Sam put the star on this year. He had a little bit of trouble. We got our tree last weekend. Using tree is kind of pushing it. It is more like our Christmas branch. We did not do a good job of picking out the tree this time. We need to look at all sides of the tree before we cut it down. Next year it is actually Katy’s turn.
I got this in the mail today. Normally, it wouldn’t be that exciting. I thought that this year it was kind of interesting.
The cousins have been visiting while they are out of school because of Katrina. We have been showing them around here. We went to The Tech, the Exploratorium, crossed the Golden Gate bridge, and Aquarium. They were supposed to go back early this morning. Because of Rita, we had to postpone the flight through Houston and they are going back on Tuesday. The younger ones have been going to school each morning with Katy and Margaret as well.
I went to Mississippi to help my brother and sister deal with the flooding from the hurricane. I really don’t know how to describe it. In some ways, it was like going to a funeral. I did enjoy my time with my brother and sister, but it was not the best of circumstances. It was really hard to be down there. So many people lost so much. In my sister’s neighborhood, everyone around had piled all of their ruined possessions up on the curbside. All the piles looked pretty much the same. We were able to finish cleaning out my sister’s 1-story house that had about 7.5 feet of water in it. We got all the carpet, drywall, and insulation out. Now it can dry out for a while. I should be salvagable from this point. We created a pile of all of her possesions. It was about 8 feet tall, 20 feet wide, and 60 feet long.
We took a slight detour and went down to the ocean front. The most shocking thing was all of the clothes and other garbage that was hanging from the trees. Most of the houses on the beach front were completely destroyed. Everything except the foundation from these houses was piled up a few hundred yards from the shore where the water had dropped it. All in all, Ocean Springs was not hit as hard as anything west of there. I can’t even imagine what places like Bay St. Louis and Waveland must look like.
My parents, 200 miles from the coast, saw hurricane force winds. The entire drive down from Starkville to the coast was littered with damage from the hurricane, ots of trees down, lots of roofs damaged. In places around 100 miles from the coast, the wind was strong enough to completely destroy traffic lights. Parts of the coast weren’t hit quite as hard, but I don’t think I saw a single traffic sign that wasn’t bent in one way or another.
The military presence was intimidating. However, there were also many signs around about shooting looters. I don’t know what the looting was like immediately after the storm, but people down there seemed to be prepared to stop it.
I really thank Jonathan and Daniel for going down with me. Without them, there would have been no way that we could have gotten so much done at my sister’s. Unfortunately, I was not able to help my brother as much as I would have liked.
My sister is now living in a travel trailer in her back yard. She will probably be out of her house for well over a year. My brother is able to live in his house. He has had to replace all of his appliances and will end up removing all of the drywall and insulation below about 2 feet in his house.
I asked both of them what people should do if they wanted to help. The best answer is probably simply give to the American Red Cross. You can make an online donation here.
Katy and her friend Olivia decided – all on their own – to hold a lemonade and bake sale to raise money for Katrina aid. After the neighbors spread the word, they had great attendance. Everyone had a good time hanging out outside, chatting with neighbors, and enjoying the Fall weather. More importantly, in two hours, the children raised $183.22 (a lot of people paid $10, or even $60, for a cupcake). They will divide the money between the Red Cross and Noah’s Wish, a group that rescues and shelters animals during disasters. All in all, a most successful Saturday afternoon. Photos next week.
UPDATE: Now up to $200.50.
My brother and sister went through Katrina. They all evacuated to safety. My nephew just uploaded these before and after pictures. If you look closely in the garage shots, it looks like the water level is just above the windows & doors. Basically, the water came in and floated everything around and jumbled it up. Luckily his house is a little higher than the garage. I think he had a couple feet of water in the house. My sister was not quite so lucky, she had about 8 feet of water in her house.
