01 September 2005, 08:54 AM
zoomKatrina
i visited with my aunts & uncle last night. i think they're still a little shell-shocked and disbelieving of just how bad it is. they see the footage and yet they keep saying they'l be going home next week. my Aunt June left her cats behind with a whole lot of food & water. not nearly enough i fear...
please, everyone. do what you can for these people. and most especially for the people not as lucky as my family &
Tam's family who have people & places to go. most of the people who've lost everything had damn little in the first place.
and thank you to those who already have helped.
01 September 2005, 07:14 PM
beauTifully tragici just spoke to my mom..
my sister e-mailed my mom's boss and he finally got the e-mail and called
he made it though the hurricane in the closet upstairs while the house shook around him
when he saw the gangs roaming the streets he left the city to find his family in florida
he took his dog, the cats he could find, and some neighbors (dropping them in baton rouge)
so he escaped between the storm and the levees breaking.. he's a live and well in destin
and swears in the future he will listen to the women in his life
04 September 2005, 11:34 AM
Lori at homeThis is a letter from my sister's best friend.
Hello,
I am sorry if I have not spoken with you directly. I feel like I have been
on the phone non-stop - collecting and sharing information. If I haven't
updated you, here is what we know about my family on the coast.
Everyone is safe. My parents, and Aunt and Uncle, and my sister's in laws
all stayed in Ocean Springs, MS. My sisters, another Aunt and family, and
grandmother all evacuated to various places (including my house).
It is nearly impossible to communicate with anyone. Phone lines are down.
Cell phones seem to work one in every 100 calls. Despite that, we have been
able to determine that no one is hurt in our family. However, we have
gathered some very sobering news.
My sister, Vanessa, evacuated with her family while her father-in law- and
brother-in-law stayed behind at her house. When things got really bad, my
dad took his canoe to Vanessa's house and rescued them. When he arrived,
water was about 7-8 feet deep and rising. Her belongings were floating away
in the filthy water.
We have talked with friends that are working to rescue folks that are
stranded on their rooftops in the low lying areas of Ocean Springs. They
say that there are hundreds dead. They are carrying people through the
water past floating bodies. Make shift morgues are being used to house the
dead.
The many bridges in the area are all down and most roads blocked. For the
ones that evacuated, they are scared of what awaits them. At the same time,
they want to go home and see what they have left and help in the rescue
efforts. But, there is nothing they can do. So for now, they are staying
away. There is very limited gasoline in the south (Vanessa said there is
none in Jackson, MS)even if you wanted to drive home. Also, no water,
electricity or phone on the coast. So, it just doesn't make sense to go
home at this point.
Since this is the first time my family has had to deal with this, I have
done some research into FEMA. Vanessa is not sure what her insurance will
cover. And, we don't know how long it will take to get assistance from
FEMA. The website indicates at least 2 weeks after the application is
filed. Take a minute to imagine what it will be like for her, her husband
and her two children when they go home. I imagine that nothing in there
house can be salvaged. The water is contaminated with sewage, dead animals
and people, and a variety of chemicals.
Vanessa told me that each member of her family has 3 outfits. Basically
everything they own fits in their duffel bags. Luckily, they will have
work. Vanessa works for a bank and it will be up and running as soon as
possible. David is a builder - he has lost all of his tools, and work truck
- but he has a very useful skill. No one knows when the kids will be back
in school.
We are so lucky here to have everything we do. Last night, it hit me when I
snuggled into my comfy bed with the A/C on and my clean glass of water on
the bedside table. Everything around me was a luxury that thousands are
without.
I want to encourage everyone to make a donation. Of course the Red Cross is
a great way to do that. But, I felt like I needed to do something
specifically for my sister. Because they are not working, they are running
out of money pretty quickly.
I have opened a bank account to gather money to help her. If you would like
to help her out, you can do so by making a deposit into the account or
mailing a check to me (I can get it into the account). The account number
is ********* at Bank of America. When you make a deposit, you will need to
tell them the account was opened in Georgia.
My sister will be very appreciative of each and every dollar that I can give
to her. Any amount that you can give will help her so much.
If you want to read more about the Mississippi Gulf Coast, this website
seems to have the most detailed info.
http://www.sunherald.com/mld/sunherald/I feel so sad when I see these pictures of my home town. It is such a
strange feeling to know that most of the familiar landmarks were I grew up,
are gone.
If you have any other friends or family in the area, I hope they are safe.
Sorry for all the sad news, but it makes us appreciate what we have. Give
your loved ones an extra hug today.
Best wishes,
Bianca
Just thought I would share. My family and I donated money to Bianca's family. I thought the idea of setting up an emergency account for her family was a good one. Who knows how long they'll be without a home or job.
04 September 2005, 11:47 AM
lila997Just a small story from New England...
Most of you know that I am an administrator in a facility for teens with emotional, psychiatric, behavioral and family difficulties. Big difficulties.
Since Katrina hit, my employees and I are have been successfully coordinating with a local volunteer fire company to donate supplies and get them in a convoy that is heading south tomorrow. I’m sure that many people on this board are making similar efforts. I wasn’t going to post about it here. It’s just what we do. However I did want to share this .
Late last week my staff and I wondered if the kids that we work with would want to help or even care (they were aware of Katrina from news reports). We thought we'd mention it and see what they said.
It just so happens that next week the group is taking their annual trip to the local amusement park. Usually the kids have to do fundraisers to earn the money for the trip but this year the park donated the admission. We had a meeting with the kids on Friday and basically said, " You're getting to go to the park for free instead of having to work for it and that's cool. There are some kids and families who not only don't have a park but don't have their houses..." We didn't even finish the sentence when they all just matter of factly said "We'll do a car wash and bake sale anyway and we will give the profits, along with our weekly allowance, to the Katrina victims." Just like that.
You have to understand that these are kids with big problems- runaways, gang members, abused kids, some with juvenile records…tough kids who have seen more in their 14 or 15 years than many of use could even fathom in our lifetimes. Many couldn’t find Louisiana or Mississippi on a map without help. Most have no family or home of their own. But none of that mattered in that moment. In that moment, they were the richest kids in the world.
So yesterday they washed cars and sold cookies and raised several hundred dollars and today they are going shopping to buy supplies to donate.
The human spirit, especially that of the young, never ceases to surprise and amaze me.
04 September 2005, 12:09 PM
JubsThose are amazing notes. I'm so happy about the people doing everything they can to help.
My mom told me about a small group of aprox. 18-25 year old N.O. residents who had decided to walk out of town instead of wait. As they were walking, the news reporters approached them and talked with them for a bit.
One of the girls asked the crew if any of them had a cell phone she could use.
They gave her the cell phone and she called her dad, told him where they were walking and asked if he could come pick them up. Turns out her daddy is a preacher man, so he hopped in the church van and drove to pick them up.
I can't imagine the relief he must have felt finally getting in contact with her after so many days of not hearing from her.
05 September 2005, 11:48 AM
ShawnAs
Zoom said, Austin has become another staging/relocation point and the locals are out in full force.
I wish you all could see the fire in
Zoom and
le's eyes when they speak of their determination to do everything in their power to help anyone and everyone touched by Katrina.
And on a similar note, two of my good friends have opened their house to a family of eight. They recently moved and were in the process of prepping their old house to sell. Instead, yesterday our group spent the day prepping it to be a home. I am proud to call Jeff and Barbara and
all of you my friends.
07 September 2005, 10:49 PM
beauTifully tragicaunt G went back home to kenner (jeff.parish) to be with her husband who's a police officer.. there's no electricity or water, but the hospital has asked her to come back to work if she can
uncle L went back with her, but his home (also in kenner) is a loss with the roof caved in (their sister, aunt C, lived there also)
mom and dad can't go back yet of course, but aunt G went down to the 17th street canal (the border btw jefferson and orleans parishes) and she says the water is still about 7-8 feet in their neighborhood
needless to say mom had a large chocolate fix tonight
she also filed for unemployment today