How'd you sleep?

1:50 p.m., 9/24/05
My question to Times columnist and reporter Teddy Allen when he called in from a few miles north of the Intracoastal Waterway, in a place called Erath, was where did you and Hud (photographer Jim Hudelson) spend the night?
"A rich man's Hirsch" was how he described a Lafayette Fairfield Inn that didn't have power. They had not bedded down under a piece of plywood, as he had told executive editor Alan English.
After reporting on how Bayou Tige was flooding downtown Erath, he said that the two were getting ready to head down state Highway 14, west toward battered and soggy Lake Charles.
My E-mail continues to be flooded with reports from the governor's Task Force Pelican. The latest said that Gov. Kathleen Blanco sent a letter to President Bush requesting an expedited major disaster declaration for the state of Louisiana due to Hurricane Rita.
As of 9 a.m., 44 parishes have declared states of emergency due to effects of Hurricane Rita. To date, there are approximately 16,000 National Guard soldiers on the ground. Approximately 4,000 of the troops have been dedicated to Task Force Rita. In addition to the current troops on the ground, Gov. Blanco has requested up to 15,000 National Guard troops deploy to Louisiana and 15,000 Federal troops be prepared to deploy to Louisiana.

Craig Durrett, editorial page editor