Hurricane Katrina

[missgamecock]

The mess just looks worse and worse on tv. I'm praying for you guys!

[lorelei]

I just can't imagine. I keep watching all the footage on CNN and Fox and I just can't believe it. I mean, they were showing a lady w/twins out in the broiling sun. She had them both in a car seat and she was saying that a man jumped off the bridge and she pointed and sure enough there he lay under a mattress dead and people just walking by like it was nothing. Showed another baby just 2 weeks old. When one of the storms that hit FL came up this way (live in upstate SC) last year Dalton was just a few weeks old and we were w/out power for 5 days! It was horrible. I just can't imagine what it would be like to have nowhere to go, no food, no nothing. At least in my case my parents did have power but still that was nothing compared to what these people are going through. My heart goes out to all of you.....

[missgamecock]

We had an ice storm here a couple of years ago that knocked out power for a few days. Fortunately my fil had a generator and they spent days hooking it up a few hours at a time to each neighbor's house. I was freaked at the time because Kirsten has severe asthma and needed nebulizer treatments every 4 hours. I ended up sending her to daycare each day because they had a generator and didn't close no matter what. Her daycare was in a nursing home. I was assured that she could get her meds. I figured if the gas ran out, I would be camping at the er with her and plugging into the hospital's electrical socket. After that I bought a charger for the nebulizer that I could hook into the cigarette lighter of a car. Couldn't take the chance.

I was in Charleston during Hugo which was a category 4 hurricane. While we had a huge storm surge, the water didn't stay for days. Fortunately for us we were more inland in the Summerville area. We had significant damage but nothing like Katrina. We at least could get food, water, and medicine. My aunt and grandparents had houses on Isle of Palms. My aunt's house was washed away, nothing but the slab left. My grandparents house had 6 feet of water in it. Took years to rebuild it. I saw my grandmother just before she passed away a couple of years ago. She wanted to show my husband pictures of me as a baby/child. She looked all over for them. Then she realized that she had lost all of my and my sisters pictures during Hugo. She never got over that and was very emotional about it 14 years later. My aunt that lost her house does not go anywhere without a pair of clean undies in her purse. The reason is that they had to evacuate Isle of Palms and she came back to nothing and had to borrow underwear from my other aunt. So to this day she always has a clean pair of underwear in her purse.

I can't imagine having a sick child or being pregnant and being in that mess. The images from dateline were heartbreaking. A family of husband, wife (who's expecting) and 4 kids stayed in their SUV because they had no place to go. They hadn't eaten since the day before. That's terrible.

[mayasmom]

Hey Cara,

I just wanted to let you know I am thinking of you and all of the other Louisiana ladies on the board. I'm in Mobile and we got power at my house last night. I hope you get power soon.

Please take care.

[laura]

I'm still here! I've been pouring over the nola.com and wdsu sites, looking for reports of flooding street by street. It looks like the part of the west bank where my brother's houses are were still standing, but by now with the levees breaking, they're probably underwater. The reports this morning say that the water is beginning to drain back into the lake, and had gone down about two feet overnight. My guess is that the aid can't come in by land. You just can't get to any point in the city without encountering fallen trees and flooding. They couldn't even assess the damage on the west bank properly because they couldn't get through.

What frustrates me most is that the break in the 17th street canal that precipitated the worst of the post hurricane flooding was likely preventable; the mayor said that Black Hawk helicopters were supposed to take sandbags to reinforce it, but they never showed up. Apparently, they stopped to rescue some people stranded in a church. Now, 90% of the city is underwater and won't likely recover.

It is hard to explain to people not familiar with the city how you love New Orleans. It isn't just a city, it is a way of life, it is a kind of beauty and strength you just don't find anywhere else. I'll mourn that city like a person, because it will never be the same again. The Cabildo and Presbytere? How are they? Pirate's Alley? The Pontalba buildings?

And you see reports of floating bodies and widespread destruction, but the weirdness of it is that when you have people missing, all you can hope is that it isn't one of your loved ones. My sister's-in-law parent's are missing. They were going to wait it out in Kenner, near the airport. Lisa was talking to them at 5:30 am the night of the hurricane, the phone cut out and she hasn't heard from them since. They were scared and wishing they'd evacuated, but who could blame them? They'd lived in that city their whole lives and and had been scared witless for 50 years over false warning over warning.

[deerhart]

quote:

---

Originally posted by momof2
I mean, what do you do when you are packing up to leave? How do you decide what you have to leave behind. So sad and scary!

---

I learned after my godparents house was destroyed in a fire. I know keep all valuable info (docs andstuff) in plastic storage containers. While it may not survive if the entire place is flooded all the way, it will survive most other flooding and water damage from a fire. I also tend to keep spares of stuff in my parents safedepoist box.

I have also heard of people who keep most of their pictures in boxes right next to the door in case they need to leave the house very quickly.

The logistics of what has happended in LA, MS, and AL is unreal. All i can think about is if it was my family how right now how devestated our future would truely be. Children have lost thier homes, their friends and their schools. People are without jobs, identification, etc.. While MS and AL will probabl recover more quickly, I simply can't imagine life in NO coming anywhere back to normal for 6+ months. My entire office is supposed to attned a conference in NO in November and now everyone is sort of sitting around wiating to see if the conference will simply be canceled or if they will try to move it somewhere else at last minutes notice.

What's worse is we still don't know how bad it is down there because people can't even get to many of the areas. Its just so sad.

[alexp]

Cara - I just thought of one "silver lining" from all this...murphy's law being what it is...you are probably pg this month! [;)][:p][:)]

Big hugs to you...hang in there.

quote:

---

Originally posted by lauramuller:
It is hard to explain to people not familiar with the city how you love New Orleans. It isn't just a city, it is a way of life, it is a kind of beauty and strength you just don't find anywhere else. I'll mourn that city like a person, because it will never be the same again.

---

So, so true.

[mamc2003]

I am finally able to get back on here. Our phone lines(landlines and cells) are so backed up with people trying to use the phones that the internet wouldn't work. About every 5 calls I make actually can go through. My parents took my dad's plane yesterday to Hattiesburg, which is about an hour north of Biloxi, to check on my mom's family. They brought my grandfather back last night, then drove there again this morning to take food, water, and gas. My cousin is bringing home my aunt and her grandaughter and they are staying with us. They said there are no power lines for just miles around. It will be months there too before power is restored.

I met a man and woman from the Coast yesterday who are animal rescuers. They couldn't go to a shelter or hotel b/c they had 39 cats and 25 dogs with them. They were staying under a shade tree at a church parking lot. I felt so bad for them, they said there was nothing left of their home. The sad thing is, that's what's happened to everyone I've spoken to. The pictures of Biloxi and Gulfport are heart-wrenching. When we lived in H'burg, we went to the Coast all the time. Now, I watch the helicopter feeds and there is just nothing left. Not even a pile of rubble where a house had stood. All the casinos and restaraunts that we used to go to are across the street from where they used to be.

I feel so sorry for the people left behind down there. The heat alone is stifling right now, and add that to not having clean water and food. I hope by now some sort of aid has reached them. The news this morning said that citizens had come to NO and brought their boats to help rescue people and the looters started to shoot at them, so they had to pull back. They've got to restore order before they can even get in there and help everyone out. Just so sad.

Things are crazy in my town. I waited for over an hour for gas and now they are saying that people are starting to shoot people here. Said a man was shot at Walmart for no reason. I really hope things settle down soon. I'm able to take food to the shelters every afternoon and that makes me feel better that I can help a little bit.

Cara- I'll be thinking of you and your family and I hope your power comes back on today so you can get back to some semblence of a normal life. I hope Grant gets to feeling better. Tell Mike to be safe out there.

Tanya- I'm so glad BIL was found. I know y'all can breathe a sigh of relief.

Laura- I hope your brothers are somewhere safe for the time being. I'm so sorry for the loss of their houses and jobs. Will it take months before they can start rebuilding? I was talking to an architect from NO today and asked him about the houses that had water up to the roofs, how it could be fixed. He said that usually, they can keep the structure of the house and gut it and start all over.

Alex- I hope your DH doesn't have to go, but if he does, I hope that he's careful. Good luck to him.

[alexp]

I know what you mean, Mandy - I have been trying to pick up items for the local shelters everytime I go the store - it feels good to do at least a little something.

[lorelei]

Just wanted to add that in my little part of the world (upstate SC) our local tv did a telethon and it started early this morning and by 8pm tonight they'd raised over $500K! I thought it was pretty neat considering it was just us..imagine if many others do the same thing. I know it's not much, but maybe it'll help a little.
Also, the bank I work at has opened up an account so people can come put money in to help the victims. They are going to advertise it pretty heavily..Our president put $500 in just to start the account up so hoping this will help as well.


Prayers to everyone affected by Katrina~