Thursday, September 01, 2005
My generic email to everyone, updating
My entire family is alive and safe. My mom, step-dad, sisters, brother, sister-in-law, aunt, uncle, nephews and cousins all evacuated. My father and step-mom stayed behind because my father was on call for the hospital. They weathered the storm at a nursing home. My three step-sisters (step-dad's daughters) all stayed and thankfully, within the last 15 minutes we got word that they are all accounted for and safe.
All of the pets are safe as well.
The eye of the storm hit 30 miles west of Long Beach my home town. In a hurricane, the east side of the storm gets the highest winds and storm surge. The east side was Long Beach, Gulfport, and Biloxi.
My father's and aunt's homes were both 22 feet above sea level and we had high hopes that they would survive the storm surge. However, the storm surge was 30 feet or more… and they did not.
My mom and brother both lived north of the railroad tracks and their houses are damaged but still standing.
My father's house in Long Beach was 1/6 of a mile from the beach and is destroyed. The brick structure is standing, but the roof, windows and inside walls are gone. And the house has 5 feet of water inside. The couch is in our backyard and most of the furniture is nowhere to be found. Our boat is three streets over from that.
My sister Allyson's house was even closer to the beach and all that is left is a concrete slab. No wood, debris, nothing… just the concrete slab. She has two pairs of jeans, three shirts and some CDs to her name.
My Aunt Lana and Uncle Bruce's house in Gulfport is also destroyed. All that is left again, is a concrete slab with their car overturned. Their house was across from the beach…. Its amazing. They almost stayed, and so it’s a real blessing that they left.
My sister Mandy was married last week - her apartment is also gone… she will be living on the air force base with her husband.
We are still awaiting word on my cousin, John's house. He too was north of the tracks, although just on the other side. So we are waiting to find out. He is safe, he and his family evacuated as well.
And while many were even prepared that their houses would be gone, they weren't prepared for the entire town to be gone. The entire gulf coast is gone. We offered to send them things, but to where. And the post office is gone. We offered to wire money… but to where. And there's nothing to buy because all the stores are gone. There are no gas stations or gas… my parents church, which is still standing is taking a few people in the church van up to Jackson to a Wal-Mart to get some clothes to wear.
My father, two sisters and my step-mom cannot get any water or ice. They went yesterday, but they had run out and were told to come back today.
Until this morning I was able to communicate through text messaging. You couldn't call, but somehow the text messaging worked. Finally this morning, they were able to call me - but my dad said he tried for 45 minutes before he was able to get out. They are staying with some friends whose house survived; but they have no power or running water. They have been told they will be without running water for 2-3 weeks and without power for 4-12 weeks.
Just keep them in your thoughts. Everyone is alive and well and we will recover from this. I hope to go down as soon as they have running water.
It has been tough to concentrate on work for the last two days. I have been the information central, since no one could call each other, only out. For some reason it was easier to call out long distance than to call within the affected areas. And I have been doing all the online research to try and find my step-sisters and information on the areas they were in.
Thanks for everyone's kind words.
Lisa ¶ 7:50 AM
All of the pets are safe as well.
The eye of the storm hit 30 miles west of Long Beach my home town. In a hurricane, the east side of the storm gets the highest winds and storm surge. The east side was Long Beach, Gulfport, and Biloxi.
My father's and aunt's homes were both 22 feet above sea level and we had high hopes that they would survive the storm surge. However, the storm surge was 30 feet or more… and they did not.
My mom and brother both lived north of the railroad tracks and their houses are damaged but still standing.
My father's house in Long Beach was 1/6 of a mile from the beach and is destroyed. The brick structure is standing, but the roof, windows and inside walls are gone. And the house has 5 feet of water inside. The couch is in our backyard and most of the furniture is nowhere to be found. Our boat is three streets over from that.
My sister Allyson's house was even closer to the beach and all that is left is a concrete slab. No wood, debris, nothing… just the concrete slab. She has two pairs of jeans, three shirts and some CDs to her name.
My Aunt Lana and Uncle Bruce's house in Gulfport is also destroyed. All that is left again, is a concrete slab with their car overturned. Their house was across from the beach…. Its amazing. They almost stayed, and so it’s a real blessing that they left.
My sister Mandy was married last week - her apartment is also gone… she will be living on the air force base with her husband.
We are still awaiting word on my cousin, John's house. He too was north of the tracks, although just on the other side. So we are waiting to find out. He is safe, he and his family evacuated as well.
And while many were even prepared that their houses would be gone, they weren't prepared for the entire town to be gone. The entire gulf coast is gone. We offered to send them things, but to where. And the post office is gone. We offered to wire money… but to where. And there's nothing to buy because all the stores are gone. There are no gas stations or gas… my parents church, which is still standing is taking a few people in the church van up to Jackson to a Wal-Mart to get some clothes to wear.
My father, two sisters and my step-mom cannot get any water or ice. They went yesterday, but they had run out and were told to come back today.
Until this morning I was able to communicate through text messaging. You couldn't call, but somehow the text messaging worked. Finally this morning, they were able to call me - but my dad said he tried for 45 minutes before he was able to get out. They are staying with some friends whose house survived; but they have no power or running water. They have been told they will be without running water for 2-3 weeks and without power for 4-12 weeks.
Just keep them in your thoughts. Everyone is alive and well and we will recover from this. I hope to go down as soon as they have running water.
It has been tough to concentrate on work for the last two days. I have been the information central, since no one could call each other, only out. For some reason it was easier to call out long distance than to call within the affected areas. And I have been doing all the online research to try and find my step-sisters and information on the areas they were in.
Thanks for everyone's kind words.
Lisa ¶ 7:50 AM
