Hello again friends. I continue to be amazed by your kindness and concern. Paulines and Elizabeth10029 - if you are back in here reading, yes by all means please feel free to save these posts. ALL OF YOU have my permission (and gratitude) to keep or share what I have written. I am humbled by the thought that my words have meant so much. There are so many more stories here that need to be told. The political firestorms have been whipped up to a frenzy over the past few weeks. I am sure many of you have heard on the national news the statements our mayor, Ray Nagin, made this week during his MLK celebratory speech about making the city of New Orleans "chocolate". Well, of course, the whole city is now in an uproar. I really think he is suffering from "Katrina fatigue". This mayor was very, very well liked by the most of the city - all different races. Now, he has become a symbol of division. And this comes at a time, when we must really pull together and present a rational, unified front. I am embarrassed and concerned about the damage he has done - the whole world is watching us. And I think the image he put forth is so misleading. While to the outside world it appears that there is a huge racial divide - in reality, New Orleans incorporates her diversity far better than many other cities. One of my dearest friends of 30+ years is african american - and she has spent the past few months living in my home. Our families vacation together every year. My other best friends are indonesian, hispanic, and greek - I am the "token wasp!" I have wonderful friends from as far away as Syria and VietNam. And I am not uncommon. Most New Orleanians work with, laugh and play with, cry and mourn with the many diverse people here. The problem arises when poverty and crime are added to the equation. I have no answers, only more questions. As do the other good people (of all races) who live here. We shake our heads in dismay and write letters to the editor! We are in dire need of effective leadership - and it is sadly lacking. The initial rebuilding plans for the city were just released and are being evaluated now. There is just no way possible to make everyone happy. We have to choose safety over everything else. Some people are simply not going to be allowed to rebuild their neighborhoods. It is so sad, tragic. But it would be insane to allow these people to live in harms way - even if they really WANT to! Desperate times make for desperate decisions, and some people just cannot believe or trust that the engineers and experts are telling the truth about where to rebuild or not. The next few months are going to be critical ones - will the city of New Orleans succeed in creating a plan for rebuilding better and stronger and wiser than before? Or will history repeat itself? Can we get congress to give us Netherlands-quality category 5 hurricane levees? Are we valued? President Bush visited last week and commented that "this is looking like the New ORleans I remember". Well, that was voted as the most ridiculous statement of last week. He saw the French Quarter (which did not flood at all) and the Garden District (which did not flood at all). It's just unbelievable. Only 30% of New Orleans has lights. That's right. It is pitch black at night. And cold. No heat, no lights, no phones. My friend's neighborhood - about half a mile from me - still has no working phone lines. Not one single person I know, who lived in the areas of New Orleans that flooded, has been able to move back into their house. People in Jefferson Parish (suburb of New Orleans, where I live) are able to rebuild now and some have been able to move back. It is absolutely still a disaster zone. And it will remain so until the city institutes a viable rebuilding plan - which appears to be months away yet. I am leaving tomorrow to visit DD back in Michigan for a week. It will be wonderful to get away from the daily bombardment of Katrina news. Of course, she calls almost daily (and usually right after the 6pm news) and at the top of her list is "Mom, why don't you sell your house and move up here?" Honestly, I do think about it. But, I have decided to give it one year here and if we cannot see a light at the end of the tunnel by then...well, I will have to make some very hard decisions. Meanwhile, I will play with precious grandson, enjoy the clean beautiful snow of Michigan, and my beautiful DD, and leave the troubles of New Orleans behind for a while.

Just saw a very sad occurrence of six people killed in a van, and I hope you'll all be very careful when getting around, if you even can. I can't even imagine the anxiety and depression that so many must be feeling, especially as there seems to be no end in sight for this megastorm. I'm afraid there is no way this could have been prevented since so much of the cause involves global warming, and in the end we're helpless against these events, even though we have caused them. We in the U.S. have been one of the worst contributors to pollution that causes global warming, but to see all this suffering is awful, and it is the politicians I blame, not these people and their children and animals who are going through this nightmare. I just read in disbelief that some House politicians have voted to cut almost a million dollars in the new budget from disaster relief to help pay for the Wall!!! I am in total shock. Edited: boncrow, we posted at the same time and saw your heartbreaking message after I submitted mine. There are no words to tell you how sorry I am, nothing that will do justice to what you and so many others are going through, but I write this with tears in my eyes. All we can do is give whatever we can to help in the relief effort, and to keep you all in our hearts. May you stay safe.

Thanks Kathsgrdn. He gassed up his truck before Helene hit so once the roads are passable he can come home. All of the power substations were flooded so reports imdicate it would be weeks or longer for repairs or replacement. In the meantime he has food and water for a few more days. And he is quite resourceful - has water filtration system as he camps and hikes quite a bit . He told me he has plans to use water from his water heater if he runs out. Has enough propane canisters for heating up beans, making rice/pasta. I streamed the local news channel and it reported 30 deaths and now 600 unaccounted for. He called me about an hour ago to check in and let me know that he and his girlfriend are Ok for now. He will stay there for a day or two and then he and his girlfriend plan to come here for the duration. The sheriff office requested for everyone to stay off the roads so that rescue units and supply trucks can do their job. Verizon is bringing in trucks with cell tower and satellite systems so relatives can contact their loved ones. He got lucky in that he found the small pocket where he could get cell service and will check in with me once a day. I’ve offered my home to 2 of his friends as well. A friend here has offered a furnished rental house if he knows anyone else in need of temporary housing. So sad for all the devastation across the southeast. I hope others receive the help they need.