South Louisiana: "It's devastating down here."

I so appreciate all of you who have written privately to ask about or to express concern about my family in south Louisiana, post-Gustav. I've been pretty worried, because the last time I spoke to them was Monday afternoon at 2. The last thing my dad said to me was that the inner bands of the storm were just hitting.

Their phones have been dead for two days.

A few minutes ago, my mom got through to us on her cellphone. It sounded like she was speaking from Kazakhstan. Through the scratchy connection, she said that they're okay, but that "it's devastating down here." She said that they're being told that they will be without power for four weeks. I asked if I could drive down with supplies.

"Not now," my mom said. "We don't really need them, and you wouldn't be able to find gas to drive home."

Then the line went dead again. I've been unable to reconnect. But at least I know they made it through.

Look at this astonishing map from the Governor's office. It shows how many people are without power. Please keep the people of Louisiana in your prayers, and give as you can to hurricane relief. Here's a link to the American Red Cross. And here's a link to the Baton Rouge Area Foundation's Hurricane Gustav Relief Fund.

UPDATE: Just got another phone call from the folks. This time, we talked for five minutes before the line went dead. My dad said, "In all my 74 years, I've never seen storm damage like this here." They're stunned by this. Sounds like everybody there is.