Noura is ok

[RAKASA 0]

Hello all you caring folks out there! I'm finally back online (sort of) - my parents got power back on Tuesday night, but just got phone & internet back today. We are staying here as we *still* do not have power and it's HOT! I have such a huge story to tell and I'll be blogging about it a little later. As you all know, Gustav hit on the day that Ramadan began here. It is (to date) the strongest storm Baton Rouge has ever seen. It's certainly the strongest one I have personally ever been through. I kinda feel Gustav has been to Baton Rouge what Katrina was to New Orleans, only our bigger threat & damage came from the high winds instead of water. There is a great deal of flooding happening now in lower lying areas near many of the rivers, but we (alhamdoulillah) are safe from that. The devastation from the winds literally uprooting trees, pulling up sidewalks, splitting homes in half, tearing down power lines - it's unbelievable. Thanks God we didn't have nearly the damage many of my neighbors and friends did. As Maggie mentioned, we lost 3 trees in the back yard, one of which fell on the house and popped a hole in the roof. I was actually sitting on the arm of the sofa watching the storm out the picture window, when all of a sudden I heard a huge *~CRACK~* and saw this tree in my yard coming straight towards me!!!!! I screamed and jumped over the table & ran into the other room. The dogs were terrified. About 20 minutes later another tree fell on my fence, and then another just down in the yard. My across-the-street neighbor had a huge tree fall & block their driveway. 2 houses down from me, a tree uprooted and fell into my neighbors home literally splitting it open. It's a complete mess.

We still do not have power, but insh'Allah we will have it in the next day or 2. I am (as I type) uploading some pic to photobucket so I can post them here for you to see. I have so many (for insurance purposes), that I'll just put up some of the highlights.

My office was thankfully spared but is inaccessable due to all the power lines & trees in the parking lot. It also has no power, so I cannot work for at least another week they are saying . I wish we had a 2nd car so I could road trip it out of here since I cannot work, but there is much clean up to be done anyhow. My husband has fortunately been able to pick up some extra work doing security for the power company during the mayhem. He is working 12 hour shifts until he goes on his trip to Maroc in a couple of weeks. The grocery stores (if they are open) are out of most staples as soon as they are delivered. And the gas situation is ridiculous, but should be getting better in the next few days as more people get power. The lines are so long to get gas and people's tempers are short - stress is getting to them. The thing is, is even if I *could* work, many of my clients wouldn't be coming in b/c they are cleaning up their own messes and tending to getting their lives back on track. I may try to do some home visits/outcalls for a bit. Sheesh, even if I only did 2 or 3 a week it would be better than nothing.

That's all for now. As soon as these pics load, I'll post some.

Bessalaama...

And Ramadan Mubarak.

Noura

[Nasturtium 500]

Wow! So did you have a stockpile of staples yourself? I have a friend who lives right on the gulf coast who is basically stocked up like a fort.

[HLM 1]

Hello all you caring folks out there! I'm finally back online (sort of) - my parents got power back on Tuesday night, but just got phone & internet back today. We are staying here as we *still* do not have power and it's HOT! I have such a huge story to tell and I'll be blogging about it a little later. As you all know, Gustav hit on the day that Ramadan began here. It is (to date) the strongest storm Baton Rouge has ever seen. It's certainly the strongest one I have personally ever been through. I kinda feel Gustav has been to Baton Rouge what Katrina was to New Orleans, only our bigger threat & damage came from the high winds instead of water. There is a great deal of flooding happening now in lower lying areas near many of the rivers, but we (alhamdoulillah) are safe from that. The devastation from the winds literally uprooting trees, pulling up sidewalks, splitting homes in half, tearing down power lines - it's unbelievable. Thanks God we didn't have nearly the damage many of my neighbors and friends did. As Maggie mentioned, we lost 3 trees in the back yard, one of which fell on the house and popped a hole in the roof. I was actually sitting on the arm of the sofa watching the storm out the picture window, when all of a sudden I heard a huge *~CRACK~* and saw this tree in my yard coming straight towards me!!!!! I screamed and jumped over the table & ran into the other room. The dogs were terrified. About 20 minutes later another tree fell on my fence, and then another just down in the yard. My across-the-street neighbor had a huge tree fall & block their driveway. 2 houses down from me, a tree uprooted and fell into my neighbors home literally splitting it open. It's a complete mess.

We still do not have power, but insh'Allah we will have it in the next day or 2. I am (as I type) uploading some pic to photobucket so I can post them here for you to see. I have so many (for insurance purposes), that I'll just put up some of the highlights.

My office was thankfully spared but is inaccessable due to all the power lines & trees in the parking lot. It also has no power, so I cannot work for at least another week they are saying . I wish we had a 2nd car so I could road trip it out of here since I cannot work, but there is much clean up to be done anyhow. My husband has fortunately been able to pick up some extra work doing security for the power company during the mayhem. He is working 12 hour shifts until he goes on his trip to Maroc in a couple of weeks. The grocery stores (if they are open) are out of most staples as soon as they are delivered. And the gas situation is ridiculous, but should be getting better in the next few days as more people get power. The lines are so long to get gas and people's tempers are short - stress is getting to them. The thing is, is even if I *could* work, many of my clients wouldn't be coming in b/c they are cleaning up their own messes and tending to getting their lives back on track. I may try to do some home visits/outcalls for a bit. Sheesh, even if I only did 2 or 3 a week it would be better than nothing.

That's all for now. As soon as these pics load, I'll post some.

Bessalaama...

And Ramadan Mubarak.

Noura

Thank you so much for sharing ur story and Alhamdulillah u and ur family r ok! im still praying for u and insha Allah u ll be out of this mess soon.

[RAKASA 0]

Just got a news update: the area that my office is in is possibly not going to be up and running for UP TO 3 MORE WEEKS!

I wish I had the money to go to Morocco w/ my husband if I can't be doing much here anyway. The main reason I did not plan to go was b/c of finances. I was going to stay here and work....

[HLM 1]

Just got a news update: the area that my office is in is possibly not going to be up and running for UP TO 3 MORE WEEKS!

I wish I had the money to go to Morocco w/ my husband if I can't be doing much here anyway. The main reason I did not plan to go was b/c of finances. I was going to stay here and work....

im so sorry about that! stay positive u never know what Allah planned! inshaAllah whats best for u will happen

[RAKASA 0]

Just got a news update: the area that my office is in is possibly not going to be up and running for UP TO 3 MORE WEEKS!

I wish I had the money to go to Morocco w/ my husband if I can't be doing much here anyway. The main reason I did not plan to go was b/c of finances. I was going to stay here and work....

im so sorry about that! stay positive u never know what Allah planned! inshaAllah whats best for u will happen

You are so right HLM - it's in Allah's hands.

[Ban Hammer 13,131]

Just got a news update: the area that my office is in is possibly not going to be up and running for UP TO 3 MORE WEEKS!

I wish I had the money to go to Morocco w/ my husband if I can't be doing much here anyway. The main reason I did not plan to go was b/c of finances. I was going to stay here and work....

im so sorry about that! stay positive u never know what Allah planned! inshaAllah whats best for u will happen

You are so right HLM - it's in Allah's hands.

glad to see you back, noura. i'm over here in virginia fixing to get outta dodge before hannah gets here.

[Nasturtium 500]

glad to see you back, noura. i'm over here in virginia fixing to get outta dodge before hannah gets here.

I want to go to Virginia I just want to go on vacation lol.

[Ban Hammer 13,131]

glad to see you back, noura. i'm over here in virginia fixing to get outta dodge before hannah gets here.

I want to go to Virginia I just want to go on vacation lol.

right now isn't a good time

[Nasturtium 500]

glad to see you back, noura. i'm over here in virginia fixing to get outta dodge before hannah gets here.

I want to go to Virginia I just want to go on vacation lol.

right now isn't a good time

I like rain!

[RAKASA 0]

Ok, here's some pics - Gawd, I loathe Explorer... I had to download Firefox on my dad's computer! lol

Our yard - early on. See the two trees (center & right)? That's the last you'll see of them!

Out the back door - you can still see stuff - the rain never got *really* bad

My neighbor across the street - tree fell and blocked their driveway:

Out the back door again - 2 trees down:

The corner eave that got knocked off:

My neighbor 2 houses down:

[~Jackie~ 30]

Alhamdulillah you are safe! Thanks for checking in. We miss you around here.

jJ

[RAKASA 0]

My office:

another office shot:

the "uprooted" tree in our yard:

Here's the tree that landed on my roof:

My husband cleaning some branches up:

[Mommy2ZaidnSalma 11]

happy to hear you are safe noura, keep us updated

[Nasturtium 500]

Did you hear the trees come down? We had 2 huge trees fall in a tornado and hail which broke out a window when I lived in TN.. and flooding about 2ft in the yard. The sounds were incredible!

Edited September 6, 2008 by julianna