Cuba now resumes tentative recovery from weeks of damaging seasonal storms. Two hurricanes have made landfall just eight days apart. Most recent was yesterday`s arrival of Hurricane Ike, which made its way across the southern coast. Coming on the coat tails of Tropical Storm Fay and Hurricane Gustav, the National Hurricane Center reported that Ike yielded 80-mph winds, torrential rains and waves as high as 50 feet.

As the storm moves inland, it has been downgraded from a Category 3 hurricane to a Category 1. The Cuban News agency reports that 12% of its population has undergone evacuation, including over 10,000 tourists taken into safety. Damage from Hurricane Ike hit most profoundly upon impact, with coastal storm surge flooding reported 4 to 7 feet above normal levels, and rainfall accumulations of 6 to 12 inches. CNN reports that at least 1,000 homes have been destroyed; however, the government fears continued flooding and landslides will damage fragile housing and historical building infrastructure.

Many residents report this storm season as the worse series of weather events experienced in their lives. State television reports that much of eastern Cuba is without electricity, and phone service remains unreliable. Forecasters believe Ike will continue to strengthen as it moves into the Gulf of Mexico by Tuesday evening. Texas and Mexico are now preparing for Ike`s arrival, and tropical storm warnings have been issued for the Florida Keys.

The Town Talk has compiled a list of contacts for businesses needing help after Gustav.  The information is divided by area and includes phone contacts for business assistance throughout much of the state.

This morning, the lines at the very few open gas stations wrapped around the block. However, by late afternoon, enough gas stations opened so that there is now very little wait. Photo credit: Sigmund Solares

Read the rest of this entry »

The shores of Cuba take a pounding from storm surges. (Public domain image)

The damage to Cuba was extremely bad. According to the SF Chronicle, winds were at 150 mph as Gustav passed over the island nation.

Seeing television coverage of his own country, according to the Telegraph (UK), the former Cuban leader Fidel Castro was reminded of Japan’s shattered cities after WW2.

A Gazette (Montreal, Canada) story says more than 86,000 homes in Cuba were destroyed.

Monsters and Critics has a photo gallery of hurricane damage in Cuba.

St. Tammany Parish

St. Tammany Parish opened for re-entry today at 6am.  Although the parish government website initially stated that flooding was not too extensive, the lakefront got hammered by water.  An early inspection of the water systems showed them in fair condition, but , there is a boil order in effect and there is no power.  They also make note that many businesses aren’t going to be open, so those returning should not expect to find food, fuel, or any other supplies available locally.

Tangipahoa Parish

According to various sources, Tangipahoa Parish is open for re-entry.  As for water, they’ve issued a voluntary boil advisory.  The Tangipahoa Parish Homeland Security / Emergency Preparedness office website will issue a statement sometime today.

Assumption Parish: No Power for 4-6 Weeks

2TheAdvocate.com is reporting that there will not be power in Assumption Parish for more than a month.

Iberia Parish News and Government Hard at Work

The Daily Iberian has weathered the storm and is keep their web site up to date with news from the ground.  Their latest update says they hope to determine a date for return by midday tomorrow.

One New Iberia resident who’d been born and raised there, said he’d never seen it flood like this.

Iberville Parish Has No Power

And in addition to that, the parish’s emergency preparedness office was badly damaged.

President Bush has announced via the Department of Homeland Security that federal assistance is now availiable for the following parishes:  Acadia, Allen, Ascension, Assumption, Avoyelles, Beauregard, Cameron, East Baton Rouge, East Feliciana, Evangeline, Iberia, Iberville, Jefferson, Jefferson Davis, Lafayette, Lafourche, Livingston, Orleans, Plaquemines, Pointe Coupee, Rapides, Sabine, St. Bernard, St. Charles, St. James, St. John the Baptist, St. Landry, St. Martin, St. Mary, Terrebonne, Vermilion, Vernon, West Baton Rouge, and West Feliciana.

Just read a story indicating that there is a fourth storm forming in the Gulf and more are likely to come:

Hurricane experts say all the weather ingredients, which normally fluctuate, are set on boil for the formation of storms. And it’s going to stay that way for a while… (Read more from MyWay here)

Indian Country has an update today about St. Mary Parish.  Note that this information may not reflect any government statements.  The safety information in the article is this:  It’s unknown when it will be safe to return to the area.

NOLA.com has this:  Only nine homes were found heavily damaged as of noon today, and evacuation compliance was good in St. Mary Parish.

More parish updates will follow.

We often get asked, “What should we do if we want to keep our business open during a hurricane?”

The short answer is, simply, DON’T!  Seriously, don’t do it unless you have a very good reason that borders on a public service. It’s just not worth it.

That said, we listed our supplies on hand for Hurricane Katrina, and those were about the same for Gustav.  What you’ll read below are more in the way of making the experience more bearable and improving our tools. Read the rest of this entry »

Lafourche and Terrebonne parishes have each been keeping their web sites updated with relevant information for their citizens.  If you or a loved one lives in either of these parishes, here’s what to know:

Lafourche Parish’s website is here.  Terrebonne Parish’s website is here.

Residents in Lafourche Parish can now return home, but must still respect curfew after 10pm.  As of 2pm Tuesday, there was no power anywhere in the parish.  There is damage to trees and power lines, and many other hazards.  There is no estimate on cleanup or power restoration yet.

911 service exists for those with working phones in Lafourche Parish.

Residents in Terrebonne Parish cannot return home until Friday at noon because of the extent of the damage.  All water must be boiled before drinking it for anyone who happens to be there.  Damage to the infrastructure in Terrebonne Parish is extensive.

Unfortunately, St. Mary Parish is not yet utilizing the web in the same manner.  We are told that the news is reporting these three parishes are among the worst-hit by Gustav, so there’s a lot of things more important for their governments to do right now besides blogging.

During Katrina there were a lot of issues with dogs without owners and other animal issues. However, we did not see anything close to the amount of animal control issues this time.

However, we did see a bird who entered our building in an apparent effort to avoid Gustav die as a result. Also we ran into a dog roaming free with no owner in sight. Photos below.

Though New Orleans was largely spared, and although we in New Orleans are inclined to judge a hurricane by comparing it to Katrina, this was no pansy of a storm. According to the USA Today (via The Advertiser) the damage may add up to ten billion dollars.

Westar Energy, the big utility company for Kansas, announced today that it is sending 35 employees including linemen and support staff to assist Entergy with the damage it sustained during Hurricane Gustav. They will hit the road tomorrow morning at 10am, according to the Westar press release. The release also said that many contract-based tree trimming providers are being allowed to pause their agreements with Westar to come provide assistance. The crews will head to Dallas first, and then to Louisiana.

Around noon today we noticed commotion across the street from our data center. Several police cars pulled up to two males who were sitting on the ground across the street near two bicycles. One of the guys (the one in the grey shirt) was noticeably bleeding. The other looked uninjured. Ultimately, the injured man was taken off in some kind of ambulance. The other person left with both bicycles.

Interestingly, the public was told that if anyone stays behind, they wouldn’t be rescued - but it’s good to see emergency services are available anyway.

Police cars check on the two men sitting on the curb, one of whom is bleeding. Photo credit: Sigmund Solares

I noticed this site while Googling for storm information on Sunday night, and emailed the webmaster hoping for a quick dialogue, but it seems they’re keeping too busy. If you’ve never heard of Ning, it’s a site that gives you a free social network. Most of those sites aren’t ever developed, but this site is run by a group of volunteers trying to make themselves useful throughout the entire storm season. The community is pretty big - 575 users at time of writing. They’re working on various widgets like a Google map with shelter pins, a single feed of tweets regarding storms, things like that. Nice bit of work.

Once again, our dedication to keeping our services running and reporting on the storm has gotten us a bit of media attention. Earlier today, a piece about businesses dealing with Gustav-related issues was published by the Associated Press.

One of New Orleans' iconic street lamps, holding on to the ground by its wires. Photo credit: Sigmund Solares

I went out and about to see what the city looks like during the day time, almost totally empty, and with very little damage. Pretty surreal.

Push it out of your mind that there was a major scare leading up to Gustav’s arrival, and you could wind up asking yourself why everyone left in the first place.

Still, it was a good idea to evacuate - it could have gone either way, and right up till the last it did seem like there was going to be a lot more damage than this.

Read the rest of this entry »

With Gustav having been a much smaller problem than we expected, there was more time for taking deep breaths than we planned for - and also time for taking photos. With the city so deserted, every day sights took on a different character than I’m used to. Hopefully the camera caught some of that, too…

A colorful view of the city from the data center on Sunday night. Photo credit: Sigmund Solares

In the end, Hurricane Gustav spared New Orleans the destruction that Hurricane Katrina hammered down on this city just three years ago.

We were lucky this time. But we also were prepared—from the city to the state to the feds, to our company’s staff, which worked hard in the background to keep hundreds of thousands of clients and many emergency communications operational. Preparation makes a difference.

It’s time now, as the worst of the danger appears to be over, to thank our entire crew (in New Orleans, Tampa and other locations) for putting forth their best efforts. It’s times like these we are more than a company, we truly demonstrate what it means to be a team. Read the rest of this entry »

The governor just announced that the London Avenue Canal is closing due to rising water. Hopefully this is precautionary. WWLTV reported this moments ago.  Photos of the canal are posted on WWLTV.com.

One of our Loyola alums just got this in his email:

Loyola University New Orleans will resume on-campus classes on Monday, September 8. The university’s Emergency Response Team will meet tomorrow to assess when faculty, staff and students may return to campus. Faculty and staff should be prepared to commence regular duties on Monday, September 8.

Online classes will continue via Blackboard through Friday, September 5.

Ouch. We just heard that Hanna is now a Hurricane, and Ike is expected to become one within 36 hours. This could mean trouble for our Tampa employees and others in the eastern side of the country.

Here are some shots post-storm today. It definitely could have been a lot worse.