Katrina Update #22Katrina Update #22We are starting to heal emotionally and are enjoying activities together in what we have now dubbed the Evacuation Vacation. Adam and Megan have adopted The Juicy Peanut, a local bar as their temporary home for playing pool. Cary and I will be heading down there shortly in the hopes they will put the Packer game on one of the TVs.
On Thursday, some friends of Adam's came down for a visit. Adam has known them since 4th grade.
Pete, Anthony, Megan, and Pat come out of a corn field one block from where we are staying.
It was great to see them, and they pledged their support if we need anything - and they also pledged to visit New Orleans soon after we go back.
On Saturday we visited the St. Louis Gateway Arch.
St. Louis Gateway Arch
Busch Stadium from the Arch - note the new stadium being built to the left.
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The Old Courthouse in St. Louis - as seen from the Arch.
On the way back to Mascoutah we stopped at the Main Street Jazz & Blues Club in Belleville, Illinois. Adam and Megan met the person who built the club at the Juicy Peanut in Mascoutah. He said he was sent down to New Orleans by the owner and instructed to make the club look as much like New Orleans as possible. While the club did provide a certain amount of New Orleans ambiance, it missed the one thing that is critical to a New Orelans style bar: it needs to be in New Orleans.
Anyway, there was no entertainment that night, so Adam played while the rest of us provided an audience:
Janis and Megan, listening to Adam
Cary and Andrea listing to Adam.
Adam at the Piano at the Main Street Jazz and Blues Club in Belleville, IL.
Adam hasn't touched a keyboard since we left New Orleans, so it was cathartic for him, and a great experience for the rest of us. You can hear a sample of his playing in this movie (sorry about the graininess).
Janis and I received the greatest email from Andrea's father, who spent the last week composing it in English for us (a wonderful tribute in itself, we are told). Here it is:
Dear Rogers family,
In the unlikely and unexpected circumstances, like the one that you all went through, is when the quality of the human being is reflected, their noble spirit, value and generosity. All of these and more is what you have demonstrated.
From our dearest daughter, Andrea, we had the knowledge of the virtues that your family possesses, today we have them confirmed.
On behalf of us, the Pardo-Garay family, we want to let you know our solidarity in the rough times you are going through, wishing that they no longer occur. We sincerely hope for you all to have a bright future, filled with joy and happiness as you so rightly deserve so.
We are sending you our eternal thanks for the kindness you've had with Andrea and Andres. Your help was vital for them to overcome this hard test.
Thanks for all the support to our children.
Sincerely,
Guillermo, Patricia, Guillermo Jr. and Sergio
Guayaquil, September 9, 2005
Seeing that Andres and Andrea got to safety was our pleasure, and it is a delight to have Andrea traveling with us.
I found some potentially bad news on the Times-Picayune site. A Louisiana state fisheries biolgist flew over the area southeast of New Orleans where the eye of the hurricane went before hitting Slidell and Waveland. Here is a portion of his report:
From 300 feet in the air the scenes and smells of what had once been one of the world's most prolific and storied fisheries carried one message: Gone.
Legendary fishing villages intricately woven into the unique culture of the region lay in ruins, flattened into mounds of debris, much of it floating in black, fetid water. Places that had provided priceless memories to generations of metro area residents are now graveyards for homes, camps, boats, marinas, fish houses, processing plants, human lives. Shell Beach and Delacroix Island, Buras and Venice, Port Sulphur and Hopedale: Gone.
Every acre of solid land that had served fishers and the fishing businesses before Aug. 29 has felt Katrina's wrath.
Hopedale is where I had my boat. Shell Beach is where Coop had his boat. I had a client that had a marina project underway in Delacroix. It's all gone now. I suppose there is a slight chance my boat survived, but I won't be able to find out for some time. Anyway, any of you who procrastenated in going fishing with me – well, it might be too late.
But the bad news is not just for Coop and myself, but for anyone who likes seafood. The article continues:
"The infrastructure for the fishing industries - recreational as well as commercial - are just gone," he said. "This is beyond anything I expected.
"Even if you were a fisherman with a boat, where would you launch? Where would you get gas? Where would you bring your catch? Where would you live?
"We're talking about assessments of the damage? It's complete, total. If there's any good news, it may be that the marsh doesn't look too torn up."
Fisheries and environmental officials have long known that a frontal assault by a Category 3 or stronger hurricane could deal a devastating blow to their precious and valuable resource. The marshes that surround New Orleans are the engines that power the most dynamic seafood machine in North America, producing fully 35 percent of the oysters, 46 percent of the shrimp and 28 percent of the blue crabs consumed in the nation. The combined value of the recreational and commercial fisheries is almost $2 billion per year, state Department of Wildlife and Fisheries officials said.
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