Hurricane Gustav Pre-Landfall Sunday 8-31-08

Mandatory Evacuation as of Sunday 8-31-08. Streets were empty. Uptown felt like a Ghost Town as I rode in to work. Storm Clouds footage were taken on top of the boiler tower around 7:30PM. Started storming around 7:50PM.

Hurricane Gustav - Prediction of Cat 5

Just finished loading up the trailer along with my fellow Vintage Brethrens with water and relief supplies. They will be heading out tomorrow for the Northshore. I love the hearts of these guys. Rob Wilton, pastor and friend, after saying goodbye to his wife and newborn son who are safe in South Carolina now, only has one thing on his mind... "How can we get back in time to help out the Uptown community?" This is why I am in New Orleans with these guys. 

Just to let you guys know, I will be reporting in to my power plant at 6:30PM tomorrow and will be on duty during the storm. It is predicted to hit Monday. Mandatory evactuation has been called. Apparently this is the "Mother of all storms" according to Mayor Ray Nagin. 

I will be keeping an update through my twitter updates (SMS Text). 

Thanks for your prayers and God bless New Orleans. 

8-29-08: 3 years since Katrina

Today we remember the devastating Hurricane Katrina that tore through the city, releasing her wrath with no mercy 3 years ago. Much have been improved and you can see the relentless fight that the locals have put up. New Orleans has a rich culture that has been around for many centuries. Somehow it leaves me to wonder how did my predecessors pull it through all these years? After Katrina, many believed that it was an astronomic event that happens every 30 years. At least that was the common trend that they saw. Now 3 years since Katrina, Gustav is predicted to finish up what Katrina left. 

Have we really messed up the chemistry of Earth? Has the green house effect finally reached the peak? Will New Orleans survive another Storm the size of Katrina? Will the city fight back AGAIN? 

As always, I will be on duty at my power plant. Good ol' Entergy. This time around, I believe the leaders of the company are more prepared than before. We have all learned so much from Katrina. Hence, I would like you to know that I will be in New Orleans as we await Gustav's arrival to help keep the power on for the city, on and after the storm. Do I consider this a noble task? Truly so, but I only count myself as blessed to be the few chosen to have the opportunity to serve this city that I have been called to. I will be joining up with my brethrens from Vintage Church after the storm as soon as I am released from work to help the Uptown community with the restoration process. At least this is optimism. The optimism to fight for the city to come back. Again. 

Please pray for the Pankhurst

I was on my way back from Alexandria, North Louisiana when I received this text from a dear friend: "Please pray for my family. Our house burned down today."

About 2 days ago, Melissa text me amusingly apologizing for sending Fay's post-product to New Orleans. (She lives in Jacksonville, FL where Fay made landfall). Somehow that conversation led to me warning her to be careful with the candles as it is one of the biggest reason why some of the houses caught on fire during Katrina. We laughed at the fact that she was keeping herself occupied by burning things. Needless to say, getting that text was not funny at all.

I just received a call from her as she's buying some clothes from Walmart for tomorrow. She told me that everyone is okay, which is the most important thing. The root cause of the fire was not due to candles, thank God. A faulty electric circuit triggered this event. Nobody was home during that time except the pets, which didn't make it. The Fire department reported that it was very smoky and that luckily nobody was in the house. I don't think it's luck. I believe God to be in it. Despite being a tragic, Melissa is in a very positive spirit but she will need all the prayer and support that we can offer. God will be glorified through this tragic.

As this is happening, I am also receiving emails from work regard Gustav, a potential Cat 3 Hurricane that could make it's treacherous path towards New Orleans. We are getting ready in case Gustav does decide to hit New Orleans. The ironic part is we will be marking the 3rd year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina this Friday. God is and will still be in control.