Random thoughts from central Mississippi

adontech · 09-01-2005, 02:33 PM

I live between Byram and Raymond, MS which is just south of the capital (Jackson). We lost power at our home at around 2pm on Monday as the hurricane was passing through. Then our land line phone went out quickly followed by our cell phone service. It's now Thursday and we still don't have power or phone at the house, but we do have cell service. Some families have generators, but it's difficult to find gas for them if you do have one. I work at the newspaper in Jackson and I was here until the storm passed through. We never really lost power or internet service here, so we've been somewhat sheltered. We are quickly realizing that life is going to different here for an undetermined amount of time. Some gas stations are starting to open up, but they don't stay open for a very long time because they run out of gas. You have to be careful what gas stations you go to for gas, as fights tend to break out in some areas. The gas station was shut down at the Hwy 18 Wal-mart because someone pulled out a knife. There have been no restaurants open because of no power, but that's starting to change. The relative population of Jackson has doubled because of the displacement of people from the coast so the lack of services is made that much worse. There are folks from the coast trying to cash checks at banks here. The problem is that some of the checks are drawn from banks that don't currently exist so the banks here can't verify funds.

As bad as it is here, I thank God I didn't lose any family and also thank God I'm not having to go through what the folks in New Orleans and the Gulf Coast are going through. Pray for those that have lost family and for those that are unable to contact their family members.

buzzkillwill · 09-01-2005, 03:08 PM

Thanks for sharing,

This disaster is far-reaching and will be with us for a long time...

Stay safe.

tnbowhunter · 09-01-2005, 03:09 PM

Glad your doing as well as the current circumstances will permit. I'm afraid this is going to be a long and arduous ordeal for you all.
Our hearts go out for all of the victims of this terrible catastrophy. Just know that we are thinking of you and remembering you all in our prayers.

adontech · 09-02-2005, 11:53 AM

Thanks for the kind words. We still have no power or phone at our house or my parent's house. My mother-in-law did get power yesterday, so we spent the night with her last night. We don't realize how much we take for granted. Just to be able to walk into a house at night without fumbling for a flashlight or to sit in your living room without breaking a sweat or to open a refrigerator and actually feel cool air. I was able to fill the Titan with gas on Tuesday night and haven't driven it yet. I been driving my bike exclusively this week to conserve gas, but my wife's van is almost completely out of gas. I used the last of the lawn mower gas last night so she could get to work today. Hopefully things will ease up soon.

Armada · 09-02-2005, 12:09 PM

I am an evacuee from Gulfport. We got out, thank God. We are safe in the home of my daughter and son-in-law in Madison, just a stone throw from the Nissan plant that builds our Titans and Armadas.

My office, which was in Gulfport no longer exists. That is about 100 jobs gone. This is just one small business out of thousands that are no more. I'm told my home is still standing, although I do not know the extent of damage. Many I have been able to reach in my home town have no home at all, no belongings, no water, no food. And the employers who provided the paychecks they need to get by from week to week do not exist anymore. Gone and will be gone for months, if not longer.

With respect, not having a phone or going without electricity for a few days (as we have here in Madison) seems minor in comparison to the scale of loss further south. There are hundreds of thousands (no exaggeration) with no home at all, nothing. No do they have a way to get a pay check next week or afterward to provide for their families. We need to look at this beyond personal inconvenience and become part of the solution.

I have loaded my Armada with bottled water, with canned and non-perishable food and with paper products. I intend to use it to deliver these supplies to others in my neighborhood there, try to remove a few irreplacable items from what remains of my home - photo albums, etc., return back to Madison, reload with supplies and renew this process as long as I can.

I encourage those of us in areas of discomfort but who have been spared this horrific damage, to join me in this effort. Get a load of supplies and head south. The roads are open now. There are shelters there who will be very greatful for the effort.

Adontech, I can show you how to put that Titan to good use. It will hold a lot of supplies for some really needy people.

Those of you who are too far away to help in this manner can make contributions to either:

American Red Cross (Katrina Relief Fund) or

Salvation Army (they have 50 field kitchens on the ground there cooking hot meals for the homeless, and are trying to get 50 more set up in the next few days)

adontech · 09-02-2005, 01:09 PM

Armada,
I guess my words came across in a way that I did not intend. I was reading others complaining about the price of gas going up and I just wanted to let everyone know what the conditions were here in a place usually only slightly affected by storms like this. My apologies if it sounded like I am complaining.
I'm not. I can only imagine what you are going through at this point. We will be going to Kenner some time this weekend as I have an Aunt and Uncle who are staying here. As soon as possible, we will be pulling a couple of trailers with supplies to that area and hopefully returning with some of their personal things.

Again, accept my apologies....my prayers are with you and others that are going through these terrible times.

NMTITAN · 09-02-2005, 01:15 PM

adontech and Armada, look for power trucks with the PNM logo. Those are my fellow employees from around New Mexico working to get your lights on. They should be in the Gulfport area today. Hopefully they can start to get you folks back to some type of normal life. There are lot of people and supplies heading your direction

Armada · 09-02-2005, 01:18 PM

No prob. Adontech. Let's keep our chins up. There is hard work to be done. If I can get back to Gulfport (fuel availability is holding me back now), we have a diesel roll-back that will hold a lot of stuff and can make some runs with it.

Our prayers are with you for your relatives in Kenner. I hope they are safe.

Let's see what we can do to get Titan and Armada owners to volunteer their trucks to move supplies or to volunteer to work in shelters, whatever we can do "hands on" in addition to putting a small dent in our paychecks to help out. You are making a good start. Keep it up.

adontech · 09-02-2005, 01:51 PM

Like you said, my only worry about trucking down supplies is being able to find gas to get me back home.

There is a lady that works with me that was on the coast when Camille came through and she just told us that they had water trucks there on the afternoon right after the hurricane passed through. Some sort of relief was almost immediate in comparison to what's going on now.

bradward · 09-02-2005, 02:05 PM

hello, my father in law is in Bay St. Louis and I understand that he and his family there all lost their homes and cars. I'll be driving my Titan in from Las vegas going through oklahoma and down to the coast.

Any suggestions on routes to take in order to get to waveland/bay st. louis area?

Also I'll be bringing in all the extra gas I can put in the back of my titan. How far from the gulf should I get the gas so it's not in desperate need? I was thinking filling up in Oklahoma.

Please respond to my email as I can check it from the road, it is: wardb@nscee.edu

thanks

adontech · 09-02-2005, 03:09 PM

Brad,
I emailed travel conditions in Southern Mississippi to you as reported by the Mississippi Department of Transportation. Hope that helps. Safe travels and tell your in-laws our prayers are with them.

Titano24's · 09-05-2005, 06:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by adontech

I live between Byram and Raymond, MS which is just south of the capital (Jackson). We lost power at our home at around 2pm on Monday as the hurricane was passing through. Then our land line phone went out quickly followed by our cell phone service. It's now Thursday and we still don't have power or phone at the house, but we do have cell service. Some families have generators, but it's difficult to find gas for them if you do have one. I work at the newspaper in Jackson and I was here until the storm passed through. We never really lost power or internet service here, so we've been somewhat sheltered. We are quickly realizing that life is going to different here for an undetermined amount of time. Some gas stations are starting to open up, but they don't stay open for a very long time because they run out of gas. You have to be careful what gas stations you go to for gas, as fights tend to break out in some areas. The gas station was shut down at the Hwy 18 Wal-mart because someone pulled out a knife. There have been no restaurants open because of no power, but that's starting to change. The relative population of Jackson has doubled because of the displacement of people from the coast so the lack of services is made that much worse. There are folks from the coast trying to cash checks at banks here. The problem is that some of the checks are drawn from banks that don't currently exist so the banks here can't verify funds.

As bad as it is here, I thank God I didn't lose any family and also thank God I'm not having to go through what the folks in New Orleans and the Gulf Coast are going through. Pray for those that have lost family and for those that are unable to contact their family members.

glad to hear yall made it through the storm, i'm from right outside of new orleans but my city "luling" got lucky, only lost power and a little flooding and a wholeeeeeeeeeeeeeee lot of wind, lots of trees down etc. during the storm i was in brookhaven........well outside of brookhaven, mississippi at our hunting camp on hwy 547. we did see alot of wind but got out alive........we lost all power and water and actually was better off returning to luling (since they at least got the water on quick) well again, i'm glad to see you and everyone else made it out ok.

rico387 · 09-05-2005, 08:15 PM

Greetings Adontech. I'm new here so it just kinda figures that my first post is off topic. I am a fireman in the Tampa, Fl. area (west coast of the east coast) and we know what hurricane damage feels like. Last year when we had four hurricanes hit us my sisters house was leveled by Hur. Charley. We gathered what we could and she found a place to rent the next day (!). A week later the next hurricane (Francis, I think) clobbered the new place. Everyone was pissed. Nobody gave up. Folks worked together. Those with a chainsaw went out to help whomever. Everyone barbequed, cleaned, prayed, and helped people they didn't know. There were bad elements among them. The cream rises to the top, but when you open a septic tank...so does the crap. Those losers were dealt with. I won't elaborate. We will be better and stronger and wiser as a result of this. Anyone need proof? Come by my crib and I'll show you my super-duper Generac 15K propane powered generator unit mounted outside. This too shall pass for you and those around you. Again, hardships make us wiser. You will be fine. I will mention your name when I say grace for my family over tomorrow's dinner. Rick. BTW- (on topic)I bought one of those Titans 2 weeks ago. What a swell truck.

HAWK FE · 09-14-2005, 08:36 PM

Hey adontech, I was actually a visitor to Jackson from the 1st to the 7th. I fly on search and rescue helicopters in the Air Force so we got "the call". I am a Flight Engineer so I run the rescue hoist. I hope you and everyone else are doing okay out there now. I flew 3 missions to New Orleans, let me tell you I can't even describe it. I rescued 116 people in 3 days from their roofs. We live by the motto "These things we do that others may live". It was some of the trickiest flying I have ever seen, wires and trees everywhere. I just wanted to express my sorrow for anything you guys are going through and wish you all the best.