Hurricane Isaac 2012

I am very fortunate to have been in an area that did well surviving this storm.  I think the worst part of it is not only sitting through the high winds and driving rains, but worrying about if a tornado should hit or if the street starts flooding.  It is also not fun having various members of your family have to go off in different directions and not being able to get to them to help if they need it.  Losing electricity for several days is also not fun (food in the fridge spoils if you don't have enough ice and coolers) and temperatures can get uncomfortably high.  Additionally, high heat and high humidity are not a good combination for the elderly as A/C pulls moisture of the air.  When you don't have that and have breathing problems, it is not a good combination and can be life threatening.

Unfortunately, many people nearby my area did not do well.  The suffered the same nasty surprise in Plaquemines Parish as the people of the 9th Ward (where I grew up) and other parts of New Orleans did in Katrina, in that houses that have never flooded before now have 8 feet of water or more, with some water up to rooftops.  I can't imagine anything more scary than having to climb out on a roof when water is rising and the high winds and driving rains are still battering the area as many of these people did.

When the house my family owned in the 9th Ward flooded, volunteers from Catholic Charities came to help us clean it out of all the thing that could not be saved.  I hope to be able to find an organization that is accepting volunteers, either to help clean out houses or to help take care of pets of people who cannot house them due to having lost their homes.  Anyone who reads this, please consider donating to an organization that is helping the people of Lousiana or to any state (Florida and Mississippi as well) affected by this very damaging storm.

Below is an ATC I made for a swap about angels back in 2006, after the Catholic Charities volunteers came to clean out the house.  I don't even know many of their names, but their hard work and willingness to help really made a difference that I will never forget.