Hurricane Katrina (written by Bill Marshall)
Monday September 5, 2005
To All Our Family and Friends,
We are okay. All our family is okay. No one is hurt. Thank you for your emails
and phone calls. We had minor property damage to our house. Yesterday and
Saturday we got our utilites back. Life for us will soon start back toward
(almost) normal. But not for some of our friends. Much help is here or coming
here from all over the United States.
A week ago today hurricane Katrina blew through Mississippi, Alabama, and
Louisiana. The southern parts of Mississippi have more damage than the
northern parts of the state. The western parts of Mississippi have more damage
than the eastern parts of the state. Along the beaches of the Gulf of Mexico
and the bays and bayous there was serious flooding and damage and loss of life.
For those of you who have been to South Mississippi and know the area,
everything south of the railroad tracks is almost totally destroyed from
the tidal surge. If not totally destroyed then seriously damaged. For
those of you not familiar with a tidal surge surge think of is as like a
sunami that comes in and stays in for several hours with big waves on top
of the tidal surge. The tidal surge was more then 30 feet (10 meters) with
15 foot (5 meters) waves on top of the surge. Katrina was a cat 4 (catagory 4)
storm. Camile in 1969 was a cat 5 but small in diameter. Katrine covered 2/3s
of the Gulf of Mexico. Camile was in and gone in 6 hours. Katrina was here
for 12 to 15 hours before moving north. The damaged areas we saw with Camile
is triple or four time bigger with Katrina.
Many lives have been lost. The city of New Orleans was almost totally destroyed
by flooding. The people there are in horrible condition. They need help. Me and
my family do not need help. We are going to be fine. We have food and water and
a strong safe dry home. If you want to help, give money to the Red Cross or
Salvation Army. If you want to give material things call the Salvation Army in
your area and talk to them.
I will be posting some of my photos of my place and Sean's in a few days, well
maybe some today. Later when travel is permitted I'll take more photos and post
them. Below is a time-line from my hurricane Katrina log.
We had bought plywood and lumber a month ago. For a weeks before Katrina we
were fitting it to our windows and doors. We finished boarding up the house
about noon Sunday August 28th. We packed the car then showered and rested
until we left at 3 PM. We traveled north then east. Normally we would take
the Interstate highway 10 east to our son's home and be there an hour. It
is 60 miles or 100 km. But I-10 was full and moving slow. It still took us,
driving on back roads, more than 3 hours to drive 90 miles (100 km) to Sean's
house in Lucedale Mississippi. We arrived there after 6 PM. We had strong
winds then. Hurricane force winds arrive before midnight.
About 2:30 AM Monday morning we lost both electric power and telephone service.
We stayed in the house until late monday afternoon or early evening before
going outside. We had gusty winds until the next day. Sammie celebrated her 61st.
birthday. She got a card from me but no cake and ice cream or gifts. Boy would
we love to have a dish of ice cream right now.
On Tuesday we spent the day picking up broken tree limbs and getting our cars
out to the highway. Our little road was blocked by three fallen trees and down
power lines. Many neighbors got together to helped each other. Sean lives way
out in the country (even more remote than Huntington Vermont.) Sean had minor
roof and tree damage. His water pump house needs a new door.
At 7 AM Wednesday we drove out to highway 63 and drove south to I-10 in Moss
Point and drove west to Gulfport. We were home by 8 AM. Our house had minor
damage. We will need a new roof but it does not leak. All our trees were
destroyed, 4 in front and 3 in back of the house. The plywood protection I put
on the windows and doors worked good. It prevented damage. We had no water in
the house. We had minor street flooding. The house is high and dry.
There is a dust to dawn (8 PM to 6 AM) curfew. I have spent the early morning
and late evening hours cutting limbs off the down trees so we can move around
outside the house. We have three huge Southern Pine trees down (fallen) in our
back yard. They are my neighbor's trees. These pine trees missed our house by
a few yards (meters). We lost all the food in the freezers and refrigerator.
We always have a stockpile of can goods in reserve.
Our electricity came back on Saturday evening about 8 PM. We got water and
sewer back during the night. Water pressure is low but getting stronger each
day. I took my first shower outside with a garden hose the next day.
Sunday we did almost nothing but rest. I am still so tired. I had a normal
nights sleep the last two nights. Last night about 7 PM we got regular phone
service back. I went on line and checked my emails. I'll reply to all today
with a personal email and attach this note. We had limited cell phone service
part of the time in Gulfport. It is working good now.
Again, to everyone we want to say that we are okay. Thank you for your prayers.
Thank you for your concerns, phone calls and emails. But do not forget other
people who are suffering greatly. They need your help. Thank you and God bless
you all.
With Great Humility and Love,
Bill and Sammie