Huricane Prayer request

[luvmydog2]

Then I counted our membership list. I figure we have at least 30 in those 3 states (La.,Ms. Ala. ).

I imagine that some of the 1132 that do not claim a location must be from that area also.

Hope all check in with us when they get electricity back.

Thanks Donna. I was just getting ready to check the list and post the results. If anyone hears from any of these 30 plus, please post that they are ok.

Am glad to hear that Lil and Don's family are accounted for.

[lilyjohn]

Goutier is right next door to Ocean Springs (inland a few miles. Ocean Springs is next to Boloxi. I don't know who wants to know about Goutier but I suspect they are pretty devestated as well. It can't be more than maybe 8 miles inland if that.

I watch the news and I just can't believe what I am seeing. I lived in Houma for 32 years. We often went to New Orleans and to the Gulf Coast. Everything I know seems gone on the coast and New Orleans is almost unrecognizeable....

I wonder what happened to the aquarium and Pat O'Brians where you can get the original Huricane drink or cafe Du Mond for coffee and begniets, St.Louis Cathedral or the Cabildo that just reopened a few years ago after a bad fire nearly destroyed it. Then the casino that they fought years to get and then took more years to build.

I heard that the riverboat Boomtown is gone as is the one in Kenner not far from the airport. The shop my sons work for is right next to the airport and when they left Friday they had no idea what was coming so nothing was prepared. I know it is underwater and wonder how they will work. Their work is important because they keep up the escape capsules for the off shore oil rigs. My son in law will probably have to get to work a different way because he usually leaves out of Vinice or Fucion and on is nearly gone and the other badly damaged.

I know all of these places and so many people who I know are displaced but there is no way to find out for sure. Talking to my children is very hard because the phone service is down in a lot of places and eveyone is seeking information about their families and friends so the cell towers that are working just can't handle it all.

Mississippi is another story. The casinos I have been in each one of them. Some to gamble and some just to see. The Grand in Boloxi is setting next to the colisium where the Holiday Inn was . It was there where my oldest son and his wife spent their wedding night. What really got to me tho was two oak trees that I saw on television last night.. 20 years ago we went on vacation to the coast. We stayed in a small motel and not far from their swimming pool was a wrought iron bench between two oak trees. I took a picture of my children setting there. It is one of those pictures that just seems so perfect. Last night when I saw the trees there was nothing left any where around them.

I wonder too about Wet Willy the water slide and small water park in Boloxi or the campground at Davis Bayou Gulf Islands National Seashore. Last year the other part of the park was nearly wiped out in Pensecola now this part is probably pretty bad. I remember how it was after George passed and he was just like a ripple in a pond compared to this. What about the historical home of Thomas Jefferson?

God I could go on all night. I never wanted to live there but I did and I can't forget the memories and as I watch what is left and what is happening to the people there I just can't stop the tears.

Most of all I wonder about the guys that work with my boys. Did they evacuate? I don't know how many live in New Orleans for sure. I know of one who is a close friend of ours and I'm almost certain that he home is gone but thank God they got out in time.

So much suffering can sure make you get things into perspective. Being tired or a little short of money just don't seem such a big deal anymore. I pray for all of these people and the ones who are worrying about them.. Please don't stop the Prayers they are going to need them for a very long time... Lillian

[lilyjohn]

I meant the home of Jefferson Davis. It is next to the colisium in Boloxi

[bunny]

I will continue to pray for everyone's families. the images are just heartbreaking, I will do whatever I can to help. did anyone catch the LC/hurricane death on the front page of the New York Times and Newsday and, I am sure other pages? wow, that hit close to home.

love and prayers to everyone affected by Katrina.

xoxo

bunny

[Donna G]

Lillian, Gautier is between Pascagoula and Ocean Springs , just east of Biloxi. It does run from the Gulf inland for about 7-8 miles and Vancleave is on the north. In 79' during Frederick I lived in a subdivion on a bayou that opened into the Gulf. The house ( or now may be a plot of land with debree on it) that we have now is just north of I-10 about 5-6 miles north of the Gulf. I pray that my tenants, neighbors and many friends there are OK. Donna G

[lilyjohn]

Sorry Donna my geography is a little off. I haven't been there in a while. We camped several times at the KOA on the Vancleave exit. From what I have seen and heard the damage goes far inland.

Now back to New Orleans. I have some very nostalgic pictures but I am also a realist.. New Orleans has a very large criminal element. I feel for everyone who is stranded there but I have no patience with the trouble makers. There is absolutely no excuse for what is going on there. It is terrible to say but I also suspect that some actually stayed behind because they knew they would have the oportunity to loot and cause this kind of trouble.

My big issue is why are they so slow getting the National Guard in there? They should have been the first to respond. Thousands of Louisiana National Guards are in Iraq. Seven members from the Houma area were killed last year. What happened to National Guard? They are the ones who are supposed to guard this country but when they are needed they are thousands of miles away guarding for someone else. I shudder to think if another nateral or other disaster happens in this country now. Don't forget there are still 2 months left of a very active huricane season.

We need to pray a lot but we also need to start asking some serious questions about our country's security at this time.

[Donna G]

Just found this site that those who have heard from relatives what is going on have posted .

http://www.weather.com/blog/weather/8_7308.html

scroll down and read. Donna G

[lilyjohn]

Sorry that I didnt get back sooner but I was working. I left home yesterday morning before seven and didn't get home until seven tonight.

Donna I don't know if you saw it or not but I saw a picture for just a brief second of Goutier on tv. I'm afraid it looked pretty much like the rest of the coast in that area. Have you gotten any news yet?

Don I know you said your family are all alright but you didn't say anything about their homes. What town do they live in? I know most of the towns around there and even tho it is hard to get through I usually do get to talk to at least one of my kids everyday. I may already know about their town or may be able to find out for sure how bad they are.

My children were not only very fortunate that they were spared but so were their homes. They have some shingles missing and some of the turbines are either missing or gone from their roofs but in general all is well. Yesterday they got their power back on. There are a lot of workers there to restore power and sense they can't get into the New Orleans area they decided to hurry and get Houma up and running again. Houma is being used as one of the staging areas for the rescue workers. My son tells me it is like living in a war zone. He is well aware of what that is like. He served in the first Gulf War.

Today one of the employees of his company got to their shop and tho it had been flooded otherwise it was virtually untouched. As soon as the state police will allow they can either get back to work or move the equipment out so they can set up shop somewhere else. I'm sure there is plenty of work for them right now off of Texas and as soon as it is feasable they need to be working off the Louisiaa coast. The rigs can't operate without the escape capsules and that is what they work on.

My son in law sent me a photo today. It is the heliiport where he used to catch his ride off shore. That is located in Venice at the very lowest tip of the toe of Louisiana. There is one small spot showing where the heliport was. The rest is water. You can hardly tell there was ever any land there. I have been told that most of Plaqamines parish no longer exists. I have heard nothing so far about Chalmette across the river from New Orleans but I suspect it to has little left. That is where the Battle of New Orleans was fought.

Not far from Chalmette is Michoud that is where the large external tank for the space shuttle is made. There has been nothing in the news about that. The list just goes on and on. One bit of good news did get to me today. All of the guys who work with my sons have been accounted for. They are all safe. I know nothing about their homes but Life is more important than things.

Any way Don and Fay please keep us updated with any news you have. My head is full of pictures both good and bad and my heart is always full of prayers. God Bless. Lillian

[Donna G]

I missed a picture of Gautier. I am not able yet to reach anyone by phone. I did see a picture of Pascagoula today. Trent Lott comes from there, lost his 150+ yr old house. They were at the Jackson County Fair grounds where the National Guard Armory is. They said a few had electricity. I believe that is behind Singing River Hospital. They did not show any other part of town. Northrop Grumman ship yard has a web site telling it's employees how to get and cash their paychecks. Of course that is saying their employees can get to the web site or to the ship yard.

Still waiting to hear. Donna G