Hurricane Harvey

[mirth]

https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2017/08/28/there-link-between-boston-pleasant-weather-and-houston-deluge/LpBAyDNbtNttdzFyRcdfrI/story.html

[Steelgrave]

Verizon texted over the weekend to tell its customers in Texas they'd cover our data to our phones through September 8.

When my wife deployed to New Orleans for Katrina, we had Altel, a company which was later absorbed by Verizon. Somehow we didn't realize that every call she made from New Orleans was on roam and between calls home and actual Air Force business, I received a $800 bill about the time she returned. I called Altel to explain the situation and see what arrangements I could make on paying the bill. I was immediately transferred to a supervisor who, two minutes into my explanation, said "don't worry, we are cancelling your entire bill for the month". I was completely fricking speechless! I hadn't asked for anything except a chance to break the bill up into manageable chunks. After all, it's not like my kids had been screwing with my phone or we hadn't made the calls, we simply didn't know it was on roam. True to his word, our entire balance was zeroed out, including what we would have normally paid.

I gotta tell you...that's the single best example of customer service I've ever experienced personally. I'm still a Verizon customer, they've never given me a reason to leave.

[trailrunner]

The son of one of our friends moved to Houston from Richmond VA about a year ago.

They weren't expecting any flooding. 

This is their house.

[bayonetbrant]

Looks like Baton Rouge last summer

[bayonetbrant]

http://gardenandgun.com/articles/the-cajun-navy-hurricane-harvey/

The pickups and SUVs with Louisiana license plates started streaming into the flooded areas of Texas almost immediately after Hurricane Harvey hit. They towed with them all sorts of watercraft—airboats, duck boats, fishing skiffs, and even kayaks—and dove right in, rescuing people from stranded cars and houses amid the unprecedented and catastrophic flooding. They were all volunteers, unofficial in capacity and organized mainly through various Facebook pages. Collectively, they have become known as the "Cajun Navy."

Formed in the aftermath of 2005's Hurricane Katrina, and re-formed over and over again through more hurricanes and, most recently before Harvey, during 2016's devastating Louisiana floods, the Cajun Navy are literal life savers, and a reminder that even our darkest tragedies tend to reveal the best in humanity.

Billy Nungesser, the Lieutenant Governor of Louisiana, has witnessed the Cajun Navy's heroism firsthand. During Katrina, Nungesser's home parish of Plaquemines, 14 miles from the eye of the storm, experienced dangerous flooding. With most of the official response focused on New Orleans, the rescue attempt was taken up by dozens of volunteers with boats. They came to the parish and "plucked people from their roofs," Nungesser says. "They risked their lives to help their neighbors."

Seven years later, Hurricane Isaac flooded the east bank of Plaquemines. "There were many elderly people just stuck on their roofs in the middle of the storm," Nungesser says. "The Coast Guard said it was too dangerous to go out, but a man and his son went from house to house in a boat. One person drowned, but if it had not been for them, they all would have drowned."

And then in 2016, 57 of Louisiana's 64 parishes flooded. "There was no way for anybody to respond to something like that in an organized way," Nungesser says. Instead, the Cajun Navy came to the rescue again.

Nungesser points out that the airboat, the sort of unofficial boat of Louisiana, is a perfect vehicle for these types of rescues—light and able to navigate shallow water. The sportfishing mechanisms on some of them—particularly the bright searching lights used by bow fishermen—also come in handy for rescues. "They can light up a neighborhood at night like it's the daytime," he says.

And now they've headed for Texas. Nungesser estimates that hundreds of members of the Cajun Navy have left Louisiana so far. "They weren't even asked," he says. "They just hooked up their boats and headed out to go help their neighbors. These are unbelievable acts of kindness. The goodwill of American citizens never ceases to amaze me."

[mirth]

http://gardenandgun.com/articles/the-cajun-navy-hurricane-harvey/

Modern day Dunkirk.

[bayonetbrant]

http://gardenandgun.com/articles/the-cajun-navy-hurricane-harvey/

Modern day Dunkirk.

Better accents

[Sir Slash]

And food. Though similar.

[JasonPratt]

Probably better armed, too.  :bd:

[BanzaiCat]

Those Louisianans are nothing short of amazing, coming all the way here with not a thought but to help people out. I mean, holy shit that's so nice of them, and they've really helped the local fire-rescue and police in getting folks out of flooded neighborhoods.

[bayonetbrant]

I guess you've still got power where you are, huh?

[BanzaiCat]

The power's never gone out here. At least, not yet, which is baffling but I'll take it!

I say 'baffling' because there's neighborhoods just 2 to 3 miles away that are completely dark. That was slowly creeping towards us, the power outages, so I prepared thinking it was inevitable.

If it's not happened by now it's probably not going to. We're now on Harvey's 'clean' side so the rain should let up a lot...I hope...as it heads east of us.

[Gusington]

Have you been holed up this whole time?

[BanzaiCat]

Have you been holed up this whole time?

Yep. I mean, there's nowhere to go once you're here. Most major intersections are flooded around us. The powers-that-be keep telling everyone to just stay in place unless it's an emergency.

[Gusington]

Think you will be able to escape on Sunday?