Hi,

And greetings from warm and humid Diamondhead, MS. Our land telephone service (and internet access!) was restored about 6:00 PM yesterday. I want to bring you up-to-date on our status and recovery progress since Katrina hit our area with a bullseye on the 29th of August. Pat and I were at daughter Susan's home in Leesburg, VA when the storm hit and decided to stay there until we could determine the status of our home and take it from there. We had learned of the storm hitting Florida the Friday before while we were visiting friends in Essex, England. At Heathrow Airport in London on the 28th, while riding the bus from the terminal to our plane, we learned from a man from North Carolina that Katrina had grown to a category 4-5 hurricane and was making a beeline for Louisiana and Mississippi. When Susan met us at the airport in Baltimore 8 hours later, she confirmed the bad news. We had put up our hurricane panels on the windows and doors and put everything small and loose that could cause damage by flying thru the air in the garage before we left home in early July. By the way, Hurricane Dennis was headed our way then but veered off to the east and hit Florida and Alabama. Never a dull moment.

When power and water service were restored to our community, we headed home with a van full of food, water, wine, beer (the necessities!) and cleaning supplies, still not knowing exactly what we would find, but knowing from the neighbors and satellite photos our house was standing with roof damage and possibly water damage. We arrived the afternoon of the 14th of September after driving thru miles of devastation, damage and destruction - and we were no where near the Gulf Coast! Neighbors and friends greeted us in the front yard and walked us around our yard and then into our home. We were all hugging and crying and laughing at the same time! Fortunately, we had NO flooding in our home, but we had some water damage to the ceilings in 3 rooms. In our guest room, the water dripped on the bed; in our bathroom it ran down the walls and out onto the floor; in our bedroom it never came thru the ceiling although there are dark water spots on the ceiling. Summary: we need a new roof and a new garage door (blown in by the 150 mh winds) and had some other internal and external damage. We lost 15-16 trees, but NONE hit the house when they fell because of the direction (from the southeast) the wind was blowing when they fell. Incidentally, we also lost all of our mail from the 11th of July thru the 6th of September. It was being held for us in the Bay St. Louis post office which was flooded by 4 feet of water (plus waves). We are still discovering what we are missing - debit card, home insurance policy, car tag renewal, bank statements, checks, magazines, etc.

We are VERY, VERY fortunate to have a home as about 1/3 of the homes in Diamondhead were destroyed or severely damaged. The storm surge, which was about 32 feet high when it came up and out of the Gulf of Mexico and St. Louis Bay, reached homes a mile from ours and on the same street before it retreated, leaving behind a horrible scene of destruction. Two people who did not evacuate were killed when the storm surge wiped out their home. You all know what the rest of the Gulf Coast and New Orleans look like. Thousands and thousands of homes are destroyed or left uninhabitable, thousands and thousands are homeless and jobless, thousands and thousands and thousands of trees are down. It is truly a surreal scene. Even after seeing so much of it, I still cannot believe what I am seeing. For example, I was standing in a Red Cross line (for 7 hours) at a local supermarket parking lot Tuesday and looked up to see the high water mark on the building; it was 10-12 feet above where I was standing. 50 yards away is a motel where they docked boats on the 2nd floor balconies while rescuing people during and after the storm. Store and motel will require major repairs to reopen. A number of bodies were found in the K Mart in the shopping center across the street. I spent 2 days helping friends try to salvage their furniture from their flooded out home. We washed it in white vinegar to kill the mold and mildew and start the preservation process. They will not know for 3 months whether our efforts were successful. Enough said....

was picked up yesterday - more debris is steadily appearing so at least 2 more cleanups are scheduled by FEMA. And, a group of volunteers from the Nashville area spent 3 hours here yesterday, helping me clean up debris from behind our house (I had previously paid 2 men from Florida $1,675 to cut up downed trees and put the debris in the median strip. You would not believe how much they (we) accomplished. The folks from Nashville were just wonderful - so nice and so helpful. They were spending the weekend on the coast, helping wherever their services were needed. Most were stunned at the extent of Katrina's devastation they had seen.

Progress and renewal are evident everywhere you look now. Businesses, banks (Our bank reopened without a roof!), doctor and dentist offices, etc. are reopening on a daily basis. Habitable homes are at a premium; prices have jumped 10+% since the storm. FEMA provided trailers are arriving in a steady stream. The problem is trying to get them to the most needy (the homeless) and ensuring that there is a place to set up the trailer and that utilities are available (electricity, water and sewer) when the trailer arrives. It is a time consuming process. Overall, the public agencies have done a good job once they settled into their roles and assumed their responsiblities - and set up communilcation and coordination networks with other agencies, federal, state and local. The private relief efforts have been OUTSTANDING. Many of these groups have had to tell authorities to stick it in their ear (or somewhere else); they ARE going to come in and provide much welcomed assistance and they do. Enough said....

Last, but certainly not least, we are scheduled to meet with our insurance adjuster Tuesday morning. We hope he shows up since this has been a big problem and that he is fair and objective in his judgments. I have a roofer lined up - whatever that means - and have ordered a new garage door. Progress....

Pat is holding up well. It has been an emotional rollercoaster for us both, but again we are very fortunate and count our blessings every day. Please keep the homeless, uninsured and jobless in your thoughts and prayers. Recovery will come, but it will take a long, long time.

Thanks to those of you who have called, e-mailed and/or written (or tried to) your expressions of concern. We appreciate your thoughtfulness very much.

Dave (and Pat)