I just got this email from my uncle you lives in Gulfport. He's evacuated the last few hurricanes, including this one, mainly due to his wife's nagging and his grandkids. He's sat out many a previous hurricane including Camile:
Quote: Hello Everyone, This is to let everyone know that we are all alive and well. None of my family is missing or injuried. Everything else is of less importance. Most of us had evacuated to a family member's house in North Mississippi just prior to Katrina's arrival - the rest will in the future. Telephone contact has been next to impossible for calling in or out - even on cell phones but is improving fast. I know a lot of you tried desperately to make contact just before and right after the storm hit and found it impossible. About the only communication since the storm has been text messaging and that has been sparodic. I do not yet have the capability of reading or responding to email. I ran a line 500 feet to a neighbors working telephone to get this message out. Thanks to a large tree, the telephone line for my house is missing in action. Our house survived. We had minimal structural damage (one window in shop, garage door, ridge vents, screens, soffit, trees, etc.). We did get flooded with about two feet of water in the garage and shop and about 8-10" in the rest of the house. We still have a house that is in surprisingly good shape. See attached photo. We've lost a lot of stuff. But, it's just "stuff". We will get more stuff.
We have everything necessary to survive - thanks to some dear friends that came to the rescue with a generator and gas - two critical items that did required an armed guard. I've "been here - done this" before. I even have the "T-shirt" - so I was about as prepared when I came back to town as anyone. We are currently running a mini-refuge camp. Our house is the only one (within my family) that did survive and/or is livable. It's easy to put a lot of people in a house after you throw everything else out. I have four families in one house but that is more than a lot of other folks have at the moment. One family is moving tomorrow to a rental property that I own that survived. Another person left town a couple of days ago. Things are starting to get better - even if it is by the inch. We are good. We have been blessed.
Do not believe all of the negative coverage you see on TV. This was a bad storm and as bad as it is being reported, it is probably worse than the news coverage you are viewing can even make the public understand. But the response by the government and the various agencies has been outstanding. There has been glitches and there will be more, but not all of the criticism I saw on TV is totally justified. Water and Ice came almost immediately and food followed soon after. We got power back in our area yesterday afternoon. As of tonight 82% of the customers that are capable of receiving power have it back on. Six days ago it was 0%. After Camile hit the coast in 1969, it was 4 1/2 weeks before I saw a power truck working near my house. A lot of the bad publicity is coming from New Orleans and from a few people that sit on their ass waiting for someone to hand them something. During a disaster of this magnitude, you make things happen..... by doing them yourself. Anyone criticising the response has forgotten the lessons of Camile - or was too young to remember - or has never been to war. The coast looks like it was hit by an atomic bomb. An atomic bomb would probably require less resources and would not have been as wide-spread.
I have been south of the tracks. I went there before it was sealed off. It's not pretty. It's total destruction - almost beyond comprehension. Tidal surge exceeded Camile by several feet and wave heights of over 82 feet was recorded on the three data bouy's in the Gulf just South of Gulfport. Nothing much can stand up to that kind of force. We have only one local TV station up and running and no cable so you see pictures we do not - but you would have to be here in person to get the real feel for this one. It's bad and it's dangerous. It's like a war zone with everyone armed. But, it is getting better... day by day. With power restored, a few stores are back in operation as well as a few gas stations. Life is good.
I've had very little time to take photo's except for documenting my own losses, but will try to send some when I get my phone line back up. I have a few more things to take take care of before I can go sight-seeing. In the meantime, I just wanted to let everyone know we are ok and have everything we need to get by. It's also a perfect time to thank everyone that has tried desperately to contact us to see if we are ok and to offer assistance. I still have all of my family and all of my friends. What else could I possibly need? There are many other people that are not as fortunate........sure messed up the fishing...........Joe
If anyone needs your prayers, it's this guy. Not only is his wife and adopted son in that house, but he has his best friend, his ex-wife, his son and new daughter-in-law, the ex-daughter-in-law with the three kids, and various pets that don't get along.
whomod said: I generally don't like it when people decide to play by the rules against people who don't play by the rules. It tends to put you immediately at a disadvantage and IMO is a sign of true weakness. This is true both in politics and on the internet."
