Land Of A Million Stereotypes

Louisiana natives are very sensitive when it comes to that old stereotype of us being dumb, alligator-wrestling, dip spitting rednecks. People seem to think that we ride pirogues to work every day just to pay for the food to sustain our pet gators.

But, sometimes (most times) we perpetuate those same stereotypes. For instance, my Mom, a social worker, was at a conference for the day – at a casino. Yes, a work day at a casino/hotel. It just so happens to be one of the better hotels in the region, so they hold conferences there. God Bless Louisiana.

Mom wanted me to meet her there for lunch. I hadn’t visited this particular casino in a while and they had renovated part of it and opened a new hotel since my last trip home. The sliding glass doors zip open and I stroll right into a living, breathing stereotype. Right in the middle of the hotel lobby were about two dozen living alligators.

No wonder people think we worship the scaly-skinned reptiles. We have a gang of them planted right smack in the middle of the quintessential “nice” hotel in Central Louisiana. Their habitat is surrounded by the hotel shops and restaurants.

With that said, I couldn’t help but take these pictures and sit and stare at them for about 30 minutes. They aren’t a bad idea and they are surely buzz-worthy. They even have gator shows every Saturday – inside the hotel lobby. I’m serious, that’s no joke. A wrangler brings out raw chicken and feeds the beasts in front of hotel patrons.

Welcome to Louisiana – land of a million true-to-life stereotypes.

Home Town Glory

I stepped off my plane and was immediately met with the sounds of Jazz and the smell of Popeye’s in the air. That’s not some flowery metaphor for being home in Louisiana, that’s a literal account of my first seconds back in the Bayou State. It’s New Orleans and that’s how we do it down here.

Riding down I-49, I was surprised to see that weeks later, there is still a good deal of damage from Hurricane Gustav that has yet to be cleaned up. There are still tarps on buildings and downed trees crisscrossing the sides of the road. I counted no less than 12 electric company work vehicles on the Interstate between New Orleans and Alexandria before I fell asleep in the backseat of my patents’ car.

I haven’t been home in a year. When you’re away from something for an extended period of time, you tend to romanticize it. There are apparently a few things that I forgot about my home town.

It’s a small town and there isn’t much to do here. I’m not talking about being bored in Charleston. When you are bored in Charleston, you can always go for a stroll downtown. You can try one the 700 restaurants that you haven’t found the time to check out just yet. You can go people watching in Marion Square, shop at the Outlet mall or dodge the tourist at the Pineapple Fountain. And if all else fails you can see who is playing at Music Farm or Windjammer, there is a good chance that Edwin McCain is playing one of the two – he’s always playing one of the two.

People are inherently larger here. I am in a constant state of diet in the Lowcountry. I go through months at a time without eating carbs in an effort to blend in with the weightlifting, rock-hard-abbed world of Charlestonians. Here, I have a long list of places I want to eat lunch before leaving again. Each includes the best desserts on the planet and a smorgasbord of fried foods.

Because of the blazing heat of Louisiana throughout most of the year, paint fades here. I never noticed it before this week. From street signs and school buses to business fronts, the paint is dingy , dull and muted.

Why would you want to visit a place like this? Well, I guess you wouldn’t really. You have to be from here to understand why we love it so much. When you grow up in Central Louisiana, you can’t wait to flee for the fabled metropolis. You don’t miss it though, until you are miles away.

This is what we call home and I love this place in all its boring, fat, faded glory. It’s good to be home!

Gustav: Pictures From Central Louisiana

Here's one for all my friends who are from Central Louisiana who now live around the country.

Lamar White posted a few pictures from around Alexandria on his blog. City Park Players Theater burned down last night. That's a rough one.

Gustav was brutal on Cenla. They are still dealing with it all. Apparently my parents aren't telling me everything that's going on down there -- they don't want me to worry I guess.

City Park Players

Horseshoe Drive

Yes, this is really Horseshoe Drive.

More from my old station, KALB.

Outside KALB Studio

Juggling Hurricanes

It’s been a long day. I had a few computer issues today, thus the lack of update. Everything is taken care of now and I will be back on a regular posting schedule tomorrow.

I spent the day at the Charleston County Emergency Operations Center and that’s where I will reside for the next day or so while Hanna does its thing. There was a lot of down time today as the projected point of impact continually moved. The closer we get to Friday’s landfall, the busier we will get there.

Most of my down time was spent on the phone with Central Louisiana. Gustav has been stalled there for the last two days; dumping an ungodly amount of rain. They experienced what many are calling the worst flooding in the history of the region. We’re talking the Louisiana National Guard taking people from their flooded homes. That never happens to us. My parents are on day three of having no electricity.

I spent the day getting reports from home and juggling what’s going on around here. I have a job to do, so home had to take a back seat during press conferences and live shots. I must admit, it made me extremely irritable and short tempered – even more than usual.

My Mom and one of my best friends called and texted most of the day. Though I was worried, it did connect me to them while all that was going on.

Sorry it took me so long to update the blog today, but I needed a break. I came home, grabbed a quick bite to eat (low carb of course) and watched the two hours Top Model season premiere. Tyra, Jay and I forgot all about hurricanes for a little while. I needed that little vacation and now I’m back. Game on!

I will post updates from the EOC to the blog all day tomorrow. We will know more about a possible voluntary evacuation then. I don’t know that it will come to that, but the city leaders and officials keep bringing it up. I’m set up with a lap top, so I can instantly blog all the latest information.

My biggest challenge this week: Saying “E-O-C” during my live shots. It’s called the “O-E-P” in Rapides Parish, Louisiana and I’ve said that for years. Watch closely and you will actually see me think about it before every mention.

Gustav: Updates From Louisiana

Gustav is fading away – thankfully.

It looks like the worst is over for most parts of Central Louisiana. I just got off the phone with my parents, who would be mortified if they knew I was writing a blog with their accounts of the hurricane. My Mom tells me the wind has died down considerably and there is just a light rain lingering. There are no street lights so she can’t really assess any damage -- if there is any. She does know that a basketball goal from somewhere has blown into the front yard as they can see it from the bedroom window. There is a mandatory curfew tonight and a water conservation order, but all is well.

It’s about 10:30 in Louisiana and they are already going to bed. They have no power and they probably won’t for a while. They decided to not use the generator for now. During Hurricane Rita, some places didn’t get power back for a week. So, they’ll save the generator for just such an emergency.

My buddies, who also live in Alexandria, had some damage that they noticed early on.

I got this text message update:

Huge tree in the back yard just came down. Our shed is totally destroyed. We saved a lot of the contents. Front yard has a tree down too. We're very wet, but OK.

That seems to be the case all over Louisiana. The doom and gloom of Hurricane Gustav didn’t pan out and that’s a good thing. It’s better to be prepared. Expect the worst and hope for the best.

And what about our friends who rode out the storm in New Orleans? Well Craig says they made it through just fine.

….so New Orleans and its close ‘burbs were a bit oversold on this storm. Not that it was difficult to do, of course. The warnings were honest and, given the timing of them, based on very, very real concerns. And nearly everything worked this time around — from local government facilitating evacuation to the state sending in the Guard to the national folks having what was needed on the ground. Lessons learned and thank you.

As Craig reminds us, not everyone was as lucky as Central Louisiana and New Orleans Proper.

I can tell you the best story most of the nation will never see. It’s what is happening this evening to the folks in Lafitte and other small communities directly south of New Orleans and to the southwest. Some are heavily flooded for the second time in three years — with many just-rebuilt lives, homes and businesses again in tatters. The problem is they are too few in number for most folks to care. And they’re still assessing damage in Lafourche and Terrebonne Parishes. God bless those folks tonight, as well as others still facing what’s left of this weather system. Those of us who stayed in New Orleans know how creeply lucky we are this time around.

As Gustav weakens to a tropical storm and slowly moves from Central Louisiana and into Natchitoches and Texas, it continues to be a rainmaker... dumping upwards of 20 inches in some places. The threat now moves to flooding which is also very dangerous.

I will keep an eye out for damage reports, but this will likely be my last big update on Gustav as we here in South Carolina start watching our backs with Hanna.

Gustav: Updates From Louisiana

I just spoke with my parents in Alexandria and a few friends who say all is well there for now. The rain and wind increase hourly. They have been without power for about an hour. They are expecting to get the worst tonight around 6:00 Central Standard Time and then Gustav will supposedly stall over the area for a while dumping gallons of rain. But, with Gustav weakening a bit, it shouldn't get too bad!

Ed in Leesville is keeping a great Video Blog as Gustav creeps closer to them. I’ve been in contact with him and I’ll post his videos as they come in. It’s really starting to come down in Vernon Parish, but nothing too bad at this point.

There is also another update from New Orleans Metblogs. They have an interesting take on the media coverage of the weather in New Orleans. Keep in mind, the writers are still in the city and are watching it all unfold. They seem to feel the storm is being misrepresented.

Richard at New Orleans Metblogs says,

I really wish CNN would stop running the headline “FLOODWATERS OVERTOP INDUSTRIAL CANAL LEVEE IN NEW ORLEANS”. The water is very high in the canal, and some water is blowing over the top, so maybe it’s semantic, but “overtop” sounds a little more dire and hysteria-inducing than necessary at the moment. Attention, CNN: we are already hysterical enough,
thankyouverymuch. Also, CNN: I am within five blocks of your offices right now. Do not make me come down there.

And more…

Fellow Gustav-watchers: if you haven’t already done so, may I suggest ditching Anderson Cooper for a while (we’ll be back, sweetie!) and getting your news from WWL TV instead? Dennis and Angela are smart, sanguine, and storm-savvy. Also, they know full well how to pronounce “New Orleans”, which you’d have thought everyone on Planet Earth learned a couple of years ago, but
apparently not.

My college bud and former ABC26 co-worker, Joni, is working for WWL now. Good work Jones!

That’s it for now. It’s been a super busy day at work and we're starting to move into Hurricane Hanna mode. I’ll have more when I get home.

Gustav: Update From Louisiana

I'm about to leave for work, but I wanted to give you guys a quick update from Louisiana.

I got an e-mail late last night at around 12:30 that the first feeder band was causing a bit of rain and the power had already started flickering in Downtown New Orleans. Looks to be the same case with Craig over at News Orleans Metblogs who is riding it out there.

I talked to my parents up in Alexandria and they are just getting a slight rain right now. My parents, being my parents, were more worried about me and less about the monster storm headed their way. They wanted to make sure that I was prepared for Tropical Storm Hanna which is inching toward the East Coast.

In the world of blogs, New Orleans Metblogs is the place for updates -- while they are able to keep updating. Here is the latest update that Craig filed a couple of hours ago.

Here is Tommy K.'s Weathercast from yesterday.

Gustav Updates From Louisiana

Hurricane Gustav is the real deal and as Mayor Ray Nagin says, it’s "the mother of all storms.” I am very fearful that this will be ugly.

The blogs from across the Bayou State are doing a great job keeping up with everything going on and they must be commended.

Some of my readers are friends from back home who now live elsewhere and I wanted to keep you all up to date with what’s going on. I’ll post some online news clips from one of my old stations, KALB, and from around the state. I hope that makes it a little easier to find information in the days to come. If you’re like me, and I know you guys are, it’s beyond frustrating to watch this all unfold hundreds of miles away.

Mayor Jacques Roy stopped by the station to talk about how Alexandria is preparing. I’m glad Michele addressed the issues with water outages. This was a major problem during Hurricane Rita and it looks like they may have a proactive plan in place this time. But, I still reminded my parents to have lots of bottled water just in case.

Here’s Nick Mickulas’ weather report from last night.

I found these videos from a fleeing Louisiana resident who is sending video updates to his family via the Internet. He puts things into great perspective.

I got a heartbreaking e-mail from a friend who will be staying in the Greater New Orleans area for Hurricane coverage. She just purchased her first house with her fiancée and she’s afraid that it will be gone when she finally gets to leave work after this is all over. Unfortunately, that is not an unfounded fear. My heart is with them!

My friends from across the country… please pray for the people of Louisiana.