I actually did a radio interview for the Red Cross about this topic this morning.
As of yesterday at 6:00 pm, we had heard from all of our family members but my husband's brother and sister and their collective six children. They decided to stayed in the Northern part of Gulfport during the hurricane. We were watching the Weather Channel and giving them and my brother in Hattiesburg updates as to what part of the storm was coming at them every 30 minutes. When their electricity went out in the early morning and they didn't know that the eye of the hurricane was coming at them. They thought it was going to New Orleans. The last we had heard from either of them was at 11:00 Monday just before the worse part of the hurricane hit. Water was coming into my brother-in-law's garage at the times and they had lost nine trees at the time. My brother-in-law who is in management at MCI, told us last night that you can text message people with cell phones in Mississippi, and ask them to call you. You don't have to have MCI service to do this. Anyone with text message reception can do this. We texted a message and my brother-in-law called us in minutes. The Gulf Coast Mississippians can receive text messages but not phone calls. BUT they can call out!!! Most of the people in South Mississippi do not know they can phone out until you tell them. They can't call the area code for South Mississippi, 228, but can call anywhere else in the country. My brother-in-law and his family are safe in their home. They have food and a neighbor with a well is giving them water. My sister-in-law who lives in downtown Gulfport went back to their home Wednesday. We text messaged her and she called us in 10 minutes. Amazingly enough, her house was my husband's families home since 1920, is standing strong and took no damage. This home was built by my husband's father and his grandfather. The house is located about 8 blocks from the beach in Gulfport, where all the reporters are reporting from. We have now heard from ALL of our family members. Some family members have lost their homes and/or jobs. But they are not standing on standing on roof-tops waiting to be rescued. What most people need on the Coast is water, gas, and ice. They also need cash because the banks or either in rubble or don't have electricity. Debit and check cards do not work because the electricity is out. My diabetic sister-in-law in Gulfport paid $10 for a bag of ice to cool her insulin. She said she couldn't stand in the lines @ 98 degree weather for hours to get a bag of ice at the free distribution centers. They really need organization at these centers. But they just don't have enough people to help. Please let people know about the text messaging their family members in Mississippi. It will relieve their minds when their family calls back. It also give the people in Mississippi that we have not forgotten about them and that they are not cut off from the world. Just before we found out about the text messaging, we were planning to drive to Mississippi to get our families to bring back to Virginia. Penny E. Ladnier Owner, The Costume Gallery, www.costumegallery.com Costume Classroom, www.costumeclassroom.com Costume Research Library, www.costumelibrary.com _______________________________________________ h-costume mailing list [email protected] http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
