Headed right for New Orleans. Let's keep these folks in our prayers. No trying to be funny here but New Orleans may become one big pond being below sea level.

I 2nd Cecil's sentiments. I'm afraid the 'cry wolf' syndrone will catch many off guard and there will be too many lives lost. My sister, 64, with 2 small grand daughters are in a small house right on the coast in Miss. Hope they, and many others in NOLA can find shelter. The only hope is that it miraculously diminishes before landfall. Prayers go out to everyone and their loved ones in harms way.

Its certainly not looking good. BM, I hope your sister and family is safe. Has anyone heard from Dudley lately??

Russ

Guys:

Keep us all in your prayers . We are 175 miles inland and directly in her path and are told to expect 80-100 mph winds and 10 in of rain. There are several PB members south of me and at least 2 including BM'S place will get hit much worse. JM and Rlewis are in the same boat as me but deaner is in Wiggins which is 30 miles inland and directly in harms way. Thanks for the thoughts. ewest

ps: we may be without power for a while so we may be down for a time.

If words would help, you would get them. You do have my/our prayers.

Its probably too late, but any PB looking for a safe haven can use my ranch. My son-in-law is the only person there during the week and he isn't there much.

If you need a place, you are welcome. The ranch is just north of Livingston, Tex. Send me an e-mail and I will provide directions.

Last we heard from Dudley on the forum was him posting some catfish recipes several weeks back.

Any of my previous attempts to bait him into posting have been unsuccessful.

If I'm not mistaken, I think his place is close to the gulf shore.

We'll be thinking about you all.

Remember, no matter how you might feel, your pond is not a safe place during a hurricane! No swimming!

Best of luck to any of you in the path of this storm. You will be in my thoughts and prayers over the next couple of days.

Your gesture is truly heartwarming, Meadowlark. I would be away from here but for the forecast that Katrina is supposed to turn north to dump on JM, Rlewis, Deaner and ewest instead of us on the central LA gulf coast. Looking at the present trajectory, now would be a pretty good time for it to begin turning. Enjoy, you guys!

Not to worry, Russ! My house is at least six feet above sea level and a good fifteen miles from the coast. No problem!!

Dudley, Eric, all our PB family in the path of this monumental storm...please be cautious. No egos, please. If anyone needs a place to go, please make a post or call the PB office and tell us. Our family is vast, and I know in my heart lots of our folks will open doors of homes, weekend places, campers, guest houses, whatever, well out of the way of this historic event. While the storm is dangerous, the aftermath will likely be a tragedy. No services, no water, little organization. So, even if you choose to ride it out, if you need a place after the storm, find a way to get in touch with the PB office, tell us how to find you, and we will put out the word. Don't worry about money, don't worry about other tangential stuff. Safety first.
Godspeed.

Bob and all the PB family:

Thanks for the offer and support. Those of us around Jackson {Rlewis, me and JM} will be ok if a falling tree or power line dosen't get us . We may be with out power for some time though. I am concerened for Deaner as he is truly staring the monster dead in the eye. His county is under an ordered evacuation . I hope he got out to safety. Having been through Betsy and Camille at close range as ML says you just can't imagine it unless you live through the expierence.I went with my dad 3 days after Camille to Gulfport to take a truck of water and food. For miles inland no houses just the slabs. There was an ocean going ship , a big one that was pushed a mile + on shore by a 40 ft. estimated wave. The only place with power {on an emergency basis} after the storm was the morgue and it was a busy place unfortunately. ewest

I'm sure that I speak for many when I say that I consider being a member of the Pond Boss family one of my greater blessings.

I agree with Bob's well phrased message, Godspeed and let us know how we can help.

Frank

My extra bedrooms at Fort Worth are available. I'll even feed you some Mexican food.

Yep, that's just like my friend Dudley. Six ft. above sea level and a long 15 miles from the water. Nothing to worry about until he runs out of Scotch and toilet paper.

Hey, don't you remember that old Johnny Cash song? It started out with "How highs the water, Mama? Well, it's 6 feet high and rising."

Dammit Dud, get your butt out of there.

Ah ain't leavin unles ah can tak ma women with me an ah dont want em to meet each other!

No problem now Dave! That sucker did it's little jig to the north and will fill the Mississippi and Alabama ponds now. Pity those unfortunates in the northeast quadrant; hopefully they ran. If people manage to avoid the surge of water from the gulf, there's usually little more than major inconvenience. Like no power, no AC, sometimes no water, down trees all over the place, roof shingles gone, etc. And worse than that, once you're gone, the authorities don't want to let you back in at a time when you're wanting to assess the damage to your property and begin repairs and cleanup. Of course, I can certainly understand their reluctance if there is no water because of the sanitation issues. There is no upside to these storms, but they're part of the package if a person's choice is to live down here.

I am profoundly impressed with the kindness of many on this forum. What a group!

I suppose Dudley has enough scotch to ride this one out. Toilet paper though? I guess that one could go either way.

Hee hee hee. Have everything I need, although the weather is a little gloomy here. A little wind, a little rain - but I'm on the "good" side of the storm, very unlike with Andrew in 1992. On the positive side, if you keep the wind at your back, you can get some incredibly long casts in a 150 mph breeze.

I just heard from a close friend who lives on the Miss. coast about 40 miles East of New Orleans. He and the family went to Columbus, Miss. He said there is now 15 ft. of water on the block where he lives. He has lost everything in his house. At least he has flood insurance.

From Minnesota our prayers to out for you all down south. I don't know who's where in relation to the storm but God knows who needs Him.

First report from MEMA [miss. emergency mgt. agy.}. Miss. gulf coast incurred a 30-32 ft. storm surge and 150 mph winds "catostrophic damage and loss of life south of I-10 { below 25 ft elevation}". there are in my est. at least 150,000 people who live south of I-10 in Gulfport, Blox.,Bay St. Louis, Pasg. , Pass Chris. and others. Places that did not get water in Camille were flooded today. We still have power for now. Will keep you posted. Very glum at MEMA. ewest

Thanks ewest for the report and the offer of help. Katrina cut a path that split my in-laws and pond in T town, and my sis whose home WAS in Gauthier/Ocean Springs right on the coast. She and 3 yr old twin grand daughters are in Ho-Jos just north of I-10. She got the last room there. Good thing, because the Holiday Inn booked up, but the staff bailed out and the Howard J. had to take them in.
Glad to here you have electric in Jax. It is now in Philly, where my mom and other family are. They lost elec. early AM.
Will go to the MEMA web site, all Fox and MSNBC are showing is the roof of the Superdome.

Has anyone heard from Deaner?

BM :

Glad to hear they are ok. Offer still open if needed. Much of Jackson is without power.We are just lucky to be on. 3 killed in jackson area from falling trees. Much of N.O. under water. No first hand info from Miss. coast yet. ewest

Ewest, my friends house WAS in Pass Christian.

Yes, Dave, Pass Christian is where Camille came, and this one was nearly the same path, but much more widespread. This has been a tragic and amazing year.
To put the activity in perspective, Camille, was in August or Sept., 3rd storm, Alicia in Houston was in August, the 1st named storm.

Just saw footage of a New Orleans and surrounding area fly-over. It's just sickening to see the flooded neighborhoods and structural damage. In reality, the "good" side of a hurricane is obviously a myth. The homes along the Mississippi gulf coast can not possibly be standing and hopefully, after having experienced Camille, all of those residents evacuated. Lets all hope that Deaner, having been through this before, is kicked back enjoying a scotch and soda at one of the better motels in Memphis. Surely, it'll be a while before he truly enjoys another.

Having been through many hurricanes, my heartfelt sympathy goes out to all who were in the path of merciless Katrina.

I will stick with tornados and ice storms. They are much, much more local than a hurricane. When we lost power for 5 days last Christmas, you could still drive two counties away and find a generator for sale. Folks hit by Katrina will be lucky to drive two blocks days from now...

Hoping everyone is as OK as possible.

All is well here in NW Alabama other than gas prices going from 259.9 up to 327.9 as of last night. Had a lot of tree damage mostly small limbs covering the property. Had to pick up about 15 pick up loads and take them to the burn pile. Had one neighbor that had a tree come down on his carport and back of his truck and customize it! We had about 12-14 hours of 35-45 mph winds with the worst gust I recorded was about 62 mph. Hope all is well with those to the SW of me. Decatur Alabama lost most of the power to the city but our Rural Power company did a fantastic job of keeping it on. Guess their tree trimming project over the past year did some good.

Bob

Bob,

Glad to hear you are O.K. Gas was 3.29 a gallon here yesterday here in northeastern Indiana. We didn't even get a rain from the remnents of Kathrina. Sending buckets with lids to Alabama Monday to be used for water and gas.