The downside is that they are now projecting all the way 'til Wednesday before we may get electricity back. Hopefully getting the cable & internet service up is meaning that we are a bit closer than that. Hell, after Katrina we had power up 4 days after the storm. We are on day 4 now.
My generator has been on 24/7 since 8 am Monday morning. It's an 8500, so it has plenty of power to handle the load that I need. But it is costing me about $70.00 a day to keep it running. And then there are the lines at the gas station that I am having to deal with on a daily basis, too. But hey...my electric bill should be way down this month, right?
The wife & kids are getting a little antsy about now...something to do with the heat and humidity in Louisiana in September with only fans to keep 'em cool, or something like that. Can't imagine why.
Water is still intermittant at best...but the pressure is starting to get a little better.
And then I find this little gem as the latest update in our parish :
Good thing that this was not a big one, huh?St. John Parish Recovery Information
Updates as of 6:30 pm, Friday, September 5, 2008
RE-ENTRY INFORMATION/PRECAUTIONS
DISTRIBUTION POINTS : Mobile Red Cross units will be on both the East and West Bank
**Westbank: Community Center, 173 East 3rd St in Edgard (meals and water) NOON
**Eastbank: State POD: Garyville Magnet School, 240 Hwy 54, Garyville, LA 70051. (Meals, Ice, Water) This center will be open from 8 AM to 4 PM.
SERVICES ARE FEW: Power is out in 82% of the parish. Sewerage service is unreliable until power is restored.
RIVER PARISHES HOSPITAL IS OPEN. Dialysis services are available.
STORES and BUSINESSES are open. (Also see: Open Businesses)
*CURFEW is still in place from 10 pm to 6 am. *Ammunition ban still in effect.
**A BURN BAN is in effect until further notice*
Be prepared to be ON YOUR OWN for several days. Those who can stay away for another day or two should.
GARBAGE COLLECTION: has resumed its regular schedule as of Thursday, September 4, 2008
**SCHOOLS: All schools in St. John Parish will be closed through September 9, 2008.
Monday, September 8, 2008 - All 12 month employees: Central Office, Principal, Administrators, Head Custodians, Cafeteria Managers have a meeting at 8:00am East St. John Elementary School
Tuesday, September 9, 2008 - All Employees (including all faculty and stall members at each school site)
Wednesday, September 10, 2008 - School Opens for Students
(Please note that this plan for Tuesday and Wednesday is contingent on power being restored to St. John Parish)
POWER: Entergy Outage Information - 16,254 (82%) customers are without electricity on the East and West Bank. Entergy has given St. John Parish an estimated finish date of September 10 to have power fully restored to the parish. Parish officials are working with Entergy to reestablish services. Upon return residents are asked to call 1-800-9-OUTAGE to report power outages.
WATER: Water is safe to drink parish wide.
SEWERAGE: Sewerage service is limited throughout St. John due to the lack of Power. Crews are working at returning these services to full capacity. PARISH OFFICIALS ASK THAT RESIDENTS minimIze use of their sewerage (take short showers, avoid washing dishes, and avoid using unnecessary water). President Hubbard ordered 12 tanker pump trucks to pump down sewer lift stations to help alleviate the problem. Utilities / Public Work Crews are working around the clock to manage the problem.
DEBRIS: Please begin cleaning your property upon your return. Place all debris on the curb of your property. Crews will be picking this debris over the next week or two. ***ST. JOHN DISASTER RECOVERY TEAMS are picking up debris parish wide.
PLEASE DO NOT PLACE DEBRIS IN THE DRAINAGE DITCHES AND CANALS. *Debris Management Crews are beginning the debris clean-up effort in full force. Crews will be working from 7am -7pm..residents are asked to begin cleaning their property and place their green debris in one pile at the edge of the road. Please separate green goods from white goods to assist in debris clean up.
CLOSED: Animal Shelter, Post Office, Libraries
*COURTHOUSE: All Criminal and Civil Courts are closed for the rest of the week. Criminal court that was set for LaPlace in Division A, on Monday, September 8, 2008 is reset to October 13, 2008 for the same time at the same place.
STREAMING LOCAL BROADCAST: maroonspoon.com/wx/gustav.html
