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wet! (Windy Cindy)

sent: 7/08/2005

Howdy LMSS homies and thanks for the recent emails/updates. Yep, the storms have been heavy. Cindy had our power out for 1.5 days. We’re preparing to evacuate for Jackson, Mississippi tomorrow morning in anticipation of Dennis. The guy I’m staying with is weelchair-bound, and needs kidney dialysis 3x per week, so that complicates things. Today, an unexpected rainfall has flooded our street. See the attached photo taken from the front porch? Everything’s cool though. I’m not too worried yet – maybe I should be? Gotta go now but I’ll get back to you all soon.
Oh, it looks like I have a job offer. More later,

-J

(click thumbnail to view larger image)

Additional:

Apparently this is the only email I sent regarding the storms in early July. Surprising, since Tropical Storm Cindy was indeed quite windy. I guess with the power outage, I must have resorted to cell phone communications instead of Internet.

Cindy hit southern Louisiana late night/early morning of July 5/6. The storm slammed Grand Isle, Plaquemines and St. Bernard.with winds up to 70mph, causing the largest blackout in 40 years. I was staying at Nat & Joan’s at the time, where a downed telephone pole and blown-out transformers led to the 1.5 day power outage. I saw many collapsed structures (e.g. several gas station canopies that cover the pumps), uprooted trees, and broken branches littering both sides of the river. Classes at UNO were postponed for two (?) days.

Following right behind Cindy was Dennis, which was upgraded from tropical storm to hurricane on July 6. After leaving at least 20 dead in Haiti and Cuba, landfall hit Pensacola, Florida, on July 10. Nat, Joan, and I had been all prepared to evacuate to Jackson, MS, but decided to stay put when the storm veered to the east of us.

The photo above was taken from the front porch of Nat & Joan’s house in Avondale. The flooding occurred during a strong thunderstorm right between the dates of Cindy and Dennis.