escape from New Orleans
You know it's a big deal when Dubya cuts his vacation short by two
days and 123 WalMarts are closed. As all of you have heard, New
Orleans and the surrounding area have been devastated by hurricane
Katrina. I wanted to reassure everybody that I safely evacuated to an
old friend's house in Houston, and it looks as though I will not be
returning to Tulane Medical School anytime too soon. With the breach
of the levee and the flooding of the city, I would be extremely
surprised if New Orleans is capable of supporting much life before
January, which leaves the rest of this school year in doubt...
fortunately, things could have been much worse had the hurricane
scored a direct hit upon the city with category 5 winds, as everyone
expected. My original plan was to stay and help out at the Tulane
University Hospital, which is next door to my apartment building (and
three blocks from the Superdome). On Sunday morning, however,
meteorologists were predicting tornado-force wind gusts, toppling
skyscrapers, and forty foot storm surges. I wasn't going to be much
help to anybody as another casualty or refugee in the Superdome. It
took 27 hours (without an air conditioner) to get to Houston
(including three hours of rest), and it took almost eight hours simply
to get on the contraflow I-10 West (how often do you get to drive the
wrong way down the interstate? Didn't they do that in The Matrix?)
from the downtown campus. I have never been so afraid for my life as I
was sitting there in my truck, not moving for hours on end, knowing
that in less than 24 hours the surge would be 20 feet overhead. I was
grateful, at least, that I wasn't in competition with everyone else on
the road for gasoline, as there wasn't a drop to be had in all of New
Orleans as of Sunday afternoon. We simply pulled into the parking lot
of a boarded-up restaurant and pumped 40 gallons of grease from their
waste dumpster. No shortage of that in New Orleans!
days and 123 WalMarts are closed. As all of you have heard, New
Orleans and the surrounding area have been devastated by hurricane
Katrina. I wanted to reassure everybody that I safely evacuated to an
old friend's house in Houston, and it looks as though I will not be
returning to Tulane Medical School anytime too soon. With the breach
of the levee and the flooding of the city, I would be extremely
surprised if New Orleans is capable of supporting much life before
January, which leaves the rest of this school year in doubt...
fortunately, things could have been much worse had the hurricane
scored a direct hit upon the city with category 5 winds, as everyone
expected. My original plan was to stay and help out at the Tulane
University Hospital, which is next door to my apartment building (and
three blocks from the Superdome). On Sunday morning, however,
meteorologists were predicting tornado-force wind gusts, toppling
skyscrapers, and forty foot storm surges. I wasn't going to be much
help to anybody as another casualty or refugee in the Superdome. It
took 27 hours (without an air conditioner) to get to Houston
(including three hours of rest), and it took almost eight hours simply
to get on the contraflow I-10 West (how often do you get to drive the
wrong way down the interstate? Didn't they do that in The Matrix?)
from the downtown campus. I have never been so afraid for my life as I
was sitting there in my truck, not moving for hours on end, knowing
that in less than 24 hours the surge would be 20 feet overhead. I was
grateful, at least, that I wasn't in competition with everyone else on
the road for gasoline, as there wasn't a drop to be had in all of New
Orleans as of Sunday afternoon. We simply pulled into the parking lot
of a boarded-up restaurant and pumped 40 gallons of grease from their
waste dumpster. No shortage of that in New Orleans!