Monday 6p

Dear All,

Apparently a Baton Rouge TV station was showing an old clip of the levees breaching during Katrina. Some national media outlets picked up on this and called it "live footage." NOLA.com picked up on this and caused further panic. It seemed to us that some in the media were hoping to have something "major" to report. But the levees in New Orleans are holding. Never thought I'd say this but, "Go Corps!" Gustav is proving to be a "wind event." Lots of tree limbs and power lines down in NOLA. You can check out what's happening in our neighbourhood at http://www.broadmoorimprovement.com.

We still haven't received an assessment from Lafayette which experienced very high winds. A school in Houma is completely gone, probably a tornado. A private levee in Plaquemines is breaching and threatening a subdivision which should be completely evacuated. We're talking hundreds people (awful for them, yes) not thousands. More sensationalism.

Here on the North Shore we're getting some gusts and rain but all is well. Eating chips and salsa. Hearing that power will be restored to much of New Orleans by tomorrow morning. School, etc. has been canceled until Monday to allow for a phased re-entry and clean up.

Thank you for all of your prayers, love, support and encouragement. You've sustained us mightily for these past three years. Please keep all of us, but especially the folks in the River Parishes and along the Mississippi Coast, in your prayers. We're going to need to help those folks.

It's a blessing to have such awesome friends! We've heard from people in the past few days whom we haven't communicated with since Africa days.

Looking forward to a raucous Service of Thanksgiving with my congregation and our neighbourhood when they all drag back into town.

Prayers,

--The Reverend Jerry and Stacy Kramer, Church of the Annuncation, New Orleans

Filed under: * Christian Life / Church Life • Parish Ministry • * General Interest • Weather

1. Jill C. wrote: Looking forward to a raucous Service of Thanksgiving with my congregation and our neighbourhood when they all drag back into town. Alleluia!  September 1, 11:15 pm | [comment link]

2. w.w. wrote: Hmmmm. The footage I saw Sunday afternoon was current: National Guard troops and others were shoring up a section of levee that had buckled beneath Gustav’s wind-driven surges; N.O. police were adding sandbags to another section that had sprung a leak. Heavy equipment was on the way to help shore up the bottom of the wall. The cameras panned on a neighborhood that had curb-high water from the leaks. Thank the Lord that Gustav had dropped to Category 2 by the time it reached the city, sparing it from Katrina-level disaster or worse. w.w. September 1, 11:46 pm | [comment link]

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