Wayne Boatwright > wrote:

> On Tue 30 Aug 2005 10:05:06p, sarah wrote in rec.food.preserving:
>
> > Wayne Boatwright > wrote:
> >
> >> I'm so glad, George! I didn't know exactly what area you lived in, but
> >> thought you were closer to New Orleans.
> >
> > Me too. All the footage we've seen in the UK is of New Orleans and
> > Biloxi, both of which have clearly been badly hit. I assume small
> > settlements between them and nearby are as bad or worse. I'm glad you're
> > alright -- but I feel so sorry for those who aren't.
>
> Sarah, from what I understand, some of the small coastal communities have
> disappeared completely. My family is from the South, although none
> currently live in the areas hit by this storm. I know the entire area
> well, and I find it unbelievable that this has happened.

I heard a BBC R4 interview about an hour ago with a university lecturer
who got out of town in time, and whose wife and children had travelled
up north earlier in the week to take the eldest to college. He said that
last Thursday was just another day, Friday the serious warnings started
and now... he said he was lucky, he knew he was lucky, his family was ok
even if his house was likely to go under in the near future. He said
that it wasn't losing the stuff that hurt, it was losing *the city* and
all that it meant: New Orleans/that part of the South has given a lot to
the rest of the world, even if it had taken a lot, too. He asked people
who'd ever enjoyed New Orleans, or something that came from the city to
pray for the city and those who live there. Or lived there. I was
driving at the time, and had to pull off the road because I was crying.
I listen to Clifton Chenier and Sonny Landreth and a host of other
musicians from that area, or influenced by Cajun sounds. James Lee
Burke's works are among the very, very few novels that sit on my
shelves, rather than the library's. I don't pray, but I'd like to help.
If anyone knows of a practical way a Brit could lend assistance, let me
know.

I don't even know the name of the interviewee.

my very best wishes to everyone, everywhere.
sarah


--
Think of it as evolution in action.