Subject: Katrina Update-Final?
Date: Thu, 08 Sep 2005 23:38:53 -0500
From: Ken Treybig

I will probably make this my last update via email about Hurricane Katrina. The recovery from the damage this storm did will continue for many months. But it appears that the immediate crisis of trying to locate members is pretty well over. The Burnetts are back in the area now--staying with members in Baton Rouge--and in our conversation tonight he mentioned that there are only a few who have not been located--two single people and one couple. It is believed they evacuated to some location of safety--but no one has been able to determine where yet. As power and phone service comes back on it is hoped their safety can be confirmed soon.

And speaking of power and phone service, today Hilford Jones, a deacon in the Laurel congregation, was able to contact everyone in the Laurel congregation that they thought would need to borrow generators, and found out power is being restored much more rapidly than anticipated. There is literally an "army" of electrical workers in the whole LA, MS, AL area working hard to get electricity back up as soon as possible. A member from the Covington congregation sent me an email about the "tent cities" they are constructing for the power crews in the New Orleans area that will house up to 1,000 people with AC, showers, and catered food.

So after checking around they could not find anyone that really needs a generator. They are extremely grateful to know people here were willing to loan them from East Texas, but they are not needed.

Power is back at the Covington hall (it wasn't earlier this week) so they plan to have services there this Sabbath. And services will be held in the Houma area south of New Orleans. It may be another week or two before they can be held in New Orleans. I'm sure brethren will be glad to see each other and catch up on how everyone is doing. Since phone service is still in the process of being restored, they have not been able to stay that well informed about everyone.

That's about it for now. As I said, the complete recovery will take a long time, and people still have questions about whether they will still have a job or not. But it appears the greatest period of uncertainty about members' whereabouts and safety is past. Thank you very deeply for your prayers and concern. The members there would appreciate your continuing to remember them as they begin putting their lives back together.

--KT

PS The son of a member in Covington, Mark Croft, lives and works in Houston after graduating from college. He went back home over the Labor Day weekend to help his parents work on some repairs to their home and the home his grandparents had lived in, which the family now takes care of. He posted a lot of pictures on his Website as well as some comments. The link to his site is: www.markcroft.org/gallery .