Hurricane Rita thread

[Gabby]

That is wonderful

 

[BirdieBoo]

Wow. She's 95 and driving other evacuees to safety. That's something to say. Glad you located her!

 

[Jeana (DP)]

Congratulations!!! I'm equally amazed that someone in your family lived that long. LOL My family doesn't seem to have the stamina. :blowkiss:

 

[Shortcake21]

Great news BG.

 

[Dark Knight]

I had posted that my cousin had not been heard from and my sister, an old friend of hers and I had posted in several sites. I even requested a search at the coast guard site. We e-mailed churches called each other, and my sister hounded the Red Cross by phone to no avail.

Today, I reviewed my e-mails and found that a distant cousin was looking also and mentioned the names of two relatives. I did a white pages search and came up with the name with an address and phone number in suburban Atlanta.
On a whim, I called the number and asked the man that answered if he were related. All of a sudden, he said he remembered me and to hold on a second. Next thing I knew, my cousin was on the line. She's been there since escaping NO.

She told me that they had announced a "water evacuation", meaning her area of Lakeside would flood. She's within a few blocks of the lake. She and a friend of hers both took their cars and checked into a large downtown hotel on Canal St. They weathered the storm that night, but early the next morning they announced they needed to evacuate immediately as the levee broke and there was to be mass flooding. Each one of these elderly ladies had cars and the hotel evacuated them so quickly they were told not to worry about the bills, just go and try to take as many people with them as they could get in their vehicles. She said her friend took people from Houston and she took people from Dallas. Now keep in mind she's 94. The hotel was at the foot of the bridge over the river and they headed out. She got to Lafayette and called the cousin in Georgia. They then drove to Dallas. The Georgia cousin flew in from Atlanta and met her. They then drove back to his home in Lawrenceville (suburb). She said she had a touch of pneumonia and is taking medication and occasional oxygen to help her breathe better. She turned 95 on Sept 12. She has no idea if her home is still under water or not. The man who owns the two story duplex has not gotten back in yet. She was pretty certain the area was flooded badly. She's chipper and upbeat and is sure she was guided and watched every step of the way. We even reminisced about my visits to NO back in college and the fun we had then.

I gently "chewed" her out for not getting on a safe list so we could quit searching and worrying about her and she said Cliff was going to help her by getting on line and show her how to use the internet. She's using his e-mail to write to people and wonders why she didn't get a computer years ago. She's starting to contact people, but didn't take her address book with her. I gave her phone numbers of her friend and other cousin in Florida and that of my sister. Everyone is so relieved.

Now I know I am a true "sleuther".

Praise the Lord for a happy ending, and good sleuthing!!!!!!!

 

[Sniffy38]

That is such great news, BG! Super sleuthing on your part, too. My own Mom is 91 and has a driver's license good to the year 2012. Kinda scary, huh? I convinced her to sell her car about 2 years ago when she moved into a higher traffic area. She now calls a taxi when she wants to go out, but does miss having her car handy.

Also, Mom has had WebTV for years now and loves it. She keeps in touch with family and friends and enjoys all the funny jokes. She now lives in an Assisted Living place, but complains that everyone else there is old. No one laughs or wants to have fun and go places. She even just wallpapered her kitchen! No one else there seems to be concerned about their surroundings, but she sure does.

Let's hope and pray that some of these good genes are inherited by us.
P.S. Your cousin's story should be told to GMA or one of the big networks for a human interest story. "Grandma to The Rescue". Bet they would love to have the story.

 

[SieSie]

:clap: So glad to hear the happy news, BarnGoddess!! :clap:

 

[tennessee]

I am so happy for you, BG!

 

[SewingDeb]

I had posted that my cousin had not been heard from and my sister, an old friend of hers and I had posted in several sites. I even requested a search at the coast guard site. We e-mailed churches called each other, and my sister hounded the Red Cross by phone to no avail.

Today, I reviewed my e-mails and found that a distant cousin was looking also and mentioned the names of two relatives. I did a white pages search and came up with the name with an address and phone number in suburban Atlanta.
On a whim, I called the number and asked the man that answered if he were related. All of a sudden, he said he remembered me and to hold on a second. Next thing I knew, my cousin was on the line. She's been there since escaping NO.

She told me that they had announced a "water evacuation", meaning her area of Lakeside would flood. She's within a few blocks of the lake. She and a friend of hers both took their cars and checked into a large downtown hotel on Canal St. They weathered the storm that night, but early the next morning they announced they needed to evacuate immediately as the levee broke and there was to be mass flooding. Each one of these elderly ladies had cars and the hotel evacuated them so quickly they were told not to worry about the bills, just go and try to take as many people with them as they could get in their vehicles. She said her friend took people from Houston and she took people from Dallas. Now keep in mind she's 94. The hotel was at the foot of the bridge over the river and they headed out. She got to Lafayette and called the cousin in Georgia. They then drove to Dallas. The Georgia cousin flew in from Atlanta and met her. They then drove back to his home in Lawrenceville (suburb). She said she had a touch of pneumonia and is taking medication and occasional oxygen to help her breathe better. She turned 95 on Sept 12. She has no idea if her home is still under water or not. The man who owns the two story duplex has not gotten back in yet. She was pretty certain the area was flooded badly. She's chipper and upbeat and is sure she was guided and watched every step of the way. We even reminisced about my visits to NO back in college and the fun we had then.

I gently "chewed" her out for not getting on a safe list so we could quit searching and worrying about her and she said Cliff was going to help her by getting on line and show her how to use the internet. She's using his e-mail to write to people and wonders why she didn't get a computer years ago. She's starting to contact people, but didn't take her address book with her. I gave her phone numbers of her friend and other cousin in Florida and that of my sister. Everyone is so relieved.

Now I know I am a true "sleuther".

Great work! I know you are relieved. Funny that she is discovering the internet at 94. : )

 

[Lili]

What an inspiring story. Good sleuthing! Thanks for sharing.

 

[kato]

That is so awesome.

 

[Buzz Mills]

Rita May Worsen Red Tide in South Texas

SOUTH PADRE ISLAND, Texas - While Hurricane Rita struck days ago and hundreds of miles away, the storm is still creating problems on the southern tip of Texas.

Rita's path left South Texas hot and dry — conditions ideal for one of the worst red tides in memory — and swells from the storm have created fears that the toxic algae could spread.

"The red tide likes hot weather, it likes a certain salinity, it likes low wind," said Sonia Gallegos, a scientist at the Naval Research Lab at Stennis Space Center in Mississippi who has studied red tide for decades. "That's why we still have a red tide."

http://tinyurl.com/e3r73