| Hurricane Katrina |
Katrina Emergency Relief Act of 2005If you lived in the Katrina, Wilma, or Rita disaster areas when the hurricanes struck, you will be happy to know that there are quite a few tax breaks for us:
Katrina Emergency Relief Act of 2005
Hurray for the government helping out the people in these disaster areas. Life is still not easy for many, including even our family. It's hard to get caught up.
God Bless,
Lori Seaborg 10:32 PM - Jan. 29, 2006 - comments {1} - post commentSurvivedKatrina.orgI am no longer going to post on this blog - as if you hadn't noticed that by now! When I have news or photos to share, I will post them at our Hurricane Katrina website, http://www.SurvivedKatrina.org .
Right now, there are four pages of great photos of the destruction of Katrina in Mississippi. The Old Schoolhouse magazine will be publishing two of those photos in the upcoming issue.
A real esate company in California is publishing one of the photos in its upcoming company newsletter.
If you'd like to use any of the photos, please email us. We'd like to put a little name at the bottom of the photo, and we'd like a clip or copy of where you published it.
Thank you, thank you, to all of you who were so generous with your money, time and donations. The Gulf Coast is still healing, but it is improving every day. Thank you for helping!
See you at the website, Survived Katrina! Lori Seaborg Lori Seaborg
2:32 PM - Oct. 23, 2005 - comments {0} - post commentRitaHere on the Alabama Gulf Coast, it is still raining and gusting from Rita, even now after 8pm. We were only in the outer bands of Hurricane Rita, so I wonder how the weather is for those in Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas?
Rita is the SIXTH named storm (Ivan, Arlene, Cindy, Dennis, Katrina were the others) to blow through our area in just ONE YEAR AND ONE WEEK. I still do love a good storm, but we could do without one for quite a while!
Meanwhile...there are 2 tropical waves in the Atlantic. It seems this hurricane season will never end.
Tim and I are going to see what news comes out of Louisiana from Hurricane Rita. We may end up going over there to take some of our donations that you sent.
Thank you for helping us help them!
Lori Seaborg http://www.survivedkatrina.org 6:20 PM - Sep. 24, 2005 - comments {1} - post commentHurricane RitaWe are feeling, way over here on the Alabama/Florida border, some wind gusts from Hurricane Rita. It's not a Septembery-wind. It's pure tropical air, hot and humid.
We are also under Rita's clouds, and under tornado watches.
She's a great big girl, spanning from Florida to Texas.
Unfortunately, the people that we have spent time with in Mississippi, the ones that we deliver your aid to, are going to get a lot of Rita's rain and some wind. They aren't living in secure homes, and some are under tarps or in tents, so they could do without that rain!
I'll keep you updated from a local perspective.
Meanwhile, thank you for your packages that keep arriving! We are going to continue to help Katrina's evacuees, and now we will include Rita's evacuees, who are here by the hundreds if not thousands.
Lori Seaborg http://www.survivedkatrina.org (visit here for more photos and news) http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/KeepingtheHome (my regular blog) 12:34 PM - Sep. 23, 2005 - comments {0} - post commentCamping Out - D'Iberville (North Biloxi) MississippiSeptember 10, 2005 ~ Camping Out ~ D'Iberville (North Biloxi), Mississippi
Photos copyright Tim & Lori Seaborg 09/10/2005 We found many families in D'Iberville camping out in their yards. We were a little surprised by that, as we thought that everyone was in a shelter or living in their damaged homes.
The man in the center photo was sleeping, along with his grown brother and elderly parents, in the storage shed in their back yard. They grilled under the white tent. A makeshift shower was created with a garden hose and privacy created by pieces of lumber.
In the left photo, you'll see a tent. Many families slept in tents, but some were not fortunate enough to have even that, so they slept under a tarp attached to their house, as you can see in the right photo.
These homes all flooded from 5-8', but none were in a flood zone, and it had never flooded there before.
We asked them why they didn't go to the shelters. There are many shelters available, including one on the Carnival cruise ship in Mobile Bay. They said, "Well, how would we get there?" Their cars, most of them, had flooded, too, and weren't working.
One person said, "They've told us to go to Florida, to shelters there, but why would we want to go to Florida? Our jobs are here, we need to be here." It's just not that easy to uproot somebody, as generous as we'd all like to be to them. They just want their homes back.
The people in the left and right photos are likely not living on their land anymore, since it was government land, or "the projects," as we call it. Mississippi came and told them, on a Friday night, that they must be out of the area by Sunday at 5pm, or they'd be arrested and fined. We met the people on the Saturday between the announcement and the eviction.
The people were the poorest sort, and had no place to go, and no way to get there. We heard the same story from house to house, all through those projects. They looked lost. Many were teary. One woman pleaded with us to go speak to the mayor. One man said, "They told me to go to the projects in the next county, but there's drugs there, and crime. I have a middle school aged daughter. We're going to be sleeping on the streets of Biloxi tomorrow night, because there is no way I'm taking her over there." Another man (the one in the striped shirt in the left photo) said, "My daughter moved to Colorado, my wife died two years ago, and now this is happening. All I have left is my drinking. I know that's not a good thing, but sometimes it makes things easier."
Their local mayor, Rusty Quaid, had come in on the second day after Hurricane Katrina hit, and gave them all a bag of ice and a water jug, with a promise that he'd be back soon with trailers for living. He said he'd also bring mattresses.
On the Saturday we visited, almost 2 weeks after the storm, the mayor had not come through with his promises of mattresses or trailers. We had quite a few questions for that mayor, the most pressing being, "Why aren't you providing transportation to shelters for these people?" but it was a Saturday evening and Mississippi wisely chose Sunday for the eviction.
You can't argue with city hall on a weekend. 8:57 PM - Sep. 19, 2005 - comments {0} - post commentToo Rich for FEMA Aid
Photos copyright Tim & Lori Seaborg 09/10/2005
The elderly couple in the photo above somehow found a place in Tim's often cynical heart. For him to care so much for someone that he only just met, meant there must be a story behind the tree lying across their front lawn. (I apologize that you can't see the people well in the photo; I was stranded in the van with our baby and couldn't get closer because of the debris).
Sure enough, after spending over a half hour with the couple, Tim had a story to tell. This couple actually rode out the storm in this house. Like most others in the area, they never believed the storm could reach them, in a place where water is not even visible. You would never expect a storm surge to get that far. They stayed in their house, expecting only strong winds, but definitely not as strong of winds as 1969's Camille, America's strongest hurricane.
By Monday morning, the water rose to 5' within their home. The furniture started to float, and they started to pray as never before. They were both too weak to climb into the attic, above. Only prayer mixed with a little hope could keep the water from rising.
Obviously, the couple did make it through the storm. And they have a lovely but small trailer in their front yard to use, which is much better than the tents and tarps of some of their neighbors.
But life is still not easy for them.
Within a week after the storm, they answered a telephone call from "FEMA." "We need to get your checking account number," the caller said, "so we can deposit a payment from FEMA into your account.." Just as she was pulling out her checkbook to give the caller her checking account number, a real FEMA employee knocked at the door. The scammer on the phone was caught red-tongued.
FEMA did catch the scammer in the act on the phone, but they did not further do our friends justice in their initial visit. They looked around the house, said furniture and the house damage was considered "personal property," so would fall under homeowner's insurance. That's a fine thing. But then FEMA determined whether our friends were eligible for other assistance from FEMA, which usually includes some money to get back on your feet, a bit of compensation for losing freezer food, and other aid. Our friends were denied by FEMA. Why? Well, because they "make too much money." How much? Tim did not have to wonder for long, before they said, "Do you think $20,000 a year from our Social Security check is really too much?"
Tim was able to let our new friends know that FEMA is a tough thing to crack, but it is possible with lots of persistence, red tape, and determination. We have a lot of past hurricane experience and headaches in dealing with FEMA, so Tim gave out a bit of advice.
To add insult to injury, our elderly friends were turned down by their homeowner's insurance for compensation, because all of their damage was due to water. They did not have flood insurance, because they are not in a flood zone, and it had never flooded there.
They were a discouraged pair, but I think a lot of good will eventually come to them. The Mississippi Attorney General is suing the insurance companies of Mississippi to pay for storm surge damage as part of the hurricane policy, and FEMA is getting their act together under the scrutiny of America. But all of that straightening-out takes time. Lots of time.
There are few short-term comforts for our elderly friends. We were glad to offer our tiny bit of comfort through a listening ear and a care package, thanks to your donations, support, and prayers.
by Lori Seaborg (please see our website for updated photos and information) 11:03 PM - Sep. 18, 2005 - comments {1} - post commentAid Update: Enough for Now!
We drove along the Mississippi Gulf Coast today, and I have to tell you, that the aid is really coming together for the people down there. There is so much aid, that it is almost too much! We had three people even ask us not to give them any diapers or toiletries, because they had enough already.
Two weeks ago, nobody would have said that!
We saw aid in all forms, from the local fire department to the Latter Day Saints, to the Red Cross.
We had been giving out your donations in the neighborhoods where people could not get to aid or shelter. But today, two-and-a-half weeks after the storm, we found that there are not as many people to help anymore. Most are in shelters, some are getting their FEMA-provided trailers, and some are living in their homes again now that the utilities have been turned on.
We are going to continue traveling into Mississippi and along our own Alabama Gulf Coast with the rest of your donations, and with any that keep coming in. We continue to offer Family Care Packages, Baby Care Packages, and Kid's Care Packages. We will still go into the neighborhoods and help those who need your donated items or money.
We will let you know if any future donations are needed. At this time, we have plenty and can make many care packages with what we have.
In a couple of months, I'd like to do a push for Christmas gifts for the children of the hurricane, so be thinking about that.
Thank you for all of your help! Lori Seaborg http://www.survivedkatrina.org
8:54 PM - Sep. 17, 2005 - comments {0} - post commentOne Year Since Hurricane IvanToday marks our one-year anniversary since Hurricane Ivan came through our area as a Category 4 storm. When I visit the Katrina-affected areas, I am reminded of Ivan over and over. It's pretty much the same devastation, only Katrina's damage is over a much, much larger area. And houses didn't entirely disappear on the beach with Ivan, as they did in Waveland, Mississippi (Katrina's Ground Zero).
Still, Ivan was and is a big deal to us on the Florida Panhandle and East of Mobile Bay in Alabama. For this entire past year, I have been able to hear the sounds of the wind and the horizontal rain and the cracking and felling of tree after tree. And the transformers popping like fireworks. I still see his destruction every time I look into our back yard and see broken branches dangling high in the cedar trees. I remember him when I walk down to the river in our backyard and see the 20 trees that a tornado spawned by Ivan took out, only a 1/2 acre away from our house where we were with our four children.
Ivan was a huge beast, so we were under his fury for a full 36 hours. He was America's largest hurricane in size, dwarfed only by Katrina (she was so huge, she made Ivan look somewhat small). That was a long time to be under tropical storm and hurricane weather. Our five-year-old, who was four at the time and slept through the worst of the storm, still wonders if a hurricane is coming every time it is windy. He's not afraid of it; he just wants to know.
The people of Mississippi and Louisiana have a very long road ahead of them. I don't think they realize how long, but that is probably for the best. In Pensacola, Florida, there are still piles of debris being mulched and trucked out. Every hotel room is still full of workers, and the houses prices are still at record highs. Books-a-Million is still closed; one hospital is still not repaired from its 10-stories of windows being blown out; many homes still have blue tarps on them.
But we are healing. Most stores are now open. The trees are pruned severely, but are trying to leaf out (Hurricane Dennis came in July 2005, a Cat. 2, and messed things up a bit again). The mountain (I really do mean "mountain" of debris at the airport is finally almost gone. The streets are almost cleared of trash and debris. The beach is partially opened. Our city is going to be fine.
Tonight, the city of Pensacola is having a "Community Remembers Ivan" service. There will be several mayors and others from Missisippi who are coming to the service. They said, "We want to see that there is hope a year later."
Yes, there is hope. 9:00 PM - Sep. 16, 2005 - comments {0} - post commentThe Attic Vent: A Survivor StoryThe Attic Vent
Photos copyright Tim & Lori Seaborg 09/10/2005
We found the gentleman above, sitting on a lawn chair outside a newly parked trailer on his front lawn. Behind the trailer is his house, a one-story brick ranch-style home.
We had just passed this street, but turned around when I told Tim that I just saw a sign that said: "FEMA Stop Here." We had been looking for people who might need the items in our care packages (snacks, toiletries, etc.), and we thought that whoever posted the sign may be able to use a box.
Sure enough, the gentleman was waiting on FEMA, who had not yet arrived, and was happy to take a box of our goodies.
As we found throughout the rest of the day, our box of donations opened a door to conversation and our new friend told us this tale of storm survival:
His brother decided to ride out the storm in the house. Hurricane Camille had only flooded to the street a couple of houses away, after all, and no storm has ever been like Camille, the strongest hurricane in American history. He said the wind was quite loud, but all was going well, until the water came. It was a sudden rush of water (storm surge), and before he knew it, he was in the attic, hoping to save his life.
There was only 18" left to breathe in the attic, and the ceiling fell down due to the water, so he stood on the attic rafters and hoped that the water would no longer rise. He made his way to the end of the attic, on the North side, and found the attic vent. He started prying open the vent, to see out. He continued prying open the vent, hoping to get it open enough to be able to slip out of it and swim to safety. Thankfully, the water did not continue to rise. It remained at that top height for 2 hours or so, then receded rapidly.
Our new friend is hoping that his house is condemned, so he can just start all over. He says it's too much to think about cleaning up a mess like that. In the driveway were 2 refrigerators and 1 freezer, all emptied and cleaned, but he said they weren't showing signs of starting up again.
( Read more about what we are doing at our new website, SurvivedKatrina.org ) 2:04 PM - Sep. 15, 2005 - comments {0} - post commentSaturday's Trip
Our time in Mississippi was amazing. We received a few dozen thanks, a couple of hugs, and more than one teary eye for our efforts. We were very surprised to see that so many families are living in tents or under tarps in their yards, next to their flooded homes. With all the shelters that are open in the area, we did not expect that.
We handed each family a Family Care Package, full of toiletries, books, pens and paper, a Bible, snacks, candy, gum, Band-Aids, wet wipes, and more. We gave babies a Baby Care Package with toiletries and a baby toy and bottles and a bib; and we gave each child a Kid's Care Package with activity toys in it.
We saw a lot of aid in the area. Churches' parking lots were full of boxes of food and items to get; trash bags of clothing were in store parking lots; FEMA had an occasional set-up.
When we drove through the main street, we thought, "Well, they don't really need us, with all the aid that's everywhere." But then we drove into the neighborhoods, where people are living in or next to their damaged homes. The people we met did not have transportation out, to go get the available aid. Their cars, if they had them, were flooded.
The boxes, full of items that would give the families a bit of comfort for a while, were a good thing to give, but I noticed that the people of Mississippi needed something even more than our donations: they needed a listening ear.
We were happy to give them that.
Thank you all so much for supporting us in this, with your donations and your prayers. We are going to Mississippi at least twice weekly, until we are no longer needed.
Go to http://www.SurvivedKatrina.org , our new website, for new photos of our trip to Mississippi.
Lori Seaborg 4:10 PM - Sep. 14, 2005 - comments {0} - post commentGoogle Creates Search Tools to help locate info on KatrinaGoogle has created search tools designed to help locate information and people, following the devastation of Hurricane Katrina.
Keywords typed in Katrina Search will return results only from hurricane-related Web pages, while Katrina People Search can help find information about persons affected by the disaster, the company said. Katrina People Search indexes information collated from several public databases, including the Red Cross.
from ZDNet 7:48 AM - Sep. 13, 2005 - comments {0} - post commentOcean Springs, Mississippi Hurricane SurvivorSeptember 10, 2005 ~ Michelle Edwards ~ Ocean Springs, Mississippi
Photo copyright Tim & Lori Seaborg 09/10/2005
We found Michelle cleaning out her house, with a smile still on her lovely face. She doesn't yet have electricity in her home. Even though her house is on stilts, 11' off the ground, the storm surge was so high that 24" of water entered her home. There is a 55' yacht now resting in her back yard, but Michelle doesn't live near the waterfront. The yacht traveling along the storm surge and landed in her yard.
Her son, probably in his 30's, was in the house at the time of the storm. He said he tried to sleep through the storm, but kept hearing, "Bloop, bloop." He reached down for his cell phone, and found it full of water. When he got out of bed, he realized that the house was flooding.
He put a mark on the wall and said to himself, "When the water reaches this level, I'm out of here," even though the winds and storm surge were intense at that point. He said the scariest moment was when a tornado sucked the air out of the house and raged through their back yard, shattering many trees, including a centuries-old sycamore that Michelle said "really made the place." At the point of the tornado, Michelle's son said he certainly regretted his decision to ride out the storm in the house.
We handed Michelle a Family Care Package and we gave her son some diapers, wet wipes, and a Baby Care Package.
(p.s. For more updates or to view more photos, visit our website http://www.survivedkatrina.org )
Lori Seaborg 11:41 AM - Sep. 12, 2005 - comments {0} - post commentSurvived Katrina.org - site launch!I'd like to announce our new website to you all! After all that we have been through, Tim and I just want to spend our days helping the survivors of Hurricane Katrina, for as long as we are able.
A wonderful blog reader donated a website to us, with hosting included! I have it ready for you to see at http://www.survivedkatrina.org . Be sure to click on "Hurricane Survivors" for the first of our many stories of survivors that we met. They are amazing people, going through extraordinary circumstances. Please visit the site often, as I update almost daily! by Lori Seaborg 3:31 PM - Sep. 11, 2005 - comments {0} - post commentHeading to Bayou la Batre: How You Can Help UpdateToday, our family is traveling across Mobile Bay and then back down to the Gulf Coast to the little village of Bayou la Batre, Alabama. Bayou la Batre was the setting of the Forrest Gump movie. It is a fishing village, full of shrimpers, who have all lost so much in the storm. Along with their houses (80% of the homes in Bayou la Batre are now uninhabitable), most of the shrimpers lost their boats in the storm, even though they had taken the boats up rivers and canals to try to save them.
They were never a rich bunch to begin with, these shrimpers. Now they have even less. The shrimp processing plant is destroyed, the boats are destroyed, and the homes are destroyed. Most of the shrimpers are your regular Southern folk, but there is also a large Vietnamese community among them, all fishermen.
We have heard that Bayou la Batre is only receiving FEMA food and water. They are not otherwise getting much aid. So, we'll head to Bayou la Batre today and take some of your donations with us. We created "family care packages" and "kids care packages" and "baby care packages" all day yesterday. We'll be able to help quite a few families in Bayou la Batre. Look for photos at http://survivedkatrina.org , which is our new website that a kind blog reader donated to us.
We could still use a few items:
Send items to us here:
SurvivedKatrina.org Tim and Lori Seaborg 18930 Highland Drive Fairhope, AL 36532
As always, CASH is the most useful thing, as we are using it to buy items that we have run out of in creating our care packages. We are also using cash to buy water, gas, and tire care products to take to the ones who need it (since you cannot ship those items). When we see a family who needs it, we hand out $50 shopping cards to WalMart, gas, or home improvement. The families in our area have not received any debit/credit cards from the Red Cross or FEMA yet. 100% of your cash is used to help the hurricane victims. To send cash, go to http://paypal.com , click on Send Money, and send it to: seaborgs@bellsouth.net You should see SurvivedKatrina as the account name.
I will update my website tonight or tomorrow, so look for news from our trip to Bayou la Batre! Go to http://survivedkatrina.orgfor the most current news from our family.
Thank you all so much for your generosity!
by Lori Seaborg 9:25 AM - Sep. 10, 2005 - comments {0} - post commentEvacuees, Refugees, or Victims?I received an email this morning suggesting that I change my wording from "refugee" to "evacuee":
"The victims of Katrina are not refugees rather they are US citizens displaced by a natural disaster. A refugee is defined as: One who flees in search of refuge, as in times of war, political oppression, or religious persecution. This is not the case in Katrina victims."
That definition needs to be attributed to Dictionary.com, as it is a direct copy of their definition. Other dictionaries just call a refugee, "one who seeks shelter," or "one who flees." Usually the term is applied to wars and politics and religious persecution, but our world has not seen many cases such as we have in New Orleans.
Reverend Al Sharpton agrees with my reader that the the term "refugee" is not right, assuming that the term strips the people of their dignity. "They are not refugees. They are citizens of the United States," he says. You can read an interesting article about this discussion here, on the NPR site.
From a personal point of view, and as a refugee, evacuee, or hurricane victim, I can tell you that we just don't care. We're simply Southerners who were caught in a storm. We simply want help, whatever you prefer to call us.
(p.s. Even though I think "refugee" has been accurate in this case, I will soon change my wording at the top of this blog, just because I think the people who are homeless will soon no longer be "refugees," needing to seek "refuge." Even though they won't have homes to go back to yet, the rebuilding will begin and "refugee" will no longer seem fitting.)
10:07 AM - Sep. 7, 2005 - comments {10} - post commentAid UpdateThere was a sigh of relief in the area as FEMA finally brought in enough food, ice and water. They stationed a huge relief effort in Pascagoula, Mississippi, which was an area hit very hard by the storm. The food, water, and ice finally did not run out, and there is enough for today. Even Senator Trent Lott had a home totally destroyed in Pascagoula. It was 150 years old. Think of that. We get lots of storms here, yet his house stood for 150 years. Now, it is not even a frame. It is just ... gone.
Are you wondering if your help will even help? When you hear of the nation giving so much, of movie stars giving millions, of so many donations being sent, do you wonder if there is already enough?
The answer, for this storm, is "no." This is one of those storms where you just can't give enough. There cannot be enough money, or enough donations, or enough volunteers.
I can tell you from personal experience through other hurricanes, that FEMA is not quick to give aid. There is a lot of red tape involved with them. It is easy to sign up, but it is difficult to be approved for aid. We had to mail in various documents, proving that our insurance company didn't cover everything, proving income. Then, a FEMA person had to schedule an appointment to come to our home....it is just a long process. And very inconsistent. You cannot know if you'll receive any money, or what amount. Don't expect FEMA to provide these homeless people with all that they need. We need to help them.
The Red Cross has shelters set up in the area, filled to capacity. The Red Cross is doing a wonderful job, as always. Shelter and food is ultimately FEMA's job, but the Red Cross is doing it until FEMA comes through. This is the biggest relief effort the Red Cross has ever undertaken. We need to help them.
The Southern Baptists are stepping in, as always. They provide hot meals primarily (Jeb Bush said in a recent press conference that "the Southern Baptists always have the best food"), and have even partnered with the Red Cross to provide food at Red Cross shelters. They also bring showers and laundry services into an affected area, along with donations and medical personnel. And they provide yard work for the elderly or sick. When we had a flat tire in Florida after Hurricane Ivan, we were blessed enough to have it go flat while near a Southern Baptist church. A volunteer from Oklahoma drove my husband around town to find a tire shop. It took 4 hours (everyone gets a flat after a hurricane), but that generous man was patient all the time. Meanwhile, the volunteers at the site made sure my children and I were fed while waiting.
The Church of Christ are a generous bunch. They have opened an area shelter in Summerdale, Alabama. They also bring in many loads of donations and are very organized at passing them out.
Local churches are stepping in, like the First Baptist Church of Robertsdale and the Church of Christ in Summerdale to be shelters for the homeless, converting Sunday School rooms into bedrooms. Central Christian Church is providing a place for showers and exercise for the 300 homeless who are living in the Robertsdale Coliseum.
What are the needs?
We need volunteers to offer time at the local shelters, babysitting children so the parents can get a break, reading to the kids, befriending the parents.
We need donations of the items I've already listed. One problem is that people have to drive to distribution sites to receive aid. Many cannot do that, and it is worse with this storm because we are in such a gas crisis down here. There is a need for people to go into the neighborhoods to hand out needed items. If you cannot come, then mail items to us and we will get them to the neighborhoods and small rural towns that usually don't receive aid.
You can help. We can help.
Lori Seaborg Alabama Gulf Coast
A note: If you want to volunteer your time, you may want to join Cindy Rushton and her family in Laurel, Mississippi. They are going to work with their local church to help in that hard-hit area of Mississippi, about 90 miles from the Coast. 8:11 AM - Sep. 4, 2005 - comments {3} - post commentHurricane Katrina: How You Can Help
We are in an excellent area as far as being able to distribute items. I have already contacted several churches, several homeschool groups and a private school about distributing items. We are able to get items into the hands of refugees spanning from the Florida Panhandle, along the entire Alabama Gulf Coast, and into Mississippi. My husband cannot return to his job since the building was flooded by the hurricane, so he and I both are available to coordinate the distribution of donations.
* Tire care, Fix A Flat, and gas for stranded motorists in the hurricane-affected areas (we had 5 flat tires in just one week after Hurricane Ivan last year, and were stranded 50 miles from home at one point, so we know this need intimately)
* Fast food/grocery food for evacuees as they travel, as we see the need
* Adopting families (as many as we have the money for) at local shelters and giving them $50 WalMart shopping cards and $20-30 gas cards, so they can get a head start (at this point, the Red Cross is focusing only on shelter, food and water, of course, so this is a great need)
2:04 PM - Sep. 3, 2005 - comments {6} - post commentHelicoptersOften, I fall asleep with the sound of thunderstorms rolling in from the Gulf of Mexico. Or occasionally I might hear crickets or owls in the night, or sometimes I will hear my rooster crowing (he has a broken clock, but what could you expect from a rooster named Princess?).
Tonight, I hear an unusual sound. It is the hum of helicopters overhead.
We don't get many helicopter or airplane sounds out here. We don't live in a flight path, I guess. Not normally.
But we do live in a direct line from Pensacola, Florida to New Orleans, Louisiana. I'd bet my last dollar that the helicopters that I hear tonight, one after another... after another... after another... are coming out of our Navy and Air Force town of Pensacola, and are going to help those in New Orleans.
Thank God for that!
It reminds me of another time when I saw military plane after helicopter after cargo plane, over and over, fly over my head. I was standing on Fort Pickens Beach, Florida, at the tip of the island where I could see the Pensacola Navy Base across the Sound. The planes, having just taken off from the runway, were so close that I could see the pilots inside. The children and I waved and waved. I wished for an American flag.
It was the day that President Bush declared war on Afghanistan, after 9-11-2001.
by Lori Seaborg Alabama Gulf Coast 9:46 PM - Sep. 2, 2005 - comments {7} - post commentBibles! We Need Bibles for the Refugees
There is an urgent need for Bibles for the refugees.
I certainly don't think FEMA will be passing those out! So, we can do it!
With our big homeschool group, we can distribute Bibles throughout the Alabama Gulf Coast, which includes two of Alabama's largest counties. Hundreds of refugees from Mississippi and Louisiana are in our shelters.
We can pass out Bibles, if you can get them to us.
The refugees left their homes with few or no belongings.
Send Bibles via Media Mail to:
Tim and Lori Seaborg 18930 Highland Drive Fairhope, AL 36532
You may also want to mail them through Amazon.com. If so, click here.
Thank you so much for helping!
God bless,
Lori Seaborg (of the Keeping the Home blog and Hurricane Katrina blog) 12:31 PM - Sep. 2, 2005 - comments {12} - post commentOlive Baptist ChurchMy local church is setting up plans to help the victims of Hurricane Katrina, with housing, going, supplying, and consulting.
We were very hard hit by Hurricane Ivan, a Category 4 storm, last September 15, 2004. In July 2005, we were hit by Hurricane Dennis. Our area has still not healed from Ivan, especially. There are many who are still living in FEMA-provided house trailers. Because of our experience, you will find many generous people in Pensacola, Florida, who want to help the latest hurricane victims.
If you would like to offer help through Olive Baptist Church, visit the website (click on the name).
- Lori Seaborg 7:28 AM - Sep. 2, 2005 - comments {2} - post comment
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Description This is a blog on Hurricane Katrina, written by Lori Seaborg of the Keeping the Home blog. My family and I wtnessed the hurricane in our home on the Florida-Alabama Gulf Coast. Since my family is safe, and my home is undamaged, it is time to help others. I will keep you up-to-date on local information, and ways that you can specifically help the hurricane victims. Home User Profile Archives Recent Entries - Katrina Emergency Relief Act of 2005 - SurvivedKatrina.org - Rita - Hurricane Rita - Camping Out - D'Iberville (North Biloxi) Mississippi |
