Hurricane Katrina: Further Update

Hello, again. I just want to update everyone on the current situation with Alicia and Mary who are in Biloxi, MS in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.

As most of you know, the girls were able to ride out the storm in the Biloxi, MS Veteran's Hospital where Mary is a nurse. Fortunately the hospital was able to maintain power due to the huge generators in the complex and they have had running water as well. These are HUGE blessings, especially having access to clean water.

On Thursday, Sept. 1st those whose homes were still habitable were asked to leave the hospital to make room for the medical clinics to reopen. Mary and Alicia returned to their house which fared very well during the storm. After picking up the shingles and debris from the yard they realized that the house had running water. Although the water pressure was low they were able to take cool showers and relax a bit. The power is still out which makes it difficult to cook anything or boil the water for drinking. They have some non-parishables stored away and will live off those as long as possible. However, they are running low on food for Mary's two golden retrievers.

The problem now is that they are running low on cash and gasoline as well. With the power still out in most of the state the ATM's are not working and the banks have not yet reopened. At this point it's a 'cash-only' situation. The hospital is serving 3 meals a day in the cafeteria, but it's been using up most of their available cash to eat. To further complicate the situation, they are running low on gasoline which they need to drive to the hospital or the store, if one should open. Mary is still expected to report to work during her shifts. At this point there really isn't any available fuel anyway.

Luckily they were able to get cellular service for at least part of the day on Thursday, so Alicia kept me updated on their situation. This will work as long as her phone's battery holds up. She can charge it with the car charger until the car's battery dies. If she runs the car while she's charging she uses up the small amount of fuel they have left. And of course they don't have money for gasoline. And round and round we go!!

Alicia is scheduled to fly home on Saturday, Sept. 3rd, provided the Gulfport/Biloxi airport is functional again and Continental Airlines is in service. I will be glad to have her home again, but I know that we will contiue to worry about Mary being in Biloxi alone.

I will continue to keep you posted as information comes available to me. Please keep these poor people in your prayers, especially the ones in New Orleans who have lost everything.