SuperBalla Posted July 1, 2006 Share Posted July 1, 2006 to our old fishing camp since Katrina. My Dad and I had a fishing camp in the Breton Sound Marina which is southeast of New Orleans on the St. Bernard Parish Peninisula. See this pic...and notice its path. I am bringing a digital camera and video camera to film what I see. I hear the fishing has been awesome but it is still a disastor. It sucks to go back to a place that you grew up at that was absolutely eradicated. My friend, who is going with us, went last week and tore the fish up. He told me that one of the fishing guides there, named Glen, stayed through the storm , in St. Bernard and survived to talk about it. In fact, he was stranded for two days inwhich he chewed on a button to keep saliva in his mouth. The ARMY eventually rescued him but I hear it is unbelievable...I'll be sure to share it with you all. I'll be passing by downtown New Orleans, Metairie, Chalmette...and then St. Bernard. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chargerz Posted July 2, 2006 Share Posted July 2, 2006 It will probably be very eerie for you to see those areas now. Here's hopin' you have a safe trip!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuperBalla Posted July 2, 2006 Author Share Posted July 2, 2006 (edited) It will probably be very eerie for you to see those areas now. Here's hopin' you have a safe trip!! I just walked in and I am unpacking but do I have two unbelievable stories of two men that in absolute sheer desporation managed to survive. They both, somehow out smarted nature...however...the thought of staying in hell's way is intellectually questionable....but...nonetheless they are brilliant stories. There is no way that I can compare what I saw in Gulfport MS. to New Orleans. They received two totally different blows. One MASSIVE wind and surge (Gulfport MS)...the other winds and MASSIVE surge (new Orleans). Both were and are horrific. I'll tell more soon. Edited July 2, 2006 by SuperBalla Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuperBalla Posted July 3, 2006 Author Share Posted July 3, 2006 (edited) Okay... Story 1 When: August 29th 2005 6:45 am Where: Verret, Louisiana Zoom out twice to get a good look Who: Breton Sound Marina Captain/Guide Glenn S. (privacy sake last name left off) Glenn walks out his mother's home where he is staying to round up trash cans that are blowing in the yard. As he walks down her drive way he notices he is splashing through 3" rain water or so. He notices ahead a small wave that he described as "a lil' 10" wave...creeping up the drive" and it hit him that the levee broke. He turned around and ran back to the house and by the time he reached the porch he was in 1.5'-2' of water. He ran up the steps and inside and grabbed his pistol, wallet, put on a life jacket, and had some brief case/box (irrelevant...perhaps personal belongings) and sprinted back out to find 3'-4" water and rising. He waded out to her car port and jumps in his boat which he said "It was floating in my trailor rails and I remember it pinching my foot as I tried to climb in." He scrambled into the boat to find it is about to smash into his carport roof so he digs into his storage boxes and finds a filet knife and proceeds to cut the strap and released the boat from the trailor. His boat is getting smashed as it bounces its way out of the carport and is now freely floating into the woods...he says at times he guessed he was moving at 10 knots by just the waves and wind. He says he headed towards the woods and he knew he was there when the boat bounced back and forth smashing into trees and he says that he looked at his watch and it was 8:45am. Drifting aimlessly he crawled up to his compass and saw he was heading West North West...he was still riding the surge in land. He said that by 2 pm the winds were insane and he crawled under his center console as the debris flying crushed through his plexi-glass windshield and peppered him. Somehow he rode, buried in his boat, for 24 hours. He said he was so thirsty but he knew better than to drink the water. He ripped off a shirt button and he said he chewed on it to help promote saliva in his mouth. Somehow that evening...still in his boat the nose of his boat got lodged under a carport of a house but the waves kept crashing and it launched him from the boat onto the roof of the house. The next morning he waited...that evening waited...that night...waited...that morning...waited and finally that evening the Army picked him up. Three days he was lost and survived. Edited July 3, 2006 by SuperBalla Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DMD Posted July 3, 2006 Share Posted July 3, 2006 Bet he leaves a case of water in his boat from now on. It must have been rather surreal for him but thankfully he survived it. That is reducing life down to the most basic level - pretty terrifying I am sure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuperBalla Posted July 3, 2006 Author Share Posted July 3, 2006 (edited) The next story is somewhat similar to the first but...simply amazing. There is a man that I didn't meet, but I was told the story by a credible person. He said that a 62 year old man stayed at Breton Sound Marina, in his home. He was a shrimper his entire life and he wasn't leaving. Now this guy was smart...welll...considering that he stayed during Katrina on a Louisiana Penninsula... . Hell was coming and apparently this man knew it. He put his life jacket on and he grabbed a rope. He tied the rope around his waist and stuffed the other end of it into his life jacket. It was early morning when the surge...estimated at 35' was rifling up the Ship Channel wiping out structures everywhere. Infact, I saw today, a three wheeler...2 miles out in the marsh along with a tanker railroad car, and trailor, and part of a rig that could have came from offshore. Anyway...this fellow is apparently expecting the worse and he gets it. This 35' wave/surge smashes his house to pieces and this ol' guy is washed out and carried across the spillway. Somehow he gets lodged in a tree and he pulled out the rope and tied himself to the tree. He claims that there were atleast a dozen critters in the tree too like Racoons, Possum, Cats, and who knows...he said whenever the critters moved to one side of the tree he did too and lived to tell people about it. 3 days later he was pulled out of this tree...38' in the air...still tied to the tree. They say he kept a cat that hung with him...simply amazing. Edited July 3, 2006 by SuperBalla Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spain Posted July 3, 2006 Share Posted July 3, 2006 The next morning he waited...that evening waited...that night...waited...that morning...waited and finally that evening the Army picked him up. Three days he was lost and survived. I know how he feels. I have been in Chicago since Friday morning... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twiley Posted July 3, 2006 Share Posted July 3, 2006 Amazing stories Balla. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nuke'em ttg Posted July 3, 2006 Share Posted July 3, 2006 good thing Glenns a guide or he may have been toast........ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big John Posted July 3, 2006 Share Posted July 3, 2006 wow. Amazing stories. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuperBalla Posted July 3, 2006 Author Share Posted July 3, 2006 They were frightning to hear and picture...but seeing the destruction...I know it was true. I hope I was right chronologically...I tried to take mental notes of what he said. I have to admit...the damage I saw at Rajn's was worse than I saw through New Orleans...I can't explain it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bushwacked Posted July 3, 2006 Share Posted July 3, 2006 (edited) They were frightning to hear and picture...but seeing the destruction...I know it was true. I hope I was right chronologically...I tried to take mental notes of what he said. I have to admit...the damage I saw at Rajn's was worse than I saw through New Orleans...I can't explain it. As someone who has experienced my favorite childhood places obliterated by forest fires, minus the whole death thing (for the most part, but that's another story), I can still barley relate to whole Hurricane thing. Edited July 3, 2006 by bushwacked Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaxfactor Posted July 3, 2006 Share Posted July 3, 2006 Thanks for the amazing stories SB. Hopefully you can give us more. God bless the people there who survived. I was told that out of one million people who lived in New Orleans, only 300,000 have come back. I don't know if that is the city or surrounding areas included but it's only 30% and you probably see why first hand. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twiley Posted July 3, 2006 Share Posted July 3, 2006 I was told that out of one million people who lived in New Orleans, only 300,000 have come back. That's because they're all in Houston. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuperBalla Posted July 3, 2006 Author Share Posted July 3, 2006 (edited) Thanks for the amazing stories SB. Hopefully you can give us more. God bless the people there who survived. I was told that out of one million people who lived in New Orleans, only 300,000 have come back. I don't know if that is the city or surrounding areas included but it's only 30% and you probably see why first hand. New Orleans East and south looked like a ghost town. Metairie and the Causeway area was actually pretty congested. It isn't the same and won't be as long as the nation forgets about what happened. It is a shame too...New Orleans is a wonderful place...to bad beauracracy let it down. That's because they're all in Houston. A few are chillin in Baton Rouge too. I don't blame many of them for not returning...the trash is just piled up...all over the place. Terrible... I haven't heard in a while how our New Orleans huddlers are doing? Tbimm, Slayer, and others? Edited July 3, 2006 by SuperBalla Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twiley Posted July 3, 2006 Share Posted July 3, 2006 New Orleans East and south looked like a ghost town. Metairie and the Causeway area was actually pretty congested. I've got some pictures of NO East and South when we were down there in Feb...pretty sad. I remember that we had to drive out to Metarie at 2am to get some food because most of the kitchens were either shut down for the evening or straight up closed. Sad day in New Orleans when you have to drive 5 miles out of the city to get some food. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuperBalla Posted July 3, 2006 Author Share Posted July 3, 2006 Sad day in New Orleans when you have to drive 5 miles out of the city to get some food. Ain't that the truth. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuperBalla Posted July 3, 2006 Author Share Posted July 3, 2006 When I drove through the Murphy Oil tank farms (that leaked petro all through parts of the city) you could still smell fuel. I wonder what is up with that? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tbimm Posted July 3, 2006 Share Posted July 3, 2006 New Orleans East and south looked like a ghost town. Metairie and the Causeway area was actually pretty congested. It isn't the same and won't be as long as the nation forgets about what happened. It is a shame too...New Orleans is a wonderful place...to bad beauracracy let it down. A few are chillin in Baton Rouge too. I don't blame many of them for not returning...the trash is just piled up...all over the place. Terrible... I haven't heard in a while how our New Orleans huddlers are doing? Tbimm, Slayer, and others? Hey Balla i'm still here and trying to hang with all the rebuilding. I have been checking in here regular but with Dad being sick I have been rather busy so I havent been posting much. As far as comparing the destruction of the various areas that were hit, thats very hard to do! The area where your camp was had very little that was spared. Where Rajun lives it took out those first few blocks and houses of his elevation were spared to the extent that they could be rebuilt. In New Orleans East and the 9th ward most everything was flooded. But it was a slow flood so unless you were right at a levee breach most of the buildings remained standing. If you make your way to the Lakeview area where the 17th st canal levee broke it looks like a nuclear bomb went off. Lakeview is an area where there was a decent amount of money yet very little has been rebuilt closer to the breach. Balla it saddens me to say this but this city will NEVER be the same. I really dont know how much longer I will stay. It really depends on when we start to see progress. New Orleans is a very difficult place to live these days and that was never the case for me before Katrina Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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