A new sunrise in our lives

They say that a photo reveals a lot about a photographer. Well, this one does, but only because of its rarity. This, I think, is the first sunrise picture I have posted on New Orleans Daily Photo.
That is because they have sunrise at the wrong time. If it were in the middle of the day, it would be a more convenient time for me to shoot pictures. But they always seem to have it right at the end of the night before I wake up.

That said, this is a very appropriate shot for our lives. Linda and I have moved back to Beaumont, TX. The opportunity came up suddenly and she had to be at her old job quickly. She used to work for Rita Recovery -- a Methodist program to help needy people recover from Hurricane Rita. Before the recovery was complete, there is now a need for recovery from Hurricane Ike. Including areas like Chambers County and the Bolivar Peninsula which took the surge head on. Also, Bridge City which had about 3,500 homes and only 15 of them were not flooded.

So it we are waking up to a new sunrise.

I will keep posting on this site, but probably less frequently. In a few days, I plan on getting a new site going on Southeast Texas...first, though, give me a few days to unpack... Please. Or as our grandson Sullivan says "Pleeeeeeezzze."

--steve buser

Hurricanes' leftovers being ground away

Some of the aftermath of Hurricanes Ike and Gustav showed up in large piles of fermenting mulching on the parking lot for the New Orleans Zephyrs baseball field.

SRS, the contractor for Jefferson Parish, was using this 80-tons-per-hour chipper to shoot the resulting mulch into about fifty 20-foot piles on the parking lot. It was one of three sites in the parish and one of dozens around the region, trying to eliminate the trash problems.

Fermenting? You didn't really notice it until you got close to the pile, but the smell was that sharp, sweet smell of fermenting biomass. The foreman at the site noted that the piles were being hauled away and would only be there a few days, eliminating the need to keep turning the piles.

And soon, evidence of the two storms, which only had a passing glance of a blow on the New Orleans area.

--steve buser

Hurricanes Ike and Gustav show what we depend on

I made a quick trip over to Beaumont, TX this week to check on my son, Shawn, who had a tree through his roof from Hurricane Ike. This sign reminded me of our return from Hurricane Gustav a few weeks ago. Staple were hard to come by. I remember going into the local grocery store to pickup bread, milk and eggs. There were no eggs. I got the second to last loaf of bread. I had to settle for whole milk, the only kind they had.

It is after disasters like this, that we learn how we depended on businesses and government to provide us with a comfortable way of life. Things can change dramatically in just a few hours.

Oh, by the way, things in Beaumont seemed to be getting back to normal quickly.

-- steve buser

Venetian Isles -- living on water in New Orleans

As we were flying in on the airplane to New Orleans, this was the view down at Venetian Isles, a waterfront subdivision in New Orleans East. The subdivisions with canals up to each block, took on a lot of water from Katrina ( The eye passed right by this area) and in Gustav and Ike which pushed water up from the Gulf.

On the right, is the pass from Lake Pontchartrain into Lake Catherine and eventually to the Gulf.

-- steve buser

Clouds line up to be part of Ike

As we were flying out of New Orleans last week to head to Washington to watch our son's triathlon, these were the clouds out the window of the play. These were the last bands of clouds swirling into Hurricane Ike as it was passing over Houston. I guess we must have been over the middle of Mississippi when I shot this.

-- steve buser

Fly it high, guys

A bucket truck in to repair the damages from Hurricane Gustav (the one before Hurricane Ike) passed me by on the street the other day and I caught a glimpse of this. Old Glory proudly flying on the back with the bucket.

And why not. These guys have a lot to be proud of -- when a city of nearly 300,000 goes totally dark from a Hurricane and you can bring it back up in just a little more than a week, I think you deserve to be proud.

Of course, we all get a little ansy when it is our house that still doesn't have power. Personally, I get a good feeling when I see these guys working.

Just think, they will no sooner throw the last switch on the Hurricane Gustav damage than they will have to head off rebuild what Hurricane Ike has done.

Fly it High, guys.

-steve buser

Running Like the Wind

Near rain, nor floods, nor gale force winds will keep boys from enjoying the day. This trio of young men were enjoying a run on the lake front of Lake Pontchartrain which jumped the riprap barrier used to protect the levee from waves.

The boys are actually running on a paved bike path. The lake is usually about 100 feet out, just the other side of the barrier. The biggest push of Hurricane Ike's wind in the New Orleans area was sending water and waves to the northshore, but the southshore, a seen here, also got some of the surge.

If you look closely you can see two ducks on the water in the top center. They area laying very low in the water to keep from being lifted by the wind. At one point, the young men ran too close to the ducks and they lifted up to fly away. Two minutes later, flapping hard into the wind, they landed about 50 away.

The New Orleans area had several flooding issues to fight. Most people here had time to reflect. Their hearts, filled with memories of Hurricane Katrina, went out to the residents of Houston and Southeast Texas hit hard by Ikes fury.

--steve buser

Red sky at night -- no sailors delight

This couple takes a sundown levee walk last night on the Lake Pontchartrain south shore. The low clouds were spining past us and into the maelstrom of Hurricane Ike. They had an eery patena -- capturing light that had been filtered through several cloud layers and then reflecting off the lake.

The brisk wind made it a pleasure to walk in the the direction this couple was going. The return trip was the muscle building leg of the workout.

You couldn't be doing this today because the weather is a series of quickly passing squalls with tornado watches by the dozens.

It will be tapering off this evening as the action moves to the Houston area where Hurricane Ike is expected bully its way into shore. But already this morning, listening to the radio, there have been two or three emergency evacuations here of areas down by the Gulf -- apparently higher surges than were expected.

You can watch some of the tragedy unfolding in Houston from Hurricane Ike at I Do Not Like Ike

--steve buser

Ike is sloshing around the Gulf of Mexico

Hurricane Ike filling up the Gulf of Mexico on its way to Texas. We are getting windy weather and occasional rains so far. Waves and tides are rising. An oil rig off the mouth of the Mississippi River just recorded winds of 50 knots. A buoy 180 nautical miles south of the Mouth of the Mississippi River is reporting wave heights of 30 feet. A lot of sloshing going on down there.

We are expected to have gusty winds, bands of rain and waves of 6 to 9 feet here.

CAVEAT
If the forecasters are right (ITFAR)

--steve buser

Situation returning to normal

I think this sign refers to the after-Gustav settling in. Don't worry, things are returning to normal. In most of the area curfews have been lifted, power is back on and life returns to the way it was. That of course is not true of the parishes close to the Gulf of Mexico that took the direct hit --they still have a lot of "digging out" to do post Hurricane Gustav.

It now looks like Hurricane Ike has decided to strike the Texas coast line -- guess he wants some place that has already been knocked down.

Check Hurricane Ike's progress at I Do Not Like Ike

--steve buser

Gustav evacuees return to Ike fears

I never used someone else's photo on this site before, but I thought this photo caught the feeling of what is going on in New Orleans. This is a FEMA photo by Barry Bahler. I used it on my new site IDoNotLikeIke where I am keeping up with the storm and trying to document somewhat the feeling that an approaching storm brings to residents in along the Gulf of Mexico. (take a look -- frequent updates)

The evacuees assisted by the cities, state and feds ae returning to the area by bus, train and plane. Most schools are opening back up today except in some parishes closer to the Gulf.
Power for Entergy, the largest provider of electricity in the region is more than 80% restored by an army of 14,000 workers from 24 states. Here's a excerpt from an Entergy presentation that shows how fast the power was restored in the New Orleans area.

Disaster relief programs are just getting into full gear. Meanwhile the eye on Ike continues.

--steve buser

Ike brings fears of turnaround evacuation

The Jefferson Parish staging center Saturday prepares for bringing back evacuees who had no access to transportation and were transported to shelters out of the area by buses.

An evacuee (left) waits for a ride, while a emergency worker helps her with her belongings.

The staging center was set up in the giant parking lot of a multi-screen theater in River Ridge.

Now the anxious waiting starts to see if another evacuation will be ordered this week for the New Orleans area as Hurricane Ike heads into the Gulf of Mexico.

Fears are that people are evacuation weary and many may choose to ride out what could be a major hurricane.

You can stay tuned to Hurricane Ike details here.

-steve buser