From the Eye of the Storm

As I type this the eye-wall of Hurricane Gustav is passing over Baton Rouge, Louisiana, the home of my middle brother Cameron and his family. I gotta say that we are watching the news channels closely.

Evidently they lost power about an hour ago. My mom and I were getting e-mails up until then. There's been no response since and we probably won't receive any more news directly from them for a few more hours; or quite possibly, a few more days.

They fared very well during Katrina but that storm passed much further to the east. The last thing we've heard from the National Weather Service is that tornadoes were on the ground approaching Baton Rouge. We ask for prayers for not only them but the rest of the Gulf coast.

These are the latest e-mails from them:

Its staying south on the coast which is good for the sustained winds here. Its going to pound our friends in New Iberia including Breaux Bridge. The tornadoes are the most concern and then the rain. But its better than we were anticipating both here and New Orleans. The westward movement is keeping the storm surge down compared to what was expected. So the flooding may not be the catastrophe we thought...

I had a case settle that I thought would go to trial next week. It was in New Orleans and it was postponed three years ago because Katrina hit the week before. Bizarre that the exact thing happened with Gustav...

I will update you when I can. I expect the power to go out in an hour or so as it's done so in New Orleans not too long ago.

And the last correspondence about if my niece and nephew were scared...

Caroline said she was last night. They are sleeping now.

I am surprised we still have power. The wind gusts are starting to pick up and tornado warnings are popping up. We have a flood warning for the Amite River in Denham Springs-where we are. And are under a tornado watch but so far so good. Its really raining!

Thank God!

After I emailed Mom, we lost power. The eye passed just west of us. The winds which were over 90 mph have died down now. Its still gusting. The rain has also been tremendous. The woods in the backyard have been cleared out a good bit with fallen trees. The big one next to our house held up. Our neighbors (not the Woods) have a tree thats uprooted but is being held up from falling on their house by another tree. Other than all the downed trees and no power the worst thing we are suffering from is boredom. I guess tomorrow I may complain about the heat but I better not. We were lucky. No need to worry about us. I don't know about the rest of the world though...or Louisiana. I love ya'll.

Cameron