September 1, 2008

What a Labor day so far this has been…Ankarlo wanted to meet Hurricane Gustav so he his crew drove to the City of New Orleans to broadcast live in downtown. Alot was said about the storm that hit this morning, and also big news about Vice President Nominee Sarah Palin and her 17-year old daughter Bristol….. Pregnant? Yeah…Ankarlo had something to say about that and so did the callers.

Live in New Orleans

 

It’s been a heck of a day.  Well, really two days.  I left my hotel in Denver at 7am Sunday for my scheduled flight to reach the Republican Convention in St. Paul, Minnesotta.  Meanwhile, Hurricane Gustav was poised to slam into the Gulf Coast.  My team and I acted immediately, booking a last minute flight to Houston via Atlanta.  We landed in Houston around 10 o’clock with no supplies.  I headed into the local Walmart.  There we bought water, sleeping bags and a couple of flashlights.  After buying supplies, our original plan called for us to set up shop and broadcast the show in Lake Charles, La or Lafeyette, La.  Gustav was set to strike Lake Charles later Monday afternoon.  Lafeyette would have put us even closer to New Orleans as we moved east down Interstate 10.  When we arrived in the Lafeyette area, Rob assured me he was feeling good despite it being 3am.  So we pushed on.  We passed Baton Rouge and kept driving right into the eye of the storm.  I told Rob we should start looking for a hotel, he agreed but said we would have to wait until we got closer to the Louis Armstrong International Airport outside New Orleans. 

Once we got there, everything was closed and boarded up.  There was going to be no open hotel rooms.  So we continued on.  By now, it had begun raining pretty hard and the wind was starting to pick up.  We drove through in our rented Hummer.  Rob assured me this was the best vehicle to drive into a Hurricane because of it’s ground clearance.  See, Rob was here in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina and actually fled the N.O. in a rented Hummer.  Deja vu perhaps?  Anyways…we made our way through Kenner, Metairie and finally into New Orleans.  We were the only car on the road (probably the only group dumb enough to make this journey).  Honestly, I didn’t know what to expect coming into New Orleans.  What we found was a ghost town.  Empty street after empty street in a city that is always on the move.  Not today.  Reports say up to 95% of the population of the New Orleans metro area and along the Louisiana coast clear across to Texas have evacuated.  Based on what we have seen that number looks accurate.  The only people here are a few stragglers, some televison media, the NOPD and the Ankarlo team.

Currently, we are broadcasting from the Marriot downtown.  We are less than a mile from the Superdome, a couple of blocks from Bourbon Street and short walk to the Mississippi River.  You may have seen the images of people at the Superdome during Katrina.  Not during Gustav.  The Superdome is not being used as a shelter, nor is the Convention Center.  Only a few of the hotels are open and I had to bribe my way in.  The Walgreens right down Canal Street was looted during Katrina and so far we have seen no signs of that only signs saying “We Shoot Looters.”  Again, some lessons have been learned including from both the federal and local governments.  They are not messing around here.  That much is clear. 

Today, Rob and I drove around New Orleans before the show.  We drove through wind, rain, puddles, downed trees, damaged buildings.  The water on the lakefront is normally calm, today the waves are rocky.  Water is spilling over the industrial canal.  That canal failed after Katrina causing devestating flooding to the 9th Ward.  But, Rob tells me Gustav isn’t bringing nearly the rain that Katrina brought.  But, the wind here is pretty fierce and could cause major damage.  After the show today, I will continue driving around and bring you the latest updates.  Ankarlo Mornings is live from New Orleans.

Check out our photo gallery.