To all DUers with family or friends in Louisiana:

[etch a sketch prez]

Have you tried to call them? I've tried to call my mother several times today and all I get is a "This number has been temporarily disconnected" message. I'm a little worried with Katrina about to hit.

[KeepItReal]

1. Katrina is not supposed to hit til Monday

Try cell phones.

'Luck

[redsoxliberal]

2. she may have taken the phone off line due to leaving the house

I hope she's evacuated... (assuming she's near New Orleans...)

[etch a sketch prez]

3. She is

I didn't think of her taking the phone off the hook. I hope she did leave in any case.

[tedoll78]

4. It's been interesting..

Here's how this weekend went down for my family.

I live in Austin but watch for hurricanes all the time. On Friday afternoon, I see online that the projected path for Katrina has been moved dramatically west, including New Orleans as a possibility. I decide to call my Mom. She'd been at work all day, not looking at the news. When she left in the morning, she was under the impression that Katrina would turn and hit the Florida panhandle. I inform her of the change, and she tells me she'll leave on Saturday morning.

Meanwhile, a cousing of mine was also on top of the hurricane news. With this information, he called a bed-and-breakfast just west of Jackson, MS on Friday & reserved all of its rooms for our extended family. He got lucky, basically, as many hotel rooms from Baton Rouge to Memphis are booked. With windows boarded within hours, pictures taken of property for insurance purposes, animals loaded into the cars, and precious documents/possessions on-hand, the family formed a caravan and went via Causeway and then backroads to their refuge. They just arrived about half an hour ago, thank goodness.

During all of this, I tried calling some family members' cell phones and got error messages. But no problems with land lines here..

Best wishes; y'all will be in my thoughts.. :hi:

[Feron]

5. No phone problems reported by the local media..

but it is possible that the circuits are being overloaded temporarily.

Best wishes to you and your mom!!!