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Archive through October 06, 2005

The TVClubHouse: General Discussions ARCHIVES: 2005 Sep. ~ Nov.: Free Expressions...: HURRICANE: Archive through October 06, 2005 users admin

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Twiggyish
Member

08-14-2000

Monday, September 26, 2005 - 2:59 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Twiggyish a private message Print Post    
Dang!!! This is awful. Please be careful everyone. I'm also worried about Hamsterlady.

Texannie
Member

07-16-2001

Monday, September 26, 2005 - 3:00 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Texannie a private message Print Post    
Cameron, LA is gone?? I have friends from there.

Kimsue
Member

07-08-2005

Monday, September 26, 2005 - 4:57 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Kimsue a private message Print Post    
Ddr.....keep us posted. I just can't bare the News.....to graphic. I will look for more words from you and the others in the area.

Buttercup
Member

09-10-2000

Monday, September 26, 2005 - 5:15 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Buttercup a private message Print Post    
I am so sorry for the hardship some of you are going through

Reiki
Member

08-12-2000

Monday, September 26, 2005 - 5:35 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Reiki a private message Print Post    
This site has some really good pictures from Beaumont, Vidor, Orange, Little Cypress area. The guy is going back tomorrow to take some more pictures in the area. Looks like lots of trees down, but not blocking the major streets and lots of roofs off, but some not that bad at all.

http://www.rayburnroofing.com/rita/


Ddr
Member

08-19-2001

Monday, September 26, 2005 - 5:58 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Ddr a private message Print Post    
And on the other end of the storm, this site has photo galleries. (Reiki and I make a good tag team.)

http://www.theadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/section?Category=HURRICANE

Kimsue, I know what you mean. I think I need to step back a bit, sometimes it's too much.


Urgrace
Member

08-19-2000

Monday, September 26, 2005 - 6:39 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Urgrace a private message Print Post    
Has Cindylou been heard from yet?

It's great to see Ddr posting! Yay!

Reiki
Member

08-12-2000

Monday, September 26, 2005 - 6:44 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Reiki a private message Print Post    
No word from Cindylou yet. I know she lives in the Vidor area which had the same wind damage as the rest of Orange County. I hope they either evacuated and don't have access to the internet or are okay at home and don't have electricity.

Kimsue
Member

07-08-2005

Thursday, September 29, 2005 - 10:38 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Kimsue a private message Print Post    
No word yet today......Missing Hamsterlady and Cindylou. Any one hears from them please post here so we know they are OK.

Any one else from TVCH need accounting for?
Hope to hear something soon.
Prayers and good Thoughts.
Kim

Native_texan
Member

08-24-2004

Thursday, September 29, 2005 - 11:44 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Native_texan a private message Print Post    
As an employee of the power company, my brother-in-law was able to get into Pt. Arthur yesterday. So, of course, he was able to check on their house. The deck cover is gone, the ceiling is about to fall in my niece's room, the master bedroom has some serious damage and there is a tree in their pool. BIL said the stench was awful. Sis is supposed to meet the insurance adjuster tomorrow who seems to think there will be no problem getting into town.

Texannie
Member

07-16-2001

Thursday, September 29, 2005 - 1:27 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Texannie a private message Print Post    
I am so sorry, NT.

Grannyg
Member

05-28-2002

Thursday, September 29, 2005 - 1:52 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Grannyg a private message Print Post    
Kimsue, Hamster was in chat last night and she said things were better. So, I know she is accounted for. Don't know about Cindylou though.

Twiggyish
Member

08-14-2000

Thursday, September 29, 2005 - 2:07 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Twiggyish a private message Print Post    
NT, have them take tons of pictures. Also, have them get a second opinion if the adjuster gives them a hard time. It's a struggle. We're still fighting our insurance company. (We have the "Good Neighbor" ) I could write a novel on insurance companies and THEN there's the mortgage company which receives the insurance money first..ugh. It's enough to give you an ulcer and then some!!


Kimsue
Member

07-08-2005

Thursday, September 29, 2005 - 2:37 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Kimsue a private message Print Post    
Thank You Granny! My whole day just got alot brighter.

Keeping positive thought for all involved in Hurricanes and in so. California fire area.

Grannyg
Member

05-28-2002

Thursday, September 29, 2005 - 3:46 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Grannyg a private message Print Post    
You are welcome Kimsue. If I see her again tonight, I'll tell her you are asking about her.

Hamsterlady
Member

07-03-2003

Thursday, September 29, 2005 - 5:21 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Hamsterlady a private message Print Post    
Hi there Kimsue and everybody else! Y'all are so sweet and caring. It's a great place we have here.

I just had an immensely long road trip to San Antonio to evacuate. Luckily for us here (but unluckily for those in eastern TX and western LA) it mostly missed us and we just got some wind and some rain. My power was out until this last Monday though and I stayed in a hotel room once I got back into Houston because I couldn't stand the heat in my apartment with no air conditioning.

Anybody heard from Cindylou yet?

Kimsue
Member

07-08-2005

Saturday, October 01, 2005 - 10:15 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Kimsue a private message Print Post    
I am happy you are OK Hamster.

Babyruth
Member

07-19-2001

Tuesday, October 04, 2005 - 12:46 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Babyruth a private message Print Post    
I thought I'd share an email we received today from a co-worker RN who volunteered for disaster relief with the Red Cross. (Many of us volunteered, only one was allowed to leave from our unit due to staffing levels).


"Hello Everyone:

Greetings from Kelly Air Force Base, San Antonio, Texas. My partial
e-mail may have gotten sent. I'll start over. I promised many of you
that I would write. I'm sorry that the only update that you've gotten
is from the phone conversation that I had with M. and C. last
week. I have a hard time getting to a computer here at the shelter. I
get to use it for about 20 minutes if I'm lucky. I've been trying to
keep D. updated by phone. Hopefully she has been passing along
information to y'all.

I can't remember where the last e-mail left off but I think I was
assigned to the Medical Clinic here at the shelter. I'm working with
nurses, doctors, paramedics and EMT's from all over the country. The
Red Cross Shelter is at Kelly AFB, a closed base that has been
re-activated partially to house evacuees. There are 3 buildings being
used to house people. The building that I am in has 1700 residents.
The building is like a big one-story high school. The main hallway is
400 yards (a quarter mile) long. Residents are divided into 4 sleeping
areas. It was an office building before it was closed. The entire
facility is carpeted. The rooms where evacuees sleep were massive rooms
full of cubicles at one time. Now the cubicles are gone and they are
like very large carpeted gymnasiums with suspended ceilings and lots and
lots of cots. The building is like a little city. There is a medical
clinic, an ATM, a bank, a parole office, a post office, a cafeteria, and
a police station. There is also an office of the Attorney General for
child support issues. SBC has set up a room with about 50 telephones.
All calls are free for residents. The saddest thing is the office for
missing children issues, and the areas in the hallway where there are
hundreds of flyers posted of people searching for other people. There
are San Antonio Police every 200 feet in the hallway. The facility is
also staffed by EMT's and Paramedics from the US forest service. They
come from Mississippi, Virginia, and California.

For the last week I have been in the special needs area. Special needs
is a corner of one of the 4 "dorms" where persons with medical problems,
i.e. blind, deaf, diabetic, hypertensive, feeding tube, non-ambulatory
were placed. I am the afternoon nurse (3 to 11pm) in the diabetic
clinic. I have been doing lots of blood sugars, insulin injections, and
teaching. We have lots of donated insulin, syringes, and glucometers.
Every diabetic that leaves gets a glucometer when they leave to
permanent housing.

The overwhelming majority of evacuees from our shelter are from
Hurricane Katrina. I have only met one person from Beaumont, Texas
(Hurricane Rita). Essentially everyone else that I have encountered was
a resident of New Orleans, (aka N.O.)

I have gotten to know many of the shelter residents that come into my
clinic. Most are elderly and had lived in N.O. all of their lives. I
have heard incredible stories of life in New Orleans in the days after
the storm. Essentially everyone I have met left the city via
helicopter. One woman worked as an aid at a hospital and was rescued on
day 4 from the roof of the hospital. (They evacuated the patient's
first). Some people told me how they walked several miles in waste deep
filthy water full of animal carcasses and corpses to overpasses, where
they spent the night and were helicoptered out the next day. The
recurrent theme is their horror at the rate at which the water came into
the city One gentleman, Mr. M., told me his story. He said the
storm had "done passed and the wind had died down". He looked outside
and the water was up to his first porch step. Ten minutes later it was
up to the fourth step. He was rescued by a neighbor who had a row-boat
with a motor. He was in the boat with another couple and their 2 year
old child. The 5 of them went to a school, where they were helicoptered
to the N.O. airport. "One of those big helicopters with two propellers"
(rotors). The next day they came to San Antonio. I asked him how he
was doing yesterday. He stated that if he were home, he'd feel like a
million bucks. I think depression is becoming an issue for many
residents here as they enter their second month away from home. Other
residents here were flown to Houston and came to San Antonio when
Houston was evacuated because of Hurricane Rita.

Last week the temperature here was in the 103 to 106 range. They set
records 2 days last week. This week it has cooled to the mid 90's. I
get to play tourist in the morning. I have been to the Alamo (3 times),
and the river walk. Both are within a block of my hotel. On Saturday
the New Orleans Saints cheerleaders "the Saintsations" were here at the
shelter. I got my picture taken with some of them. On Sunday 2000
residents from the 3 shelters here and 200 volunteers (i.e. me) got to
go to the New Orleans Saints game. The Saints are playing some of their
home games at the Alamodome here in San Antonio. Many of the players
are staying at my hotel. Did I mention that the New Orleans Saints
cheerleaders were here on Saturday. I got my picture taken with them. ;)

Even without the cheerleaders I still wouldn't trade my experience here.
The stories and chance to help were worth the trip. Some of the diabetics sustained foot
injuries when they waded in the waste deep water. One woman who can't
swim and was terrified of water had to walk in the water and went under
4 times. Her husband pulled her up. She says she can hardly stand to
have water on her face in the shower, it reminds her of going under the
water during her escape from New Orleans.

The shelter census is dropping every day as residents find housing in
San Antonio and elsewhere. Did I mention that the New Orleans Saints
cheerleaders were here and I got my picture taken with them?

I am looking forward to getting home. I talk to my kids frequently but
I miss them terribly. I actually miss all of you (well, most of you). I
may have failed to mention that the New Orleans Saints cheerleaders were
here and I had my picture taken with them.

See You Soon,
Tim."


Tabbyking
Member

03-11-2002

Tuesday, October 04, 2005 - 1:00 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Tabbyking a private message Print Post    
babyruth, what an adventure for tim. too bad he couldn't have met the new orleans saints cheerleaders and had his picture taken with them!! LOL

Juju2bigdog
Member

10-27-2000

Tuesday, October 04, 2005 - 10:22 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Juju2bigdog a private message Print Post    
Remember the Alamo! Thanks for sharing, Babyruth.

Moondance
Member

07-30-2000

Wednesday, October 05, 2005 - 4:08 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Moondance a private message Print Post    
Dear Members & Friends

In this sixth week since Hurricane Katrina rolled in, our rescue teams are still picking up animals alive in the New Orleans region. But the focus of the work is changing slightly as new challenges present themselves. There are daily updates on the Best Friends website at
http://www.bestfriends.org.

OVERVIEW: You probably heard, or saw on our website or elsewhere, that the Lamar-Dixon facility at Gonzalez, which was used by many of the other rescue organizations, will be closing on October 15th. They stopped accepting animals
there at the end of September. Best Friends was not using that facility, but the three main New Orleans parishes are working to reestablish their own animal care and control services, and to localize their work, rather than sending the animals they pick up to Gonzalez. And the major humane groups are working to support them in that.

For example:
Jefferson Parish: Best Friends is continuing to support animal control director Bert Smith in his work.
Orleans Parish: the Louisiana SPCA is setting up a new facility, which they hope to have open by October 15th. The Humane Society of the U.S. is helping them get it up and running.
St. Bernard Parish: Animal control director Cecile Trog is reestablishing her shelter, with support from the ASPCA.

BEST FRIENDS PLAN: Here's the Best Friends plan for the coming weeks:

1: Continue to support Jefferson Parish animal control, taking from their
shelter animals who need special care.

2: Continue to bring to our sanctuary at Tylertown other animals from all
three parishes who have special needs or require critical care. We want to focus the work of the Tylertown sanctuary on these special-needs animals, rather than acting as a general shelter for all animals being rescued by other groups.
3: Work with local groups across all three parishes who are still rescuing animals and need help getting them out to foster homes. We're acquiring two large animal-transport trucks for this. Animals must be correctly ID'd and
documented before we transport them, so that they can be reunited with their families when they're in foster homes.

4: Support other local rescue groups with supplies, equipment, finances, etc., as necessary for them to be able to continue their rescue work.

BEST REUNIONS: Lots of good reunions happening every day.
A favorite was yesterday, Tuesday, when William Morgan, a disabled (double amputee) Vietnam vet was reunited with his apricot standard poodle, Morgan La Faye. The two have a remarkable story, which is on the Best Friends website. And two volunteers drove Morgan the dog down to Miami, where William is at a V.A. hospital. CBS TV covered the reunion.

A lot of Best Friends members also worked online and on the phone to locate Gary Karcher, also a veteran, who had left the now famous "message in a
bottle" tied around his dog Himie's neck. He's at a camp in Oklahoma, and can't take his three dogs yet, but we e-mailed photos of Himie and the two
dachshunds to a Red Cross volunteer, so that Gary could confirm that they are his and have a "virtual" reunion meanwhile.

NO MORE HOMELESS PETS CONFERENCE: We've e-mailed all speakers and participants to say that we are canceling the No More Homeless Pets conference.

There is still far too much work going on in the hurricane relief effort for us to be able to take our own staff members out of their hurricane work to go to Boston for almost a week to organize and speak at the event. Several other speakers and people who had registered are also either involved
in the hurricane work or actively displaced themselves.
Registration fees will of course be refunded, and we'll reimburse those who can't exchange or get refunds on air tickets.

And we'd especially like to thank the Sheraton Ferncroft Resort Hotel for their understanding and support in these difficult times.

SPAY/NEUTER FORUM: On the No More Homeless Pets Forum, Celeste Crimi of Pet Over-Population Prevention Advocates is answering your questions about spay/neuter programs. She can help you plan now for a timely NeuterFest, Tom & Mom Cat Special, or no-hassle coupon program before the next breeding season begins.
http://bestfriends.org/nomorehomelesspets/weeklyforum/

Lots more news and daily updates on the Best Friends website at
www.bestfriends.org.

Good wishes,

Michael Mountain.


Cindylou
Member

07-11-2002

Thursday, October 06, 2005 - 11:10 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Cindylou a private message Print Post    
I'm safe and sound folks, thanks to all of your prayers. Reiki, Urgrace, Hamsterlady, KimSue, GrannyG and all the many others, God Bless each and every one of you. I believe that your prayers are what kept those 50 year old oaks from falling on top of my new home. We lost about 40 of our big, old, gorgeous oaks. Had some water damage to my hardwood floors, a tree fell on our barn, and the roof is gone completely. We were very, very lucky.

We had evacuated at 3:00 a.m. on Friday morning with our 5 dogs and 2 horses in tow. We heard on the radio that we would not be allowed back home for atleast 3 days after the storm came in early on Saturday morning. I couldn't wait after Sunday, and I told my husband that I would sleep on the side of the road with the dogs and horses until they would let us back in the county.

We got home around 2 o'clock Sunday, the roads were barely passable. Power lines all over the roads, telephone poles snapped off at the base hanging over the roadways. It was truly a relief to get home, even with no electricity or water.

It's been 12 days so far, we still don't have any power. We're being told it may be another 2 weeks before the lines are repaired. I've had no tv or internet until today. I came back to work on Sunday this past weekend, but we're running on generators and didn't have enough power to turn on the computers. They hooked up a larger capacity generator this morning and I begged them to let us turn on the computers for a few hours. Hopefully they'll leave them on until we leave at 7:00 this evening.

I wanted to come here first off and tell everyone thanks and I missed ya'll terribly. There were many tears shed and hours of fear, but I'm safe and sound now, and glad to be home.

Buttercup
Member

09-10-2000

Thursday, October 06, 2005 - 11:45 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Buttercup a private message Print Post    
Wow, Cindylou, what an ordeal! I am glad you are safe and home



Cindylou
Member

07-11-2002

Thursday, October 06, 2005 - 12:32 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Cindylou a private message Print Post    
Thanks Buttercup, it was definitely the worst experience of my 41 years. I've lived here on the coast most of my life, but I haven't experienced a direct hit like this before. I know I'll be better prepared with extra gas and emergency supplies next time. I think I'll drive to Canada if it happens again, the farther north, the better!!

Reiki
Member

08-12-2000

Thursday, October 06, 2005 - 3:58 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Reiki a private message Print Post    
Cindylou, Glad to see you are safe and well. There was little news coming out of Orange County.

My sister was finally able to get back into Bridge City on Tuesday. She called my mom from the phone as she was driving down the main street of town and just keep saying "Oh My Gosh!" over and over. She told her that whatever you have seen on TV, seeing it in person is 10 times worse. She says there is nothing that doesn't have some kind of damage. She hasn't been able to get down the road to her house yet because of downed trees and powerlines, but has been told that no trees hit the house, just a bit of water in the garage. We still cannot call her, we have to wait for her to call out to us. She hopes to be able to get to the house long enough to access the damage, grab some clean clothes and uniforms (she's a nurse) and then go over to Baton Rouge. My sister and her husband were in the process of selling the Texas house to move to Louisiana for BILs new promotion. He has been living in an apartment in Baton Rogue for a few months now as they looked for a house.