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Words from a colleague in South Mississippi


markomalley
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We've heard so much about the woes in Louisiana, I thought folks would enjoy hearing some news from another area struck by Katrina. I am posting this here, rather than in 'tacks, because his comments are not really political, just a situation report.

People's reaction to his comments may cause this thread to be banished to 'tacks, however:

quote:
Hello Everyone,

Just a quick note to say thanks for all the good thoughts. I'm hijacking internet from my wife's office so this will be a short story on hurricanes.

We lost power around 4:00AM Sunday 29 Aug. We have had running water, we have to boil it to drink it though, the whole time fortunately. Phone service for anything but one neighbor came back starting on the next Saturday. Cell phones followed, sporadically, on Tuesday 8 days after the storm. Internet is a no-go with all the service providers down. Cable or HS Internet is most likely 6-9 months from returning to our area. My wife has learned new skills such as baking on a gas grill outside, washing clothes in 5-gal buckets and doing without her TO weapon, a nuclear force blow drier. I have been accused of liking it to much since it's allot like being back in the field with a HQ unit. Our generator gives us power to run the fridge's and freezer plus some fans and lighting no AC though. TV is a single local channel that showed 24/7 hurricane coverage until three days ago. (The DVD player is about burnt out now.) South MS is an Armed Camp. No looting here. The phrase "You loot we shoot" is literal here.

Folks forget all you have seen in the news about slow response here. Yes there were failures in the system but the storm made all plans useless. The size of this thing was unbelievable. The eye was 30 plus miles wide. We had Hurricane or TS force winds for nearly 12 hours. Roads were impassable in the dark so any effort to get to the area by conventional wheeled vehicles was a no-go until first light Tuesday. Interstate highways were one lane forced open by dozers and front end loaders for 150 miles in all directions. We had 45 trees down along on 1/4 mile of road out to the main road to town. The neighbors pooled chainsaws, strong backs, and weak minds to open the road by afternoon Tuesday. Most side roads were cleared the same way. Neighbors pooled food, water, and anything else to help each other out. By Thursday the military, Red Cross, FEMA, and to many Church Groups to count were here on the deck and helping. Power crews from 26 states were here by Friday. Priority was given to the hardest hit and largest population centers. County areas like I live in have sucked it up and get by waiting our turn. That's all anybody can do. Complaining doesn't help. A company of Marines from 1/8, 24th MEU have gone through the county door by door to confirm transportation ability, medical needs and security. The National Guard is doing the bulk of the food distribution. The Sea Bee's are everywhere working on sewer plants, power lines, heavy clean-up etc. Cops and Fireman are working 24/7 even when their own homes are destroyed. Out-of-state workers, LE and Fire folks are flooding the area to help. Be proud of all of them

Well this was longer then I meant to be. I just wanted to let everybody know that life goes on and I'll be back working the next mission.

Semper Fi

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Thanks for posting this from someone "in it." My friend has a daughter who was going to medical school in New Orleans.

She left with her two cats and some stuff in a car. The college is at work helping her find a new place to begin her education again. She hasn't looked back. She did have her boyfriend to leave with. He has to find a new college as well.

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My whole family is from MS and LA as most of you know. E-mails like this are heartening and always good to read because it's not media propoganda and it doesn't focus on all the negative with no hope for the future. I'll post a few of my recent e-mails as well.

Here's one:

Mark Flemmings works for Modern Communications in Cleveland , Ms and is working down on the coast in the recovery. This is the story from

his eyes. ( a little long but well worth the read )

Makes you appreciate what you have!

WELCOME TO MISSISSIPPI

O.K. I'll make an attempt to tell what's going on down here right now. It's hard to do for several reasons. First, because there is so much, it's hard to talk about. Let's try to focus on the positive.

You're right to be sick about New Orleans. They've turned into a bunch of animals over there. The idiots are shooting at the people who are trying to help them???? I think for the most part it's due to the frustration caused by the lack of response by their State Government....I mean, an SOS call? Give me a break.

Everybody is so focused on what's going on in the Superdome, the Mississippi story is going un-reported.

It's one of the bright things that are happening here now.

We are NOT leaving our people to wallow and starve in their own filth ,and the cadavers of loved ones. Were finding the live ones and getting them north as fast a possible. Most of the hundreds showing up here have at least had a meal, and a bath.

Haley Barbour the Governor and his administration will come out as true heroes in this disaster once the total story is told. The differences between the Louisiana and Mississippi responses are truly startling.

Haley and MEMA had already had Mississippi declared disaster areas TWO DAYS before Katrina hit......What does that mean? A lot........

It means we had a two day head start on recovery. It means we had pre-positioned response teams...FULLY EQUIPPED ! It means we already had supplies being loaded on trucks to go to the coast while the hurricane was still going on. It means Federal representatives from FEMA were already IN State when it hit. Which means somebody on the Satellite Phone moving troops and aid our way while Louisiana was still trying to get ....... .

We have been dealing with looters a little differently on the coast. Once you shoot a few and leave their bodies laying in front of the

store with their arms full of booty, the rest get the idea pretty quickly. Hasn't been a big problem. In the case of breaking in to get survival supplies...food and water. The police have shot the locks off the doors and helped take the stuff to distribution points.

School buses to haul refuges to shelters north, an idea Louisiana JUST figured out by the way, have been running shuttle since Wednesday morning.

They are pouring in here by the hundreds. Red Cross has been doing a GREAT job on setting up relief shelters in our area.

The local Governments have opened all of the convention centers and school auditoriums to them. I know it's hard to believe, but the local

Friday night Football games have ALL been canceled this week. Our efforts are going elsewhere this weekend.

My daughter is the editor for the local University newspaper. She asked me what she could do for these folks, and I told her" The main thing they need right now is bottled water". So she made a few phone calls and set it up with her newspaper and the local T.V.

stations....in 24 hours they had collected over 600 gallons. This story is typical and

is happening all over this part of the state.

Pulpwood haulers (lumberjacks to you Yankees) who showed up at Interstates and main feeder hi-ways heading south. Started cutting up

the downed trees with their own chainsaws, and loading them up with their hydraulic boom hauling trucks. Opening the way south for our

relief effort...nobody called them....they just showed up and started doing what had to be done. Welcome to Mississippi.

The local churches are jumping in too. Emmanuel Baptist has been cooking and serving three meals a day for 1500 people at the shelter

there since Wednesday. Where is the food coming from? Strangers are just showing up at the convention center and dropping it off. Red Cross is providing some of it, but the majority is just showing up....from people who aren't seeking and never will be recognized. It's happening all over the state. again and again. Welcome to Mississippi.

Our local hotels are full of people here from New Orleans.....most are starting to run out of money, so we have begun collecting for their

hotel bills and providing them with meals at the shelters. Quite a few in town have taken them in to their own homes...knowing they may be

there for months. I filled up one guy's tank at the gas station Tuesday because he only had enough money for a few gallons. Welcome to

Mississippi.

Just stopped and put an antenna on one of our E.O.C. Trucks headed south to Ocean Springs. Their headed down to do a fuel supply run.

While here, my daughter came in with another 300 gallons of bottled water, asking where she could store it. I said" How 'bout the back of

this truck?" icon_smile.gif:)-->)) This is how it works, over and over and over... Sorry if this E-mail seems a little jumpy, I've been adding to it all day. As I get a minute and as thoughts occur to me. Things are happening all around me, and it's hard to sort it all out while "in the moment".

I think that's the way this story will be told.....later.It's going to take a while.

While I'm thinking about it.....BIG thank you to Motorola. I'm almost as proud of being a Motorolan as I am a Mississippian. You guys may not know about it yet, but Motorola has put on a

Herculean support effort. I was involved on the fringes for a while, but the effort to send radios and infrastructure has been nothing short of phenomenal!

My guys on the coast called with a SEVERE need for repeaters and W.T's. They had a few towers and antennas still standing, but the repeaters

were in about three feet of water. After a few phone calls around the campus there in Schaumburg, I was given the Bridge call number for the emergency request line. Made a call back to my guys and passed it on.

I'll be sheep dipped if Motorola didn't have equipment THERE the NEXT DAY!!!!!!

HOT DANG!!! That's the way you do it.icon_smile.gif:)-->))

Mississippians have loooong memories. This one will NOT be forgotten. Anybody see Jim Geary up there....kiss him for me. Lord knows I won't.icon_smile.gif:)-->)) And anybody else that you know was involved in Motorola's support effort. Tell them Mississippi gives a heartfelt "God Bless

You"'

Most of us cry at least once a day. You can't deal with the hundreds we have coming in here everyday and not be affected. I've seen big

bears break down and just fall apart. Mostly blaming themselves for not getting out in time. That choice cost him a wife, child or in some

cases both. They all usually say the same things. "I didn't think it would get that bad." All you can do is listen and try to comfort. Sometimes you see guys just staring into the sunset....not saying anything....but you

see those jaw muscles working hard to hold it in.

I had one tell me yesterday "We had to choose,Stay in the attic and drown,or climb on the roof into a 150 mile an hour wind. She was

screaming my name as she flew away." How do you respond to that? You don't.....you just cry with him and listen....

Loose children who don't know where Mamma or Daddy are, or even if their alive. Ten year olds, trying to be "mama" or "daddy" to a little sister or brother......it will tear your heart out.

Most also know there is NOTHING to go home to. The house is gone, and in most cases the job too. They show up here with the clothes on their

back, and that's it. It's all they have left.

It's hard, just too hard for words.................you do what you

can, but..........

FORGET about Mississippi burning. That was our dark, distant past. Watch us NOW. This is Mississippi today. We've opened our Homes,Hearts and wallets to strangers in need. We don't care if their White, Black, Brown or Polka -dot.

Were going to be O.K., It will take years, but we're dealing with it. We will deal with it the way only a true southerner can...one day at a

time. We're out of gasoline today. All the local stations have run out.

My phones are still acting squirrelly on out of state calls and my cell phone has been a paper weight since Tuesday. But I did sleep in my own

bed last night, and took a hot shower this morning. There is food in my house, and I know where all my family is. You take these things for granted, until they're gone.......

Forward as you see fit....

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Hi to all,

Thank you for your concern and prayers. We are so blessed to have such wonderful friends and family.

Here is the latest in the hurricane Katrina saga.

We left TN on Tuesday afternoon to MS( a 8 hr trip) to take Ashley, Will and Sarah Grace home. They had been with us for a week and a half. That was a wonderful distraction in this stressful time. We always love every moment with our babies. We slept for a few hours then headed for NO. Normally a 3 hour trip turned into a 6 hour one with bumper to bumper traffic the last 50 miles. There was huge conveys of military, emergency, police, etc from all over the country. All heading into the city to take control of all the horror that has been going on. It is hard to believe that this is our country.

When we arrived on our street, it was under water. It had gone done in the last few days and we were able to drive in, in Larry's jeep. He walked in ahead in waders. Our home had gotten about 6 to 8 " of water. We pulled up carpets, rugs, and tried to deal with the mess. The smell was horrible. It is amazing how such a small amount of water ( black stinky sludge ) can do such damage. Black mold was growing everywhere. Most will be lost, but hopefully the important things will be ok. We took all of our pictures, papers, computer, etc. loaded the cars and left. I was able to get my car out. Just heartbreaking, but we had to leave and wait for 2 or more weeks before we can return. Am sure the upstairs will be covered with mold by then. No one allowed back in the city for 2 weeks, while they get all the infastructure back up and running.

We are lucky, some of our friends lost everything, homes underwater totally. And we are blessed to have our home in the mountains and Larry his work in TN. They have moved their operation to Knoxville and have brought about 40 people there. So those families have jobs and a place to live.

Another 5 hour trip back to Ashley for us, then Larry slept a few hours and headed back to Knoxville. I will drive back tomorrow.

We will stay in touch. Again thank you all for all your love and concern. Our new address is our cabin: ... Always love to hear from you.

Love,

Here are the pictures of the bear & the results. For those of you who haven't heard the story yet...my Dad was sitting on the porch at the cabin last Tuesday talking on the phone, he felt the bear's nose on his arm (never heard him coming) & he flipped. He jumped sky high, threw the chair & came running into the house. It was kind of funny at first, until we realized that he had gotten clawed pretty bad. So anyway, he is fine and I just thought that I would share the pictures with you. Please say a prayer for my parents...they are going to check out their house in New Orleans today. I am praticularly concerned about my Dad's leg in that nasty water, but he is going to wrap it up EXTRA good and hopefully he will be okay. Talk to all of you soon.

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From my aunt in Madison, MS - 200+ miles north of the coast.

Hey y'all,

Just wanted to let everyone know we survived the storm. Received plenty of wind and lots of debris in the yard. Prayers helped as a tree nearly fell on the house, but didn't. Thank ya'll for that. Have been without power until yesterday when I had to go to work and it came on while I was at work. It's the little things like no coffee in the mornings that really get you! My office has power and local phones (no long distance service), but can't access the internet. We've got people coming to our office to work from our home office in Gulfport. These people have lost everything and we'll be spreading them out between the employees here. Most people in my office are wondering how they will get to work today or next week as they don't have gasoline. Mike said he heard yesterday they will start rationing gasoline today. The lines are terribly long and almost always block traffic trying to get past. I traded my gas guzzling jeep two weeks ago for a VW Jetta (diesel engine). I think that was the smartest thing I have ever done. Right now I'm down to half a tank but can probably get to work for a week or more on that, but will try to top off my tank sometime over the weekend. The lines at grocery stores are long too. It's awfully hot and people are already tired of the extra people in our area getting supplies and gas. There are police cars at every gas station with gas. Soon they'll be needed at grocery stores too. Yesterday I stopped at Brookshires to get milk and coffee and the parking lot was full and people were very rude and pushy. It's getting tough out there.

Delmer and his girlfriend and her two children are fine. They got power back on Wednesday. Mike's office is in Canton and he has had power all week, and says the insurance claims that have come in have been minor compared to what they could have been with so many trees down and such.

My phone is working and I have called numerous people successfully in the local area, but haven't been able to call long distance with it saying, "all circuits are busy".

I know most of you are also facing long lines at the gas stations too. I wonder what things are going to look like in the months to come. Will keep all of you in prayer.

Love ya,

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wonderful stories

thank you for shareing

i don't want to say it but i am going to!!!

i can not understand why the hotels are charging people!! not nice

back in 96 i think we had a very crippling ice storm here in maine

nothing like you folks are going through but it was bad

no power for up to 3 weeks in the winter

the very large hotel at the ski area where i was working lost power for only a day or 2

we immeadiatly invited all who needed food and sheter to stay with us at no cost

that is what those hotels should be doing

my prayers are with you all

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My friends came by to borrow rubber boots to check on their camp in the Wavelad/Bay St. Louis environs. They came back yesterday shell-shocked. Waveland is completely gone. They found one of their boats about a mile away hung in a tree. The other one, the large cabin cruiser, is completely missing. Somehow the roof of the camp remains. But the house itself is gone, with the roof set down on the foundation. Weird.

The trees are all barren, the leaves having been stripped. All vegetation is dead and is evenly coated down to the tiniest twigs with a nasty charcoal black goop. It gives the landscape an otherworldly & distinctly malevolent look.

They were still creeped out after the long drive home...

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Thank you all for posting these messages... please continue.

I lived in southern Mississippi for a short while, and have been watching the aftermath of Katrina closely.

It's hard to look at the pictures of the whole coastline wiped out, but great to hear people are okay and doing what they have to do.

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