Hello from Mississippi

My friend Amy is currently in Mississippi. She is in the military. I asked her I could post some portions of her last e-mail since it gives an inside look on what is going on there in the hurricane area.
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I'm happy to report that I am now back to the base - safe and sound. This area didn't get it too bad - there is damage but it could have been worse! The highway out near the gulf is still closed but I'm confident that they will open that soon and there are trees down and some usual storm damage but in Biloxi - it seems they got lucky. As I write this - I have had a good HOT shower and I'm comfortable with Power and TV! ;-)

Many restaurants and businesses aren't open yet as many people are still figuring out what damage they sustained or they are trying to return from evacuating. They were handing out ice, water and food at several locations in Biloxi this afternoon for the residents who are still without power. The National Guard is patrolling the streets and there were a bunch of Federal agents from Department of Homeland Security arriving at the base when I got here today. On Sunday, they evacuated the base here and many of the students were put in storm shelters. Because I went camping with my family - I was out of the area and that meant that I couldn't return to the base until they gave the 'all clear' so last night I had to stay at the camp ground by myself! The campsite was nice and it was a great weekend with my family but when they left me there alone last night I thought I was just NUTS! I made it through the night - met some really nice people who had evacuated from the storm from Louisiana and they are fearful that they will have a lot of damage to their property when they return. They fed me dinner and kept an eye on me since I was alone. It rained off and on throughout the night and then when I got the all clear to return to the base I had the crazy adventure of driving through Mississippi in rain and thunderstorms with constant 'tornado' and 'flood' warnings coming across the radio.

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Many people in this area are still reeling from Katrina - the repairs in Biloxi and Mississippi in general seem to be slower than in Louisiana - to me it seems that the money went with the publicity and that was centered in New Orleans. They are still repairing roads here and it's not uncommon to look up a restaurant in the phone book only to find that it is not there anymore.

Pray for the families that have been impacted by this storm and will have a long few months ahead of them. They are suffering from lost wages, damaged property, unexpected expenses from evacuating and from the stress of not knowing what lies ahead.

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Maybe we can organize something when Amy gets back. She is amazing about community service. If any one is up for that, just shoot me an e-mail.