The Fresh Loaf

A Community of Amateur Bakers and Artisan Bread Enthusiasts.

Dan Ayo

old baker's picture
old baker

Dan Ayo

I haven't seen a post from Dan since the day Hurricane Ida hit Louisiana.  He lives in an area that took the strongest part of the storm.  I texted him but haven't received an answer.  Anyone hear from him since August 29?

alfanso's picture
alfanso

Both times the call from him was dropped within a few seconds the first time, max  ~2 minutes the second time.  Calls back from me never went through.  He is okay as is his family and home, but a lot of downed trees and debris that had to be cleared.  As of a few days ago, still no electricity, internet, cable.  His water service was dropped and then returned the same day.  As far as I know, he was working off his own generator, which is why he was able to keep his cell phone battery charged.

He had no knowledge of local news, so I sent him a long text message of an article about his Parrish.  I don't know whether it was ever received.

No update since then. 

Floydm's picture
Floydm

Glad to hear he is OK. He's certainly been on my mind.

alfanso's picture
alfanso

and should have done one more globally, even though they both had his name in the subject line.  So that is now corrected.  If I get any new updates, I'll post them.  I don't want to call him as he probably has enough going on without taking the time to answer a call.  But I'll send him another text to see whether it goes through.

Floydm's picture
Floydm

Thank you.

Benito's picture
Benito

We appreciate your updates Alan so thanks for providing them.

He did eventually reply to a text I sent him, he did say that it is was the worst he has ever seen in his life.

Benny

alfanso's picture
alfanso

Phones and text remain sketchy. There are no  street lights from municipal power that I’ve seen. The only lights are powered by generator. Looks like electricity is a good ways away. Phone data for us is almost non-existent. Because most methods of communication are unavailable people in other states probably know more about our situation than we do. 

The good news -

1- We got to the gas station before it opened and only had a 2 hour wait. That beats 3 1/2 hr. LOL It is a treat to get in the car and crank up the AC, so the wait at the gas pumps has its benefits. 

2- The weather is a little cooler with a welcomed breeze. 

3- I was able to McGyver my generator to run 20 hr without re-fueling instead of ever 4. I get much better sleep because of this. 

4- Because so many people in our area was devastated, we have a tremendous opportunity to extend kindness towards those less fortunate. As you can imagine everyone’s nerves are on edge. Everyone is living in survival mode. When situations become tense we remind ourselves that even the kindest of people can get testy under this amount of stress. 

5- Patsy and I are “old school”. Rugged living reminds us how blessed we are to live under normal circumstances in a country that offers so many choices and opportunities. 

I think the average person that wasn’t completely devastated is extremely thankful. I know we are. 

Our lives will return to normal. And think about all of the stories we’ll have to share…

We’re well, Danny and Patsy

Dan_In_Sydney's picture
Dan_In_Sydney

Two comments:

First, people who find positives in a 2 hour wait for petrol and view hardship as opportunities for kindness to others are the reason this world works as well as it does (or indeed at all,) given all the greed and selfishness the human race is capable of producing.

Second, people who use 'MacGyver' as a verb are my kind of people.

d.

Benito's picture
Benito

Thanks for the update Alan, you can count on Dan to stay positive and keep on going.

justkeepswimming's picture
justkeepswimming

Thanks for being the contact person and giving us updates when you get them! So glad to hear they are doing okay considering all the damage, and that they are hanging in there. 

Mary

old baker's picture
old baker

Thanks for the updates on Dan.  His situation is very much as  I expected.

alfanso's picture
alfanso

Dan's cell phone communication was stable enough to hold a ~20 minute conversation with me.  

He is running electricity off a small generator which is sufficient enough to keep his refrigerator and lights working around the clock.

Temperatures in his area have been more comfortable and apparently his generator is powerful enough to allow his fans or A/C to operate overnight.  

Almost all of the area focus has been on getting power and "life" restored back to New Orleans, but he lives in a town not all that far away where there is no attention being paid to them nor to the neighboring towns and communities.  Power lines are down everywhere and no effort has seemingly been made to even clear them from crossing roads or low overhead.  Power restoration seems to perhaps be weeks away still.

He is in great spirits considering, and has high praise for most of the neighbors who, like Dan, are answering the call to unity and working together for the common cause as needed.

Of course the CB came up and he was curious as to how it was going, so he craved a little update there, including being pleased that Maurizio has tuned in and commented a number of times.

Beyond these highlights, the rest was just small talk.

Benito's picture
Benito

Thanks for the update Alan, good to hear that Dan and family continue to be alright.  Not so great to hear that they still don’t have electricity and that there hasn’t been much in the way of help down there for them yet.  I really hope that the state can make things safer quickly by taking care of the downed power lines and then get to restoring power to them.

Benny

old baker's picture
old baker

My wife and I went through a similar event a number of years ago.  Hurricane Fran hit Raleigh in a big way and we were without power for two weeks, no telephone for three weeks.  We didn't have a generator so we had to gut it out during what seemed like the hottest part of the summer.  Folks, I wouldn't wish that experience on anyone.  Dan's lucky that he has a generator to scrimp by.  I wish him the best.

alfanso's picture
alfanso

Dan called me late this afternoon and we spoke for about 35 minutes, most of the talk was chit chat.  I was quite happy to hear his voice and his positive tone after more than a week of communication blackout.  That positive persona clearly has been whittled a bit by various issues regarding the aftermath of the hurricane. 

Key items of interest:

  • power was restored to his neighborhood and house very recently, after "20 days".  
  • Trash pickup is happening but slowly.  Between a few weeks of garbage piling up and all of the downed trees and debris, Dan says that he has something like 150 linear feet of refuse piled up a few feet high.  
  • Outside area agencies and trash collectors have been employed to help with the trash and refuse disposal.  
  • Due to damage to a few relatives' homes in the area he is housing some of them while they await for their homes to be habitable again.  Which could take some time still.

He has seen the internet intermittently, thanks to a neighbor's functional gateway and has been able to kind-of check up on how the CB is progressing.  And declared his pleasure in seeing its progress and that it still has some legs left.

The rest of the time was spent talking about life, and nothing worth reporting back to this forum.

Dan_In_Sydney's picture
Dan_In_Sydney

Thanks mate.

d.

Benito's picture
Benito

20 days without electricity is incredible, I can’t believe he has suffered through that.  Thanks for the update again Alan.

Benny 

alfanso's picture
alfanso

Although it was the time frame without electricity being restored by the utility company, he was not forced to sit around a campfire with marshmallows on a stick for sustenance ;-) .

There's no telling how long a return to something like normalcy might be for these folks.

Dan_In_Sydney's picture
Dan_In_Sydney

Am I imagining that Dan is already posting and helping people out?

https://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/68980/my-starter-doesnt-eat-white-flour

BreadBabies's picture
BreadBabies

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