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The
Date: October 27, 2006
The Place: Coushatta Casino - Kinder, LA
We finished our Thursday night show at the casino and
started hearing people talk about how hard it was raining.
We
were staying at the casino's inn next door which was connected
by a walking path. We opted to take a shuttle bus
instead of having to walk in the downpour. The rain
continued to pour down all night and all the next morning.
I was
awakened several times throughout the early morning by the rain
slamming into the window of my room. I noticed the
puddles getting larger and larger outside. I thought it
would be alright, so I climbed back into bed. I was
awakened by
my phone around 9am. The hotel was flooding! I got
up and looked out the window and found that my
"puddles" had
gotten a LOT bigger! I immediately went to the front lobby
to find out what was going on. The lobby was full of
guests
worried about being trapped in the hotel. Apparently a
nearby river had flooded and was pushing water into the area.
I went outside and realized that our van was under water!
A tow truck had been called to try and "rescue" the
cars from
the flood. While waiting for the tow truck, I walked
around the inn to see if I could find a dry path to the
casino. The
shallowest area that a vehicle could fit threw was about a foot
and a half deep. The shuttle buses started picking people
up to take them to the casino from there. The hotel still
hadn't evacuated since the water hadn't made it indoors yet,
though.
About an hour later the tow truck arrived. People
got in line with their car keys to get their vehicles
towed. Sidney's
wife, Gina, had already waded out into the water and said her PT
Cruiser was flooded already. The water was already
above her dashboard. The water was continuing to rise
about an inch per hour!
After watching a few cars get opened and seeing the water
rush into them, we decided that we may not want our vehicle
towed. The towing company kept saying that the water would
have already breached the cars, but I thought I'd go have a
look anyway. I went back to my room and changed into my
bathing suit shorts, borrowed a pair of flip flops from Gina,
and made my way out into the cold (and nasty) water. The
farther out I went the deeper it got. Once I was at the
van I
climbed in threw the back doors. The back end wasn't as
submerged as the front end. In fact, the water was right
at the
top of the bumper, so when I opened the door none of the water
got in. I was worried about what I would find once I got
to the front of the van. I was shocked to see that
everything was DRY! Not a single drop of water had made it
into the
van! Looking out the window and seeing water THAT high up
knowing the van still managed to keep it out amazed me!
The next test was to see if I could move the van. I
turned the key and got a very angry sound from the van, but it
still
started! I was able to very slowly drive the van out of
the water onto higher ground! After it was safely away
from the
water I checked the fluids in the engine. Everything was
fine! We lucked out with the van! It survived the
flood! Gina's
PT Cruiser wasn't as lucky, though. It was one of the last
cars to be moved. By the time they got it out it was too
late.
She had only had the car about 6 months; it had been brand new.
Later that day they started evacuating the inn and
several of the other hotels in the area because the water was
starting to
flood the buildings. The casino was higher up than most of
the buildings, so everyone was being relocated to the main
hotel inside the casino. The casino stayed open the entire
time the flood was happening (of course). The water DID
finally start going down late in the evening. The casino
never had to close and we were able to play a rockin' show that
night! It was my first flood, and even though it wasn't a
MAJOR disaster, it'll still be a story I can tell!
-Bambi Lynn
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