Hi to all...\r\n\r\nI just wanted to follow up and let everyone know that Noel and I and\r\nthe kids (Carrie and Robert) are all ok. We\'re in Destin, Florida (in\r\nthe panhandle, about an hour from the Florida/Alabama state line). We\r\nleft New Orleans on Saturday morning (fortunately, ahead of the mass\r\nevacuation) and went to Pass Christian, Mississippi, where Noel\'s\r\nparents have a home. After her parents close up that house, we left\r\nfor Destin on Sunday morning (again, just ahead of the mass\r\nMississippi evaculation), arriving safely here Sunday afternoon.\r\n\r\nWe\'re here in a beach front condo with Noel\'s parents and grandmother,\r\nand her brother (Trey, who many of you may remember), his wife and 9\r\nmonth old son Lee. Its close quarters, and we lost power yesterday\r\nafternoon (it was just restored about 30 minutes ago), but its one\r\n*hell* of a lot better than some of the alternatives.\r\n\r\nNoel\'s sister (Renee, \'95) and her fiance (a dreaded Michigan alumn)\r\nboth work for one of the New Orleans area hospitals (Renee is a\r\npediatrician, and Mike is a VP of operations), so they stayed in town\r\nto ride out the storm and work at the hospital. We\'ve spoken several\r\ntimes with both of them, and I think they are extremely tired, sad and\r\nscared. Their hospital is apparently in the best shape of the metro\r\narea, so the other hospitals are trying to send patients to them. But\r\nthey are also much smaller, and don\'t have the necessary supplies\r\n(including food and water), so they are facing an incredible dilemna\r\nthat I wouldn\'t wish on anyone: accept new patients in dire need and\r\npossibly put your existing patients in peril? Please remember them in\r\nyour thoughts and prayers\r\n\r\nAs I said, we haven\'t had electricity for most of the last day, and we\r\nstill don\'t have tv coverage. So we\'re really starved for\r\ninformation. What little bits we\'ve picked up suggest that things are\r\nreally bad in town. I\'m actually happy right now that the tv isn\'t\r\nworking, because if it was we\'d be sitting and watching, and the last\r\nthing we need to do is see these heart breaking pictures. And our\r\ndaughter Carrie is now almost 9 - and becoming aware of what is\r\nhappening. I know I can\'t shield her entirely from the effects, but I\r\nreally am scared of her watching over our shoulders and seeing the\r\nnews footage. Last night she was crying about wanting to go home; I\r\ndon\'t know when or how to start telling her that we don\'t know when\r\nwe\'ll go home, or what we\'ll see when we get there.\r\n\r\nFor those of you may have seen a CNN report about a breach of the\r\n\"17th street canal\" that flooded \"the Metairie Cemetary and the\r\ncountry club\" - we live 2 blocks from that canal, our back yard is\r\nthat cemetary and we are about a mile from the country club. But\r\nknowing the lay of the land, I think that our house will be ok, I\r\nthink we may have been in the path of an initial surge of water, but I\r\nthink these areas of town are high enough that when the water settles,\r\nit will be elsewhere in town - in someone else\'s house. Please try\r\nand remember those people in your thoughts and prayers as well.\r\n\r\nWe have *no* idea when we will be able to go back to town. We have\r\noffers for accomodations indefinitely here in Destin, and I\'m sure\r\nwe\'ll be here for at least a week. After that, who knows. Noel and I\r\nhave discussed going to Atlanta where we have friends, and even going\r\nto Wisconsin to stay with my parents. We just don\'t know.\r\n\r\nI mentioned my father-in-law\'s house in Pass Christian; the actual\r\neyewall of the storm hit from Slidell, Louisiana (which is slightly\r\neast of New Orleans) to Gulfport, Mississippi - and Pass Christian is\r\nright smack in between them. From what we\'ve heard, Gulfport and Pass\r\nChristian may have been decimated. Noel\'s aunt lives in Gulfport, and\r\nshe and her husband (a radiologist) stayed at the hospital to work.\r\nWe haven\'t heard from them since 10:00 am yesterday morning, well\r\nbefore the worst of the storm hit. We are hoping and praying for\r\ntheir safety as well - please try to remember them in yours.\r\n\r\nI\'m extremely thankful that I\'m here with my family (immediate and\r\nextended), and that we are safe and healthy. We are certainly not the\r\nfirst families to face this kind of crisis, and we are so much better\r\noff than many who are still in New Orleans. So, whatever prayers you\r\ncan spare, please use them for those who are still in harms way.\r\n\r\nAnyway, thanks for hearing me out (if you\'ve read this far). It helps\r\nme a little bit just to type it. And sitting here at my computer\r\ntrying to do some work helps keep me from sitting and stewing on the\r\nalternatives.\r\n\r\nIn the meantime, I hope all of you are doing well, and hope to catch\r\nup with you in better circumstances soon.