Gonna be hot...

When I sign off Friday the 21st, I won't be back until Monday, July 31 or maybe even Tuesday, August 1. I'm off to Pass Christian, Mississippi for a Katrina relief gig. The Fam is going along with 11 other nutbars who thought it was a good idea to go do physical labor on the Gulf Coast in late July.

It's been quite awhile since the storm hit but from what we are hearing it is still awfully devastated down there...



We've been told that the beach has been cleaned up but you can't go in the water - several blocks of buildings were hit with 24 feet of water and then dragged out to sea. They don't know what kind of debris is off-shore.

This isn't their first horrific hurricane experience there in Pass Christian. In 1969, Hurricane Camille blasted into town a full-blown category 5...



Check out this before and after of The Richelieu Apartments...



This site spawned the infamous legend of the deadly Hurricane Party. The story goes that a whole mess of the residents ignored evacuation orders and stayed for a great big, raucus party on the third floor. By morning there was nuthin' left but the concrete slab. Only one person survived, washed inland into the woods. A certain TV movie from 1974 helped cement the legend...



There were people in the apartments, eight of them died, but the majority of them survived. And it wasn't hubris that led them to stay. The Richelieu was one of the newest buildings in town and a designated Civil Defense air raid shelter. The folks that stayed thought they were in the safest place around...



So we'll be on our way Saturday morning. Drive time is expected to be 16+ hours. We're pushing to get through Georgia and stop just over the line in Alabama on Saturday night. We'll be taking a side trip to New Orleans on next Wednesday. Won't be able to blog down there but will be shooting lotsa pics so I'll post some when I get back...