Heard from Calvin today, it's bad, may need our help.

Vernon

Registered User
Calvin (FearThisSC) was able to call me today and let us know that they had been able to get out in time and they were safe. He says that they were entertaining friends late Saturday night still unaware that Katrina had grown so strong and was bearing down on them. When they woke up Sunday the news took them by surprise. He says that several of his friends told him that they were tired of leaving town during hurricanes only for nothing to come of it and they were staying. Something told them this was going to be bad and it was time to go. They packed fast and light with only to SC to take them out of town. Their big car has been broke down for a while. So they mainly grabbed extra clothes and headed north fighting the traffic. He said he got my call but the traffic was too bad at the time to answer it. They made it to relatives in Helena Arkansas late Sunday then stayed up watching the news coverage. He was able to listen to his messages today and returned calls. He’s been trying to contact friends left behind and worries about them.

For those of you who don’t know Calvin’s house is located in Slidel Louisiana, which is located on the north shore of Lake Pontchitrain. Katrina basically went right though town dragging the lake with her. Being that Slidel is above sea level there were no dikes or levees to protect the town from a flood levels in the lake. If you’ve seen the news this afternoon you’ve probably seen footage from Slidel because that’s where the damage is so dramatic. All you can see is a lake with roofs in it and the tops of large stores. I’m pretty sure his home has had moderate to sever flooding based on everything I’ve seen so far out of Slidel. It took longer for them to cover Slidel because it’s basically been out of touch and inaccessible. Now that the storms over it’s become obvious that the town is a total loss. Calvin has heard from family close by who are related to a Slidel City Council member, she told them “there’s bodies floating in the streets”.

Calvin thinks he’s probably lost everything he has except for his wife and daughters, a car and some clothes. During this part of the conversation he was starting to crack up so I didn’t ask him about home insurance and he didn’t mention it either. He can’t get back home yet so he’s not exactly sure what he’ll find. I told him that my family and I will do whatever we can to help them with this and that as soon as he figures out what he needs to let me know and we’ll do it. He said he would do that. I also have a large travel trailer that we’re not using right now and told Calvin that if he gets home to find that his house is unlivable I would bring it to him so that they can stay home while they repair the house and get their lives back together. He was thankful and said he would do that if it turns out to be the case.

So he’s alive but it looks as if one of our friends is in a world of hurt right now and could stand some help. Calvin is one of us. If you think about it, right now all of his other friends are in the same situation as him or worse. His whole town just got washed away. If he’s going to get any serious help it’s going to be from the rest of his family or us. Once Calvin is able to get back to his house and assess the situation I’m going to make a trip over there with whatever I can take them that they are in need of. If I take the travel trailer it will be stocked up with food, water, personal needs, propane, etc. If any of you guys will help me with this it would be greatly appreciated. The gasoline alone will be expensive as it’s about a 6-8 hour drive under normal conditions. Think about what you can do and I’ll let you guys know when this relief trip is going to happen and how you can help.

Right now they all need our prayers. At least they are still with us. I’ll let you guys know as soon as I know anything new from Calvin.

Vernon
 
This is just plain bad for everyone. I'm sure nearly everyone knows someone affected by this storm. It's soo big.

Personally I'll help with whatever I can.
 
I don't have much, but I can try.

My fiance is stationed at Keesler AFB, in Biloxi. She called me at 1130 am on monday, I just heard from her like 3 hours ago. She sounded exhausted. She said that the Keesler Hospital's 1st floor started to flood and they had to move patients from that floor to the 2nd. The hospital was about a mile from the beach. I almost cried when I heard her voice.

Stephen
 
Its raining up here, no where near as bad as what i see in the News Broadcasts. I guaruntee when people see this that hearts will go out and people will be willing to help out how ever they can.

jOe
 
Thats some pretty sad stuff. I hope he will be ok and that he finds his house in good shape. I honestly have not been paying any attention to the news lately so I dont know the sevarity of the storm or seen any pics of the damage. God bless everyone that had been effected by the storm.

Shane
 
It may be weeks or over a month before they will let him back in there. Last I heard they are evacuating the entire city of New Orleans because they cannot shore up the levee where the breaches are. I think this is measuring up to be the single worst natural disaster this country has seen. :mad: :(

Vernon, I can send you $20 towards your efforts to help out a fellow SC'er. PM with the best way to do so. (I can mail you a check if you want).

Joe Brauner
 
I think most in the club will do what they can to help out. Did we have any other members in the affected area?
 
joenintiesc said:
Vernon, I can send you $20 towards your efforts to help out a fellow SC'er. PM with the best way to do so. (I can mail you a check if you want).

Joe Brauner
ILL SECOND THAT...
 
Vernon,

Kathy and I would like to send some money to Calvin and his family...please let me know where to send it.

David
 
Guys and Gals of SCCOA who are following this post, I will post a link to The Thunderbird Underground where the latest news and such will be posted. I will answer questions on either board but it would take to much time to transfer everything three times and edit out personal responces to members there, etc.

http://www.tbu.cx/tbu/nfphpbb/viewtopic.php?t=700

Thanks,
Vernon
 
best of luck to him....ive seen video of sidell......not very pretty...my heart goes out to him...best of luck!!!!!!
 
That got it opened up. To everyone wanting to help thanks a lot. Right now we're waiting to hear from Calvin again. I haven't been able to get a call through from here from day one. When I hear from him I'll get an address we can send some help for them to. We should all be doing something to help all our fellow countrymen right now but it doesn't hurt to send a few bucks to another clubmember also.

Calvin's house is outside of New Orleans, he can go back as soon as he can get there but what he will find is another story. He last said he was going this weekend so he's probably there now.

If he decides he can use our travel trailer for shelter while they rebuild then I'll accept financial help on getting it ready, stocked, and moved. Overall my truck and the trailer are in great shape so it will be mainly gas and groceries but anything sent will be needed and put to good use. I'll let you know when this is needed and thanks again guys.

I know of one other SC guy who actually lived in the city, he is a good friend of Calvin's and I met him during the Mardis Gras Meet Calvin hosted a year and a half ago. His name is Colby Parker, he very rarely posted but his name had "Freeze" in it, like "Freeze94" or something. He and his father ran an A/C contracting business in New Orleans. I can't find his contact information but even if I could I wouln't be able to get through. Wynn told me of several SC and T-bird guys he knows that were in the area, one had 4 SC's from what Wynn said. I imagine we'll hear many more of these hurricane storys before this is all over.

Here in the Texas area, it's gone way beyond Houston now, we're housing and tending to refugees in any way you could imagine. Personal homes are being opened up, jobs are being offered, food stamps, medical, etc. All of our convention centers, unused stadiums and similar large buildings are being transformed into small citys. The town I live in near Houston is a pretty good sized community but I think there are now more people living under one roof at the Astrodome.

Thanks for all thoughts, prayers, and actions that will help all of these people and everyone who's trying to help them.

Vernon
 
Calvin's help address!!

I just heard from Calvin and got his current address for those who want to send a little something or a big something, anything would help.

Calvin or Tiffany Coats
P.O. Box 446
Helena, AR 72342

I make more posts with the current news soon.

Thanks guys,
Vernon
 
Vernon said:
I just heard from Calvin and got his current address for those who want to send a little something or a big something, anything would help.

Calvin or Tiffany Coats
P.O. Box 446
Helena, AR 72342

I make more posts with the current news soon.

Thanks guys,
Vernon

I gotta tell ya there Vernon...Hats off to your hometown they came thru in stellar fashion..."SAAAAAALOOOOTT"!!!! ;)
 
Coversation this afternoon,

Here’s the things learned when talking to Calvin this Saturday afternoon.

First off his sister and her boyfriend were able to go to Slidell and look around yesterday. Both her and Calvin’s houses are still standing but were flooded during the storm. The water has receded but his had 6 ft of water in it and hers had seen 4 ft. Calvin’s house has no major structural damages. He did have homeowners and flood insurance so he will be able to receive insurance and rebuild. Obviously this is good news to hear.

He plans on posting again soon but he has to use the public library for Internet access, as his mother doesn’t have it. He asked if he should try to post again and I told him yes, that a bunch of the guys are concerned about them and have wanted to help but we still don’t know how. So he said he’ll post as soon as he can.

I asked him if had heard of or from Colby Parker and he said he has tried to reach him but can’t. He did say that the area Colby lives is Kenner Louisiana near the New Orleans Airport and that area has not flooded so he’s probably O.K. but just not able to go home. But as of yet there is no word from Colby, Calvin will keep trying but his phone only works in Mississippi when close to home and the lines are all jammed.

I asked him about using the trailer; he said that he wants to so I will be taking it to them as soon as I can after he can go home. He told me that based on his sister’s experiences going there yesterday it’s just not safe. She said house looting wasn’t a problem in the Slidell area but gasoline is being fought over and stolen, especially after dark. They had taken a sidearm with them and it was needed to get back home with gas. They had filled up several gas cans and took them but barely had enough to make it back. I don’t know what the details were but they took a Camery and those cars should be able to go there and back on a tank. They also took water and food goods with them and passed them out to those in need throughout the trip. She said people were getting violent over gas. Perhaps they gave away some gas also. But once it started getting dark there were fights and gunshots heard often so they didn’t feel safe and decided to get out of town. Calvin said “It’s like Mad Max at night and you need to carry a gun.” This is our country? So I will keep readying the trailer and preparing for the trip. Calvin said he wants to wait until the power is back on because of the lawlessness after dark. He was able to contact his employer and was told they’ve put all the people affected on administrative leave. He doesn’t know if he’ll still be getting a paycheck yet so financial help will be needed and appreciated in the time being.

He’s been watching the news and is amazed by what’s going on here in Houston and the rest of the country with the outpouring of help from everyone.

I asked him about the clothes and he said they had enough to get by and they wear odd sized clothes so it would probably not be much good to send him any clothes right now. They are tall and thin.

Finally both Calvin and his wife Tiffany sent their love to me, and all of us who here working on helping them out during this time of their greatest need. I could hear her in the background and they both broke down saying this. I only include this to reinforce that we are doing a great thing here. I’m sure his wife is like mine; she tolerated his Internet time at best and never expected something like this would come out of it. I told them I loved them too and we’re going to keep doing what we can to help them through. Everyone dig deep and do what you can. You never know who will need it next.

Vernon
 
Vernon said:
I just heard from Calvin and got his current address for those who want to send a little something or a big something, anything would help.

Calvin or Tiffany Coats
P.O. Box 446
Helena, AR 72342

I make more posts with the current news soon.

Thanks guys,
Vernon

Since we have his address now, lets send what ever you can to help him and his family out. Even if it’s 5$, 10$, 20$ it all helps in a time like this. A postal MO might be the best if they have a PO box, can be cashed right there.
 
Getting ready for trip.

There's no word from Calvin but I'm making all the preparations I can to take him our travel trailer. We got it over yesterday and have been cleaning and working on necessary repairs to get it all ready. I'm taking a crash course on these things and how to hitch them up with all the extra equipment. It turns out the fridge in this one will run on electricity or propane, the hot water heater is gas also. It has two electrical systems 120 and 12 volt. When connected to 120 it will keep the 12volt deep cycle charged. I'm seeing if the battery will keep a charge.

I recieved two checks today to help with expenses, and a paypal thanks guys, this helps. I couldn't do it all wihout it. If anybody else is thinking about helping with this please do. It doesn't have to be a big wad, just few bucks even. If you would like to help with the trailer and trip expenses here's my information.

Vernon Cradier
27102 Azalea Ct.
Magnolia, TX 77354

Paypal: ManicV6Mechanic@wmconnect.com

Well that's all that's happening now. Take care.

Vernon
 
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