I spoke with mom tonight. Some of the crew at their house in Baton
Rouge have found other places to stay. One, a student at LSU has
returned to her appartment and offered to house her little brother for
a time. The night the storm approached there were thirteen people,
two dogs and two cats in my parents' house. My parents have lived
alone for decades. It has to be a shock to their system.

My uncle from Covington and his wife are still there. They don't know
about their house, but since it's north of I-12, there's a chance it's
not totally destroyed. His stepson from Orleans Parish and the rest
of the family from down there are safe chez Odom in Baton Rouge, but
their posessions are almost certainly gone. He's got two pairs of
socks, two shirts, etc. Luckily his tech job in communications pays
well, and under present circumstances offers serious job security. So
they'll almost certainly do fine.

My parents' house was only scratched a little and mom reports they
only received a couple of inches of rain. Not so Covington, a few
miles east of them. And then there's Biloxi, Gulfport, Slidell,
Metairie, St. Bernard Parish, and the rest.

My poor, beautiful New Orleans.

OBFood: (from 1999) http://tinyurl.com/dp8ok

OBCharity: About 50 storm refugees are in a local Cow Hill motel.
This afternoon D and I dropped off a hundred bucks with the desk clerk
to help with their expenses. The rest will have to go to something
more organized for the people who are suffering so badly.


modom

Only superficial people don't judge by appearances.
-- Oscar Wilde

"modom" > wrote in message
...
>I spoke with mom tonight. Some of the crew at their house in Baton
> Rouge have found other places to stay. One, a student at LSU has
> returned to her appartment and offered to house her little brother for
> a time. The night the storm approached there were thirteen people,
> two dogs and two cats in my parents' house. My parents have lived
> alone for decades. It has to be a shock to their system.

That has to be hard when your home is busting at the seams. I have
several friends who are in similar situations, hosting many refugees in
their homes (one has 12 total, another has 14...).


>
> My uncle from Covington and his wife are still there. They don't know
> about their house, but since it's north of I-12, there's a chance it's
> not totally destroyed. His stepson from Orleans Parish and the rest
> of the family from down there are safe chez Odom in Baton Rouge, but
> their posessions are almost certainly gone. He's got two pairs of
> socks, two shirts, etc. Luckily his tech job in communications pays
> well, and under present circumstances offers serious job security. So
> they'll almost certainly do fine.
>
> My parents' house was only scratched a little and mom reports they
> only received a couple of inches of rain. Not so Covington, a few
> miles east of them. And then there's Biloxi, Gulfport, Slidell,
> Metairie, St. Bernard Parish, and the rest.
>
> My poor, beautiful New Orleans.
>
> OBFood: (from 1999) http://tinyurl.com/dp8ok
>
> OBCharity: About 50 storm refugees are in a local Cow Hill motel.

There are several thousand refugees in my county (just north of
Houston). I just received an email from someone in a local group I
belong to listing a bunch of motels in my suburb, each with many, many
evacuees needing clothes, shoes, hot meals, toys/games for kids,
diapers, and juice/soft drinks. I anticipate preparing lots of meals
(and baking a lot of cookies) over the coming weeks.

Mary

Our prayers are with each and everyone that was affected by Katrina.
Please find below a dozen helping hands for anything you can offer to
the affected families:

1. Red Cross <http://www.redcross.org/donate/donate.html>
2. The Salvation Army <http://www.salvationarmyusa.org/USNSAHome.htm>
3. Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)
<http://www.fema.gov/rrr/help2.shtm>
4. Feed the children
<http://www.feedthechildren.org/site/PageServer?pagename=usw_hurricane_katrina>
5. Second harvest <http://www.secondharvest.org/>
6. Americares <http://www.americares.org/>
7. MAP International <http://www.map.org/>
8. Mercy corps <http://www.mercycorps.org/>
9. Network for good <http://www.networkforgood.org/>
10. United way <http://national.unitedway.org/>
11. World Emergency Relief <http://www.worldemergency.org/>
12. Direct relief <http://www.directrelief.org/>

Kindly pass it on!

Regards,

vkn
http://inspiringwords.blogspot.com

In article >, modom
> wrote:

> I spoke with mom tonight. Some of the crew at their house in Baton
(snip)
> My parents' house was only scratched a little and mom reports they
> only received a couple of inches of rain. Not so Covington, a few
> miles east of them. And then there's Biloxi, Gulfport, Slidell,
> Metairie, St. Bernard Parish, and the rest.

> modom

God be with them, Michael. Thanks for the post.
--
-Barb, <http://www.jamlady.eboard.com> Several notes since 8/18/05,
including the Blue Ribbon Brownie Recipe and a sad note added
this evening, 8/27/05.

MareCat wrote:

> There are several thousand refugees in my county (just north of
> Houston).

Mary, some of the people in shelters may be wanting paperback books.
Imagine sitting around all day with nothing to do.

We took an old computer to the Salvation Army near us, so the refugees
can contact relatives, read email, pay bills or do whatever.

One of my cousins left New Orleans on Sunday, he went to Shreveport,
where his wife's family lives. I can not locate his sister. She has
dogs that she considers her children and she would not go to a shelter
because you could not take your dogs. I have two other cousines I have
not located, yet.

Becca

Becca wrote:
> MareCat wrote:
>
>> There are several thousand refugees in my county (just north of
>> Houston).
>
> Mary, some of the people in shelters may be wanting paperback books.
> Imagine sitting around all day with nothing to do.
>
The shelters in my area are requesting board games for adults and kids.
Something to keep them occupied that doesn't require batteries. A Monopoly
champion may come out of this disaster. Or the game of LIFE.

> We took an old computer to the Salvation Army near us, so the refugees
> can contact relatives, read email, pay bills or do whatever.
>
> One of my cousins left New Orleans on Sunday, he went to Shreveport,
> where his wife's family lives. I can not locate his sister. She has
> dogs that she considers her children and she would not go to a shelter
> because you could not take your dogs. I have two other cousines I
> have not located, yet.
>
> Becca

Candles lit for your relatives who haven't been heard from, Becca.

Jill

One more -- if you have room(S) to spare ...
http://www.hurricanehousing.org/

"Becca" > wrote

> One of my cousins left New Orleans on Sunday, he went to Shreveport, where
> his wife's family lives. I can not locate his sister. She has dogs that
> she considers her children and she would not go to a shelter because you
> could not take your dogs. I have two other cousines I have not located,
> yet.

Oh, geez, Becca, all my good thoughts to your family and their pets.

nancy

modom wrote:

<snip>

> My parents' house was only scratched a little and mom reports they
> only received a couple of inches of rain. Not so Covington, a few
> miles east of them. And then there's Biloxi, Gulfport, Slidell,
> Metairie, St. Bernard Parish, and the rest.
>
> My poor, beautiful New Orleans.
>
> OBFood: (from 1999) http://tinyurl.com/dp8ok
>
> OBCharity: About 50 storm refugees are in a local Cow Hill motel.
> This afternoon D and I dropped off a hundred bucks with the desk clerk
> to help with their expenses. The rest will have to go to something
> more organized for the people who are suffering so badly.

It's good to hear that things weren't as bad as they could have been
for your family.

For myself and others who left New Orleans one of the difficult things
is not knowing how others are doing. I've heard from a lot of my
friends, but there a many neighbors and friends who wouldn't know how
to reach me nor do I know how to reach them.

I have gotten bits and pieces of information about my neighborhood and
it seems to have fared relatively well. We only had four feet or so of
water and as of Wednesday had not had any looting of homes. From what I
heard the neighbors who stayed had banded together to help protect the
area from looters. In spite of what is being reported, most of the
people have a very strong sense of community and will do what they can
to help each other out.

I think it will be quite a while before I can get back to see things
for myself.

Take care,
-Mike

"Mike Pearce" > wrote in message
oups.com...
>
> modom wrote:
>
> <snip>
>
>> My parents' house was only scratched a little and mom reports they
>> only received a couple of inches of rain. Not so Covington, a few
>> miles east of them. And then there's Biloxi, Gulfport, Slidell,
>> Metairie, St. Bernard Parish, and the rest.
>>
>> My poor, beautiful New Orleans.
>>
>> OBFood: (from 1999) http://tinyurl.com/dp8ok
>>
>> OBCharity: About 50 storm refugees are in a local Cow Hill motel.
>> This afternoon D and I dropped off a hundred bucks with the desk clerk
>> to help with their expenses. The rest will have to go to something
>> more organized for the people who are suffering so badly.
>
> It's good to hear that things weren't as bad as they could have been
> for your family.
>
> For myself and others who left New Orleans one of the difficult things
> is not knowing how others are doing. I've heard from a lot of my
> friends, but there a many neighbors and friends who wouldn't know how
> to reach me nor do I know how to reach them.
>
> I have gotten bits and pieces of information about my neighborhood and
> it seems to have fared relatively well. We only had four feet or so of
> water and as of Wednesday had not had any looting of homes. From what I
> heard the neighbors who stayed had banded together to help protect the
> area from looters. In spite of what is being reported, most of the
> people have a very strong sense of community and will do what they can
> to help each other out.
>
> I think it will be quite a while before I can get back to see things
> for myself.
>
> Take care,
> -Mike
>

CNN.Com has satellite photos of various parts of the city. Perhaps they can
help you get a feel for what things are like.


--
Peter Aitken

"Becca" > wrote in message
...
> MareCat wrote:
>
>> There are several thousand refugees in my county (just north of
>> Houston).
>
> Mary, some of the people in shelters may be wanting paperback books.
> Imagine sitting around all day with nothing to do.
>
> We took an old computer to the Salvation Army near us, so the refugees
> can contact relatives, read email, pay bills or do whatever.

They've been asking for toys and games (for both kids and adults) also.
Books are a great idea, and I'll bet folks really appreciated that
computer you took in.


> One of my cousins left New Orleans on Sunday, he went to Shreveport,
> where his wife's family lives. I can not locate his sister. She has
> dogs that she considers her children and she would not go to a shelter
> because you could not take your dogs. I have two other cousines I
> have not located, yet.

I'm so sorry, Becca. I hope you locate them soon.

Mary

Peter Aitken wrote:

> >
>
> CNN.Com has satellite photos of various parts of the city. Perhaps they can
> help you get a feel for what things are like.
>
>
> --
> Peter Aitken

Peter:

Thanks. So far I haven't been able to find any images that give a very
clear picture of my neighborhood. I do know that it hasn't been hit as
hard as a lot of the city which is somewhat of a blessing.

Thank again,
-Mike

On Fri, 02 Sep 2005 07:02:14 -0500, Melba's Jammin' wrote:

> a sad note added this evening, 8/27/05.

My condolences, Barb. Was she your oldest sibling?

Mike Pearce wrote:
> Peter Aitken wrote:
>
> > >
> >
> > CNN.Com has satellite photos of various parts of the city. Perhaps they can
> > help you get a feel for what things are like.
> >
> >
> > --
> > Peter Aitken
>
> Peter:
>
> Thanks. So far I haven't been able to find any images that give a very
> clear picture of my neighborhood. I do know that it hasn't been hit as
> hard as a lot of the city which is somewhat of a blessing.
>
> Thank again,
> -Mike

Mike,

Have spent the last few days trying to find flooding info for my niece,
a Tulane Med student who left her home on S. Murat for TX just ahead of
the storm with her 2 cats and not much more. She's doing volunteer
triage at the AstroDome and I think it's helping her to help others
right now.

The very best 8/31/05 aerial view map I've found is at:

http://www.digitalglobe.com/images/k...31_2005_dg.jpg

Much bigger and clearer than the CNN version - takes a long time to
load, but shows much greater detail.

I've also been checking in at:

http://www.scipionus.com/

They have one of those expandable google maps with markers (like our
nifty RFC Map) and I've found the flood reports in the markers helpful
in trying to interpret water depth on the digital globe map.

Hope this helps and that your news is good.

Nancy T

ntantiques wrote:

> Mike,
>
> Have spent the last few days trying to find flooding info for my niece,
> a Tulane Med student who left her home on S. Murat for TX just ahead of
> the storm with her 2 cats and not much more. She's doing volunteer
> triage at the AstroDome and I think it's helping her to help others
> right now.
>
> The very best 8/31/05 aerial view map I've found is at:
>
> http://www.digitalglobe.com/images/k...31_2005_dg.jpg
>
> Much bigger and clearer than the CNN version - takes a long time to
> load, but shows much greater detail.
>
> I've also been checking in at:
>
> http://www.scipionus.com/
>
> They have one of those expandable google maps with markers (like our
> nifty RFC Map) and I've found the flood reports in the markers helpful
> in trying to interpret water depth on the digital globe map.
>
> Hope this helps and that your news is good.
>
> Nancy T

Nancy:

Thanks. I'd seen the digital globe mab but not the scipionus.com map.
There are a few comments about my neighborhood (the few blocks just
south of the Fair Grounds racetrack) I live practically right in
between one comment which says "house obstensibly fine, water in
streets" and another that says "4' water in streets, store looted"
Hopefully I have a little less that 4 feet of water. Four feet would be
just about floorboard level of my house. Overall, my neighborhood
doesn't look too bad considering what happened.

I'm glad you neice is OK.

Thanks,
-Mike

Mike,
Good that you found somewhat hopeful info. The scipionus.com map has
had new info every time I've checked in.
Stay safe,
Nancy T

modom wrote:

> I spoke with mom tonight. Some of the crew at their house in Baton
> Rouge have found other places to stay. One, a student at LSU has
> returned to her appartment and offered to house her little brother for
> a time. The night the storm approached there were thirteen people,
> two dogs and two cats in my parents' house. My parents have lived
> alone for decades. It has to be a shock to their system.
>
> My uncle from Covington and his wife are still there. They don't know
> about their house, but since it's north of I-12, there's a chance it's
> not totally destroyed. His stepson from Orleans Parish and the rest
> of the family from down there are safe chez Odom in Baton Rouge, but
> their posessions are almost certainly gone. He's got two pairs of
> socks, two shirts, etc. Luckily his tech job in communications pays
> well, and under present circumstances offers serious job security. So
> they'll almost certainly do fine.
>
> My parents' house was only scratched a little and mom reports they
> only received a couple of inches of rain. Not so Covington, a few
> miles east of them. And then there's Biloxi, Gulfport, Slidell,
> Metairie, St. Bernard Parish, and the rest.
>
> My poor, beautiful New Orleans.
>
> OBFood: (from 1999) http://tinyurl.com/dp8ok
>
> OBCharity: About 50 storm refugees are in a local Cow Hill motel.
> This afternoon D and I dropped off a hundred bucks with the desk clerk
> to help with their expenses. The rest will have to go to something
> more organized for the people who are suffering so badly.
>
>
> modom
>
> Only superficial people don't judge by appearances.
> -- Oscar Wilde

I'm sorry your family has been so caught up in this but glad
you could help and didn't fare worse.

--
Jean B.

Mike Pearce wrote:

> Peter Aitken wrote:
>
>
>>CNN.Com has satellite photos of various parts of the city. Perhaps they can
>>help you get a feel for what things are like.
>>
>>
>>--
>>Peter Aitken
>
>
> Peter:
>
> Thanks. So far I haven't been able to find any images that give a very
> clear picture of my neighborhood. I do know that it hasn't been hit as
> hard as a lot of the city which is somewhat of a blessing.
>
> Thank again,
> -Mike
>

Mike, I'm sorry you have to go through this and hope things
are as good as humanly possible. <<<<<Mike>>>>>

--
Jean B.