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Deja Moo
Location: Olympic Peninsula, WA
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Originally Posted by maleficent
I just got an email from a very good friend of mine who lives in Louisiana - thankfully about 5 hours north of NO, and was spared completely. She had kin who has not been so lucky. She had an Aunt, Uncle, and cousin who lived in Gulfport, Miss - and no matter how much the family begged and pleaded with them to go to a shelter -they opted not to go - because "it just won't be that bad". Her other uncle in that area, opted to go to a shelter.
No one had heard from the aunt uncle or cousin for a few days -- the uncle who went to the shelter left the shelter today and went by the other relatives house today - there was no house -- blown clean away to the foundation... Her uncle's body was found in a tree - the aunt and cousin are still missing but not much hope is held out for them to still be alive... There are apparantly 300 or more bodies that have washed up on the beaches there...
I am heartsick for my friend, that she has not only lost her relatives, but that she did everything in her power to get them to leave... It also makes be incredibly angry that because of the obstinance of these people, that they are now dead, and are causing my friend, who is the kindest person in the world, pain she shouldn't have to experience. Had they left and gone with the other uncle - they'd still have a pretty good chance at being alive...
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Mal and I have good news to share about our mutual friend's missing family members. They are alive!
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What a torturous week, but Thank God, my aunt and cousin have been found and are now safe! I just wanted to tell ya' what happened to them... Their story is so unbelievable...
Their house began filling with water and was waist deep in a short while after the storm started coming ashore. (They lived in a small town on the outskirts of Waveland, MS called Lakeshore, which happened to be the exact spot the eye seemed to be headed for). They still thought that this was as bad as it was going to get until a few minutes later it started coming in much faster... so they put my uncle on the couch, (he was in a wheelchair) because the couch was floating... and after a few minutes of hoping it was going to stop, they saw that it wasn't as it got inches away from the ceiling, and decided they had to get outside of the house.
They swam to the front door, but it wouldn't open I guess it was jammed because the water caused it to swell... so they then swam to the back door... my aunt told my uncle that he would have to go under water for a second, just to get past the doorway, and this is when he passed away... when he came up out of the water he was gone. (probably from a heart attack because it was much too quick to be drowning)
So, they tried to hold onto his body in all the water and the wind, to no avail... he floated off and got hung up in a tree. The house begins to rip apart, and a large piece of the house rushed towards my cousing, pinning her between it and a tree... she was pretty bruised up, but thankfully, fought for her life and managed to break free... and then swimming to try to climb onto the roof of the house where her mom had gotten to try to rescue her. They stayed on top of this roof being tossed about on the water for the rest of the worst part of the storm which lasted about 4 hours... and when the winds started dying down and they could tell the water was receding somewhat, they decided they had to climb down and try to walk into town where they might could find some help.
So they waded for about 3 miles through waist deep water... chest deep in some places... my aunt almost lost her toe, but they made it, and by some miracle, they encountered one of my uncle's grown children from the wife he had before he married my aunt... she was with her husband and 3 kids who had been in an apartment but had to evacuate the flooding and spent the storm on a big sign... almost like a billboard... for those 4 hours.. anyway... they all then were able to walk to a shelter where they spent the first night.
The next day, they found another sister whose house miraculously was still in almost perfect condition. It had been in a neighborhood on higher ground, so they had some minor wind damage and none of the water damage. That is where they have been all week, with no electricity, no phones, and no water... they had no water for 3 days but said that the salvation army started delivering water and mre's on the 4th day. They had been like this all week..
The sister (Jane) had a cell phone that worked in some places and they called my mom's cell phone. We didn't realize it was them because the service was so bad, and we couldn't hear what they were saying, and didn't recognize the phone number. So, I sent a text message for them to try to call back if they had any information on my aunt and cousin, not knowing who this was that had called, and left my sisters telephone number with them. They finally got through late Saturday night, and we got to talk to them! So, my sisters and I drove, terrified after hearing horrid stories about the bodies being everywhere and people robbing other people for supplies, especially gas, with a van full of supplies and gas that we tried to hide with blankets and stuff, to go and get my cousin. My aunt refused to leave because she wants to make sure my uncle's body is taken care of etc. but my cousin is now here, at my house, safe and sound, except for some swelling, a few minor bruises, and the horrible emotional stuff I'm sure she'll have to deal with for years.
We are just so blessed to have them alive. We found out about my uncle relatively early in the week, and after not hearing from them, we just knew they didn't make it... and had already begun to accept that they didn't.
I will miss my uncle, he was a good man, in all senses of the word. He was so generous... literally one of those people who would give you the shirt off of his back... so we will miss him for a long time, but the alternative is really so unthinkable... there's no other way to put it.. my family is very lucky today.
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It seems that the uncle was quite ill and maybe that is why he refused to leave. I'm simply thankful that his wife and child survived. |