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OT: Gulfport Trip (Katrina Relief)

2604.4 miles door-to-door & back, using 121.4 gallons of regular gas in the Eurovan Camper (1999 VR6), so the average was 21.45mpg. We set the cruise at ~75mph most of the way. I am sure mileage down was worse than back as we were packed-full with clothing and other relief items, coming back only the tools we brought.

On our "Free" day we drove from Gulfport to New Orleans, about 75 miles. And about 75 miles of devastation... Neighborhoods, apartment complexes, shopping centers, schools, businesses blasted and open, a very few boarded up but most 'as left', cars in all stages of as-left, trees still down, and roads still torn up.

Those merchants we spoke to in the Quarter told us that business is down 50%+, and the population is down by that much or more in some areas. The Museum stated that attendance was down by 30%.

But our group leveled, framed, wired and plumbed one house, painted another and installed new roof structure, sheathing and shingles on a third. There are over 40 'approved' applicants still waiting.

Peter Wieck Wyncote, PA

Reply to
pfjw
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Welcome back home to the great state of Pa. ( rendell was busy while you were away).

Were you in Pa when agnus hit in 72 ( i think it was ) , Makes a person less of a rubbernecker because it's hard believe the pain such disasters inflect.

A thanks from me for your and your wifes help there is a small thing i know, but it comes heart felt. Thank You

Isn't it all down hill to New Orleans tho . LOL ( a silly joke about your mileage ) down vs. back

Reply to
samstone

It does not take an Agnes to make Flood Damage relevant. In the Great Rains of last June, we got 37" of water in our summer house, which was constructed 16" above the so-called 100-year flood plain (per the FEMA- approved tables). At least our house is still standing and structurally intact. One of our neighbors was erased, another pushed some 3 feet off his foundations, and a third had 14' of water (slightly further downstream and not raised as ours is). One of the famous "Twin Bridges" was also erased.

We more-or-less built for and planned for the conditions, however. So other than furniture and finishes as well as the under-floor insulation, we lost very little. And it is a summer house after all.

Thank you for your response!! There is much to be done still, but Katrina (and Rita and Wilma) are "old news" now... If 1/3 the energy wasted on Hollywood muckraking crap (for only one example) were diverted to the Gulf Coast, that area would not only be cleaned up, but vibrant. And I am deliberately avoiding other obvious wastes...

Peter Wieck Wyncote, PA

Reply to
pfjw

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