My mother’s side of the family is from New Orleans and the surrounding area, including the parts of Mississippi hardest hit by hurricane Katrina over the past day.
My aunt and uncle evacuated, another uncle works in the emergency room, and other friends and neighbors are whereabouts unknown at this point. Of course the family is worried and hungry for news.
A cousin of mine in Atlanta, realizing he would be asked the same questions by so many family members, quickly set up a listserv and invited the family to join. Now members of the clan from Phoenix to Seattle to New York and Washington DC are tuned into this ad-hoc “family network.”
At the moment, we believe our people are safe (though we haven’t heard from everyone yet) and the big question is: how much flooding and wind damage has been done to the evacuated house my elderly aunt will one day return to?
The phone lines are down, so how do we get such localized information? Not from CNN. Internet service apparently still works because one of my cousins found a post on a wwltv.com‘s discussion board by a neighbor 6 blocks away saying the flood waters are as much as 9 feet in the area. Not good.
Now the family is planning a reconnaisance effort as soon as possible and we’re hoping my aunt will consent to staying with relatives for a while.
