ISAAC ARRIVES

At noon today, Tuesday the 28^th, Charles came into the kitchen to announce that Hurricane Isaac [an upgrade from tropical storm] had made landfall between Mississippi and Louisiana.  Br. Bob, Matt Beben, John Petrullo and Travis Wain were eating leftover pasta and discussing a foray out to look for food.  Br. John kept insisting the electricity will fail and the community needed something to eat.  We have water, bread, cereal, and cake—basic food groups here.  One banana and a few nectarines remain.  A foraging party is forming up.

 

In other preparation, the cars are parked within our parking area—some on the lawn; this area does not flood—so they say.  We have a tiny grill and a fair amount of charcoal.  We have moved anything that might become airborne on the property into the first floor, so have done what we can.

Now the air conditioning is still on, but winds are picking up, and we have had some rain showers.  We expect more.  We had “natural rising” this morning to take advantage of the air conditioning in the bedrooms—which will fail when the power goes off.  At least we’ll have had one comfortable night.

John’s flight to Vancouver today via Atlanta, and Minneapolis was cancelled yesterday but he re-scheduled for last night with a 10:15 PM departure and a 10 hour layover in Salt Lake City!  When John got to the airport at 8:00 PM he found that flight being cancelled also.  He got rebooked for Wednesday—but that is doubtful, also.  So he is back to share the experience.

This morning the community gathered around 10 AM for prayer, then for a sharing of personal history—“getting to know you” was the theme.  The orientation has begun—rather differently than Bob planned but everyone is adaptable. 

 

Last evening preparations for the storm were evident in our area and in the drive to the airport.  The neutral  ground [grassy strips between lanes of traffic on major roads] were full of parked cars—it is the highest ground in many areas that take water before the pumps can take it all out.  Many store and restaurant fronts, and even some homes in our area, are boarded up too.  The TV stations are keeping everyone informed and we even got an electronic notification on the house phone from the Mayor’s Office.  More as things move along—if we have electricity!