Hurricane Katrina Aid Update

It's hard for me to even comprehend that many of you are able to blog about normal life. It's hard to conceive that everyone in America is not affected by Hurricane Katrina. This disaster feels so large to us, that we assume everyone is talking about it, blogging about it, thinking about it. I think we kind of hope someone would notice.

Do you all know that the mayor of New Orleans now thinks that there may be thousands dead? This is our tsunami, America!

It is amazing how little aid there is here, two days after Katrina left. In Mobile, hundreds of cars lined up for miles, clogging up the roads, to wait for water and ice. Hundreds of them were turned away when the supply quickly ran out.

The local police are working 12 hour shifts on and off. Nobody gets to take a day off. They are trying to maintain order when the traffic lights are not working, the few gas stations have miles of customers waiting in the roads, and tempers are flaring in the heat.

There is not yet any food being distrubuted here. It's "on the way," something we've heard for two days now.

The national news is not covering our tragedy 24/7, like they do other disasters. I wonder how many bodies will have to be recovered before they do?

On the positive side, you can count on the electric companies to pull together. Electricity is being restored. I just called our neighbor, on the Florida-Alabama border, and the power has just been turned back on at our home. We left home to come to Pensacola, Florida yesterday after feeling sick from the heat, with no power at home. Down here, we have a "heat wave" every day in August, so air conditioning is pretty important. Especially for babies. We weren't able to save all of our freezer food, though. That' s a lot of money lost. Almost every home here has that story.

President Bush is going to address the nation at 4pm CST today. Thank God for that! We want someone to finally notice us at the national level.

We hear that the federal aid is going to start.

The Navy is sending ships of supplies into our ports from Virginia. That kind of news brings tears to my patriotic eyes. We will love to see those ships come into our broken ports.

The president is going to release the Nation's gas reserves for us. We are so happy to hear that, because even when power is restored, we feared that we still would not have gas. Our oil comes from Mississippi and Louisiana, both of which can no longer supply us.

The Pentagon is sending 10,000 troops.

It's easy to get judgmental about why people didn't evacuate, but I can understand why. Many of the people don't have transportation, many of them are sick or elderly or weak, many of them do not have the money to pay for the gas to drive an entire state away because the hotels are filled. Many cannot afford a hotel. There are not enough shelters open in a storm. And there is not door-to-door free transportation to take one to a shelter.

I have many stories of broken families, and will keep you updated. One of the most heartbreaking was a man in Gulfport, Mississippi who was walking amongst the rubble. Our local news reporter found him.

He said, "I don't know what to do. I don't know where to go. I can't find my wife."

The news reporter asked, "You've lost your wife? Did she get separated from you?"

He said, "My house split in two. I was holding my wife's hand. She said, 'You can't keep holding me up. Take care of the kids. I love you.' Then her hand slipped from mine, and now I can't find her body."

"What are you going to do now?"

"I don't know what to do. I'm just....I'm lost, I guess."

A couple of you sent in some money due to my post on how to donate gas and food money to refugees. Thank you for that. On our way back home tomorrow, we will see many refugees on Interstate 10 and will get your money to them so they can buy enough gas to drive to relatives in other states, or so that they can get a meal from a restaurant.

You may also send non-perishables and children's clothing, and I will distribute them.

Mobile, Alabama is the biggest city on I-10 East of New Orleans, so thousands of refugees are here, in our streets, in our parking lots, and in our churches and shelters that are opening up for them. In Pensacola, Florida, (our home is between these two cities), hundreds of refugees have come. Our church, We will be hosts to the Hurricane Katrina victims from Louisian and Mississippi for many weeks to come.

-Lori Seaborg