Update on Katrina

Baton Rouge, Louisiana

Wow, I have received an overwhelming number of emails and phone calls regarding the safety of me, my family, and the entire Gulf coast region. Thanks to all of you for your thoughts and prayers. It means a lot.

As of this morning when I left for work, we were still without power at my parents' house. Last night before I went to bed, it was about 85 degrees inside. Kind of makes it tough to fall asleep, but at least we are all safe. We still don't know whether or not houses of family members survived the storm in New Orleans, and unfortunately they won't be able to go and check until at least next week. It has been very sobering to watch my Uncle Kenny and Aunt Cissy try to piece together clues on whether their house is still in tact in Kenner. It's even more sobering to hear them talk about whether they still have jobs. And to think that there are hundreds of thousands in similar situation is very sad. I got quite depressed on Monday night, but got a good pep talk from Sarah.

Much of Baton Rouge is still shut down, as trees are still blocking many roads. I ventured out last night to try and find some ice -- took about 5 stores before I found it. We grilled out and enjoyed the burgers in the hot house. My hope is that electricity is back on upon my return to the house tonight.

Things are crazy at the Chamber as we try to get together some kind of relief effort. I am helping organize a Web site that will be the one-stop shop for available office space in the Baton Rouge area. Over a million have been displaced in New Orleans, which means lots of businesses are already trying to get leases for office space here in Baton Rouge. Same for housing market -- I've actually been in touch via email with Craig at craigslist to get Baton Rouge on the site. Kind of funny. In any event, it is remarkable to think that this city's population will probably double in a matter of days.

I had beers last night with LBJers Scott Hanna and Pascale Belizare. Pascale is at LSU Law and is fine from the hurricane, and Scott is working down in New Orleans. He is fairly sure that his house is roughed up (and all of his stuff), but is in good spirits. He left today for Minnesota for a vacaction with family until his company figures things out.

I'll try to update things as the week progresses. Oh yeah, did I mention that I move to DC on Saturday? Sarah flies down tomorrow night to help with that.

Thanks again for all the emails and calls! I appreciate it.

Here comes Katrina

Baton Rouge, Louisiana

I'm back on the blog circuit just to quickly update folks on the situation for the Redmans and Hurricane Katrina. Uncle Kenny and Aunt Cissy arrived tonight with Gram -- having to evacuate from New Orleans. Scott Hanna evacuated to BR too. Other family from NO left for Florida, Jackson, and other parts of Louisiana. I'm scared for the Crescent City. This really does look like the "big one." Emily was here for the weekend for Grandma's 90th birthday party --Happy Birthday Grandma! -- and she made it back to Atlanta tonight on the last flight out of Baton Rouge. Lizzie left for Austin last week and is safe, probably drinking a Shiner and eating enchilada's or migas as I type. As for me, I just got back from a hurricane party of sorts at Stephen Moret's. Tomorrow I'm supposed to meet up with some friends to play tennis in the eye of the storm.

I can sense the calm of the storm. It is surprisingly peaceful in the capital city tonight. The wind is fresh and breezy, but not to strong yet. The streets are empty -- I think I saw 2 cars on Jefferson Hwy on the way back from Stephen's. Baton Rouge is shut down for the next few days and all we can do is wait at this point. I'll keep you posted -- if the power is here to let me.

Oh, by the way, I'm supposed to be moving to Washington DC on Saturday. Here's hoping that still happens...I'm getting excited!