nc211 Posted August 31, 2005 Posted August 31, 2005 Blake! Good to hear you and your family are ok! If you or your family find yourselves in my neck of the woods, let me know. I'll hook ya'll up on some Carolina BB-Q. Hang in there amigo, I think it's going to be a bumpy ride from here on out. Keep us updated when you can, thoughts and prayers are with ya' Bubba.
SW03ES Posted August 31, 2005 Posted August 31, 2005 Great to hear from you Blake and I'm glad you got out, I was worried about ya. Hope your home and belongings are okay, let us know as soon as you know.
sha4000 Posted August 31, 2005 Posted August 31, 2005 the devastation in new orleans is tragic it seems like these storms are getting worse every year and now its affecting gas everywhere i believe that they said the body count could be over 1000
blake918 Posted September 1, 2005 Posted September 1, 2005 Wow cool pics Blake!! I am glad to see all of you guys are doing fine and that your property is hopefully intact. I havent been down south in years. Last time I went there was in like 96-98? I went to Panama City Fl. We use to go to Gulf Shores all the time and I think they got hit pretty bad. Glad to see eveyones doing well. :D thanks ← Thanks! I think the pics came out decently for having taken them in the midst of driving the car! lol It's something I do to amusme myself when I'm in the car for a long time. lol Jeez, that's got to be a helluva a ride to the Redneck Riveria from St. Louis! We take a yearly trip to Destin which is right by Panama. I think NW Florida and Gulf Shores get pummeled by hurricanes almost every year! They have it worse than we do most of the time. Thanks, ED! Blake! Good to hear you and your family are ok! If you or your family find yourselves in my neck of the woods, let me know. I'll hook ya'll up on some Carolina BB-Q. Hang in there amigo, I think it's going to be a bumpy ride from here on out. Keep us updated when you can, thoughts and prayers are with ya' Bubba. ← If I wasn't so far away, I'd take you up on your bbq offer! I wonder if it's as good as good as ours in LA?!?! :D :P Thanks your prayers and concern!! Great to hear from you Blake and I'm glad you got out, I was worried about ya.Hope your home and belongings are okay, let us know as soon as you know. ← It's great to hear from you too! I really appreciate your concern. We (as well as my grandparents that lived not too far away) were out in plenty enough time, so atleast it was a long 12 hours verses a long and stressful 12 hours. It was neat seeing all the dogs in the cars and at the gas stations we stopped at. It was the first time I saw a Pauli in person....very cool little dog! I could imagine it takes a dedicated owner for a dog with that kind of coat. I wasn't worried about my things since I had all of my favorite belongings with me in the car (LS400 first of all with the PC, garmin nav, my laptop (my picture collection in it), french horn, and plenty of clothes). The only thing I was worried about that had to be left behind was my power mac g4 cube since they don't make them any more and can't be replaced. My dad is actually on his way back from New Orleans now. With an amazing stroke of luck he made it to our neighborhood to check on the house. He figures that the white Suburban gave an official sort of look. All of the cops he passed just nodded and waved. lol What's so comical is that when I was listening to AM radio while evacuating, the Sheriff of Jefferson parish said that every car on the road headed in to the city is going to be challenged." lol My dad said our house is bone dry! The suburb we live in is Algiers which is one of the highest parts of the city. We have our own underground drainage system with multiple drains around the house with a pump that takes all of the water out to the street, so it helps keeps us really dry. The only damages he saw were a few shingles that flew off of the house, one of our fences blew down, and that's it! We were extrememely lucky!!! We even still have phone, gas, and water...so everything but electricity. My neighbors also had the same luck except for one who had a fence fall on his Q45-the roof is dented and scuffed, but nothing too, too bad. My dad had to park the car around the block and walk to the house since a downed pine tree was blocking our street. Before heading home, he checked out our closest friends homes, and they were all also dry. I want to thank everyone again for their prayers and support!
SW03ES Posted September 1, 2005 Posted September 1, 2005 Wow, with 80% of New Orleans under water I'd say you got lucky. I wonder if the city will ever be the same again...
hunthearin Posted September 1, 2005 Posted September 1, 2005 Hello everyone....this is my first post. Things are a bit rowdy here in Baton Rouge....population has doubled due to the refugees from New Orleans, and gas prices are rather high! :( The 96 LS400 is fine, no downed trees. Running fine as usual at 105,000 miles. Very quiet engine with the exception of a squeaky sound that i believe is a worn fan belt. Serviced 2 weeks ago but the sound still continues. Contact me if anyone has any suggestions. Thanks for your prayers and support for our region. Hunt
nc211 Posted September 1, 2005 Posted September 1, 2005 Wow, with 80% of New Orleans under water I'd say you got lucky.I wonder if the city will ever be the same again... ← As a commercial real estate lender, my experience with pollution exposure to property is a huge problem when attempting to secure funds to "rebuild, purchase, refinance, ect...". I fear with all of the flooding, there is no doubt all the UST "Underground storage tanks" in the area have failed to contain their chemicals "gasoline". When the flood waters drop, all of that fuel will settle where it falls, causing a huge environmental nightmare for decades to come. This does not include all the home based chemicals that were exposed with the flooding as well. The water table / foundations will no doubt be contaminated far beyond human tolerances for a long time. One of the many ugly truths of this is that government & the epa MUST relax some of it's requirements for New Orleans in the months & years to come before outside lenders will consider any piece of property as acceptable collateral. Or, the government must fund the rebuild entirely..aka...tax revenue. With the war going on, I don't think they can make that happen. This will most likely apply to residential lenders as well. Floods in the past have been associated with moving currents of water that will wash away the contamination down the river, out the mouth into the salt water of the ocean. This however, with New Orleans being -20 feet sea level creates a real problem for the "flushing" effect. The pumps will most likely pull from the bottom to drain the city, not from the top to skim the pollution out of the water. I hope the Army Corp of Engineers understand this when they fix the holes in the levee now, and start to drain the city. If they don't, or there is no other way to drain the city, it may never come back to it's full glory. Need to start a new career? Become an environmental engineer and move to New Orleans. Do I think it'll be the same? I pray so. But sadly, my gut instinct says no. I HOPE I'm wrong, I really do.
akewlguy Posted September 1, 2005 Posted September 1, 2005 Hey ladies and gents. Did you hear over the past 5 years New Orleans has lost one acer of swamp land every 24 seconds. Before this time that surved as a buffer for water levels. Some people are saying this made a difference. I would say Blakes family was smart or dumb luck. Their property was above sea level so good for you. I think the crazy people in the streets hit the !Removed! first. I know when I was in a riot everyone was drunk and doing things they would normally not due. On top of that no water/food or if they drank the dirty water would make them crazy. Last night I got an email from a friend who was one block from Gulfport shore: I lost everything in Katrina, but I am alive. We r running out of supplies and I will call when I can. I think people forget the damage is along 100 ground miles. This is not an isolated area so recovery and support takes time and about 50000 personal.
nc211 Posted September 1, 2005 Posted September 1, 2005 No doubt they've had some erosion, but I'm not so sure that reporter was right. That calculation comes out to roughly 6.6 million acres of land. That's a lot of land.
SW03ES Posted September 1, 2005 Posted September 1, 2005 nc- I think you're right on the money too, I sell residential real estate and I agree with you. The main issue with residential loans is going to be insuring the property in order to satisfy the lenders so that they will lend. This is going to be an unprecedented issue for our country and I personally think New Orleans will be a very different city, and possibly even in a slightly different location, when it is rebuilt. Our country has never gone through what we're going to have to go through to get this repaired...
JPI Posted September 2, 2005 Posted September 2, 2005 Blake, We called your cell and home phone no luck. We were getting worry. So glad that you are ok. If you need anything let us know. We will be here for you. Call me when you can. JP Importz
akewlguy Posted September 2, 2005 Posted September 2, 2005 As for the acer every 24 seconds I meant with property development. They were building on the swamps. Obviously to decrease the tax burden on the residence.
indiasfinest Posted September 3, 2005 Posted September 3, 2005 srry about ur loss of belongings...glad u kept ur eyes on the road when taking those pics
blake918 Posted September 3, 2005 Posted September 3, 2005 Wow, with 80% of New Orleans under water I'd say you got lucky. ← You're not kidding!! :D I should be getting some pics of the house soon, and I'll post them up for yall to see. Blake, We called your cell and home phone no luck. We were getting worry. So glad that you are ok. If you need anything let us know. We will be here for you. Call me when you can. JP Importz ← It's great to hear from you Jason! My cell hasn't worked in over a week, but I'll definantly give you a call once it does start working again. 504 numbers are pretty much all out of service. I appreciate your generosity very much! ;) srry about ur loss of belongings...glad u kept ur eyes on the road when taking those pics ← We didn't lose much, nothing that can't be replaced under our insurance policies. I'm just happy my parents still have their jobs....so many people aren't that lucky. The pic comment...
nc211 Posted September 6, 2005 Posted September 6, 2005 nc- I think you're right on the money too, I sell residential real estate and I agree with you.The main issue with residential loans is going to be insuring the property in order to satisfy the lenders so that they will lend. This is going to be an unprecedented issue for our country and I personally think New Orleans will be a very different city, and possibly even in a slightly different location, when it is rebuilt. Our country has never gone through what we're going to have to go through to get this repaired... ← yeah this is going to be huge. Even if everything is sold as a "quit claim" deed, the potential litigations between homeowner and gas station owner could be massive down the road. I would bet the government will issue "waivers" to lenders, releasing them from any sort of obligation to collateral value damage due to environmental contamination. Basically, a lender won't touch something that could put their "deep pockets" on the block to fix. If a borrower in 5 years buys a property, then finds out 2 years later that his ground is full of chemicals and his property isn't worth crap anymore, he will most likely walk away, defaulting the property to the lender. Then, the lender holds deed/title to a piece of property that is having a negative impact on the area....aka....open fly for lawsuit to clean up. Not to mention, how can an appraiser tell what the market is willing to pay for residential property now? All of the comparable sales prior to this horrible disaster will be skewed so badly that they'll not be valid. When I look at a deal, the first thing I do is ask about gas stations in the area. I order what is known as a "Phase 1" at $2,500-$3,000 a pop to determine ground soil conditions. I've had several borrowers spend $2,500 to only learn that I can't do anything for them. In some situations, a singe diesel tank has spilled 15-20 gallons of fuel under ground, contaminated the shopping center down gradiant to them, and destroyed the shopping center. Here in Raleigh, this was the exact case for an entire mall that was levelled, the ground soil dug up into a big pile of dirt to air out for 2 years, then rebuilt. All because of a few gallons of diesel fuel leak for 12 months from the neighboring gas station up the hill on the corner outparcel of the site. But, most likely the situation will be like the Montgomery Ward mall in Rocky Mount, NC. Rocky Mount was flooded big time back in 99 from Hurricane Floyd. The same situation where UST's failed, contaminated the site and caused massive damage to eastern North Carolina. This did have the "flushing effect" however, but the subject site was sitting in a bowl, like New Orleans. Montgomery Ward walked away from the site, closed doors, put wood on the windows and vanished from the site. The lender took the hit and elected to write off the loan and hire attorneys to defend themselves from legal claims. It is not until this year has progress been made on the site. The city basically gave the land and a massive tax incentive to Sam's Club to take the site as-is. They also waived all environmental liability to Sam's Club and waived all "zoning and compliance" regulations as well. The city basically paid Sam's Club to take the site and do what ever it wants to do with it. The city also agreed to pay for the environmental clean up phase of the project. 7 years later, the center will be torn down, ground dug up and replaced with new soil shipped in, and raised out of the "bowl" by 20 feet, for a Sam's Club anchored shopping center. Ground breaking in Jan. 2006. This is just one site, image 80% of a major city like this. It's just sad, very very sad. Blake, I feel for you and your family. You will have one heck of a story to tell to your grand kids some day.
RFeldes Posted September 7, 2005 Posted September 7, 2005 Doom And Gloom!! Not a pretty picture guys. How many feet of fresh soil would be needed in the low lying areas to make it feasable? Say 20'. I said "Low lying" because the French Quarter, their livelihood, for the most part, was not under water. The heartbeat, French Quarter, is still there and the limbs, "outlying areas" have been flooded and seriously polluted. We will all face a serious tragedy in the near future as it is far from over. This is definately a test of our national resolve to cure what ails us and stop the divide within our nation. Especially when they uncover the bodies and horrid pollution. The finger pointing and racial card will not play here. This is wake up call number two and we struck out again. Strike three and we are all out!!! Unless we come together and send a message to our local Governments and Washington. This was totally unacceptable on local, state and federal response. The days ahead will be a marker on the responsiblity and we will all figure it out, if we can read through the bipartisan/ racial /special interest politics. Remember, "We are One Nation Under God". I look forward and pray that the "Good Times Will Roll" once again in one of the most fun cities in the U.S.A. And some of the nicest people you will ever have met, If you have been there. Your Friggin Vote does count!!!Thanks America and the world for all your help.
nc211 Posted September 7, 2005 Posted September 7, 2005 Doom And Gloom!! Not a pretty picture guys. How many feet of fresh soil would be needed in the low lying areas to make it feasable? Say 20'. I said "Low lying" because the French Quarter, their livelihood, for the most part, was not under water. The heartbeat, French Quarter, is still there and the limbs, "outlying areas" have been flooded and seriously polluted. We will all face a serious tragedy in the near future as it is far from over. This is definately a test of our national resolve to cure what ails us and stop the divide within our nation. Especially when they uncover the bodies and horrid pollution. The finger pointing and racial card will not play here. This is wake up call number two and we struck out again. Strike three and we are all out!!! Unless we come together and send a message to our local Governments and Washington. This was totally unacceptable on local, state and federal response. The days ahead will be a marker on the responsiblity and we will all figure it out, if we can read through the bipartisan/ racial /special interest politics. Remember, "We are One Nation Under God". I look forward and pray that the "Good Times Will Roll" once again in one of the most fun cities in the U.S.A. And some of the nicest people you will ever have met, If you have been there. Your Friggin Vote does count!!!Thanks America and the world for all your help. ← Well said my friend...well said! This is just my opinion here guys, based upon my own experiences with hurricanes and contamination. I'm not sure how much soil it would take to be honest, or if it's really even needed since New Orleans sits below sea level. The city sits right on top of their water table, and I'm betting the soil is super damp. This might be of some help in the dilution of the chemicals. That close to the ocean, I'm betting the soil is of a brackish mix of fresh and salt water. Salt is your friend in this situation. It absorbs, it helps to break down the chemicals and it bonds...over time. I don't think you can dig up New Orleans due to it's elevation. Honestly, I think the only thing to do for long term success, and this will sound extremely cruel but not intended that way, is to get everyone out, drain the city, and burn down the 80% that was under water. Let the fires burn off the remaining surface chemicals. Then bulldoze the remains, aka, basically scrape the earth of everything. Then fill in the area with millons upon millons of tons of fresh soil and start over. I would also think a new levy system would be created. I've never understood why there is only ONE ring around the city...no second back up ring. I refuse to think that after 9/11 the idea of a terrorist attack on the existing levy wasn't put on the table in Washington? With a double ring, if the outer ring fails, the water flows in to fill the void between the outer and inner ring, and you pump it out. I'd have a 3 ring system after this disaster. On a more up beat note: As I've stated before, I have been through several hurricanes. In fact, I've never owned a car that didn't have a "ding" from a hurricane, and I'm 32 years old. But nothing like this one though. I can say with proof, there is a positive after effect to hurricanes. I know that sound horrible to say in light of what is going on today, but it is true. Wilmington, NC has be smacked several times over the past 10 years from hurricanes ranging from 1 - strong 3's. The first one was Bertha in 96...a weak 1. It trashed the city, really just tore it to pieces. But what it did do was destroy the weak / old structures, the dead trees and so forth. Then Fran hit a few months later, a strong 3. It tore Topsail Island "15 miles up the coast" to pieces as well. During the off season, the town cleaned up the mess and began to rebuild. Since then Wilmington has been hit by Bonnie, Floyd, Dennis and a few other.....no major damage done, not even a single ocean front house lost. The town had rebuilt itself with modern structures on modern technology and the local economy is BOOMING now! You can't get into a home down there for under $200k these days. A 1,400 square foot town house that sold 3 years ago for $120k is now selling for $275k. Point of the story: New Orleans will become one of the greatest cities in the world in a couple years. Mother nature could throw a category 10 hurricane right in it's lap, and the beer down on Bourbon street wouldn't stop flowing, infact it wouldn't even foam up! Mark my words: New Orleans will become one AWESOME city after this.
akewlguy Posted September 7, 2005 Posted September 7, 2005 It is terrible in New Orleans and may take a year for people even to be able to move back, but Beloxi will take 5-10 years. Keesler AFB will stay, but the casino boats will not be so quick to recover.
90LS400Lexus Posted September 14, 2005 Posted September 14, 2005 Yeah and now another Hurricane (Ophelia) is looming off of the North and South Carolina coasts. As of now, it looks like this one may graze southeastern North Carolina- an area like you mentioned has been hit by several hurricanes. It really is beautiful there. I was last there in 1994 and have been wanting to go back. I have family in Raleigh and when we go over to visit, we plan on driving on down to Wilmington. Hope everyone there stays safe. Its ironic, but on our local news, they mentioned that a lot of New Orleans residents were sent to this part of the state to the shelters. I bet this is the last thing they wish to see. I wish them all well. Wilmington, NC has be smacked several times over the past 10 years from hurricanes ranging from 1 - strong 3's. The first one was Bertha in 96...a weak 1. It trashed the city, really just tore it to pieces. But what it did do was destroy the weak / old structures, the dead trees and so forth. Then Fran hit a few months later, a strong 3. It tore Topsail Island "15 miles up the coast" to pieces as well. During the off season, the town cleaned up the mess and began to rebuild. Since then Wilmington has been hit by Bonnie, Floyd, Dennis and a few other.....no major damage done, not even a single ocean front house lost. The town had rebuilt itself with modern structures on modern technology and the local economy is BOOMING now!
nc211 Posted September 14, 2005 Posted September 14, 2005 This one isn't more than a beefed up tropical storm. I doubt more than a couple of trees go down, probably on top of a single-wide. But you know the media, and the media should play in part of the blame for Katrina's victims, they'll all take the same picture of the same downed tree and play it up like it was Katrina #2. Went and pulled the boat out of the water last night, most people aren't even doing that for this storm. The reason why I partially blame the media for Katrina is because they always seem to put such a massive build up on these storms, only to find that it really wasn't that bad. You cry wolf enough times, people stop listening and stop taking things seriously. When one does come along that is the real deal, like Katrina was, people will tend to think of the "cry wolf" scenario yet again. Geraldo Rivera needs to be beaten within an inch of his pathetic little life! I think if I ever saw him in Wilmington covering one of these storms I'd throw another chair at him like back in the 80's. And glue that stupid mustache to his as ! National news has this as Katrina, the sequel...local news has it as a windy, rainy day. In fact my buddies down there are grilling out right now, as the eye wall is skirting over them. From what I understand, it's steak, eggs and hashbrowns for breakfast this morning. edit: Of course, 6 hours after posting the original part of this, the storm is just sitting there with the eye about 6 miles off the coast. Leaving Wilm in the eye wall winds. So I could be wrong. :edit 90LS400Lexus, man if you haven't been back to Wilm since 94', boy are you in for a suprise! It's grown so much since then, you won't believe your eyes! Wilmington has been discovered, that's for sure. You can partially thank the show Dawson's Creek. Applications for UNC-W trippled when that show came out. In fact, it is now harder to get into UNC-W than it is to get into UNC-Chapel Hill. Go Seahawks baby! It's a great town! I'd love to return after my wedding next April.
benjatelcom Posted September 14, 2005 Posted September 14, 2005 All is well in Lafayette Lousiana. I am 135mi west of the hurricane eye wall path. Right now the area is housing tens of thousands of Catrina evacuees. Gasoline prices have remained steady, around 1.69-1.79 for premium lexus fuel. Our circuit switched voice (fixed and wireless) is completely maxed out. Thank goodness for Voice over IP and the statistical multiplexing of the Internet. My wife and I are offering our pasture space for equine evacuees as well, if you know anyone in need of it. The worst weather observed here was 20mph gusts, and some sparse rainbands with a dark sky. A good friend of mine is staying in Lafayette, evacuated early from Metarie LA, in the New Orleans area. He posted several pictures of his apartment here: Crescent City Supras.com It was a two story apartment. Its very informative, showing the interior destruction from flood and rainwater. Regards, Ben
RFeldes Posted September 15, 2005 Posted September 15, 2005 benjatel.com, I believe you meant 2.69 - 2.79 for fuel lest you wish to have a few million or so new neighbors looking for cheap fuel.
nc211 Posted September 21, 2005 Posted September 21, 2005 Here we go again.....Rita is her name...gettin' on my nerves is her game. Blake, you guys ok where you're at in Texas?
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