| 9/14/2005: I still cannot believe the events of the last three weeks. Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast and the levees broke and between the two have wiped out New Orleans! The way this happened, the way it unfolded before my eyes and laps at my doorstep with its wash of refugees has affected me deep in my soul... I could go on for days, and I have, about the worst national disaster in history striking so close to home. With the storm was wind and rain, and a wall of water that slammed into the south and east of New Orleans. With the ebb-sweep the levees broke and Lake Ponchatrain broke loose. Many people who ignored or defied the evacuation order perished or were trapped. We missed one day of work on the day of the storm, and that evening, school was announced closed for two days. My ride to work Tuesday, the day after was incredible. The neighborhood was wrecked. Getting to work on my bike consisted of dodging limbs and pinecones, and the erie sound of generators humming. There were trees down everywhere and a few spots where powerlines were leaning way over. It took a week to get all the lights back on in Baton Rouge. Every hotel, and possible guest room in the city were filled. The evacuees who managed to escape New Orleans filled every shelter and the Convention Center and the hospitals. People came to town who were trying to get back in to New Orleans and the roads filled to capacity. Traffic was a nightmare. For everyone except me and my trusty bike. There came a point where there was no more gasoline in Baton Rouge. All the pumps were dry. We wondered how to rescue anybody without gas enough to get around. The store shelves emptied, the generators at the hospitals in the flooded zones ran out of fuel or failed. People started dying and the water kept rising. It was as big a nightmare as one can imagine. Days later the constant stream of helicopters buzzing overhead was a feeling of safety and rescue I have never known in my life. Riding the bike has become more than just a way to save money for me. Although I proudly wear my airbrushed t-shirt that boasts a bike wheel with a lighted valve stem and the catch-phrase, "KISS MY GA$", this endeavor has become a symbol of giving for me. I don't have much to give but I liked to hope my tanks of gas were going in rescue vehicles, and in the cars of people fleeing for their lives. |
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| RIDIN' THE STORM OUT |
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