Demolished

I learned this last night, but I wanted to give Mom a chance to describe this in her own words: My parents' house in Long Beach, MS was wrecked beyond a reasonable hope of repair by Hurricane Katrina.

We were able to go down hwy. 49 and a few backstreets to Long Beach, thru lots of destruction. To start at the top, we have an almost new roof without a single missing. We will sell it to the highest bidder as our house will never need it again. Most doors and windows are gone and the water mark inside is between 5 and 6 feet and it must have really churned. There is not a stick of furniture in an upright position and most are in a different room from where we left them. There is no danger to us of the house collapsing, but we were very careful moving interior doors and furniture. There are still some wall cabinets in place. Today we packed some our more treasured things and brought them out. Tomorrow we expect to spend most of the day in a gas line and maybe do some washing as took quilts I made off three beds. (I took two suitcases of quilts when we evacuated and two changes of clothing.) We will return Sunday to see what else we may salvage. There may be some clothing, though sopping wet that we can bring out and launder. Hope so. The heat was stifling--95 with a heat index of nearly 110.

Please don't waste sympathy on us. There are so many so much worse off than we are. We have retirement pay that will continue and we are safe and in good health.

As bad as the news is, it's kind of a relief to know for sure. I think I cried most of my tears for the loss of my childhood home earlier in the week. I'm coping pretty well at this point, and Mom & Dad seem to be coping too.