A few pictures

Monday, August 29th, Hurricane Katrina arrives in Jackson, MS and the screen door to the back is already being pushed inward. I had left work about 11, picked up hubby, and the power went off as soon as we walked inside the house, about 12:30.
Rescued The Cat who was sitting inside next to this screen getting soaking wet.


I actually had to rescued The Cat two more times from the wet. Poor kitty was just fascinated by the wind and flying debris.
I stepped out front once during a short lull to try to figure out what were the large dark things flying through the air. Discovered lots of shingles from our house lying in the yard. This also explained the popping sounds we kept hearing on top of the house.

Fourteen hours later it was still raining but we told ourselves that the wind had subsided a bit and went to bed. Woke up a few hours later and stepped out the survey the damage.
Our yard was, well the back yard still is, covered with debris, including this large limb which had been stripped of leaves.



Bud-Dog absolutely refuses to go out so we give up on that and try to figure out what to do.
Power is still out and I can't get anyone on the phone so we decide to drive to work and see what was what. Going down Highway 25, there were lots of snapped power poles like this one here.



This is the street light outside my office. Obviously Katrina didn't like caution lights! This particular light has still not been fixed.
Roads are full of leaves, sticks, and downed trees. One woman died in the neighborhood near where this photo was taken when a large oak tree fell on her house.


Everyone tries to find somewhere to get gas. Gas lines have become a fact of life here but many, many areas do not have gas so we are lucky on that score. Police are now posted at all gas stations and only allow cars to enter the pump area as pumps become available.



The line for the station above. Notice there are no prices posted. I don't even look to see what the prices are at the pump. You got to have gas to get to work so we all just take what is available and hope we have enough money. I filled up on Wednesday, getting in a line at 5:37 am and pulling away from the pump with a full tank at 7:04 am.



Work sent me back home, so these are from my neighborhood. This is the view of my back neighbor's yard as seen through the newly acquired hole in our fence. We have since put some chicken wire up so the dogs won't roam off.


The dock on Oak Street. Power lines down over the entrance. There is a truck and trailer there, but I can't imagine why you would want to go boating with all that was floating in the water.





Another view of Oak Street. This street did not get power on until today.





A two-for-one special that I'm sure this homeowner didn't appreciate. Actually, it was a three-for because there was also a tree down on the other side of this house.




Downed trees sitting on power lines all over the place. This is at Arrowhead Trail.







A cut power line on the ground in front of the fire department.







Low power lines over the road.






My parents, my sister and her family, my grandmother and aunt live in rural Mississippi. I was able to get down there Thursday with three 20lb bags of ice, some water, batteries, and canned goods. This is the only picture I took down there and is a pecan tree behind my grandmother's house. I remember being a little girl and picking pecans with my grandfather under this tree.

While a lot of media attention has been given to New Orleans and the Gulf Coast (and Lord knows those people are in really bad shape), Mississippi and Louisana are still mostly rural areas and the country folks are facing some hard times. They have no power and it will be another 2 to 3 weeks before power will be able to be restored in some outlying areas. The really lucky communities have someone with a generator and gas to run it. In my parent's area, two generators are being shared from house to house to try to help people out a bit. (Thanks Joel!) Clean drinking water is running short and once folks eat what food they have, there is no way to run up to the store to buy more. There's no phone service, no gas, no power and no TV so they are really isolated and do not yet fully understand the enormous impact of Hurricane Katrina.

I want to thank the American Red Cross for all they are doing and all they will continue to do in the future for this area. If you want to help, please make a donation to their hurricane relief efforts. I'm also very grateful to Brookshire's grocery stores. They have been bringing in truckloads of ice and giving bags away (1 per person). This is how I got the ice to take to my family. And Jackson radio stations Mix 96.3 and MIS103. Mix 96 got us through the storm by airing the television weather coverage all day. Country radio 103's signal was reaching as far south as Hattiesburg. They gave up their music format and became talk radio as people from across the state called in and gave what information they could.

It's just all so overwhelming, and sometimes, it quite frankly seems hopeless, but we southerners will survive!!