Author |
Message |
Twiggyish
Member
08-14-2000
| Monday, September 26, 2005 - 2:59 pm
Dang!!! This is awful. Please be careful everyone. I'm also worried about Hamsterlady.
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Texannie
Member
07-16-2001
| Monday, September 26, 2005 - 3:00 pm
Cameron, LA is gone?? I have friends from there.
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Kimsue
Member
07-08-2005
| Monday, September 26, 2005 - 4:57 pm
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.
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Buttercup
Member
09-10-2000
| Monday, September 26, 2005 - 5:15 pm
I am so sorry for the hardship some of you are going through 
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Reiki
Member
08-12-2000
| Monday, September 26, 2005 - 5:35 pm
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/
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Ddr
Member
08-19-2001
| Monday, September 26, 2005 - 5:58 pm
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.
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Urgrace
Member
08-19-2000
| Monday, September 26, 2005 - 6:39 pm
Has Cindylou been heard from yet? It's great to see Ddr posting! Yay!
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Reiki
Member
08-12-2000
| Monday, September 26, 2005 - 6:44 pm
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.
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Kimsue
Member
07-08-2005
| Thursday, September 29, 2005 - 10:38 am
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
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Native_texan
Member
08-24-2004
| Thursday, September 29, 2005 - 11:44 am
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.
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Texannie
Member
07-16-2001
| Thursday, September 29, 2005 - 1:27 pm
I am so sorry, NT.
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Grannyg
Member
05-28-2002
| Thursday, September 29, 2005 - 1:52 pm
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.
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Twiggyish
Member
08-14-2000
| Thursday, September 29, 2005 - 2:07 pm
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!!
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Kimsue
Member
07-08-2005
| Thursday, September 29, 2005 - 2:37 pm
Thank You Granny! My whole day just got alot brighter. Keeping positive thought for all involved in Hurricanes and in so. California fire area.
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Grannyg
Member
05-28-2002
| Thursday, September 29, 2005 - 3:46 pm
You are welcome Kimsue. If I see her again tonight, I'll tell her you are asking about her.
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Hamsterlady
Member
07-03-2003
| Thursday, September 29, 2005 - 5:21 pm
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?
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Kimsue
Member
07-08-2005
| Saturday, October 01, 2005 - 10:15 am
I am happy you are OK Hamster.
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Babyruth
Member
07-19-2001
| Tuesday, October 04, 2005 - 12:46 pm
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."
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Tabbyking
Member
03-11-2002
| Tuesday, October 04, 2005 - 1:00 pm
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
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Juju2bigdog
Member
10-27-2000
| Tuesday, October 04, 2005 - 10:22 pm
Remember the Alamo! Thanks for sharing, Babyruth.
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Moondance
Member
07-30-2000
| Wednesday, October 05, 2005 - 4:08 pm
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.
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Cindylou
Member
07-11-2002
| Thursday, October 06, 2005 - 11:10 am
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.
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Buttercup
Member
09-10-2000
| Thursday, October 06, 2005 - 11:45 am
Wow, Cindylou, what an ordeal! I am glad you are safe and home

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Cindylou
Member
07-11-2002
| Thursday, October 06, 2005 - 12:32 pm
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!!
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Reiki
Member
08-12-2000
| Thursday, October 06, 2005 - 3:58 pm
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.
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