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This is my first time online since I returned to the coast a week after the storm. We finally got phones and internet access at our temporary office.
Let me tell you, Mother Nature is the great equalizer.
We sustained major damage to our home and business. They just finished gutting my house for mold remediation because of the flood. Likewise, the business is gutted.
We are lucky. We have a place to shower, eat and sleep at night. Some people in Pascagoula are sleeping in tents in their front yards.
A couple of days ago, I was at my house trying to retrieve a few things. The Red Cross came by in their van giving out meals. I stood in line with my neighbor, the judge, and got a meal, returned to my house and sat in a discarded chair in what was formerly my New Orleans style courtyard. As I looked around, I could not help but see the irony of how life can change so quickly. There I was sitting in what is worse than the worst slum you can imagine, eating on public assistance.
I tell you this in a light hearted way and not for symapthy. We are very lucky compared to everyone west of us.
Do not believe everything you see on the news. Help was slow at first, but we have been overwhelmed by assistance from FEMA, Red Cross, National Guard (Alabama National Guard was assigned to our area, and they are fantastic), Police departments from across the nation, church groups from all over the south and just about every other Government agency you can imagine. And they are cutting the red tape and getting money and assistance to those in need.
Las Vegas Police Department was a huge presence in my area. They pass out food (MRE's), water, ice, cleaning supplies, offer assistance in any physical manner possible.
National Guard patrols the streets day and night. We tell every one of them we come in contact with how much we appreciate their presence and what a fantastic job they are doing. I met a young National Guardsman in Walgreen's who had just returned home to Alabama from Iraq in April. He was activated so quickly for duty in this disaster area that he had not even had time to get some personal cash for the trip.
We have contractors from Sylacauga arriving tomorrow to help with our personal recovery.
I have to say, our lake home seems a million miles away. Don't know when we will be back up there, but it is comforting to know we have someplace "normal" in our life.
May I say, your donations to Red Cross are not wasted. Those people perform.
I adopted out all 4 of my dogs before I left the lake to return home and I feel very good about the homes I found for them.
Pray for New Orleans and the Mississippi Gulf Coast. And please, make your donations to the Red Cross.
Peace to you. CG
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