two days in the life of rita

[turdpolisher1]

i just spent two days with rita. my sat truck will never be the same.

we were not all that excited about driving up rita's ass-end. the eye was already on land, but as we approached lafayette, it was clear rita still packed a big punch. she threw my ford econoline van with all its fancy electronics and heavy generators and transmitters from lane to lane on interstate 10 like a kid with a hot wheel racer.

in lake charles, winds were even more intense. you haven't lived until you try crossing a 200 ft. high bridge in a sat truck with 80 to 90 mph crosswinds...twice!

lakeshore drive was more lake than shore. downtown was a ghosttown. everyone with any brains left two days ago. few storefronts escaped with their windows in tact. masses of mangled miniblinds waved through busted-out windows, occasionally releasing a slat or two. they flew through the air like arrows and made eerie music as they clattered acorss the black top.

read the rest @: www.turdpolisher.blogspot.com (http://www.turdpolisher.blogspot.com)

[texshooter]

You were lucky to get across the bridge, by the time we got there Saturday morning, LADOT had already closed it because barges had hit the supports. You were also lucky you didn't wind up like the 18 wheeler 20 miles back up I-10 in Orange, that was on it's side in the median. Overall the destruction I saw was not has bad as Biloxi after Katrina, where the Treasure Bay Casino was pushed 200 yards downshore and split open like a pinata, and the President Casino was tossed 1/2 mile inland where it hit the Holiday Inn.

[MOShooter]

I agree with you that Lake Charles wasn't hit as bad as the MS coast, but the difference is that Lake Charles and Sulphur are not coastal cities. If there was one thing that frustrated me more watching the cable nets on Sunday, while resting from this trip, was that they were totally ignoring Cameron Parish. Lake Charles is 30 or so miles inland, so they didn't get the tidal surge. Yesterday I was on the ground in Cameron with Lt. Gen. Honore. He called it the same as Biloxi and Gulfport. This is where I grew up, and my parents still live there. It was tough to be down there, but I requested that I be sent, because I'm the only one at my station who knows that area, and I doubt that anyone in the media knows that area the way I do. Last night on Nightline they showed film from Hurricane Audrey in 1957, which was the last major hurricane to hit that area, and this was worse. Audrey actually left homes standing, maybe not in the same place that they started, but they were there. Yesterday I saw that most of the homes have been obliterated. A nearly clean slab where a brick home once stood. Find a shot of Holly Beach; that area was covered with structures, but now the only evidence that anything was there are the splintered pilings that most of the camps and homes were built on. Aerial video only looks half as bad as what it looks like on the ground. I sat with my family and reviewed the footage we had recorded from CNN and Fox, and what we saw had us thinking that it might not be that bad. We saw buildings that we knew that looked like they had fared better than we had hoped. Yesterday I found that just about everything will have to be knocked down and rebuilt. My family is lucky in that my parents home is still standing and we can go in and possibly recover some items. Ninety percent of the people who live there will come home to nothing but a lonely brick or board.

[Mighty Dyckerson]

Well coonass, you're a dipsh*t for going. What the hell is wrong with you? Are you expecting a prize for making it??

[texshooter]

Originally posted by Mighty Dyckerson:
Well coonass, you're a dipsh*t for going. What the hell is wrong with you? Are you expecting a prize for making it?? Coonass went there because it is his job, as it is mine, and MOShooter. You see dickhead, we actually WORK in this business.

Now go back to Medialine and annoy people.

[ September 27, 2005, 07:58 PM: Message edited by: texshooter ]

[Mighty Dyckerson]

I will annoy people any damn place I want. And I know it's his job. If your job requires you to risk your life - for little pay - then maybe, just maybe, it's time to find another line of work. Let's see... where else could you get paid to eat Twinkies and fart in a company vehicle all day?

[ September 28, 2005, 09:59 AM: Message edited by: Mighty Dyckerson ]

[MOShooter]

dyckerson,
i've been riding out storms on the la coast all my life. i won't risk my life for a story. i don't know if you read the whole story or not. but i ain't braggin'. i do go into dangerous situations nearly every day. the people from these areas evacuated to baton rouge. they want to know what they have to go home to. it's not just my job, it's my duty to use the talents that god gave me to give those folks some comfort if i can.

[turdpolisher1]

sorry, that last post is mine. didn't know moshooter was logged on in my computer.
coonass

[BluesDaddy]

DON'T FEED THE TROLL!!!
If a rabid racoon came up on your porch, would you put out a plate of shrimp for it? Of course not. If Mighty Byckersome posts, ignore it. By responding to him, you feed his rabid ego. IGNORE! IGNORE! He has never posted the smallest shred of usefulness on this board. Ignore and maybe he'll go away.

[texshooter]

Originally posted by BluesDaddy:
DON'T FEED THE TROLL!!!
If a rabid racoon came up on your porch, would you put out a plate of shrimp for it? Of course not. If Mighty Byckersome posts, ignore it. By responding to him, you feed his rabid ego. IGNORE! IGNORE! He has never posted the smallest shred of usefulness on this board. Ignore and maybe he'll go away. Best advice yet.

[turdpolisher1]

monday, mike and kenny went back. this time they htched a ride with lt. gen. honore, who is in charge of the recovery efforts across the louisiana coast. after shooting their report for the day, mike and kenny had a few minutes to look around. they were just a few blocks from mike's boyhood home. kenny grabed the camera and documented mike's search.

watch mike's story:
http://media.swagit.com/s/wbrz/The_Advocate/09272005-20.html

[Mighty Dyckerson]

Originally posted by texshooter:
quote: Originally posted by BluesDaddy:
DON'T FEED THE TROLL!!!
If a rabid racoon came up on your porch, would you put out a plate of shrimp for it? Of course not. If Mighty Byckersome posts, ignore it. By responding to him, you feed his rabid ego. IGNORE! IGNORE! He has never posted the smallest shred of usefulness on this board. Ignore and maybe he'll go away. Best advice yet. No, that would be bad advice. Better to embrace the teachings of Dyckerson and accept the truth. Until you do, you are doomed to a meaningless life of sin and misery.

[Frank McBride]

Here in Houston we have been consumed first by Katrina and all the evacuees that came here, and now by Rita and all the people whose lives are in turmoil resulting from that storm.

Is the rest of the country focused on these stories to the same extent we are here? I see it on the national news every night, so I assume there is some national interest. How do you folks far away from the hot, angry waters of the gulf see these stories? Is it high interest, or is it enough already?

FMc