My return to New Orleans

There will be a lull in posts here while I return to New Orleans.

I'm packing up the dogs along with a surplus of dog food, water, a Coleman stove, propane, dry foods, shelf milk, a respirator, Vick's vapor rub (to cut the smell of rotten food), lots of bleach and lysol...and we're heading home.

This is what I know: the house is still standing, and it didn't flood. But I have no idea about any other damage. Some neighbors down the street found that their carpets had been soaked from rain blowing under the door. The mold was so bad that they can't move back in yet. Others have found roof damage, water and mold, even though the structure looks sound from the outside.

There is electricity on my street, I've been told. And the water is supposedly safe, but I've been told by a number of people to not drink it. Ever.

Other friends have told me that going back makes you realize how skewed your sense of awful has become. "At first it doesn't seem nearly as bad as you thought it would be. Then you realize that it is worse."

In addition to assessing my own situation, I'll be heading over to Algiers to help out with the SPCA there. They've rented a warehouse to bring all the animals back--financed by the ASPCA and one other organization. Meanwhile, there continues to be a problem with rogue animal groups breaking into houses to take--I mean rescue--pets. Last week they stole a police officer's dog while he was on duty; a few days later they broke into a family's home as they were sitting down to dinner. During the frantic weeks after the storm, many of these groups took animals lists from the SPCA but never completed the rescue.

But...we're going home. For now anyway. I'll let you know what I find.

I'll

Comments

Anonymous said…
so where are you...right now?
Anonymous said…
He's in midsentence...
nolapoet said…
Thanks for the note about rogue animal "rescue" groups. We had a couple of rogue ham operators in MS, and they posed a problem. People want to help, want to DO something, NOW... and they mean well, but they screw things up worse because they don't know what they're doing and how it fits into the big picture.

I hope that would-be rescuers of ALL types get REAL emergency/ disaster training now that this storm has [assed, bcause there will be many more storms to come.

Also, there are a lot of pit bulls fought in New Orleans by some sleazy characters, as you know. What have you heard about the prevalence of fighting dogs having been abandoned? Are those animals being euthanized, or what? Or is this even an issue/problem?

Stay safe -- and keep us posted.

Robin (and Buddy, the Bayou St. John dog who adopted me)

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