Gustav

Several people have asked me how my family in Louisiana fared with Hurricane Gustav so I thought I would blog and let everyone know that my family is safe. No one was hurt. My mom's outdoor kitchen has some damage but I don't know how bad. The parish she lives in, St. Landry, took a direct hit. My niece lives in the parish seat, Opelousas, and they were devastated as well. The schools are closed until further notice. They are all without power and it could take 2 to 4 weeks to restore power. My friend, Vanessa, that lives in the same town as my mom (Krotz Springs) told me that the windows in her kitchen blew in. Luckily they weren't in the kitchen at the time. She also told me that the Exxon in Krotz Springs lost the roof off the building. She took pictures of it with her cell phone and will send them to me later. When I get them, I will post them. My friend, Terri, in Baton Rouge has damage to her fence but her home fared well. My sisters and my brother live in DeRidder and Gustav went north of them so they had no damage and didn't even lose power.

Things could have been so much worse, as we saw with Katrina and Rita. But my mom is about to find out why being cheap is not a good thing. Years ago the insurance company that covered her house went out of business and she had to get another company. She didn't do anything about it. So I called Allstate, since she has her car insured with them, and asked them to come out and give her an estimate. Their inspector said there was rust on the roof. My niece's ex got on the roof and swept the "rust" and it turned out that wasn't rust....it was pine straw. I called Allstate for them to go back out several times and they didn't go. My mom told me she would handle it. But she never did. When I would ask about it, she told me she couldn't afford the insurance. My brother and I own each a 1/4 of the house so I told her we would pay half of the insurance. She still didn't want. She can afford it. She is just cheap. She always has been. Well the damage to the outdoor kitchen is going to cost her probably more than all the past years of insurance would have. That's just nuts in my opinion but whatever.

I'm still praying for everyone in Louisiana, especially St. Landry Parish. I can't imagine living that long without AC in August in Louisiana. That's pure misery! For more information about what St. Landry Parish is going through and has gone through, check out the website for the local newspaper, dailyworld.com.