Riding out Gustav in Louisiana

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Day 1, or should I say Day 3 and counting down, until Hurricane Gustav slams into the Louisiana coast. 

We are in Baton Rouge which is about 75 miles from the coast and expect damaging winds, torrential rains, major power outages and possible structural damages to our homes and vehicles. 

Whew, this is a big one!  Winds are up to 145 mph and strengthening.  They forecast it to impact our area by Monday evening through Tuesday.  Throughout the last 3 days Randy and I have been preparing. 

We have purchased the canned and packaged foods, batteries, bottled water; we've secured all of the outdoor things.  We are leaving my outside ferns and things until tomorrow so they are not in the dark too long. 

We have 2 elderly parents, Randy's mom who is in a nursing facility about 3 miles away, and an adopted "mom" of mine who lives next door.  Though she is next door, it is a considerable distance to get to her house because we have to cross a field about 2 acres wide.  She is an invalid and confined to her wheelchair and will not consider trying to leave her home of 60 years. 

Sure, around here we have all ridden out Camille, Andrew, Katrina and Rita, but you never get use to the experience and each one is different in it's own way.  Katrina was worse for our New Orleans area but Andrew was much worse for us here in Baton Rouge. 

We are expecting a repeat of Andrew where we sustain mass destruction despite being somewhat north of the coast.  So now, we are prepared...and waiting...

Our TV stays on and tuned to the Weather Channel except for when our local news is on.  That has been since yesterday.  We went to Walgreens on Thursday and were thankful to find one of the Midland Weather Radios still available.  We came home and tuned it in and have it ready to alert us to breaking weather. 

Sometimes I think the waiting is the hardest part.  The anticipation is really dread.  To look outside you would never guess what is in store for us.  Earlier when Randy and I sat outside, we watched as the birds and squirrels fed at their feeders and wonder how long it will be before our yard is this peaceful once again. 

After Andrew it took 2 weeks to clean massive amounts of debris from our yard.  We have many large oaks, tulip poplars and pine trees.  With Katrina it took about a week and then BOOM~Hurricane Rita hit and we had to start all over again. 

We try to keep the back yard looking nice and enjoy watching everything from deer, raccoons, and rabbits along with the squirrels and birds.  It is a very peaceful place to be when we are not able to travel in our RV. 

I will try to document with pictures before and after the storm, at least as long as the electricity holds out.   

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Photos

Home-before Gustav
Backyard on August 30, 2008.

Some minor tree debris from TS Fay
We had some minor debris from Fay last week but haven't had time to haul it off.

Trees, trees and more trees
This is our Tulip Poplar which is about 40 years old and very tall.

Back side of our house
Lots of overhead trees that are so tall we cannot prune them.

Our shed
We house miscellaneous Christmas decorations and things the kids left when they moved into homes of their own. It also houses my yard plants during the Winter.

Our very old barn
This thing could go at any time. Junk that needs to be hauled away.

Looking down the back driveway
Lined with Azalea bushes and gorgeous in the Spring.

We WILL be moving the RV
Plan to move it across the street in a parking lot where there are no trees.