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
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