Hurricane Relief/Help Information Thread

HOUMA – Water, ready-to-eat meals and tarps will be available at five community-based sites starting Friday, local officials announced.

The same items will also be available at the Houma-Terrebonne Civic Center Friday, said Dave Ohlmeyer, Civic Center director.
The distribution centers will be open from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., said Bill Dodd, attorney for Terrebonne Parish Sheriff’s Office.
The centers will be at:

Upper Dularge Fire Station, 633 Bayou Dularge Road., Houma.

Grand Caillou Middle School, 3933 Grand Caillou Road, Houma.

Little Caillou fire training facility, on La. 56, Chauvin.

South Terrebonne High School, 3879 La. 24, Bourg.

H.L. Bourgeois High School, 1 Reservation Court, Gray.

 

A list of parish and city updates compiled by WBRZ.

AMITE

• No curfew
• People allowed to re-enter
• No distribution sites
• No boil water advisories
• Officials said parish is “looking better”

ASCENSION

• Entire parish without power
• No curfew
• People allowed to re-enter
• Limited supplies at Lemann/Lamar/Dixon
• Call 744-HELP for homebound elderly in need of assistance

ASSUMPTION

• Curfew 8 p.m.-6 a.m.
• Entire parish without power
• Distribution center at Lucky Hit Shopping Center, Spur 70, Plattenville
• Water available
• Natural gas functioning

EAST BATON ROUGE

• Curfew 8 p.m.- 6 a.m., those violating will be arrested
• Distribution centers: Wal-Mart on Siegen, old Wal-Mart in Baker
• More than 70 percent of parish without power
• No water advisory
• Garbage and debris pickup begins Thursday, Sept. 4
• People allowed to re-enter

WEST BATON ROUGE

• People allowed to re-enter

EAST FELICIANA

• Information unavailable

WEST FELICIANA

• Curfew 7 p.m. to 6 a.m.
• People allowed to re-enter
• Distribution center at West Feliciana Parish High School
• No boil water advisory

IBERVILLE

• Curfew dusk until dawn
• People allowed to re-enter
• Three distribution centers: Iberville Multi-Purpose Center in Plaquemine, East Iberville School in St. Gabriel, North Iberville School in Maringouin
• Parish Courthouse and schools closed until further notice

LIVINGSTON

• Curfew 6 p.m. until 6 a.m.
• Boil water advisory, all water systems that have not yet reported please call 686-1786
• Re-entry allowed for necessary personnel only
• Distribution center on Highway 63

POINTE COUPEE

• Curfew 8 p.m. to 5:30 a.m.
• Boil water advisory
• Distribution centers at local fire stations
• People are allowed to re-enter

ST. HELENA

• Curfew dusk until dawn
• No boil water advisory
• Distribution center on School Road
• People are allowed to re-enter

ST. MARY

• No information available

TERREBONNE

• Curfew from 8 p.m. until 6 a.m.
• Residents allowed to look Friday, Sept. 4, from 6 a.m. until 8 p.m.
• Boil water advisory
• Alcohol ban

 

Tarps available in Lafourche Parish


The Army Corps of Engineers are distributing tarps at the following locations in Lafourche Parish:

Raceland Recreation Center, 241 Recreation Dr., Raceland.
Wal-Mart Supercenter, 16759 La. 3235, Galliano.
Thibodaux High School stadium parking lot, 1355 Tiger Dr, Thibodaux.
All three locations are also giving out food, ice and water.

 

Some Cox services restored

Cox Greater Louisiana released a breakdown of the percentage of customers with service by parish as of 7:30 a.m. today.
Baton Rouge Region:
--Ascension & St. James - 5 percent
--East and West Baton Rouge and East Feliciana - 17 percent
--Iberville - 3 percent
--Livingston - 25 percent
Acadiana Region:
--cadia – 100 percent
--Iberia – 80 percent
--Vermilion - 100 percent
--Lafayette - 99 percent
--St. Martin - 80 percent
--St. Mary - 70 percent
Cox also said that service is dependent on power and that the damage to power lines mirrors the damage to its infrastructure.
Cox has six service centers open, including its main office on Florida Boulevard, one in Denham Springs and in Baker.
Baton Rouge and Acadiana customers can check on service restoration by calling Cox representatives at (877) 556-7815.

 

Hot meal sites around Baton Rouge, region

In addition to the food, water and other supplies that the Federal Emergency Management Agency and others are distributing in south Louisiana,
residents can get a hot meal today at several locations in Baton Rouge and surrounding areas.
The Salvation Army will serve meals at four Wal-Mart locations from 10 a.m. to noon today:
--9350 Cortana Place.
--2171 O’Neal Lane.
--5255 Highland Road.
--5690 Belleview Drive, Plaquemine.
The Salvation Army also anticipates having feeding sites at other area locations, said Chris McGown, a spokesman for The Salvation Army.
Although plans for all feeding sites were still in the works Wednesday night, the following locations should have meals available from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. today, McGown said.
The locations are:
--Living Faith Christian Center, 6100 block of Winbourne Avenue.
--Towne Center area, Corporate Boulevard and Jefferson Highway.
--The Salvation Army center, 7361 Airline Highway.
--BREC Gus Young facility, 4201 Gus Young Ave.
--Miracle Place church and Jefferson Park area, Baker.
--Dutchtown High School, La. 73, Dutchtown.
--Sunrise Baptist Church, 966 Maryland Ave., Port Allen
Residents should visit http://www.brgov.com/emergency for an updated list.
The Society of St. Vincent de Paul is continuing to serve meals at the 220 St. Vincent de Paul location from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. daily.
“We don’t have power so we’re using our gas stove,” said Michael Acaldo, president and CEO of St. Vincent de Paul.
The soup kitchen served 475 people on Tuesday, he said.
“Things are very stressed right now due to the lack of power,” Acaldo said.
“In the next couple days, if power doesn’t resume, things are going to get desperate.”
Acaldo said the longest their location has ever been without power was during Hurricane Andrew, and that was only for one day.
Any donations of nonperishable goods for the kitchen will be accepted, Acaldo said.
The agency cannot accept donations of food thawing out in people’s freezers, he said, but several people have brought in such food.
The Greater Baton Rouge Food Bank will have a food and water distribution site at Rose Hill Baptist Church in Assumption Parish.
The church’s address is 228 La. 998, Belle Rose. The distribution site will be open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Saturday.

 

DONATION…

Besides my prayers and best wishes, I would like to make a donation to aid in the relief work going on in Louisiana. Any one have any thoughts on a worth while charity?

 

Okay, time for "Fun with MRE's"

Even though you may have your own food supply, should you be in line for say "just Ice" go ahead and take what MRE's available to you. They are great for hunting, fishing, overnight at Nootches house, and my favorite tupperwear parties! Kids love em...

First you should know that MRE's are L O A D E D with calories, roughly 3000 per meal! They are designed for a human to survive normaly on one meal per day. eat three of them and even Okie will turn into a lard a$$!

Ranger Cookies:

You take the sugar and pour into the non-dairy creamer packet, give a shake to mix and then tightly close the packet back up. The creamer packet has a foil liner so you can expose the packet to fire. Turn the mixture in packet over an open flame (not in the bathroom :shock until you slightly smell it burn. Place Packet off to the side to cool. Gently open the packet and you will have a sugar cookie. Tell the kids it is magic!

Gum Packet: Chew but be advised your teeth will either chip or just slowly rot.

Now let's say you have a peanut butter packet and a coco (dry) packet. You can take this and make a hell of a desert. Crush crackers while still in the closed packet. Open coco packet on the edge and across, add a little water, just enough to make a paste and pour over crushed crackers. Warm the peanut butter and dump into mixture and stir. You can actually hear your a$$ grow but damn it sure is good.

If you have a chicken and rice main entree' then you will have a cheese packet as well, add cheese to rice mixture and again, listen to your body begin to balloon...

More to this topic when time allows...

**Okay MORE!**

*You may or may not have all of these ingregients included in your case of MREs* (Note: If recipe calls for mixing in cheese spread it is best to heat the cheese in the packet at the same time you heat the entree, this helps the cheese spread mix more evenly and thoroughly).

Pot Luck Pie
1 pouch Beef Stew
½ packet Cheese Spread
4 dashes Hot Sauce (optional)
½ pack Crackers (crumbled)

Heat Beef Stew and Cheese Spread in heater
Then combine Stew, Cheese, Hot Sauce and top with Cracker crumbles

Cheese Burger
1 pack Cheese Spread (does not need heating)
1 pack Snack Wheat Bread
1 pouch Beef Patty (Heated)
Hot Sauce (optional)

Spread Cheese on Snack Wheat Bread
Top with heated Beef Patty
Add Hot Sauce to taste
Serve open-faced

Enchilada Soup
1 pouch heated Beef Enchiladas
1 packet Cheese Spread (heated)
4 ounces heated water (1/6 canteen cup)
Hot Sauce to taste

Cut Beef Enchiladas into small pieces
Add cheese spread, water and hot sauce mix well

Loaded Baked Potato
1 package of Mashed Potatoes
1 package of Cheese & Bacon Spread
1 bottle of Hot Sauce
1 package of salt
1 full cracker, crumbled

Warm the mashed potatoes as you normally would. Include the cheese pack for easy mixing. Once warm, add the cheese and bacon spread, hot sauce, and salt to taste. When everything is mixed, sprinkle crumbs from the cracker to the mixture and enjoy.

MRE Hash
1 pouch Beef Patty (heated)
1 pouch Mashed Potatoes (heated)
Hot Sauce to taste
1 packet Cheese Spread, optional (heated)

Cut Beef Patty into ½ inch pieces, stir in Potatoes, Hot Sauce and Cheese Spread if desired and mix.

Baghdad Chili
Ingredients:
1 Grilled Beef Steak package (heated)
1 Western Style Beans package (heated)
1 Package of Crackers
1 Package of Red Pepper
Directions:
1. Break Beef Steak into desired chunks then add western style beans.
2. Mix, but do not pour out Beef Steak sauce before mixing.
3. Crush crackers and add them to the dish.
4. And to complete your creation, add red pepper and seasoning from accessory pack to taste. Enjoy.

Mocha Frosting
1 pouch of MRE cocoa
1 packet of instant coffee
Water as needed

Add only enough water to the cocoa mix to resemble frosting. Add coffee granules as you wish to create a mocha flavor. Spread this frosting on such items as MRE pound cake, cookies and crackers.

Ranger Pudding
1 MRE packet of cocoa beverage powder
1 MRE packet of coffee creamer
1 MRE packet of sugar (optional)
Water

Mix together creamer, powder and sugar. Add water and stir.

Ranger Cookie
1 coffee creamer packet
1 packet of sugar

Open both sugar and creamer packet. Add the sugar into the creamer packet, shake it thoroughly, and then fold it up together. Heat the packet over the book of matches until the contents have melted. Let it cool. You should have a caramelized cookie.

Chocolate Icing
1 Cocoa Mix
1 Non-Dairy Creamer
1 Sugar Packet

Stir in small amounts of water until desired consistency is achieved. Spread icing over pound cakes, crackers or nut cakes.

Mousse Pudding
1 Cocoa Mix
1 Creamer
Water

Slowly add water to get desired consistency. Serve.

Coca Mocha
1 packet coca powder base
½ packet instant coffee
8 ounces hot water (1/3 canteen)

Combine everything and mix well

Your Choice Peanut Butter Cookie
Any cookie
½ pack peanut butter
Roasted Nuts or M&Ms

Spread cookie with peanut butter than put on any topping you want

Beef and Mushrooms with Crunchy Potatoes
1 pouch Beef Steak with Mushroom gravy (heated)
1 pouch Potato Sticks
Hot Sauce to taste

Combine Beef and Mushrooms with Hot Sauce then top With broken up pieces of potato sticks

Take a Regular MRE...let's say Beef and Mushrooms

* Heat the main entree (Beef & Mushrooms) for 15-20 minutes. Do this by placing the main entree along with the heater w/appropriate level of water (1/3 cup) and place both entree and heater in card board container the main entree came in., set aside.
*You must heat the package of rice with 2nd heater! Sandwich the rice package with heaters on both sides and place in cardboard container or plastic MRE package and let sit for 15-20 minutes.
.. add hot sauce to main entree
.. add 1/2 packet of salt to main entree
.. mix all in the Main Entree package and remove excess sauce


Place rice on top of paper plate or the exterior of flattened MRE package then cover the rice with main entree.

Take a chicken with salsa MRE...heat up the chicken with salsa, and the rice (cheese too). Crunch up the crackers into little bits, than mix it all up with the chicken with salsa. Also, see if you can snag some Jalapeno cheese to go with it.

Peanut Butter Pound Cake
1 MRE Cocoa Powder packet
1 MRE creamer packet
1 MRE sugar packet
1 MRE Peanut Butter packet
1 MRE Pound cake (vanilla flavor is best, avoid pineapple or orange)
MRE coffee packet (optional)

Begin by slicing the pound cake so that you have two flat pieces. Empty the whole packet of peanut butter onto one piece and set it and the other pound cake half aside. Next, mix up the Ranger Pudding (see recipe). If you need the caffeine, then mix in some of the coffee, but not too much. Take this concoction and pour half of it over the piece of pound cake that you've just covered in peanut butter, put the other piece on top, and then pour the other half over it.

Cheesy Spaghetti
MRE Spaghetti with Meat Sauce Entree (heated)
MRE cheese spread (heated)
Heat main meal and cheese spread in same stove for at least 10 minutes. Mix together in main meal pouch. Add Tabasco sauce to taste. Garnish with crushed MRE crackers if desired.

Beef and Dumplings aka Ranger Stew
1 Beef Stew main meal
1 pack MRE crackers
Water

Heat main meal for a minimum of 10 minutes. While cooking, crush crackers, while still in package, into a uniform powder. Open package and add a small amount of water to form pasty dough. Form into dumplings. Add dumplings to hot beef stew. Add Tabasco sauce to taste.

Cafe Mocha
1 pkg instant coffee
1 pkg hot chocolate mix
1 pkg sugar
1 pkg non-dairy creamer

Mix and drink.

Peanut Butter Cups
1 pkg peanut butter
1 pkg cocoa mix
1 pkg sugar
1 pkg creamer
Water

Mix all ingredients together in the Cocoa mix package (or other available package) and only using enough water to get mixture completely mixed (doesn't take much at all) form into cups if desired or use a spoon to eat.

Field Birthday Cake
MRE Pound Cake, NOT the chocolate one...
1 Package of MRE Crackers
1 Pack of dairy creamer
1 Pack of cocoa mix
1 Pack of MRE Sugar
1 Water and a canteen cup with a spoon to mix
1 Book of matches

In the canteen cup mix the cocoa powder, dairy creamer, pack of sugar with some water in a clean canteen cup. Add the various powders as needed to make the icing as thick or thin, as you want. Mix them all together.

Then take the Pound Cake (I prefer anything but the chocolate, the brownie works in a pinch but that’s WAY too much chocolate for me) and add the icing on top. Serve the cake on a plate of crackers to prevent drippage. Throw some of the matches on top to act as candles and serve to the birthday-boy / girl.

Pudding Variations
Mix cocoa powder with sugar and non-dairy creamer to make the ordinary stuff. You can add coffee or cappuccino mix to make it mocha ranger pudding. You can also add Peanut butter and it’s the stuff. If you add to much water you can probably get a milkshake from someone (they're nasty by themselves) and add it until you get a thick pudding. It doesn’t really matter what flavor it is I've mixed strawberry milkshake with it and it tasted good.

1 main course, Beef and mushroom or some variation of it
1 Jalapeno cheese spread*
1 western beans or 1 rice
1 thing of Hot Sauce

Heat everything up except the hot sauce and mix it all together in the MRE bag. It looks a little rough but tastes excellent. *Make sure the cheese is heated well so its easier to mix plus it tastes better. You can mix hot cheese with about any main course and it tastes great

Beef Patty Goulash
Ingredients:
1 Beef Patty (heated)
1 Cracker package
1 Cheese package (heated)
1 Bottle of Tabasco Sauce
1 Package of salt

Directions:
1. Crumble Beef Patty
2. Add cheese package and cracker with patty chunks and mix.
3. Add Tabasco sauce, salt to taste and enjoy.

Peanut Butter Cookie Fun
½ packet Peanut Butter
1 Cookie
1 Spoon Roasted, Shelled Peanuts

Spread Peanut Butter on Cookie and top with nuts.

Peanut Butter Brownie
½ packet Peanut Butter
1 Brownie or (cookie)
1 Spoon Roasted, Shelled Peanuts
¼ Packet any Flavor M&M’s

Spread Peanut Butter on Brownie or (Cookie) and decorate with nuts and or M&M’s.

Philly Cheese Steak MRE Style
1 pouch meatloaf w Gravy (Heated)
1 pack Cheese Spread
1 pack Wheat Snack bread
Hot Sauce to taste

Combine Meatloaf and Hot Sauce
Place Meatloaf on Bread, top with gravy
Drizzle Cheese Spread on top

Peanut Butter Balls
1 packet Peanut Butter
3 packs Sugar
¾ pouch Crackers, finely crumbled
½ packet Coca Mix

Combine Peanut Butter and Sugar; stir in cracker crumbles, mix well
Shape mixture into 1-inch balls
If needed add few drops of water to make mixture stick together
Roll Balls in Coca Mix

Minestrone Soup Extra Filling
1 pouch Chicken Breast or Beef Steak or Beef Patty (heated)
1 pouch Minestrone Stew (heated)
6 ounces (1/4 canteen cup) hot water
Hot Sauce to taste

Crumble meat and mix all ingredients well.

Open Face Bean Sandwich
1 pouch Western beans (heated)
1 pouch Wheat Snack bread
1 packet Cheese Spread
Hot Sauce to taste

Combine Beans and Hot Sauce, spread on Bread
Drizzle with Cheese

 

Red Cross is the easiest way which guarantees funds geaux directly to support needs for the victims. Thank you. :thumb:

 

Baton Rouge water said to be safe

Diesel generators prevented Hurricane Gustav from affecting the flow of and quality of drinking water for all Baton Rouge Water Co. and Parish Water Co. customers, company officials said today.
“Lessons learned from Hurricane Katrina had us prepared in case we lost power,” said Baton Rouge Water Co. Senior Vice President Hays D. Owen.
“We have normal flows, normal pressure, the water is chlorinated and our water is safe to drink,” Owen said.
Owen said 75 percent of Baton Rouge Water Co.’s water wells are running on diesel generators while the other 25 percent have had power restored.
For Parish Water Co., 65 percent of the wells are running on diesel generators, Owen said, while 35 percent are running on power that has been restored.
Owen said his company is prepared and stocked with diesel for the generators. The company is also gathering diesel from local plants on a daily basis, he said.
Baton Rouge Water Co. provides water services to the city while Parish Water Co. provides water to East Baton Rouge Parish excluding the city, Baker and Zachary, Owen said.

 

Entergy says 90% restored by Sept. 17

Entergy officials estimated this afternoon that the power would be returned by Sept. 17 for 90 percent of its 161,000 customers in East Baton Rouge Parish and completely restored by Sept. 24.