The kindness of strangers
My aunt, who has suffered her entire life from muscular dystrophy, is now trapped on the 9th floor of the Lakeside Hotel with no electricity, an unsafe structure and little food. She is a woman who can not move even to save herself, is surrounded by broken windows and collapsed ceilings, and she is just a few blocks away from the failed levee along the Causeway, just watching the rising waters helplessly. We, her few remaining family members, have been desperately trying to find a way to get her to us here in Houston and out of New Orleans. However, with the rising water, critical patients and overburdened ambulances she has been labeled a "low priority" and we cannot find the help we so need. I do want to thank a good Samaritan, Keith (sp?) who is a local New Orleans doctor who has stayed behind to help those in need, including my aunt. The first communication we have had with her in over a day was due to this wonderful man; he allowed us to use his cell phone to converse and has tried with all his might to find a way to get her to safety. He has brought in a battery run fan to cool her and to assist in trying to make her more comfortable. He has assured us that she is resting as well as she can. In New Orleans time of need it is a great comfort to know that there are so many kind souls who are reaching out and trying to make a difference. God Bless you all.
-- Liz Hiserodt; Houston, Texas

Leaving campus behind
I'm a sophomore at Tulane University and was forced to evacuate the same day I arrived on campus. I threw my luggage into my room, gathered my friends and, with my father, drove to Houston. Everything that I had at school is presumably lost, as I am living on the first floor. I have a couple days worth of clothes and yet I know that it could be so much worse. My thoughts and prayers are with the people I met in Houston... the people that lost absolutely everything and were just looking for a way back to their broken homes. I am back in New York now and we do not know when we can go back to school or what there will be to go back to. Even so, I feel lucky and will do all that I can to help the people who are now suffering from the city that I came to love so much.
--Elizabeth Spector, Croton, N.Y.

Fear, tears and heartache
What do you say to a husband of 25 years when you see the fear, tears and heartache in the lines of his face? We haven't heard from his family, a brother, a sister and more importantly, the one who gave him life, his mother, since 10:00 a.m. Monday, August 29th, 2005. That is his sole family on his side and not being able to find out anything at all is taking its toll. They live in Bogalusa, a town about 70 miles from New Orleans and about 28 miles from Covington. You go through so many emotions when you can't convince your loved ones to leave and get to safer conditions. You can't stop the force of water nor the wind. It's material things that mean a lot to people, but what is that compared to life? Life, is about changes and growing and learning. Trust in God helps a person roll with the hard punches of life. We are praying for everyone caught in the path of Katrina. We hope to hear some word soon from our family in Bogalusa.
--Kathy Sellier, Channelview, Texas

‘our house and ur house gutted and flooded’
I sit here like countless others, displaced by Katrina. We left our home in Ocean Springs, Miss. (just over the bridge from Biloxi and casinos) on Sunday. The only info we have is from a text message a neighbor who stayed, was able to send us. his words: "our house and ur house gutted and flooded". We live about 150 yds off the beach in an area called front beach. I have made constant attempts to reach friends, neighbors and co-workers. I have heard from a few, but still no contact from so many. helpless now, I wonder what is really left on my home site. When will I be able to travel back to at least see for myself what is left? And yes, I do count my blessing. My entire family is safe, and we did pack some valuables. So now I keep a positive attitude, looking forward to getting back, rolling up my sleeves, and putting my life back together. My prayers are with all who have suffered thru this disaster.
--John Barberio, Ocean Springs, Miss.

A waiting game
Katrina has turned my life into a waiting game. Many of my friends including myself taught the children in the 9th Ward. Which seats will be empty when we return? I am blessed to have many good friends in New Orleans where we all lived. Four of my friends and I decided to evacuate to Columbia, Missouri where we were blessed to have a home opened to all of us. We watch in horror as new footage arrives knowing our homes, cars, and worldly possessions are gone but more so because we still don't know so much. One of my friend's father has not been heard from since Sunday night who lived in Slidell and waited out the storm. Another friend decided not to leave and has not been heard from since Saturday. We scan the images on the TV and internet hoping for a glance of our homes, but most importantly our friends and family. I am young and able to rebuild, I just hope that my students and their families are safe and able to return to school when the city has recovered from this horrible disaster.
--Candice Szeliga, Uptown, New Orleans, La.

Sheltering those in need
In Flowood Miss, we had 100-plus mph winds. … My house in Flowood must have had GOD looking after it. All we ended up with is a little roof damage. We didn’t even lose power. No so for everyone else. At 11 p.m. a Vietnamese family showed up at my door yesterday. Apparently they had spent the previous night in a van. The storm then only had 50 to 60 mile an hour winds. They said they were from New Orleans and had evacuated the night before. Not knowing the area they tried to wait out the worst of it at a Subway Sandwich Shop (but) the Subway turned them away. I told them to come in and they spent the night. This morning they left going to Texas to stay with family. I believe that if I had turned them away like the Subway did, I would not have faired as well as I did. I hope when they get home that their house is still there. They said they had just moved there from Idaho last month. Anyone reading this please pray for them and everyone else in this terrible mess.
--Glenn A. Sheppard, Flowood, Miss.

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Difficult for evacuees, too
I've heard people say about those who didn't evacuate that "they deserve what they get," but I can tell you as I sit here 700 miles from home with absolutely no news reports about my area (the Westbank just isn't as sexy to reporters as the French Quarter, I guess) that very few people in the world deserve what even the evacuees are going through, much less those who were too poor, infirm or jaded to evacuate. The state correctly errs on the side of caution every time a storm forms and orders an evacuation. While it's fortunate those other storms never hit, it leads to a "crying wolf" mentality that had even me behaving foolishly when I got the word from neighbors early Saturday morning that we were being evacuated. "It's not going to hit here," I said, and I toyed momentarily with the idea of hiding in my house to ride it out; but with young boys I didn't think long about staying.

Nonetheless, I was careless about packing, leaving important papers, jewelry and a treasured car behind to fend for themselves. Of course it's true what people tell you when they want to cheer you up: what matters is that your family is safe. The insurance will cover your property (or will it?). But some things, like 40 years worth of family photographs, kids' blue ribbons from school, grandmother's jewelry and a fully restored classic Porsche stupidly left in the carport can never be replaced, even if their "monetary value" is recuperated.
--Lance Lindley, Belle Chasse, La.

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CONTINUED : More Hurricane Katrina reports

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