Hey just checking in. We are ok. Nitefox and I were in New Orleans when the storms hit and the weather was nice and sunny that far south.
We are very grateful that our immediate area was not hit while we were gone, so our homes and our children were unharmed. Yay!!! (Thanks JC!) Some of our extended family who live in surrounding cities suffered property loss (homes and vehicles) but no injuries or loss of life.
NF and I had a traffic accident as soon as we pulled into New Orleans, that was almost EXACTLY a reproduction of that stupid Mayhem, "recalculating" commercial....we got t-boned while I was turning too fast without checking my blind spots. Note to self: check GPS route from start to finish BEFORE entering the city!
Fortunately, (Blessed again, thanks JC!), NF was uninjured and I only had some bruising on the left side of my head where I was hit by either the other vehicle or the window...we're not really sure, but I'm so dang hardheaded anyway so, I'm good. The other driver was uninjured as well except for a slight bump on her knee but she told us she was fine, was laughing and smiling and not limping. Of course, less than 24 hours later she filed a personal injury claim through a chiropractor. Insurance said they'd cover that, which is awesome...what is not awesome is that we were in such a hurry to get the van insured before our trip (recently purchased used vehicle, new title, new insurance...) that we only got liability so we have to pay for the damage ourselves. Bummer. It'll probably cost more to fix the van than we paid for it.
Anyways.
Micheal wrote:
We would hear all about it as the Red cross got their commercials crew out and started begging for money for the survivors. No, don't send food, clothing, blankets, or building materials, just money, cash, credit card numbers, bank info, anything we can make change your money into ours.
Yes, 98% of the requests for help boil down to asking for money. For the tornadoes in Mississippi, relief requests are:
Quote:
Fourteen counties in Red Cross' service area here in northeast Mississippi were affected by tornadoes and their resources are being stretched to the max. The hardest hit counties are Monroe, Webster and Tishomingo. Both the Salvation Army and the Red Cross have emergency response teams in Smithville providing meals and the Red Cross has tents set up to provide first aid. Both have requested donations of water which can be delivered to the Salvation Army at 527 Carnation Street, Tupelo and to the Red Cross at 4127 Westside Dr., Tupelo. The Salvation Army also requests donations of Wal-mart gift cards to give victims, and powdered drink packets to flavor bottled water. Both organizations need cash donations. Please no donations of clothing.
So, pretty much they mostly want money and nothing else. I can understand this as time is of the essence in a lot of these situations and it is simply more expedient to hand out money to victims than to have to sort through truckloads of clothing and food donations in order to try and fit everyone's needs.
I'm not sure about Tuscaloosa, AL. They were hit harder than we were. Since Tuscaloosa is only an hour away from us and our church will be involved in relief efforts, I'm going to try to join any group that I can over the next couple of weeks to do anything hands-on that I can to help. I'd start this weekend but I'm going tomorrow with some friends to help their 71 year old father clear the debris at his place here in Mississippi...lost his barn and lots of trees down.
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