The last couple of weeks have been difficult, more for my wife than me. After putting off a trip to see family for over a year, she went to Louisiana for a 1 week visit on the 16th. It should have been safe enough, she is vaccinated and supposedly so were her brother and his wife, though actually, they only had the first shot.
Naturally, the day she arrived, her brother fell ill. 2 days later, my wife has breakthrough infection. Minor symptoms, but can’t travel for 10 days. So, 10 days after her positive test, Ida strikes Lafourche Parrish dead on. New Orleans airport remains closed. Stuck there another 4 days. Fortunately most people there have natural gas generators, but water pressure is very low, roads are dangerous, and stores and gas stations are empty. There is a dusk to dawn curfew.
Fortunately, my son was vacationing in Tennessee and made a side trip to pick her up and take her to an open airport in Alabama. She is boarding her flight home as I write this.
What a vacation.
16 years ago she was there for Katrina.
Tidewater News and Opinion Forum 
Geeesh, what did you do to anger the gods? Well fortunately it’s all working out in the end. It could have been much worse. My question would be how in the world did the area survive a direct hit as I would think it would be leveled? Must be homes of stone not sticks…
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The building standards are different.
Regarding wind, rather than water, it’s all about the roof. If the roof holds, the house stands. So, ceiling joists and rafters are secured to the walls with nailed on metal clips, not just toenails. Nail sizes and types securing the roof sheeting, soffit and fascia are more robust. If the wind gets under the roof the house is gone.
You’ll also a lot of hip roofs, very few gables.
If they built houses there like the do here, they’d go like dandelions.
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Actually, building code here requires hurricane straps, as they are called, too. Nailed many myself, tedious work. Wasn’t always that way but has been for at least 15+ years that I know of.
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Really sorry Don. That’s rough.
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Glad your wife is ok and coming home. How is your brother-in-law faring with COVID treatment in LA considering the devastation?
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Treatment was first rate, much better than they would have gotten here. They were all(BIL, SIL, & Wife) treated as soon as diagnosed with Regeneron antibodies and a few days later with corticosteroids. All recovered quickly. The big difference is that in LA, early, aggressive treatment by PCP’s is the norm rather than waiting until they are sick enough to go to the ER as is done here.
Property not so good, They lost their beach house on Grand Isle, farm buildings and their house was badly damaged due to wind driven water getting in under shingles.
But the storm was a direct hit, with 150mph winds. so water damage is a lot better than structural damage which can get you killed.
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Even good roof tie downs can’t save a house on a barrier island. I remember reading about a house in NC mountains that had twice lost its roof. The third roof was chained down. Chains.
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Glad to hear that things are moving forward in a positive manner.
I hope your LA family is able to recover form the devastating damage Ida hath wrought.
Prayers to you and yours.
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And your post’s title indicates a sense of humor necessary to make it through some of the tougher times. Bravo Zulu!
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Expect to see a lot of people relocating out of Louisiana.
It’s not just their homes that have been damaged, their jobs(those Biden had not already killed) are gone too. Commercial fishermen can get new boats, but with the wholesalers losing their infrastructure, there is no way to sell their catch. Sugar cane farmers can replant next year but with the mills destroyed, what do you do with the cane.
There were a lot of small manufacturing firms in Louisiana. The machines made to pick and process pineapples all over the world were made in Labadieville LA. Those businesses are mostly wrecked and may lose their skilled work force anyway.
So, with no house to live in and no job to go to, why stay? It will take a decade or more to recover. In many ways, this storm was much worse than Katrina. Katrina had a higher loss of life, but it destroyed New Orleans, where the primary sources of income were welfare, and government. Ida hit the parts of the State where the work is done.
We may see another Cajun Diaspora like we did in the early 80s
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“In many ways, this storm was much worse than Katrina.Katrina had a higher loss of life, but it destroyed New Orleans, where the primary sources of income were welfare, and government. Ida hit the parts of the State where the work is done.”
Couldn’t help but notice that when everyone was sympathizing with your family and offering thoughts, prayers, and general well-wishes, nobody first inquired as to Mrs. Tabor’s primary source of income to determine if her life had inherent value.
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Actually, she was employed most of her life.
I am not talking about the value of lives, but about the economic impact on the state.
NOLA contributed very little to wealth creation in the state compared to the area struck by Ida.
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And tourism contributes little to the economy of Virginia Beach (and a big portion of our region).
Defense
Tourism
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Again, I am speaking solely to the lasting effect on the State’s economy, not the value of lives lost.
I expect it will be harder for Louisiana to recover from this than from Katrina,
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I might be true that there will be an exodus. But really, is there any need to rebuild in an area that is obviously defenseless against recurring major storms. NO came out better because it is essentially an island surround by 30+ foot levees. We would need to do the same to Chemical Alley and all the small towns on tiny slips of land among the bayous. Or move inland.
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Most of the areas impacted this time had not been damaged like this since Hurricane Betsey in 1967.
It is an oddity in LA that the high land is closest to the bayous.
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