There's a concert scheduled on the NBC networks tonight at 8 p.m. EST to help raise money for the area.

I keep having 28 Days replaying, watching what's going on. I can't wrap my head around it.

We didn't get hit by the hurricane except maybe for some high winds. The big problem is the gas shortage. I was lucky enough to get some this morning, but was limited to $20 worth (about 7.5 gallons). There are several stations that have started rationing gas while many others are completely out.

The governor has taken the school buses from several parishes to help with the evacuations. While some schools are closed because of this, it's only a small number. Most schools are still open with the parents being forced to transport the kids. Don't know how long it will remain this way....and how long the parents will be able to continue to transport the kids, what with the gas shortages.

We've also gotten a bunch of evacuees. For the most part things are ok , but there were a couple of arrests for weapons charges and one guy had almost a pound of cocaine on him. They are also decontaminating the evacuees once they get here.

Haven't really noticed any food shortages yet, although some items are being hit hard...for instance, you CANNOT find a gas can of any size in any store.

So, all in all, our problems are no where near what they are in southeastern La and Miss, it is getting tougher here.

Please keep all of us in your prayers!

Take care,
Sam

I spent some time this morning to see where damage may be, in reference to hordeprime's home. According to the latest FEMA report, his residence is NOT in a flooded area. I can only hope this is an accurate report. Other have reported "some water" in the area (whatever that means).

LS when you hear let us know

In regard to gas rationing, a large number of stations in my area (upstate South Carolina) are completely out of gas. The ones that do have it say they are getting only 30-50% of their total orders and are "requesting" that people limit themselves to 10 gallons at a time.
It went from $2.13 on Monday to as high as $4.79 Wednesday, but has since settled at ~$3.19.
It took me 2 days to find a station that actually had gas during a time when I could afford to sit in line and wait without missing work.

They've told us to expect shortages and rationing for the next 8-10 days, maybe 2 weeks. Even then, I'm skeptical that these bloated prices will drop by any measurable amount.

The Gulf Coast has been most certainly been devastated, but the economic impact will ripple throughout the country for quite a while... a sad day when people literally have to decide between gas to get to work and necessities for their family...

This guy is blogging from downtown NOLA via a diesel generator and a fiber optic Internet connection. He works for a Domain Registrar. Read his blog for an unfiltered view of the situation.

http://mgno.com/

Gas in Pennsylvania has been reported as high as $5.99 a gallon, and I think even one case of over $6.00. The governor of PA has started cracking down on stations trying to profit unfairly from the shortages.

I imagine we'll see a renewed push for alternative fuels vehicles if the shortages last very long. Although there will probably also be a push to drill in protected areas, as well. It's a good thing that Toyota is building a plant in Kentucky to manufacture the hybrid Camry.

We are fine as I'm not in the affected areas but yet I am.I had family that lost all they had,held up,deprived of necessities,etc.The media is blacking out a lot of the really horrible attrocities.There are so many evils being commited by civilians and government that it's sickening.There are survivors re-located to my town and surrounding areas where there is virtually no crime ever.This week half a dozen gas stations robbed,a little girl raped and murdered,and homes broken into.The local media is not reporting on it,nor elsewhere in the states that are filling up with people,only community members are reporting it,local cops etc.Sad for the people that just wanted help and a way out they are around this type of scum.I can't type enough to express my feelings.Please research this guys we are being lied to, this is pure unmitigated evil down here right now.There are bodies everywhere by my cousin's apartment complex,babies corpses abandoned in the streets,elderly left dead along the roads.People are still without water,food,humane conditions, and are being kept in the city via Martial law,even when they have a way out they are denied that freedom.Most of the people looting tv's etc on tv were selling the stolen goods to buy a way out of the city via private transportations.Others looted for food,water,medical supplies.Read the reports of witnesses that lived through this not CNN etc.I will stop typing as my emotions are so high right now that I don't care to post more.This will not get better anytime soon.This will only turn into a bullcrap partisan debate in the media,internet etc,instead of facing the truth that these people are deliberately being denied help for whatever reason.God help us all in this country....

very sad to hear weevil,... this is only an example of the worlds persona,... dog eat dog world ... i'm ashamed of people in general ..
however ; hopefully the majority are not preditors and the few who are,... will be exposed and dealt with .

the government is under bad managment ... somehow the president was allowed office 2 times ,.. go figure.

i no longer say i wish louisiana ,Alabama, or Mississippi well,.. but i will say ... i wish the inocent,kind hearted,God fearing,good moraled and the truely suffering ones well .

Dallas County has at least 3 jail facilities. One is very old, one is only a couple decades old, and one is relatively brand new and huge. The oldest was empty for a long time for renovations. They kept serious and long-timers in the medium older jail. And the new one was the bulk of prisoners.

They squeezed all the prisoners into the oldest and smallest two facilities. Anybody that was going to be let out soon was released early. The large new facility is currently housing about 3,000 New Orleans refugees. How long this "hotel" facility stays open is unknown. Everybody there is being nice, but a great number of them have long criminal records, most of them homeless and impoverished people that fled to the Superdome.

Many people have fled to a close by place around here, Bossier or some sort. We have a lot of Casinos around here, and the place is filled with people from New Orleans, all the hotels appear to be filled up also (And we have like 4 casinos.) People who were unable to get a hotel just stayed inside the place sitting there because they have no home to return too and nobody here.

On another note, there appears to be many prisoners that have escaped the jails in New Orleans, so people in Louisiana also have to look out more often. Fearing of them, Louisiana right now is not such a great place to be, everyone from the south being squished up in the north is not a great view. I'm glad to say that I'm in very high up north, where not the majority has filled up yet, but enough to fill up the casinos around me.

The church down the street from me is now housing about 200 people from New Orleans.

We are currently preparing for ~1000 people to arrive in upstate South Carolina and they've talked about many of them being permanent... looks like a lot of folks will be starting over all over the country...

Yes, Dallas has placed a few thousand people in homes already,
many of them are setting up permanent residence here if they can.

I am in Northern Ohio and it has been all over the news today that they are bringing thousands up here too. I have no idea why they would bring them here.....there are thousands here that are jobless and no work available, so not sure what is going to happen. Hopefully something good will come of it all.

Philadelphia is launching Project Brotherly Love, to house 1,000 families (anticipated at 5,000 people) from the affected area, for an indeterminate period of time. Gearing up for it is generating a lot of work as they retrofit city buildings to be housing, but how far that's percolating into the local economy, I don't know.

The thing that worries me most about bringing folks from New Orleans and Mississippi and Alabama this far north is the weather. It won't be long 'til we're in below zero temps, and if these folks are still up here then, they'll have a heck of time acclimating to the extremes. Could be worse - they could be going to Boston.

I'll be doing my part by playing a couple of benefits with my bands. :)

hi, what's your band about? what type music etc? do yall have a cd? maybe you could offer it here to add to your benefit fund. just a thought from a music nut. thanks

hi, as i have watched the news reports on CNN this evening, here is my observation. 9/11 brought US together, ie political parties etc. and it seems that katrina is tearing US apart, ie the blame game between the politicans. i think we should always stay together and sing "God Bless America" at all times no matter what the situation. what happens in a football game when someone fumbles the ball, someone picks it up and runs with it no matter which team they are on. just my 2 cents. thanks

Hi everyone!

After two weeks I finally got an internet connection. Just wanted to stop in and say I made out alright. I'll be back soon when I can log on more regularly and tell more of my story.