Mother Earth please spare New Orleans

[warrior1]

Sending good thoughts to the people of NO.

Please leave and take your pets.

[kestrel91316]

1. That track has me freaked, and I'm in SoCal. I am worried that Katrina was just the

dress rehearsal.

[Lisa0825]

19. Yeah, that's a good way of putting it....

What makes me really sad is that all this time I have been hoping that the recovery in New Orleans would continue, and even be better after we get Dems in office... and now I feel like this storm may be the end... if NO is devastated again, I just don't know if any amount of assistance will ever be able to restore it to its former fashion.

I'm just glad I knew the Big Easy in its glory days, and that I got to share it with friends right before Katrina. Bittersweet memories now... :cry:

[tama]

2. To paraphrase

Do not ask what Mother Earth can give you, ask what you can give to Mother Earth.

[Breeze54]

3. What about Texas, Mississippi and Alabama?

:shrug:

I don't want any of them damaged. :(

[Lisa0825]

5. I'm in Texas on the coast, but I am more worried about New Orleans...

It has been hard enough trying to rebuild from Katrina... I'm afraid this could be the death blow to the city... I pray that everyone evacuates in time. That is the foremost concern. But it makes me really sad to think that a city I have loved as a frequent visitor, which I had been really pulling for since Katrina's devastation, might be beyond recovery after being hit again so soon.

[applegrove]

4. Please fizzle out Gustav. Please fizzle out.

[1]

6. i live where tornadoes as the biggest threat. very little warning here...

but i cannot imagine watching all of that science telling me days ahead of time that my world is about to get destroyed. drawing a picture with its lines all headed directly for my community, my family, my house, me. even if they can escape, all is about to change for the worst. and recent history tells me they are on their own from that point.

i have no words...

this truly sucks.

[Booster]

7. Please, please take your pets with you. They won't be able to

make it through this without your help.

[1]

8. are they letting pets on the evacuation buses? if i remember during katrina...

they didn't.

does anyone know?

[Lisa0825]

10. It probably varies by locality, but see my post below regarding Galveston.

Hopefully other communities learned this difficult lesson as well.

[Lisa0825]

9. One good thing that came as a result of Katrina....

So many people refused to leave without their pets that many changes have been made in that regard. I know that when Galveston evacuated prior to Rita right after Katrina, the bulletins gave instructions about bringing pets in carriers, not leaving them behind, etc. We were told over and over again through the media that pets could be brought on buses. There was so much coverage of the pet rescue efforts post-Katrina that people are much more aware of the issues. Many people died for the sole reason that they refused rescue due to not being willing to leave their best friends behind. Hopefully their sacrifices will continue to impact evacuation methods so animals won't be left to die or fend for themselves.

[1]

11. i would never leave my friends behind. i couldn't. if they had to stay, i stay...

i hope they changed the ridiculous rules to allow this to occur...

[Lisa0825]

12. The director of the rescue I volunteer with was on Larry King during Rita

because she refused to leave when they thought it was coming right at us. We have 400 cats between the sanctuary and fosters, and couldn't get anyone to provide the use of air conditioned vehicles with enough capacity to safely transport them (did you SEE pics of the parking lots that were the roads in Houston??? Many pets died from the heat while being stuck in traffic). I packed up my fosters and hit the road. She boarded up the windows and hunkered down. Her daughter was mad, but I completely respected her decision.

[MadrasT]

14. Fellow cat rescuer here

We have about that many cats between shelter & fosters, too (in PA, no hurricanes of that magnitude here, thank heaven).

I always worry about pets in homes and in shelters in these situations. Of course I worry for the people, too... but I can't help but think of the pets. Bless your director. We would have had several people doing the thing if it happened here.

Are you in a place likely to be impacted by Gustav now? :pals:

I did hear (I think it was at nola.com) that there was some evacuation transportation available in NOLA for people with pets this time around.

[Lisa0825]

15. We are within the cone of uncertainty, but it is looking like

we are almost certainly spared, barring a crazy turn of events. Sadly, the worse it looks for New Orleans, the safer I am... I hate that. :cry:

I am so glad I haven't have to make any decisions about leaving so far... I could easily crate 5 of my cats, but the other three were fully feral even though they were eventually tamed, and would have taken literally an hour each of chasing and corralling, in addition to bloody wounds, to get crated. They all love me, but it is so funny.... if I look at them the slightest bit funny, like when I want to put flea control on them, or if one has been sneezing and I want to give medicine, they instantly go back into feral mode and know what I am doing before I know myself. They will lay next to me on the bed, belly up, for snuggles, but they can detect the slightest ulterior motive... they are THAT smart!

So I was really dreading the thought of evacuating, and having the fleeting thought of whether it would be less traumatic to let the three stay, since I would be 80% sure that even with a storm surge, the furniture would stay high and dry... god, I hate even having to think about such things, but that is the reality you live with when you live near the coast.

[1]

16. don't take offense please, but god bless you ...

people don't think their simple acts of courage matter. they matter.

however big, however small.

thank you.

[Lisa0825]

17. Thanks :-)

:hug:

My cats are my family. I can't imagine being without them, and I couldn't live with myself if I didn't put their safety first.

That's why I hate that I even thought about leaving three of them... it's just knowing how much it would traumatize them to catch and crate and transport them for 15-20 hours that kills me... but no matter what, I definitely have their best interest at heart. I just hope if the day ever comes that the big one gets pointed at my home, I am able to do what I need to do, or that by some small miracle, they get over their fears and start to trust me more.

[1]

20. this is what everybody i know cannot understand about me...

my three dogs? my two kittens?

i wanted them to survive. if i do? fine. but i want them to survive more...

everyone of my family is a rescue that walked up to my door a dying animal. and we worked it out. we fed each other. no one died in my house. we all survived. we all took care of each other and loved each and every other and survived together.


i am going to abandon these wonderful creatures?



um.... no! fuck you!

[Lisa0825]

21. I completely understand....

I am the only human they have given any trust to. I only wish it wasn't so hard to earn so that it would be easier to do things they don't understand. My safety goes hand in hand with theirs.

[1]

22. exactly! thank you!

:hug:

[malaise]

13. I am certainly hoping that NOLA is spared

The sad reality is that somewhere on the mainland is about to face an unbelievable hit.

[tinrobot]

18. They deserve a miracle...