Hurricane Katrina

Hurricane Katrina tore through St. Tammany Parish, spawned tornadoes in it's wake. Our circular driveway is totally blocked by at least 8 trees, some are about 3 ft. in diameter. We counted 30 giant pines in our yard that were snapped off like match sticks. Dozens of large oaks, hickories, black cherry and other hardwoods were either uprooted or broken when the big pines fell. Our 9 acres lay in ruin and it looks like we were bombed. Our road to the river is gone, covered with piles of debris. The trees that are still standing have no leaves. Most of the nest boxes on our trail are damaged or destroyed. Luckily, nesting season is over. Our gardens are under piles of debris. The wildlife is dazed and is looking for food. We have no electricity because one of the trees that fell on the driveway also took down the electric wire, pulling the weatherhead from the roof of the house.

By late afternoon we were able to cut a swath wide enough for the car (the van is under 3 trees) to the main road so that we could get out to call our family and to look for ice and gasoline. From now on we are in survival mode. We will need another chainsaw and a generator. The whole area is without power. Poles and lines are down everywhere.