posted 08-31-2005 03:02 PM            

I am sure that everybody would agree with me in hoping that too big a disaster has not befallen Blakstone, who lives close to the recent devastation and is such a generous and erudite contributor to this forum.

B. do please let us worried folk know how you are!

posted 08-31-2005 03:32 PM            

IJP
silver1800
bsmlhm
Lukie
458
Lynne
Italian lady
bpfour
surprizes
Bcbarron
Cindy C
Oboysmom
rmeyer
CHADJAIDEN
sweet_tee
RSuthWed
peppecat
ma1henry
Cindy
dwhittinghill
Bleb101283
BellaJava
midnitesun
gaylem
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joyce
Silverslipper
Denise Smith

posted 09-01-2005 11:42 PM            

Recent but unconfirmed reports say that my neighborhood was unaffected by the floodwaters and was - we hope - in the 10-20% of New Orleans which remains above water. It now appears likely that residents will not be allowed to return for 1-2 months, so I will not know until then if my library - or anything else - has survived. In the meantime, we will be lodging with relative in another state.

posted 09-02-2005 02:58 PM            

Your posting brightened my day-it is so good to know that you and your family are safe. I echo others' sentiments to say that our thoughts and prayers are with you and your fellow New Orleans residents.

Hopefully, we will hear from others from Scott's list as they are able to return to such diversionary tasks as checking this website.

Deirdre

posted 09-02-2005 05:21 PM            

Glad to hear you and yours are safe. We'll keep praying for the rest.

posted 09-02-2005 07:32 PM            

kindest regards,

posted 09-03-2005 02:54 PM            

You will be heartened to hear that the New Orleans Museum of Art is intact and unaffected. The guards refused to evacuate and leave their charge unprotected!
They have been living there since in air-conditioned and emergency-generated semi comfort!

In the weeks to come, please ask if there is anything that anybody can do to help!

posted 09-08-2005 01:48 PM            

Our family lived in the Northridge/Chatsworth area during the big earthquake and lost many "things". I refer to them as things as, although very important to us and our family, we were fortunate to escape unharmed physically. It has been over 10 years since that quake, every year a learning experience.

The fortunate ones who do survive disasters find much strength in the old and the new. The support of people like those who have posted here are the new building blocks of hope. The old are usually the memories of the lost. Memories are never really lost and will be with you to help build your hopes. I truly believe that things are just that and with memories and support of others you hope for a bright new beginning.

Our best wishes are with all who have suffered so much...

posted 09-09-2005 12:29 PM            

Tom

posted 09-09-2005 03:16 PM            

Indeed, I had stayed in New Orleans for ten days following the storm. My neighborhood was not badly struck, and aside from minor exterior damage to buildings and fallen trees and power lines, the storm's wake in my area was not serious. There was, however, no electric power at anytime following the storm, and even for the first few days that the city water supply was available and functioning, and the one day during the ten on which the water was briefly reactivated, I certainly didn't trust the water to be potable and free of contamination. Fortunately, between myself and the one other resident in my building who remained, there was sufficient food and water supply for several weeks. This could easily be supplemented by the 80 or so gallon water tank, full of good, clean, potable water, and fortuitously known to us at the time, that is attached to our building as well as most any other modern building in existence (I'm sure you know what I'm talking about, even if it doesn't occur to you right away)...

For the first few days, I ventured out into the town to view how seriously we were hit, and the wind damage evident in my neighborhood was typical across town, again, nothing major. It was by Tuesday night, I think, that flooding became a serious problem, following the levee breach that I'm sure everyone heard about ... (During all of this time, having no electricity and having lacked the foresight to get a radio and batteries, all of my news was by word of mouth).

The flooding was extensive, but never reached my neighborhood.

To blakstone: I went downtown to the French Quarter where you work, and it was dry when I visited, and all reports were that the French Quarter was not affected by the flood damage. I do not know where you reside in town, but to my knowledge at the very least, most areas within a quarter to half mile or so from the River remained above water.

Day by day, more and more people chose to evacuate through the Superdome and Convention Center... I have to confess that one reason that I never considered the designated shelters as an option is precisely because it seemed inevitable that they would be hotbeds of chaos and restlessness. (When the storm was impending, I knew I would be very much safer and more comfortable in my apartment on the second floor of a converted and partitioned ante-bellum house, which naturally survived Camille and Betsy among countless other hurricanes).

Before long, the city was virtually empty, with relatively few people around. Yet of those few people, quite a proportion were criminally inclined, to say the least, and in addition to the needless looting (of Saks Fifth, for example) and arson (of Saks once again, among countless homes), each night there could be heard gunshots far and near through the silence of the night. You all have heard, I suspect, of the senseless shootings at helicopters and levee repair contractors, etc.

Needless to say, I didn't dare go out at night, and in those final days, in a combined apprehension of both violent criminals and the growing spread of rumors of a soon-to-come forcible evacuation, I hardly went out at all.

Of course, safety is first, and if I were in an area threatened by toxic wastewater or some other danger, I would certainly be willing to leave. But my home was secure and safe, and my food and water supplies were plenty, so I was simply going to wait out the situation... Even if Orleans Parish (the "county" in which New Orleans lies) could not resume normal operation for months, the word was that Jefferson Parish a mere few miles away, would open in a matter of weeks, and it was my every intention, through contacts I had made, to remain in the area until Jefferson opened, and begin working there at a temporary job that was all but previously arranged, until such time that I could return home and return to my regular job in New Orleans.

But alas, on Wednesday morning, the 7th? of September, the State Police and the U.S. Army were at my door and ordered me to pack my things and follow them to transport (Thankfully, because I had heard the rumors of forced evacuation since the prior weekend, I already had a bag packed--I can't tell you how many of the individuals ousted from town that day, were carrying what few belongings they could immediately gather into plastic garbage bags or other make-shift "luggage").

So they shipped me to South Carolina, and put me into suitable lodging, and have fed me, and given me relief and assistance resources, etc. etc. In the meantime, I wait.

Man, I just can't wait to go back home.

posted 09-09-2005 08:31 PM            

I am so glad to hear that you are OK! I have been concerned about you and inquiring privately with forum moderators regarding your safety.

Your story is amazing (and, I will let forum members know, reflects the true New Orleanian spirit). I suspect we'll have tales to tell when next we meet, which I hope will be soon. I, too, am eager to return to our magnificent city and help rebuild it.

CCC

posted 09-09-2005 10:09 PM            

Glad to hear you are safe and sound and hope you can return soon!

posted 09-10-2005 01:59 PM            

Kayvee, I very much appreciate your offer. Everyone has been so willing to accomodate the victims, friends and strangers alike. And though I would only love to enjoy the comforts and beauty of Montreal, I'm sure you can understand that at this time I am trying to put together the best plan, contingent upon changes in the situation, for my immediate future, seeking friends and loved ones, locating the best place for temporary residence, and other such things. A good friend recently offered that I seek refuge in Montereau Fault Yonne, just outside of Paris, France, and though I'd only be thrilled to go, it doesn't fit the plans I have. As I said to my friend, perhaps one day soon enough I will visit, but for now I've more immediate business. Thank you very much, however, and the same to everyone else...

posted 10-07-2005 11:52 AM            

Many, many thanks to all who expressed their concerns and good wishes.

CCC

posted 11-01-2005 10:30 AM            

I returned to New Orleans, and to my regular job, in early October. I see quite a bit of silver during my workday, and among such circumstances I often take in silver for customers to have their pieces cleaned, polished, restored, or repaired... The immediate needs of some residents met, they have begun to tend to less urgent concerns, among them their silver collections. I am staggered by the sheer volume of silver services that have been brought in.

Having been submerged in floodwaters for some time, then left exposed to the elements, these pieces are in some of the worst shape I have recently seen. I don't know what was in the water (does anyone, really?), but it certainly wasn't good to silver. The pieces come in black, and sometimes pitted. Stainless steel blades fared worse. Many knife blades are corroded, with significant pitting and sometimes with chips broken off.

posted 12-23-2005 07:47 PM            

This is a New Orleans coin silver water pitcher by the celebrated silversmith Adolphe Himmel, about whom you can read here.

quote:

---

Wasn't the floodwater saline? Salt is one of the worst things to have in contact with silver, and will produce precisely those kinds of problems -- blackening and pitting. If things got wet with salt water and then sat allowing it to dry and crystallize out on the silver, I'd imagine the results would be frightful.

---

Here's the mark "H" used by Adolphe Himmel, used most frequently, I think, on pieces retailed by Hyde & Goodrich. There is also the mark "NEW ORLEANS".