Sept. 1\r\n\r\n(This was written down by hand, by candelight, and later transcribed into an e-mail by Mary Beth Applin\'s mother.)\r\n\r\nI was lying in bed trying in my head to describe what our situation was like here in Mississippi the second day after the hurricane. Words and pictures can\'t adequately describe the horrific devastation we are experiencing, but I will try:\r\n\r\nImagine sitting in your home and imagine everything 3 hours east, west, north or south of you is damaged or destroyed. Every other house on your street either has a tree down blocking the road or if it\'s not blocking the road, it\'s across someone\'s house resting comfortably in their living room or bedroom. Some streets you can\'t even see for all the trees, branches and debris in them and through all that tangled mess are telephone and electric poles broken in half and wires lying everywhere.\r\n\r\nThink of every single person within a 3 hour radius is in the same boat. No one\'s home escaped damage. Every house with at least shingle damage or broken windows others with trees through their roof, homes and businesses with roofs torn off, brick walls blown away, walls missing exposing the homes or businesses contents. Needless to say all the roads are impassable. Folks wait patiently for crews to come and clear their streets or at least clear a path so they can find ice or water. We pray it doesn\'t rain so leaking water doesn\'t leak back into our homes... though a rain sure would cool the 95-plus temperatures.\r\n\r\nWater and ice are gold right now. Offer someone $100 or three bags of ice and I guarantee they will take the ice right now. I kept my freezer full of ice and managed to save my freezer full of meat. My eggs, milk and orange juice were in my ice chest but after 3 days most of the ice has melted.\r\n\r\nNo word yet when there will be any ice. The National Guard was supposed to bring some but not even Law Enforcement knows where or when since all communications lines are down even at Emergency Management Office. I also managed to fill a tub full of water and aside 6 gallons of drinking water but the tub kept only half of the water, which I managed to transfer to pots and pans for the toilet, the animals and for sponge baths.\r\n\r\nIt\'s terribly hot -— middle 90s during the day to 80s at night. People are out working clearing up during the day in this heat only to come home to a house that\'s at least as warm, if not warmer as the temperature outside. A cool shower is out of the question since we have no running water. Even a sponge bath must be done sparingly as the water supply is scarce. A sponge bath isn’t very refreshing as the sweat pours off as fast as you can wipe it off. The house cools to 92 at night making it impossible to sleep. After that terrible wind storm, there is not a breeze to be found now.\r\n\r\nYou may ask yourself, \"Why don\'t you pack up and go some place?\" Where? Everyone I know that I could drive to is in the same predicament as me. In addition, I can\'t call anyone to see how conditions are there. And I dare not drive. I have limited gas and I am not sure that wherever I drive to will have gas and/or power.\r\n\r\nCommunications were completely down until yesterday afternoon. No one could call in or out. Radios were out until yesterday afternoon. So we couldn\'t even get any news about how the rest of the world weathered the storm. Many, many people have relatives on the coast and cannot ascertain if they are alive. News we have heard is that the coastal cities have been wiped out.\r\n\r\nWhat can people do to help? Our greatest need is for ice and water. Food will soon be needed. Please donate to your American Red Cross. In the long term your time and manpower will be needed, not money. Millions of homes have been damaged or destroyed. Money for repairs are not necessarily as much of a problem as hands to do the work.\r\n\r\nFrom: Mary Applin \r\nSubject: Hello from weary (but alive) Hattiesburg\r\nDate: Sat, 3 Sep 2005 20:31:31 -0700 (PDT)\r\n\r\nHello everyone,\r\n\r\nThanks for all the calls and inquiries. Phone service has been hit and miss all week so when I\'ve tried to call many of you back, most often I\'ve gotten a busy signal. But I just wanted to drop everyone a line to tell you that I am fine. My house sustained only minor damage - some shingle damage and some water damage but comparatively, I was very lucky. I was without water until Thursday and electricity until Friday. I\'m very fortunate to live on a main line for both so I\'m one of the first to have such amenities. Just three houses down, they are still without either. In addition, Michael did one of the sweetest things ever – he drove all night Wednesday (he didn’t get home until 4 in the morning) and brought me water, ice, drinks, bread, sandwich meat, batteries, a lantern, and various other goodies. He also brought up 10 gals of gas for one of his student’s parents who had a tree fall through their house and they needed gas to drive to Houston to stay with one of their parents. Harry, come to find out, they were friends of yours and said to say hi – so “Hi” from the Juneaus!\r\n\r\nI\'ve been volunteering with the Red Cross since Wednesday working at the area shelter to give the original volunteers some relief. Shelter work has been both heart-wrenching and uplifting. The shelter has housed approximately 1,100 people since Sunday -- a good portion of them from New Orleans. On Thursday night, many of the refugees asked me when they thought they might be able to go home. I couldn\'t bring myself to tell them that it would probably be weeks if not months before they could return. There were lots of mothers there with young children whose father, husband or brother had stayed in New Orleans to take care of the house. They were frantic trying to find word of them. The shelter has generators to provide lights and a lone TV that people sit glued to. We didn\'t have any TV or radio stations running in this area until Tuesday or Wednesday afternoon so we didn\'t know what was going on until then except for reports brought up by people passing through from the coast. The news reports indicated that it would be 2-3 months before people could return to New Orleans but I don\'t think it has sunk in to most people staying at the shelter. Thursday, after the 10 o\'clock evening news, a young boy came running to the Red Cross counter to tell us his mother was having chest pains and couldn\'t breathe. We all thought the woman was having a heart attack. The nurse ran over and came back about 30 minutes later to tell us that the woman was having an anxiety attack. I think the news finally had sunk in to her.\r\n\r\nThe shelter is running with very little national or state support at this point. The local Red Cross had previously been able to use Camp Shelby, which could easily house and feed 10,000 for such emergencies. Since the Iraq War, they have not been able to use the camp and had not really prepared for a disaster of this magnitude. They only had 300 cots and few other amenities and though they had requested stuff from the National office more than a year ago, I think other disasters such as the Tsunami had delayed delivery. When I left this morning (Saturday), cots still had not been delivered. Most of the refugees have been sleeping on the bare concrete floor (since Sunday) without even a pillow or blanket to lie on. I made a trip around my neighborhood and collected a car full of sheets, blankets, pillows and sleeping bags and brought it with me Friday night. By then, word had spread through the city and many Hattiesburgians had made trips to the shelter bringing water, food, baby goods, clothes, sheets, pillows and toiletries. The community response was tremendous considering what Hattiesburgians themselves were going through. That was the uplifting part. \r\n\r\nI think I\'ve been most amazed at the lack of leadership, organization, communication, and preparation at all levels here (city, state and federal). I know that no one really could prepare for a disaster of this magnitude but I keep waiting for someone to take charge and say \"Okay, this is what we\'re going to do.\" But, six days later and that still hasn\'t happened. Everyone keeps telling people to be patient, but no one is willing to step up to the plate and make the big decisions so that people know what they are being patient about. The politicians at all levels tell people that help is on the way and that everything possible is being done but no plan of action is being communicated. People are panicking because they don\'t know what\'s going on and they don’t think that anyone is taking care of them. Without \"big picture\" decisions and a concentrated effort to communicate vital information, I think people naturally respond with the \"I better take care of number one\" mentality. For instance – a supply of water and ice didn’t make it to Hattiesburg until Wednesday mid-morning. The radio announced it that morning and everyone (Hattiesburg is a city of 50,000) flocked to the center for their share. You have to understand that at this point in time, most streets were still being cleared of trees and all stores were closed, including gas stations. The only word coming from officials was that it looked like it would be 2-3 weeks at least before electricity would be restored and stores would reopen. The radio station and the police were telling people to stay home so that workers could clear streets and crews could move electric lines strewn all over by the storm. In addition, they were saying “Don’t drive and waste gas, it may be weeks before stations reopen.” Yet, water and ice were delivered to only one spot in town. Cars were backed up for miles and hours waiting in line to get the one bag of ice and one jug of water afforded each car that showed up. Those that had the good sense to carpool for their neighbors for the ice and water (trying to keep vehicles on the road to a minimum and trying not to waste gas) were only allowed one bag of ice and one jug of water simply because some numb-nut somewhere in city hall decided that there would be a one bag/jug per car minimum at the only water/ice distribution center in town – no exceptions. Needless to say, violence broke out – a man was even shot and killed for his bag of ice.\r\n\r\nThe gas situation is critical. There are still only a few stations that have opened and they have very quickly run out of gas. People camp at gas pumps overnight hoping that a particular station might have electricity the next day. Cars line up for miles as soon as it\'s announced that a station is open. I can\'t tell you the number of radio callers who phone in to bemoan the fact that they sat for 3-4 hours in a gas line only to get to the pump and find that it was empty.\r\n\r\nAs soon as I had electricity I ran to the TV to watch the news. Unfortunately, my satellite dish was not receiving. I managed to hook myself up to the Internet today now that phone service is a little more reliable. I spent the first 3 hours looking at the news reports and had myself a good cry. I called Michael and Melissa the other night and told them \"Tape the news for me!\" I\'m afraid by the time we all get connected here to television again Katrina will be old news and I\'ll have missed coverage of one of the most catastrophic events of this lifetime.\r\n\r\nWell, it’s getting late and I’m getting sleepy so I think I’ll sign off now and go to bed. I sure appreciate everyone’s thoughts for me. I’m now connected! so email me and I’ll try to get a note back to you. I’d love to hear from anyone – it’s been kind of lonely here. Hope you’re all doing well. If I haven’t told you lately – I love you!\r\n\r\nAs always,\r\n\r\nMary Beth\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nDate: Tue, 6 Sep 2005 03:09:27 -0700 (PDT) \r\nFrom: Mary Applin \r\nSubject: The 7th Day\r\n\r\nHi all,\r\n\r\nI\'m sitting here by the light of my computer tonight trying to type very quietly so as not to wake a sleeping guest on my couch. This evening when I went to the Red Cross center to check in with the director, a young woman and man (who was dressed in fatigues) came into the office wanting to know if the Red Cross could give them somewhere to sleep for the night since they couldn\'t find a hotel anywhere. The Red Cross people said that the only thing they could offer them was the shelter. The girl said okay but burst into tears and began to tell us that she had just driven down from St. Louis to find her mom in Biloxi and that she and her family hadn\'t slept in days. I invited them to come sleep at my house for as long as they needed. They’ve come, showered, bought me a Wendy’s hamburger (one of the few restaurants open – and operating under generator power), and they’re now sleeping. Their plan is to get up and head back to Missouri at 1am. This is there story:\r\n\r\nThe mother, Rita, runs a soup kitchen in Biloxi. She has a son, Scott, five dogs and 10 cats who live with her. Her daughter, Sonya, lives in St. Louis, Missouri and runs a small house painting company. Her boyfriend, Dave, is a recruiter for the navy. Rita didn’t want to evacuate her home in Biloxi when the storm hit even though the police told her that if she didn’t evacuate before the winds reached 60mph that she’d be on her own. Her neighbors did leave for Tyler, TX. to stay with relatives, so she sent Scott with them. Scott said he didn’t leave because he was worried about the hurricane really – he left ‘cause he thought it’d be a little vacation for himself. The mom said that about 2:30 in the morning the winds really began to blow. By 4am, she had lost power. Sometime soon after, the waters from the Gulf began to creep into the yard and before she knew it, the water was coming into the house through the floor vents. Behind her is a garage apartment that she rents to 3 young men who help her with the soup kitchen. Two of the young men came over to f! ind her and the dogs huddled on chairs in the living room. The water by this time was waist deep inside the house. Rita grabbed a bag and the three of them (and a couple of the dogs that they could coax) began wading through the appliances and other debris now floating throughout the house, making their way through the kitchen and to the back door. As they stood there for a moment at the door deciding the best way to make it to the garage apartment, the roof of the porch came down. She said if they had not hesitated that moment deciding what to do, they would have been out the door and the porch roof would have come down on their heads. The three of them held hands as they moved out the door and into the yard. “I’m a little short of five feet and my feet ! didn’t touch the ground!” She panicked and tried to throw her bag to one of the boys and lost the grip of their hands for a moment. She said that was the first time she was really scared. The boys managed to grab her and they made it to the stairs and up to the apartment. (For you animal people, the boys went back to the house and rescued the other dogs). Helplessly they watched as the water rose to top of the stairs and into the garage apartment. She used one of the boys’ cell phone to call the sheriff’s office but the sheriff said that there was nothing they could do now and that they would have to call the Biloxi PD for help. She was afraid that the cell phone would lo! se transmission so the sheriff tried transferring the call to no avail. But the office said that they would notify the BPD that they needed help. Rita said soon afterwards, the waters stopped rising and slowly began to recede. Later that afternoon, the BPD made it to their house and told them that they would take them to the nearest shelter. Unfortunately all the close shelters were full and she was sent about 10 miles north to the high school. Throughout the rest of the week, she tried to get messages and phone calls to her children and her brother in Atlanta to let them know that she was okay. By Saturday, she was able to get through to her brother in Atlanta. Relieved that she was okay, he asked her if her kids knew she was okay and she said she thought so. Unfortunately, no word had reached the kids. In fact, Rita was told Tuesday that her mother was dead since the authorities had found a body in Rita’s house and naturally assumed it was her. Sonya was making plans Saturday to come down and claim her mother’s body when her uncle called her with the news. She immediately began calling every person and customer she knew to beg donations to bring her mother back. People were so generous that she received much more than she needed. She spent the rest of the money buying water, food and other supplies to bring with her. Her boyfriend, Dave, took leave, donned his uniform for good measure, and came with her. They got in touch with Scott who was immediately on a bus to Memphis where they met him. They made it as far as Hattiesburg that night but could not find a hotel anywhere. Dave found the National Guard Armory but the guard didn’t want to wake his commanding officer to ask his permission for them to bunk there so they slept (or didn’t sleep in the Durango), windows up because of the mosquitoes. The next morning they were on the road to Biloxi. Dave was ! able to by-pass the road blocks because of his uniform and military ID. They found Rita after searching two or three different shelters. They said the conditions at the shelters were deplorable – most people had no bed and had been sleeping on the ground. Most of the shelters were lacking basic supplies like toilet paper and when they brought out the supplies they had come down with, they were swamped by people. Dave said he was very angry at the military. Apparently they were running the largest of the shelters but they were hoarding all their supplies and not sharing it with the other shelters. The day they arrived (Saturday), the director of the Salvation Army was arrested when he tried to take supplies from ! the military shelter to bring back to his shelter. I just don’t know what they (the military) are thinking. Rita said she slept outside each night because the stench from the shelter was overwhelming. She did not want to leave Biloxi and her home, but she was glad to get away from the shelter. They’re wonderful people and I was so glad that I could help them – it almost seemed that fate had caused us to be at the Red Cross office at the same time.\r\n\r\nWell, I’m going to sleep now. A couple of faculty are coming over in the morning to help me tarp my roof. In all the running around this past week, I forgot that at the next rain I’ll have water coming through my ceilings again! Hope everyone is well and I’ll keep trying to get emails to everyone.\r\n\r\nLove,\r\n\r\nMary Beth