Dear Arachne members and Liz in Australia, As an American, I'd like to thank Liz for expressing concern. I think we are all shocked by the extent of tropical storm "Harvey". Unprecedented rains, now above 50 inches in 6 days (more than has ever been recorded on North America), have flooded an area that one news outlet said was the size of Lake Michigan (one of the Great Lakes on our northern border with Canada). Harvey has moved east of Houston now, and Louisiana and states to the east are getting so much rain there is flooding and massive rescue efforts there. The government and relief organizations will take care of immediate needs, but we know that is not enough for broken spirits. Arachne readers in Texas or Louisiana outside the affected areas and closer to the situation: I invite you to write to me personally about how we can be of help to lace makers you know have lost everything. **I would like one other American Arachne member who does not have AOL to volunteer to receive a copy of what you write.** This is because we have learned my ISP - AOL - blocks e-mails from some ISPs. If storm victims and their friends write to us as individuals, they are not likely to be affected by scams. We know lace makers in the region who will confirm that you are one of us. There are so few lace makers in the world, that I think we can help those in need at this time. ALSO, on Sunday, the 27th, I wrote to one of our lace leaders to inquire if we could start to mobilize assistance to Texas lacemakers. (That was before Louisiana became a flood zone.) I've not received a reply, maybe because it takes some time to organize relief in a location that is traumatized. At the least, once those affected can receive mail and phone calls, we can begin thinking of sending gifts of love that will warm their hearts. Women are prone to ask for aid for others, while they deal with the shock of complete loss of comforting treasures. I am particularly sensitive to the needs of elder women who have no living relatives. If there is any retired family-less senior lace maker out there who needs temporary housing and is mobile (not in need of medical supervision), please let us know through our private e-mail addresses. (I'm assuming there will be one other person to help me with this mail.) We can probably solve some of your problems. It is going to take a long time for people to remove entire contents from homes and say goodbye to family treasures ruined beyond repair, or lost in the storm. Homes will have to be stripped to the studs to clean up the affects of storm damage, and then be rebuilt. What lace makers lose will include the things they have inherited and collected over the years. In fact, with so much clean up and rebuilding necessary, people will probably have to live in temporary housing far from their home neighborhoods for quite some time. Estimates today are that it will take 6 years to rebuild America's 4th largest city and the large land area around it. In lace friendship, Jeri Ames in Maine USA Lace and Embroidery Research Center
-------------------------------------------------------- In a message dated 8/29/2017 11:51:45 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time, [email protected] writes: I do hope the Lacemakers in Texas are all safe, and their families too. We are seeing, on the TV news, terrible footage of the storm and floods there. Best wishes to all those in the affected areas, and also those near by, as there will be a lot of "spin-off" from the devastation. Next Year's IOLI convention is down that way, I believe, so I hope they are all safe, too. Regards from Liz. In cold Melbourne, Oz. - To unsubscribe send email to [email protected] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [email protected]. For help, write to [email protected]. Photo site: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lacemaker/sets/
