[SEL] Rita

[Pete Alleman]

Hi Mick,

On Sat, Sep 24, 2005 at 07:32:37AM -0400, Mick DeMaria wrote:
>   How are you guys fairing the storm? My sister lives in Lafayette we 
> haven't heard from her since yesterday but I suspect it's probably due 
> to power outages.

It is not too bad. I just walked a few blocks here in Youngsville (a small
neighbouring town to Lafayette) and saw just minor damage. I lost about 50
shingles from my house, all scattered and not causing any leaks. There are
lots of small broken tree limbs around. There was concern about flooding
but I haven't heard of any problems in the Lafayette area.

We lost cable (and Internet access) at about 2 AM. The power flickered and
flashed many times during the night and finally quit for good around 5
AM.  Power and cable came back on around 3 PM. Lafayette had about 25,000
homes without power but I think I heard that most of the power has been
restored.

The phone system is still a mess. Both land-lines and cell systems are
overloaded making communication very difficult. Local authorities are
recommending email or text messaging as better methods of communications.

There are still many blocked roads due to downed power lines and trees.

Check out http://www.katc.com for local news.

Pete.

-- 
Pete Alleman - Lafayette, Louisiana, USA
	pja at ralph.lafayette.la.us
	HTTP://ralph.lafayette.la.us