Gustav #5

I am finally ready to go. I am spending the next 36 to 72 hours volunteering at a local Red Cross shelter.

The storm continues to veer to the west. Winds are not as strong as they were predicted at this point. The further west it goes the better for us and for NOLA at this point. But they are still predicting 130+ and a 20 ft surge. The good news is that people have responded all over and have evacuated. This is the second evacuation for my son, John and the first for #2 son, Will. Having spent the last two days with John who came to help me get ready, the emotional impact of having to leave home yet again is off the stress charts for people in NOLA. The news is full of predictions for flood depth and number of homes likely to be flooded. Pumping stations are manned though and NOLA seems to have responded well. One glitch (and this could be one of those hurricane rumors) is that only a portion of the buses that FEMA had contracted to move people out actually showed up. They were several hundred buses short. FEMA called for help and LA responded by sending buses from surrounding communities. They say that they will get all people who want to get out. There are some who have not left. All are reluctant to leave, but most are resigned to the necessity of the evacuation. The resignation is apparent in the faces.

Talk at the coffee pot after church and in the lines at the gas station are vivid retellings of Katrina, George, Elena, and Ivan. From a pastoral perspective this seems good to me. It connotes community, shared experience, a remembering that seems to make the current chaos more "ordinary". Hurricanes are a part of life on the coast. There is not doubt about that. Perhaps it is the media coverage that makes these events so frightening. Today the Gospel lesson was "pick up our cross and follow" This is one mean cross. But Rev Harold Roberts (Redeemer rector) who lost everything he had in Katrina was more focused on the power of the relationships we have built with those who have come here to help since Katrina. He talked about the lack of knowledge about our plight in 2005 and how alone the coast was as Katrina approached. But this time we have gotten phone calls from all over the world. We know we are not alone. We know that each voice, each gift card, each prayer, each person who comes - is a beautiful manifestation of God's Love. It was powerful that our prayers of the people today were focused on a remembrance of Katrina. We added a few prayers of our own for those who are yet again in great turmoil.

The remainder of my blogs will be shorter and from my Blackberry. (Please excuse the typos!) I will be in a shelter in Biloxi so I will have little access to the larger picture. I will report on my work there and how the people of Biloxi are dealing with yet one more disaster. The clouds are beginning to build outside. It is hot and humid - no surprise! Thank you all for taking the time to read my missives. May God bless and keep you and us and most especially the people of New Orleans.