kevin.carroll
Puritan Board Junior
Dear Friends and Family,
This is my first opportunity to get word to everyone regarding our condition. As you know Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast on Monday as a Category 5 storm. While New Orleans is inexplicably getting all the press, the Mississippi Gulf Coast bore the brunt of the hurricane. Biloxi, Gulfport, Bay St. Louis, Pascagoula, Waveland, Moss Point, and Pass Christian are all but destroyed. Thousands of homes and businesses have been destroyed. It will be years before the rebuilding is complete. Katrina´s fury was not limited to the coast, however. From the coast she headed north/northeast and passed over Hattiesburg as a category 3 storm. They eye continued northeast, passing 15 miles east of our house as a strong category 2 or a weak category 3. We had sustained winds of 120 mph and torrential rains for over 6 hours. We lost power shortly before noon and have been without ever since. We were fortunate however. The damage to our home and to the church was minimal. But the county is absolutely devastated. 60-65% of the homes and businesses in Laurel (30 miles east) are destroyed. Trees are down everywhere. There is no power, mail has just resumed, power lines are down everywhere, many roads are still impassable.
Conditions are slowly improving, though. We can get around carefully but we have to watch our gas consumption. While the state is holding gas prices down, gas is hard to come by. Lines are long and rationing is in effect at many stations. Wal-mart finally reopened yesterday but they only let 20 people in at a time and they have practically nothing on their shelves anyhow: no meat, no vegetables, no frozen items, no batteries, and very expensive water ($.58/gallon before Katrina; $1.74 now!).
Our time is spent cooking food before it spoils (and we have to eat everything we cook!), trying to keep things sanitary, cleaning up storm damage, and hunting for gas and ice. Still we expect to be without power for another 2-4 weeks. We have gotten our hands on a generator. Because gas is so scarce, we only run it 3 hours in the morning and in the evening. Essentially we are just keeping the freezer cold but we do look at the news in the evenings (and, of course, this is how I am able to write you now!). We have also been out in the community a good deal, visiting folks, praying with people, and distributing what food and emergency supplies we can spare those who are worse off.
We did have church yesterday (the only church in town that did!) and attendance was good. It was hot and dark, but it was good to worship together. After church we got a pallet of bottled water (a gift from Miami, FL) delivered. I spent the rest of the day driving all over the community giving water to those who are without.
If anyone can help out, we would really appreciate it. We (and by "œwe" I also include the members of our church) could use:
Batteries, especially C and D cells;
Dry ice;
Plastic silverware;
Diapers and baby food (we have a couple of 1-2 year olds in the church);
Canned food (veggies, fruit, meat).
All of these things are in very short supply and hard to come by. I hate to mention a personal need but I will anyhow: While we rejoice in having a generator, it hit our wallets very hard: $712. We were able to pay cash for it, but it leaves very little for gas and other necessities for the rest of the month. Any contributions of any sort would be very much appreciated.
You can mail any assistance to:
Kevin Carroll
908 SCR 59
Mize, MS 39116.
Our phone service is spotty. We can receive calls at home but have a hard time calling out. Cellular is slowly returning but coverage is inconsistent. Our home number is 601-733-9042 and my cell is 601-832-2421.
Finally, pray for all of us. This is hard on the body, the emotions, and the soul. Tempers are short and frustrations high. Pray that we will live out Christ´s admonitions to not worry but seek Him. Also pray for my school situation. With limited power, I am unable to use the PC long enough to get any homework done, short of writing everything out by hand (by candlelight!). Gas is the bigger concern. It´s not that gas is expensive, there just isn´t much of it. I don´t know if I will even be able to commute back and forth this fall. I am going to plead for some sort of special dispensation from the school to keep my in classes. If that fails, I am faced with one of two unpleasant possibilities: one, spend the week in Jackson and come home on Friday nights. I don´t like this option for several reasons: I don´t really have anywhere to stay. I can´t afford a hotel room. And there are looters about. The police have advised me that people are getting a little crazy and this will continue till the lights come on. (I keep a shotgun close at hand for ugly situations.) I have no wish to leave the family alone after dark. The second option is to withdraw from classes unto J-term. Obviously I do not wish for that either. Please help us pray about the situation. Well, that´s it for now. I need to power down the generator. We miss and love all of you. Please feel free to pass this email on.
Love,
Kevin
This is my first opportunity to get word to everyone regarding our condition. As you know Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast on Monday as a Category 5 storm. While New Orleans is inexplicably getting all the press, the Mississippi Gulf Coast bore the brunt of the hurricane. Biloxi, Gulfport, Bay St. Louis, Pascagoula, Waveland, Moss Point, and Pass Christian are all but destroyed. Thousands of homes and businesses have been destroyed. It will be years before the rebuilding is complete. Katrina´s fury was not limited to the coast, however. From the coast she headed north/northeast and passed over Hattiesburg as a category 3 storm. They eye continued northeast, passing 15 miles east of our house as a strong category 2 or a weak category 3. We had sustained winds of 120 mph and torrential rains for over 6 hours. We lost power shortly before noon and have been without ever since. We were fortunate however. The damage to our home and to the church was minimal. But the county is absolutely devastated. 60-65% of the homes and businesses in Laurel (30 miles east) are destroyed. Trees are down everywhere. There is no power, mail has just resumed, power lines are down everywhere, many roads are still impassable.
Conditions are slowly improving, though. We can get around carefully but we have to watch our gas consumption. While the state is holding gas prices down, gas is hard to come by. Lines are long and rationing is in effect at many stations. Wal-mart finally reopened yesterday but they only let 20 people in at a time and they have practically nothing on their shelves anyhow: no meat, no vegetables, no frozen items, no batteries, and very expensive water ($.58/gallon before Katrina; $1.74 now!).
Our time is spent cooking food before it spoils (and we have to eat everything we cook!), trying to keep things sanitary, cleaning up storm damage, and hunting for gas and ice. Still we expect to be without power for another 2-4 weeks. We have gotten our hands on a generator. Because gas is so scarce, we only run it 3 hours in the morning and in the evening. Essentially we are just keeping the freezer cold but we do look at the news in the evenings (and, of course, this is how I am able to write you now!). We have also been out in the community a good deal, visiting folks, praying with people, and distributing what food and emergency supplies we can spare those who are worse off.
We did have church yesterday (the only church in town that did!) and attendance was good. It was hot and dark, but it was good to worship together. After church we got a pallet of bottled water (a gift from Miami, FL) delivered. I spent the rest of the day driving all over the community giving water to those who are without.
If anyone can help out, we would really appreciate it. We (and by "œwe" I also include the members of our church) could use:
Batteries, especially C and D cells;
Dry ice;
Plastic silverware;
Diapers and baby food (we have a couple of 1-2 year olds in the church);
Canned food (veggies, fruit, meat).
All of these things are in very short supply and hard to come by. I hate to mention a personal need but I will anyhow: While we rejoice in having a generator, it hit our wallets very hard: $712. We were able to pay cash for it, but it leaves very little for gas and other necessities for the rest of the month. Any contributions of any sort would be very much appreciated.
You can mail any assistance to:
Kevin Carroll
908 SCR 59
Mize, MS 39116.
Our phone service is spotty. We can receive calls at home but have a hard time calling out. Cellular is slowly returning but coverage is inconsistent. Our home number is 601-733-9042 and my cell is 601-832-2421.
Finally, pray for all of us. This is hard on the body, the emotions, and the soul. Tempers are short and frustrations high. Pray that we will live out Christ´s admonitions to not worry but seek Him. Also pray for my school situation. With limited power, I am unable to use the PC long enough to get any homework done, short of writing everything out by hand (by candlelight!). Gas is the bigger concern. It´s not that gas is expensive, there just isn´t much of it. I don´t know if I will even be able to commute back and forth this fall. I am going to plead for some sort of special dispensation from the school to keep my in classes. If that fails, I am faced with one of two unpleasant possibilities: one, spend the week in Jackson and come home on Friday nights. I don´t like this option for several reasons: I don´t really have anywhere to stay. I can´t afford a hotel room. And there are looters about. The police have advised me that people are getting a little crazy and this will continue till the lights come on. (I keep a shotgun close at hand for ugly situations.) I have no wish to leave the family alone after dark. The second option is to withdraw from classes unto J-term. Obviously I do not wish for that either. Please help us pray about the situation. Well, that´s it for now. I need to power down the generator. We miss and love all of you. Please feel free to pass this email on.
Love,
Kevin