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September 01, 2005

Clay and Katrina

Clay Hensley, of previous Gates swinging fame, ended up weathering out Katrina in the Sheraton hotel in New Orleans on Monday. As of Wednesday, he was still there awaiting evacuation. Word is that he's on his way to Dallas now (phew). He sent a couple of emails to coworkers about how he and other staff were doing (the trip was work-related) and agreed to let me post parts of them here (thanks Clay!). Everyone in his group is safe, although most likely going a little nuts from being cooped up for so long.

Note: The Sheraton is right near the Superdome -- here's a satellite photo.

Here is pair of satellite photos from before and after Katrina from the NYT.

Excerpts from Clay's Emails

Tuesday, August 30, 2005 12:02 PM

Electricity remains out, and the airport is closed, but those are minor inconveniences compared to the devastation that others -- elsewhere -- experienced.

[Our group was] unharmed by the storm. We all are very fortunate.

A few windows shattered within the hotel, and the ceiling of the 8th floor dining hall (where we all had had our lunch on Saturday during the training) collapsed and the bathtubs we all filled before the storm have become our water source. And the hotel has instituted a lockdown due to roving bands attempting to get into the hotel.

Despite this, the Sheraton has provided amazing shelter for us. I can only speak for myself, but I rarely felt endangered or even insecure; this is meant as braggadocio, but, instead, intended as a testament to competence of the staff here at the Sheraton. (I must admit that this is my third hurricane -- Hugo and Floyd were the others. Floyd frightened me.

After the storm subsided yesterday afternoon we were allowed to leave the 5th floor ballroom (deemed the safest shelter during the hurricane, and where we spent night and morning of the storm). We returned to our rooms via the stairwell (38+ floors for some of us. ;-)

But trust, I have no complaints. Everyone, especially our colleagues and the staff here at the Sheraton, have been truly remarkable.

Earlier today I witnessed the sun rise over the Mississippi River: a spectacular sight and, hopefully, the beginning of a better day.

Wednesday, August 31, 2005 7:46 AM

Email access just restored. We all remain in Crescent City, and, although a bit stir-crazy, are all fine. Hope my previous email didn't alarm you.

The flooding of the causeway after Pontchartrain's levee broke made it impossible to get buses in here. Buses already in the area are underwater and are not expected to be operational even after the floods recede.

The manager of the Sheraton, Dan King, has assured us that the hotel has provisions to last another week, so we are not worried about our health or our safety. Mr. King is attempting to get buses here from Texas -- anticipating the receding of the waters that are currently impeding access -- to deliver us all to the Baton Rougue airport, where planes are already flying out.

Civil unrest seems to have calmed, perhaps resulting from the hordes of police officers, equipped with VERY large firearms, lining Canal Street. No more sightings of roving bands of teenagers with VERY large, bulging Footlocker bags.

Although the City of New Orleans has lifted its curfew, the Sheraton has not. We remain under lockdown orders and have not been able to walk out of the hotel for the previous 20 hours. Ugh.
...
So, without any way to leave the hotel, and clear indications of some us experiencing loss of focus/ grip on reality (that would be me), several of us turned to card-playing for relief. Please note that I punished [2 coworkers] in a version Filippino poker with a Tagalog name whose spelling I am having difficulty recalling at 6:30 this morning. We played two dozen rounds (did I mention the stir-crazy aspect of this situation?)...the result: [Clay's department] -- 20; [4 other departments combined] -- 4.

Dawn is just now breaking here, and a crimson haze envelops the riverfront. The view is big, easy, etc...

Side note: Clay's been begging for a mention on the blog for months -- after one slightly tipsy discussion of how I can see the search queries people make I noticed 'clay hensley--lord of the dance' and 'clay "tubby" hensley' in the log (nice try). A first-hand account of the biggest hurricane this country has even seen, though -- kinda hard to ignore that one. Obviously, we're all extremely relieved to hear he's safe and on his way home (hopefully).

Update: Here's an interesting article on lessons learned from Katrina.

Posted by csageday at September 1, 2005 09:10 AM

Comments

Posted by: Lloyd at September 1, 2005 10:35 PM

Posted by: Cindy at September 1, 2005 10:55 PM

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