Like most South Louisiana families, our Southshore crew is scattered all over the place. We hope you’re all doing as well as can be expected and just wanted to check in with you from our current locations.

Lee & Jessica … We decided to stick it out and ride the storm!! There’s no damage to our home except for a small gate. And, aside from some water leakage here and there, the clinic weathered the storm very well. Now just hanging with family and slowly getting our act together to prepare for our rebound from our second major hurricane. You cannot stop the Courets. You can only hope to contain them!!

Michele … My husband, daughter and I evacuated with extended family members to Ft. Walton Beach, Florida. The normally-four-hour drive took a ridiculous ten hours … no fun with three freaked out cats. My biggest concern now is knowing my son who rode it out in Baton Rouge is okay. We lived in Lakeview for Katrina, and you all know how that ended. Really hoping things get back to normal much sooner this time around.

Emily … My family stayed for the storm. We’re just playing the waiting game. Our roof is in pretty bad shape and one of our windows blew out. It’s covered now but there’s still glass all over the room where it busted. Otherwise, all of the Sabidos are safe … and sweaty.

Phoebe … I left straight from Southshore Friday and headed directly across the lake to my family’s home in Covington. Since then, I’ve baked literally hundreds of cookies, learned the skill of rainbow loom bracelet making from my little sister, hid from a surprise tornado and cleaned up debris all over the neighborhood.

Margaret … I evacuated to Panama City, Florida with my mom and sister. It was a very long car ride, but we arrived around 4pm after about 9 hours of driving. We have been hanging out at our hotel playing cards and explored the town a little. We’re now getting all the outer bands of Ida, so it’s been raining here almost non-stop. 

Conner … We live on the canal in New Orleans, so I relocated with my family to my grandpa’s house in Waggaman, Louisiana. All total, we had 12 people and about 200 pounds of dog in one house. If any of my professors are reading this update, I did as much homework as I could before the power went out!

Maddie … To try to beat the traffic, I evacuated bright and EARLY at 2 am to Pensacola, Florida with my family, 2 cats and a dog. Despite the compromised circumstances, the family morale is high and we’re just happy to know we still have a home waiting for us when we can finally get back.

Marissa … I evacuated to Homer, Louisiana with my family, boyfriend and dog. We left Saturday and had a smooth drive that took an extra couple of hours. We visited the Vicksburg battlefield on the way to let Addie (my dog) to stretch her legs. I haven’t stopped baking and cooking since we arrived. My heart is with all the residents of New Orleans and Metairie and the rest of our extended Louisiana family. May you all stay safe.

Caleb … Our family beach vacation was cut short by Ida, and I’m now in Baton Rouge with my family. We’re very grateful the weather didn’t get as bad here as originally expected. I’ve been staying busy by getting obnoxiously fast doing word searches as well as making homemade wine with my uncle. Today has mostly been about cleaning up debris, getting dirty and bumping good tunes.

Stay safe, everyone. We miss you and can’t wait to get back to Southshore again!

– Michele Robert Poche