Katrina
The bands overhead Sunday night. We were done boarding up.
If one could say there was an advantage to Ivan, it was this ~ our electrical grids were completely replaced. New ways of stringing wire ~ taut to hold the poles upright ~ replaced the old ‘leave it loose so it can swing’. We had power the entire storm, even with gusts well over 100mph. Ebola’s apartment and swaths of town are still out. The downtown flooded and the beaches washed over. Our FEMA blue roof held yet again. Milagro upon Milagro.
We are so hugely lucky.
Cullen darlin’, our hearts go out to you and all our best, best wishes for the happiest of news. Let us know. Rob, check in when you can. You have friends here who want to see your name in the posts.
To our magical Cresent City, beautiful Biloxi, gracious Gulfport and all our Gulf Coast family, bless your hearts. Help is on the way. Hang in there.
UPDATE: While I can get online, let me first thanks Bingster for posting this, but please, please let me add my fervent appeal for your donations to go to the Salvation Army. We have unfortunately gotten to see all the aid agencies in action. The Salvation Army has impressed us tremendously with their selflessness and dedication to people’s immediate needs and their continuing ones. They were literally a Godsend after Ivan and stuck around through thick and thin for months afterwards. For everybody. Feeding people, clothing them, sheltering them, holding hands, getting answers. If you need it, they’re there if there’s anyway on earth possible for them to be.
And you know who else? The little church groups. They were fantastic. If your congregation is part of a larger group that has disaster teams they fund, they did one helluva job here and that’s a wonderful later place for your donations. They get their hands dirty, tarping roofs and getting supplies out, once the areas open to other relief. Wonderful, wonderful people, bless their hearts.
Life | Mr. Bingley | 
August 30, 2005 12:21 pm
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If anything, things look worse today than yesterday. The water is still RISING in New Orleans and some of the adjacent suburbs, and they don’t know yet where all the breaches in the levees are. Help is actually NOT on the way, at least to the degree it’s needed, until that can be stopped.
I was less worried yesterday; I’m more worried now. The confirmed death toll will surely rise dramatically: most people in the area who actually stayed in their houses probably drowned. And whether in the Superdome or hotels or wherever, I haven’t heard of survivors getting any fresh water, which is key to holding back any disease outbreak, cholera and dysentery particularly. Unless there are large amounts of vaccine sent in soon, you’ll begin to hear about malaria, too, as the mosquito population begins to skyrocket in all the warm standing water.
Not only are supplies going to have to come in by boat or helicopter, once empty those vehicles should be filled with people to be evacuated to shelters away from where the storm hit. The fewer people stuck in the area for the next few weeks or months, the better.
New Orleans will bounce back as it always has, but I fear the worst is actually still yet to come.
Dave,
Check my message in the post before this one.
Also … just heard that my dad-in-law is the luckiest son of a bitch ever. His trailer lost a couple of shingles, but otherwise nothing else. They have no water, but are otherwise okay.
Every other trailer in their park is trashed.
Thanks for everyone’s thoughts.
I’m afraid that Dave’s right. Essentially, New Orleans is a third-world country right now.
It’s heartening to hear that you came through this latest nearly untouched, Ms. Sister.
THS, I can log back on now…..maybe that e-mail nudged the servers? ;-P
Glad you came through OK. From my civilian connections, I’m hearing that there will be a major deployment of Federal resources into the area. It has to happen, to get the economy going again.
But Dave has it right — the levees must be fixed first (I speak from professional experience here). And that will not be an easy task by any stretch of the imagination. I don’t envy the engineers and construction workers on this task…..but I wish them the best of luck!!
oh thank god cullen.
now in two weeks go down there and kick his ass; we’ll all help.
how are Major Dad’s kids doing up there by you?
Oh. They’ve been fine. Crime rates have shot up considerably … 😉
… Honestly, though, they’re all well. Not sure when they’re heading back. We signing the MOA between the installations today. Next week’s Emblem will have something about that.
And thanks. I know I’ll never talk any sense into him, so I’ll just have to kick his ass.
Ditto Bingster, Cullen.
Ditto, ditto, ditto.
(Thanks Diptera and JeffS? Never underestimate the power of a blonde.{;^P)
Yay, cullen! That’s great about your FIL.
Good news, Cullen! Glad that you got the good word.