Saturday, September 10, 2005

Not My Stories

These are not my stories but are ones that need to be shared. They are stories of survival from a storm surge that is estimated to have been from 28 feet to 32 feet.

One of my bosses sons stayed in his house on Biloxi Back Bay during Hurricane Katrina. He ended up in his attic to escape the wall of water and watched as the water crept higher and higher and then subsided. He had to be rescued by his family after the winds subsided. The only means of communication he had was his Nextel radio. He is safe and sound and was not injured and is working at the plant to clear the rubble so the rebuilding process can begin.

One of my bosses and his wife stayed in their house on the Back bay also. They had 4 feet of water in their home and had to be rescued by their family also.

One of my bosses wife's who has been searching the area where her home used to be and was ecstatic to find 7 photos of her daughter when she was a child.

A former co-worker and beer drinking buddy of mine stayed at her house in D'Iberville. Her and her husband had to escape the rising water. In doing so, her leg was badly cut and she is now in a hospital in Houston and has an very aggressive infection from the cut and my lose her leg and even her life.

My boss whose home used to be in the town of Lakeshore Mississippi. That town as well as Waveland has been virtually wiped from the face of the earth. He is employing people to clear the rubble at his home and the rubble of his wife's family business in Bay St Louis.

The owners of Seymour's in D'Iberville, were I would occasionally go for an afternoon beer after work, stayed. They are alive but many people, I don't know the names or the number, who stayed with them died. The wife was scalped by debris.

The members of the Baptist Church in D'Iberville who sought refuge at the church and also ended up in the attic of the church but survived.

The town of St Martin has been virtually wiped from the face of the earth and yet many survived the flood waters.

A local newscaster whose home was on the beach stayed and her and her husband had to escape from their second floor with their dog. They ended up in a hot tub and then saw their neighbors car. Climbed on that to reach the windows of their neighbors house and escaped the flood waters with their dog in tow.

There are many such stories of survival of these viscous waters that slammed into the Mississippi Gulf Coast but there are also too many of those who did not survive. The exact numbers are not known but there are rumors of at least three refrigerated tractor trailers full of the unindentified died of Mississippi.