Sound familiar?

Again
Originally uploaded by ellis_earl.

WILKES-BARRE, Pa. (AP) - Up to 200,000 people in the Wilkes-Barre area were ordered to evacuate their homes Wednesday because of rising water on the Susquehanna River, swelled by a record-breaking deluge that has killed at least 12 people across the Northeast.

Thousands more were ordered to leave their homes in New Jersey, New York and Maryland. Rescue helicopters plucked residents from rooftops as rivers and streams surged over their banks, washed out roads and bridges, and cut off villages in some of the worst flooding in the region in decades, with more rain in the forecast for the rest of the week.

Wilkes-Barre, a city of 43,000 in north-eastern Pennsylvania coal-mining country, was devastated by deadly flooding in 1972 from the remnants of Hurricane Agnes. It is protected by levees, and officials said the Susquehanna was expected to crest just a few feet from the tops of the 41-foot flood walls.

But Luzerne County Commissioner Todd Vonderheid said officials were worried about the effects of water pressing against the levees for 48 hours. The flood walls were completed just three years ago.

(AP) Kim Courtright, 21, of Bethlehem, Pa., stands in the flooded basement of his friend Sean Kearns...
Full Image
"It is honestly precautionary," Vonderheid said.


"We have great faith the levees are going to hold."
-------------------------------------------------------------------

Sounds all too familiar, doesn't it? Well time moves on and it’s their turn now. Good luck.

This blog is transforming ASAP. The Archive will remain for general interest but my blogging on New Orleans will cease, as there is nothing I feel I can add to the story at this time... at least until the next great development or storm (After all, who wants to read about the murder tally. Or about the latest misspent funds or freezer full-o-cash?).

No, it’s time to move on.

This blog will now become a “jumping off point” for P.T.S.D. (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) resources, links, and P.T.S.D. New Orleans related articles.

Thanks for reading. I hope the pics and stories were helpful to those of you who couldn’t make it back.

I want to thank all of you who helped me find my loved ones during Katrina. Without your help who knows how long it would have taken to discover their fate? And without your warnings I wouldn't have been prepared for what I was to find in The Old Neighbourhood.

I also want to thank the neighbours I ran into while in The Big Easy, you really lifted my spirits. God bless you all and let us pray we never need see our families go through something so terrible again.

And a special "Thank you" to my cousin St. Bernard Parish Firefighter Norman Ellis.

"Thank you Norman on behalf of the many people you rescued. And thank you especially for checking up on my parents the day before Katrina hit and ensuring that they evacuated. They surely would have drowned but for your love and concern. You are a real hero and you have my love and respect."

-Earl

P.S.- I will update the pics as necessary.