Spoiler Alert

Ah finally a moment to write about the experience. I don't know how this post will come out, but I'm going to try to at least describe most of what happened to us.
It began on a nice quiet evening with friends. Jim and Brynn came by for a few laughs since my first week in New Orleans wasn't very exciting. Mostly getting unpacked, recovering from the long drive down and finding my way around the town. I was there four days and already pigment was returning to an area of my face that had been naught but white for the past ten years.(I have vitiligo for those that don't know which destroys my pigment randomly during periods of heavy stress) I was in the right place and ready to begin looking for work when we heard about the storm. My landlady called and mentioned she was staying and so it seemed was the case with most of my block. Jim and Brynn weren't too concerned since it seemed likely we'd get passed over for most damage as is typical in the Big Easy. After a rousing game of phase 10, we all sat on the porch for a smoke and some laughs about what hurricanes were like and what we could do to be prepped for the storm. They left and we slept comfortably. I even bought a six pack of Abita to enjoy the storm as the Romans do. Sunday mid morning we saw that the evacuations for Jefferson and Orleans parish were moved to mandatory. This was when Susie and I realized that we didn't have more than a quarter of a tank of gas in either car and no station in the neighborhood was open. In fact the grocery store and many local businesses had boarded up for the storm. Not necessarily left town, but just boarded up in fear of the worst. So we didn't worry too much until we got a phone call from the landlady that she fled in the middle of the night and we should probably try to get out of there. This was of course ten minutes before the curfew was imposed making it literally illegal to even go out of doors. Immediately we started putting heavy blankets over the windows and filling everything possible with water so we'd be alright should things become problematic. I bought batteries for the portable TV that would keep us poorly informed throughout the night once we lost power. Fast forward. The storm was no big deal. Our old and sturdy house barely shook from the 90+mph winds and while our street flooded with water, we didn't lose power until about 4 in the morning and we still had a working phone. The next morning we were so happy we had a victory smoke and Susie danced a jig(pics as soon as I get a new download cable) on the porch. Then we noticed that slowly, very slowly the water was rising making our steps slowly disappear as well as a car that sat on the street. As the day past we figured it would stop since no news was being broadcast of any sort of problem save the damage from other areas that were hit harder and news that the storm had indeed just missed New Orleans and nailed Mississippi the hardest instead. That night we watched the water continue to rise and put a ladder on the porch so we could sit out there and not have to stand in the filth. Figuring we'd be alright, we decided to try and sleep. Susie slept on the floor and I took the couch since the living room was much cooler now that our air conditioning was inoperable. In the middle of the night, Susie woke up with water on her back and we noticed that our barrier had indeed been compromised. Water was slowly gurgling into the house at a rate of about an inch per hour. We figured if we could make it through the night without too much water, we'd be able to come up with a way to the roof or a way out or maybe it would just stop. We didn't know. Again news was more focused on some mega muffins that some asshole brought to the station and how happy they were to be able to coordinate with all these different stations than actual news about what was really going on. We had heard rumors of a water main break, but we found that to be garbage a day later. That night we met our neighbors. A fine couple named Moe and Sarah. Moe was partially blind, but tall and well aged. Sarah looked as though she was in her 20s and we were surprised to learn days later was actually about 41. The next morning one of our neighbors further down figured a good plan to get out would be to swim to the nearby hospital 4 or 5 blocks down the road. Finding this plan somewhat possible given that we couldn't get to our roof and neither could anyone else, we figured we get prepared and take a shot by following with our next door neighbors. We scrambled to grab everything we thought we might need. Water bottles, granola bars, a couple of fruit rollups, flashlights, dry socks. That sort of thing. We also grabbed a toy for comfort, Susie chosing her Blue Finky and me my rarer 4LOM figure and the one ring. We tried to put the cats into this cooler that I had which we figured would float and they scratched us on the arm. Figuring we just had to leave them and hope for the best, I filled a dish with food and refilled their water and we said our farewells. We put the bag with the stuff we brought along with my M-65 military field jacket which had my cell phone with a weak charge, my digital camera and a few other random items. I strapped on my army boots and we waded into the water. Moe and Sarah came too and we tried to convince a few others to come along, but the water was too deep for them. We travelled to the hospital in water that was at the lowest chest deep and well over our heads at some points through debris of all sorts and whatever else was in that water. The smell was awful and the water was terribly cold so I wanted to move quickly knowing that hypothermia was inevitable after mutiple hours. As we neared the hospital we were waved at by some workers on the roof and noticed where our other neighbors had wound up. Susie took off through the deepest of the water just outside of the hospital and nearly drowned trying to hold on to the cooler(she had taken control of it since I was doing my best to keep Moe above water and calm). Some firemen in a boat found our plight amusing and though instead of helping they'd point and laugh at us. I swam to grab the cooler from Susie and then swam it over to the sidewalk area she'd soon landed on that was a bit higher ground than the median of the road which had been our main path down the street. Then I went back for Moe and he was concerned about a bag of items he had kept that he had to keep dry for certain. So I grabbed his bag like a child and swam it over to Susie. I stopped to tie my boots and take a breath and then went back again for Moe and Sarah. Getting Moe through the depths was very hard, but I did the best I could to keep from drowning. We made it and the firemen directed us into the front door of the hospital. Walking in we saw the main floor flooded and noticed several biohazard containers tipped over and the overwhelming stench of feces. I said this is a tomb and we turned around to fair better outside of this mess. We then realized there was an ambulance ramp around the other side that would get us out of the water and hopefully to some safety. The firemen then came around and graciously let us hold onto the boat while they dragged us a few feet to the ramp(at this point I want to mention that these were the only firemen to be dicks the entire time, many others were beyond helpful and it's a shame I have to relate them but the truth is the truth right?). We climbed out of the water and one of our neighbors wanted to go in and use the bathroom. A nurse told us we couldn't come in and said that even if the water continued to flood the ramp we wouldn't be able to enter and that they had no food for us so "some people make it and some people don't". We dealt with this and just tried to look for other people for information since we didn't need any of their food anyhow. We ate our first granola bar split between us and drank some water. Then looked forward to a long day. A nice man named Mike found a lobby we could sneak into since the hospital was pitch black and we tried to get out of the sun for a bit. Later in the day we found out they wanted to bring us to Delgado which apparently had facilities that better suited us "swimmers" and a motor boat came by and got the firemen and left never to return. Moments later a boat showed up and took a few more people and again never returned. Then more refugees appeared including these great folks from Honduras that gave Susie a new pair of socks since even her spare pair was ruined by shoes that wouldn't dry. Kudos to the army for my boots, since they dried quickly and I was fine. Her pigs were worse off and fortunately another kind woman hooked her up with some lotion so they weren't permanently damaged. This is the part when so many things happened that I can't possibly include in this post, but I'd love to share in comments for anyone interested. A man who had a stroke came by oared by some other folks in a boat and security kicked them back into the water. Then a paramedic taking a break climbed into a boat and left to take two of our neighbors and lead this other boat to Delgado a place we would never see where apparently you had to buy your own food. That night we slept in the hospital since all travel had to be stopped for safety. Much happened that night, but most importantly we slept taking turns guarding our things. I had gotten a few blankets by schmoozing and Susie and I met a man named Danny Moore who turned out to be a fascinating person to encounter. The next morning Danny got us some breakfast which was some cereal and a cup of milk. We hoarded the cereal in case we needed it later and drank up the milk like it was the best thing in the world. More supplies came and we learned of selfish and ignorant people that couldn't trust anyone as well as wonderful souls that took half their share and passed the water or pretzels or whatever down to the next person. We passed on this food pretty much since we knew others needed it more and well I'm going to have to skip some of this to get through it. Fast forward to late in the day when we got on a boat which we were told would take us to a place where we'd be choppered to Baton Rouge or Houston or even Lafayette possibly. Where we went was to a strip of sidewalk in the middle of the water where helicopters were indeed landing and taking people away. At that same time, patients from the hospital and other places were being brought there to evacuate also and these kick ass firemen from Lafayette were all telling us the critical patients needed to go first, something none of us had any issues with, but these guys were cool and on the ball. This was the military showing it's worth as well. Even though we sat in no shelter with the sun beating on us for well over 4 hours, we were amazed at the rapidity of the chopper arrivals as they came two at a time to either end of the sidewalk and immediately loaded and hauled out to make room for the next two. More stories happened here as well including an old man that sang to us and brightened all of our spirits that God indeed would get us through. Packed like sardines in the chopper, we took off hoping to land somewhere new and better for a change and instead were dropped near the Causeway bridge to a camp I could only describe as "Freedom Town"(see Scarface, but eliminate the tents or any shelter whatsoever). There we experienced smells to potent for words and a clusterfuck situation where the state police were loading people onto buses with no organization in mind at all. There was basically a huge line of angry people rushing at any open door and crushing people in the process. I ran to the Salvation army wagon and got us an MRE which was vegetarian since I asked. We ate about half of the meal and showed some others how to actually cook the food since apparently printed instructions were too complicated for some people. More stories here as well, but I must skip to get through this. We moved quickly in the line, not pushing, but just taking the next empty space as it appeared to get closer to the MPs that weren't running the evac, but were just there to keep people from killing one another. Once we got to the front of the line, I told one of them "I know if the military were running this show we'd be out of here by now." which made him grin from ear to ear after hearing nothing but angstful requests for water and busing from the mob behind this barracade. When he walked past again, I apologized and asked if I could tell him one more thing, he leaned in and I said "if I recognize any of ya'll in a bar, you've got at drink on me." This was the straw that put us at the top of the list and once an angry MP took control of the crowd by telling them they'd only get to go on a bus if he pointed at them, we were singled out in the midst of one of the loadings and got to get aboard a school bus. The school bus moved slow and didn't really have a destination which we learned by listening to the radio communication. We wound up at a strip mall and then finally a civic center in Plaquemine just outside of Baton Rouge where the police told the driver we might as well go back to where we came since there was no room there for us. Fortunately he was just pigheaded and the fine folks running the facility said they'd take anyone they had room for and there was still some space on the floor for us. We registered and went in hoping for a nice rest since it was now 3 am. What we got was a piece of plastic that they called a "heat blanket" and one cot which was barely an air matress since they'd run out of them. Fortunately we still had a blanket from the hospital and we curled up to get what we could for rest. The next morning miracles began to show themselves as we got a few clothes and the man that got us off the bus helped us connect with the most wonderful preacher I've ever met. Brad Williams and his wonderful wife Amy had agreed to take us to their home to shower and get a plane ticket so we could go to the airport and come back to Cleveland. Little did we know that no flights or even rental cars were available near Baton Rouge. After a McDonald's fish sandwich that didn't really stick with either of us(I was glad to finally poop though) we went online and Susie got a random email from Ligit that said "I know you're safe somehow, please tell me I'm right". This was the only email Susie replied to and immediately Ligit wrote back giving us the phone number to where Jim and Brynn had arrived in Lafayette. We contacted them and after a wonderful meal of Tilapia, potatoes and green beans that Amy made for us, Brynn's dad arrived to take us to Lafayette. More stories deserve to be told about this wonderful family that took us in, including their beautiful 9 month son that kept our minds off all the anguish, but I'm saving those for the movie, sorry. We landed in Lafayette and got some more donations and found a rental car at the airport. We then spent the night in a trailer park some where outside of Lafayette where this woman had a bed she never slept in since she preferred the couch where the TV was on constantly. The next morning(it's now Friday) we met Jim and Brynn at a Walmart and drove from there to the airport and choosing a car that had a full tank we wound up driving home in style. The car we got was in lot 13(a lucky number for Susie and myself) and it turned out to be a cherry red 2005 Bullit style Mustang. I could feel the credit roll on our movie as we rolled out of town only to be halted by finding no gas in upper Mississippi. Again the kindness of strangers saved the day as we found a woman with a gas can that gave us a gallon so we could make it to Grenada where they had gas. There we met another refugee who was an army man that gave us some t-shirts and at 4:30am we landed in Colombus to a glorious welcome by Vic and Jayme. They had bought all sorts of food and had beds for us and the next morning we ate a wonderful fruit salad and some veggie buffalo wings. We called Susie's dad and he came down and brought us to their home. So that's it. That was our journey in the shortest version I could tell. As I said, there's so much more to it. It was a week that lasted five years easily. One thing I can tell you though, is I truly hope this was the worst experience of my life. Do what you can to help thoe folks down there, they need a lot. And don't be so amused by stories about guns and looting, when angels are doing everything they can to save American lives with no thanks but to know they were just able to help. Now as for Bush and the Governor of Louisianna, this event should wake people up to realize we need to take back our government too. W didn't even know the levy broke until Tuesday and then was still on vacation. It was him that cut the levy engineering fund that prevented the state from building a proper one. Indeed, it wasn't the storm that decimated New Orleans, it was a lack of concern, planning and forethought. Be prepared for this to cause strife all over the country, and gas prices are the least of it. We've all got to stop being selfish and start caring for each other. And we've all got to begin doing are part to take back America from these BS driven morons and their plans for world domination. Bush and Co. deserve every criticism they get from this, but more importantly, we all need to take some time to recognize how vital the warmth and kindness of caring individuals is. And know that their help, not the governments will continue to shape the rescue efforts and save the lives of so many. My thanks go out to that fine preacher and his wife, the nurses at the hospital that smuggled bits of food for us, Danny Moore and his lovely wife, Mike our man inside at the hospital, the people of Bienville St. that looked to us for leadership, Icie2k his wife and their little baby, the man that boated us from the hospital, the Red Cross and Salvation armies, the EMT that let us use his phone to tell our families we were alive and all of the men in uniform that suffered just as much doing everything in their power to get the refugees out of New Orleans. There are more to add to that list, but right now I need to get some rest. More blogging to come, once I can get my head settled from this situation. One more thank you to everyone at home that cared so much to try and find out if we were all right. If I haven't contacted you yet, I will and even though you all made it crazy for Josh and the McGarry's your care for us was more than appreciated. We're happy to be back in Cleveland to see our friends and rebuild our lives once again.