SLIDELL HURRICANE DAMAGE BLOG

OPERATION GOLDEN RULE LAUNCHED IN ALABAMA
Governor Bob Riley has launched Operation Golden Rule to identify housing for 10,000 Hurricane Katrina evacuees by 5 p.m. Friday, September 9th. He is seeking long-term housing where people can live as a family with dignity until their homes are repaired or rebuilt.

Are you aware of any available single-family homes, multi-family apartments, housing complexes, nursing homes, dormitories, houseboats, motorhomes, garage apartments, mobile homes, travel-trailer hook-ups, or any type of housing or shelter where people can live as families for an extended period of time? Please take a quick minute and send him the information using a FORM HERE

(Suggested by Joe Paul)

RUNCO RELIEF REPORT
(Got this email from Kathryn Runco (mill1099@bellsouth.net) in Pace, Florida yesterday. Kathryn (Carlos' mama) has been taking it upon herself to deliver supplies to the disaster areas.)

Went to Pearlington, Ms today thanks to the donation of the Copper Possum in Milton. No FEMA; No Red Cross; no electricity, no sanitation, no hot food. Small relief center run by national guard. Everything is filthy. Terrible smell for miles. No houses habitable that I saw. Churches destroyed. No stores--all destroyed.They need clean-up and sanitation supplies. I think I may have a church in Navarre willing to go there and set up a feeding station but if not, I will try some other way. Will go back with another load ASAP. THe smell is terrible, there are vultures everywhere and the people are so tired and defeated they can hardly hold their heads up. These are VERY proud people and they have taken an ass-kicking. Pardon my french.

k

(P.S. Just what might the "Copper Possum" be? An upscale restaurant?)

CHURCH SPEARHEADS DRIVE
Cottage Hill Baptist Church in Mobile is spearheading a fund drive to help hurricane Katrina victims. If you can help send your donation to:

Cottage Hill Baptist Church
attn: Scott Crawford
4255 Cottage Hill Road
Mobile, Al 36609

LAW FIRM RACING TEAM TO HELP WITH RELIEF
The BeasleyAllen.com race transporter is being emptied of race cars, tools, tires and most of the equipment which is carried to the race track, in order to make room for hurricane relief donations which will be gathered in Montgomery Friday afternoon.
The BeasleyAllen Racing transport rig will be at the Winn Dixie Promenade location at 2739 Eastern Bypass this Friday September 9th. Donations will be accepted from 3 p.m. until 6 p.m., and then delivered to the Robertsdale center. Willa Carpenter will be coordinating this effort for Beasley Allen, and any volunteers who can help receive, box and load the donations should contact Willa.

www.BeasleyAllenRacing.com
grantenfinger@yahoo.com
251 454 5211

PICTURES IN THE PRESS
Here are two pictures that ran in the Atlanta Constitution. One of them is of the Madden kids and the other one is Dennis Knizley checking out the oil rig that beached itself on Dauphin Island. (You can see the rig in the aerial photo below.)

TREE SERVICE IN MOBILE AND BILOXI AREA
If anyone needs tree service, please let them know that Jim Walker, is now in business. He is equipped with all the saws and a huge utility truck that goes about 65 feet up.

Shannon Harley will be taking all the calls, setting up the appointments, and lining up the estimates, etc...Spread the word and give them this cell phone 251.209.3564

KATRINA RELATED EMERGENCY SOURCES

One of the best sources for people looking to help or for assistance in finding people in NOLA is CRAIG'S LIST.

The SouthWest Emergency Response Network is the central repository for Hurricane Katrina relief efforts. If you or your organization / agency / corporation have resources that may be made available to the response agencies, please list them in the Resource Registry. (PS: The southeastern regional is HERE)

Again, if you want to see what happened or have a relative and would like to check out their house if you haven't heard from them, GO HERE

REPORT FROM LODA
Just got back to the house. Had stayed here for the hurricane but left on Wednesday when I got fed up with living under martial law. (Carlos had been with me until the morning of the hurricane but them left for Pace when it seemed that the storm was moving westward. He was back in school by Tuesday.) About the only real horrible part of the hurricane was listening to the constant wind and the roof tearing off on the houses across the street (which took 10 hours!).

Zack evacuated from Baton Rouge to Gonzalez and spent the night of the hurricane with his girlfriend's parents. He is still working at the hotel and the influx of people into Baton Rouge has him quite frazzled. He is scooting back and forth between Gonzalez and Baton Rouge and is seriously depressed about the whole thing. Click Here for a website that quotes him

Obviously, Mobile, although hit quite hard, was nothing compared to our friends to the west. Kathryn and Carlos put me up in their guest house in Pace and it was quite nice after that. They have a pleasant and beautiful farm out there with horses and goats, etc and that seemed like such a pleasant sojourn from living with a flashlight on my chest and having the mosquitoes taunt me with their pre-puncture buzzing.

As if putting up an ex-husband wasn't enough generosity, she and her husband Doug (and her sister Leslie) put together a caravan on Thursday and went into Mississippi with about $3,000 worth of stuff they had purchased at the local Wal-Mart. To do this, remember, they had to disregard all of the hysteria about looters and carjackers, get around the blocked highways choked with emergency vehicles coming from points east, deal with the lack of gasoline, and somehow find a way into an area that was being cordoned off by the authorities.

They didn't get back till late that night but very rightly so were proud that they had done that. They say the need is desperate. Had an old codger of a chief of police cry on them and thank them for their generosity. They are going back again Tuesday and are collecting things to take: baby items, diapers, tents, camping gear, bug spray, disinfectant, medicines, light clothing, etc. Let me know if you can help. In Mobile, Leslie is helping coordinate the effort.

The image above is Wendell's beach house on Dauphin Island. Notice the oil drilling rig beached across on the other shore. If you want to see what happened or have a relative and would like to check out their house if you haven't heard from them, GO HERE