Turbulence

Last night’s warnings about severe weather proved all too true. A tornado tore through New Orleans in the wee hours of the morning. The swath of damage seems to go all the way from Westwego on the west bank of the Mississippi, across the river and through east back neighborhoods: Riverbend, Carrollton, Mid-City, Gentilly, Pontchartrain Park. Our home is unscathed. We’re not even among the 25,000 that have lost power. All the universities are closed. I was going to make a crack about how I came back here from Indiana to get away from such weather, but there’s really nothing funny about this. Homes are destroyed, people are injured, and at least one person killed.

Update: I rode my bike over to Northwest Carrollton mainly to see how my friend Karen made out. I really didn’t know what to expect.

It’s bad, y’all. I saw houses with roofs ripped off and worse. Karen’s place is all right, I think, but I heard her windshield got smashed by a tree limb. There is devastation all around that area.

I spent a little time helping a NW Carrollton neighbor (Debi) who lost her roof. She was moving most of her worldly possessions to Karen’s mother-in-law’s house, I think. Frankly I’m not sure of any of these details. There was a lot of activity, a lot of chaos, and a lot of people helping.

I didn’t do much, really, but I did get a free sandwich out of the deal.

Pump-blogger Matt McBride was there lending a hand. So was Derek Huston, who plays sax in the Iguanas and from whom we bought our house. I also saw Shelley Midura and Ray Nagin.

Howie’s got some pictures which show the devastation.

Update: Laureen has the write-up about NW Carrollton on Metroblogging New Orleans.