Thank you for this. While the media is heaving a sigh of relief that Gustav wasn’t a “Katrina repeat,” the rest of the state has gone largely ignored. People don’t seem to realize the majority of the state is a disaster area.

Boy! You are right about the news coverage about New Orleans. I am living in Argentina trying to get info. about B.R. as my parents live in the University Area. There is virtually no news about Louisiana except for NOLA. Get with it media. We don’t only care about NOLA!!!!!!!!!

josh! how random! i was just googling some stuff about gustav and I came across this. I am really glad you are writing about this. I know I am tremendously concerned about friends and family in BR and although I am in Shreveport and we didn’t get hit at all, it’s hard to be away too because I know they need so much help down there. They definitely need to focus on other cities besides NO. I hope things are getting better. Are those texts from your brothers? Hope you are doing well.

My little sis and her family are in Baton Rouge and I’m in Oregon fuming over the lack of news about what is happening down there. Glad to see that you have some information on it.

All comments are absolutely correct. NOLA weathered the storm. Baton Rouge? Not so fortunate. Does the media seem to care? No. We didn’t have thousands stranded in sub-human living conditions. No daring helecopter rescues. No drama. Not enough sensationalism for the media. Meanwhile, 90% of Baton Rouge is without power. Gas station lines are unbelievable. People like me, without generators, threw the contents of their refrigerators away by Tuesday night. Yesterday I threw the contents of the freezer away. Property damage? Absolutely….they’re huge. But mine are no worse than the remainder of my neighborhood. And food? I’m rationing. The last I heard, Baton Rouge could be without power from 5-14 days.

Its absoultely rediculous. I live in Central and its hell out here

In Ascension Parish, it appears that power will be out 7-14 days from now!
There is extensive damage to trees, bldngs, etc. Food is hard to find. Kids are out of school for
some indeterminent time leaving parents who must work in a fix .
I agree about trying to get info from the outside. Unless you can get Internet access for WBRZ, things look like we are in great shape! Guess we need more dead people in wheelchairs covered with a dirty sheet to catch the news peoples’ attention. I worry about civil unrest.

Well all is true; you should be careful what u speak out of your mouth! Just days before Gustav hit B.R. couldn’t offer any assistance to NOLA with no room vacancies for evacuees and people being rude and recommending NOLA evacuees take shelter in other states…..
My! My! My! God must have heard those inconsiderate, thoughtless comments and sent Gustav storming into B.R.which the remnants of the storm is still lingering…..
Just be careful how u talk and treat others. God is always listening.
But God Bless B.R.

You know, you are right….the God I know sends destructive, deadly storms to his people just because of spite. You’re also right about another thing, we should have had all N.O. evacuees come to Baton Rouge where it was predicted to hit. Had the hotels had more vacancies, maybe more people would have been in Baton Rouge during the storm. Maybe we could have had more deaths and then the American people would be more interested. Seriously, if you want to be self righteous, that is fine, but please don’t be ignorant. I’m not sure if you were around during Katrina, but the citizens of Baton Rouge opened their arms, hearts, and homes to the people of New Orleans. Please do not insult us because you might have heard some comments from people less informed.

I am in Kansas and I am also disgusted by the lack of media coverage on the destruction caused by this storm. Most of my relatives live in Ascension Parish, and from what I understand, that area was hit extremely hard. People are waiting 3-4 hours in lines for gas, and food is very hard to come by since most of the stores and restaurants have had to dump all their perishables due to going several days without electricity… that is if they are still structurally sound enough to have shoppers enter their establishments. Organizations like the Red Cross are saying that they are short of funds & supplies to assist because the rest of the country is experiencing a “soft economy” and because it was reported that the storm weakened as it approached the coast. It appears that the recovery effort will take a lot of time and it is very disappointing that the residents in this parish and those surrounding it are being ignored by the one outlet with the greatest means to bring national attention to their plight.

To Mrs. B,

What an ill informed post. Baton Rouge families took evacuees from N.O. in for Gustav. In fact the entire state took them in, do you know how many people had to be evacuated from N.O.? What city do you know of that could have housed, fed, clothed, and provided medical services for all of them? N.O. suffered very little damage from Gustav and I have yet to hear the residents of New Orleans offer help to Baton Rouge as the residents of Baton Rouge helped them and still help them with the aftermath of Katrina.

By the way, you are the kind of person who gives God and Christianity a bad name. I sincerely hope you are sinless and that all of your thoughts (though you have proven they are not) are all loving and helpful. However, I know that you are not sinless just self righteous and if God was in the business for punishing people for thoughts and actions my guess is that you should watch your back.

I lived in Baton Rouge for 17 years and am now in Oklahoma. I also am dismayed and disgusted by the lack of news from the media from the areas most affected. The bits and pieces of news we’re receiving from friends living in and around the city shows that Gustav was worse than what Katrina, Rita or Andrew back in ‘92 inflicted on the area. To hear from our friends that they’re grateful to get a bag of ice or have crackers to eat and that the store shelves are depleted hits you hard. We’re so dependent upon AC/running water day and night, basic sanitation services that we often only really appreciate them when we’re without! Then when our local news talks about the ‘refugees from Louisiana’ and goes on and on about how OK took in 2,500 and ‘generously’ housed them in ‘our state’, the coverage of that goes on for days…with no mention of what people in the direct and hardest hit areas are going though NOW and will for days/months to come. We don’t hear real news, we get the ‘cotton candy’ version…too much candy gives you a stomachache………..it’s hard to swallow, you know what I mean?

Hello Joshua! My husband and I were in Sunday School with your parents for a very long time at BUMC. I was surprised and pleased when I saw my Gustav search had found your page. I applaud your effort to get the media to recognize the mistake they made in ignoring Baton Rouge’s plight, and I hope your coverage of this storm helps make the rest of the nation aware of the story here too. I believe there is still interest in Gustav and also a movement of frustration brewing over the lack of coverage. Many days after the storm, when our power was finally restored, I uploaded a page of photos and a brief commentary to send to my mom, my brother, my daughter and a friend in Texas. Mom forwarded it to some friends, and apparently it has spread from there. At current count, my Yahoo! page counter verifies over 22,000 people have accessed my photo page, despite the fact that it currently does not show up in search engines. Here we are 19 days after the storm, yet the number of page views per day continues to grow at a surprising rate. It’s obvious that people are still searching for information on this, even if the national media didn’t feel it was worth their time. Thank you for your own efforts in helping to build this awareness.

P.S. - If you are interested in viewing my page of Gustav photos, here’s the URL: http://eveysblissfulgarden.com/Gustav