Dispatches from Slidell, Louisiana

Kenny‘s dad lives in Slidell, LA, one of the cities that was hit the hardest by Hurricane Katrina. Gary actually stayed in Slidell during the hurricane because he was on call at the hospital (he is a general surgeon there). His wife, Lynn, went to stay with her family in another part of the state.

As you might expect, we had a couple of rather anxious days directly before, during, and after the hurricane. There was no telephone access to the hospital (and there still isn’t), and we didn’t have any indication of whether it was even still standing. We all just assumed that their house must be gone.

Little by little, we’ve learned more about the situation at the hospital in Slidell: first, Lynn saw a news broadcast including footage of the hospital, which confirmed that it was still standing. Then, she got a second-hand message from Gary that not only was everyone at the hospital okay, but their house was still standing! (presumably he was able to get out of the hospital to go check it out? We’re all still confused by that one, because all of the articles I’ve read state that there’s still about 8 ft of flooding outside the hospital).

And today, I got the following updates from Kenny (via Lynn):

Dad fixed the hospital generator so they have power again and they have hot water (he was able to get a shower in), plus he fixed the roof of the house. :)

Lynn’s supposedly working out of the Baton Rouge office and is going to go back to Slidell with a generator and air conditioning unit for Dad and they’re going to either set up shop at the house or both stay at the hospital. Supposedly he’s enjoying all the help he’s able to provide here.

Awesome.