Update 9-13-05    

Hi,

Three letters, though only one from a member of our class.  Plus part of a report from The New York Times.

First, from Barbara Blitfield Pech:  I'm up and have been out early today, before the sun has finished rising on what promises to be a breezy fall morning in Miami.  I am stride-walking in training, as my 8th Race For The Cure 5K is next month.  The survivors are out in front, and my determination to keep me out there, too, has me "walking the streets."  Today is September 11th plus 4 years.  I live in a lovely enclave of 300 well-appointed garden villas. My neighborhood is now 70% Latin American born. Today, while power walking, I see the American flag in front of every house I pass.  I should revel in the glory of recognition of this day in a community within a city that is not native, nor tries to assimilate, but nonetheless embraces the loss as its own.  I would also be remiss in not acknowledging the hurricane destruction throughout my immediate streets.  Too many of the flags are stuck positioned in the sides of fallen tress or atop the heaps of piled limbs, branches, uprooted foliage, and downed fences that garland our broken homes.  While still minor and insignificant compared to the Gulf Coast horrors we have seen on TV, all this is familiar to this Andrew survivor and rebuilder.  It will also take us months to rebuild and years to recover again.  But we will -- we all will.  It is good to be American, to live in a country of peace, harmony, good neighbors, and friends who reaffirm that we are here for each other.  I appreciate and care about you all as you have cared for me in my times of need and friendship.  I wish you all a day of peace, serenity, love, and appreciation in your observances.

From my friend Brian Palermo, originally from New Orleans:  I've been overwhelmed with the love and support of all of my friends and family -- all of you -- over the past week since the hurricane hit.  I've not been able to respond to all of you personally as it's been hectic here keeping up with the news, Internet, and phone.  I've been waiting for damage assessments from my friends and family in New Orleans, to give you the updates many of you have asked for.  I've got mostly good news.
    All of my immediate family and friends are alive and well.  All are displaced to other cities while they wait for utilities and infrastructure to be repaired.  Estimates on this timeline range from 2 weeks to 6 months.  The most realistic estimates for my family's neighborhoods should be about 2 weeks to 2 months.
    My folks' house in Slidell got about 6 inches of water throughout, which will necessitate ripping out all of the carpet and halfway up the drywall of all interior walls.  A tree fell on the roof, but only clipped it, creating a small hole.  All shingles and tarpaper were blown off the roof, but only minor leaks occurred.  The structure itself is fine.  Both of my sisters' homes are also fine and received similar damage as my folks' home.
    Of my best friends back home, only one suffered real property tragedy:  my buddy and his wife had bought a pharmacy in January.  This was in the city and is 10 feet under water and a complete loss.  Their home was damaged, but not destroyed.  A few of my other friends who live there did lose everything:  not just their homes, but all of the family items, day-to-day clothes, and toys -- everything.
    Many of you have generously offered donations to my family.  I, and they, appreciate it more than you'll ever realize.  But the fact is we're all middle class folk with enough money to pay for hotels to ride out the months of reconstruction.  And eventually they will be paid back from insurance and FEMA (which is your taxes anyway).  The Groundlings -- an improv group I belong to in LA -- has lovingly offered both an immediate donation and a larger fundraising benefit to be held in the next few months.  I will send the immediate donation to my sister Lynne who is living in two hotel rooms with her hubby and 4 kids in Vicksburg, Mississippi.  This will be a small care package and will be much appreciated.
We are working on the possibility of the larger fundraiser later.  At that time, we'll determine how to donate the money.  I have a feeling some will go to more small care packages for my immediate family, some cash will go to my friends in real need, and some will go to a larger emergency organization.
    Again, thank you for all of your thoughts and prayers.

From my friends Cathy and Daryl Wedwick in Baton Rouge:  So on Friday, August 26, BK (Before Katrina) this here computing machine simply refused to boot up.  On Saturday AM, I took it to the computerman.  He said he could get it fixed in a couple of days.  Then Katrina visited us.  We just had a bunch of twigs and leaves blown around and a couple of inches of rain -- no significant damage.  There were also sustained winds of 35 mph for a couple of hours, and the airport some 9 miles away did record a gust of 71 mph.  It was about the same as we experienced when Andrew came though back in '92.  As Katrina arrived, our electricity left us for 2 1/2 days, so we watched on our 5" battery-powered TV as the damn fools in rain suits got themselves blown about east of New Orleans.  Of course, we had enough batteries:  in 28 years down here in Louisiana, we've learned to stock up in June.  The power came back on Wednesday evening so we could see more clearly the terrible situations in New Orleans, Biloxi, and Gulfport.  You've all seen the pix. I don't need to comment further, except to say that "FEMA" is a four-letter word down here.  "Bush" isn't much better.
    I needed to get my driver's license renewed so I stood in line for an hour at the DMV yesterday with many displaced folks and heard many stories ranging from, "As soon as it dries out, I'm going back," to "As soon as I can get my money out of  the bank, I'm headed far, far away."  Now, we just have to get used to 40% more automobile traffic in Baton Rouge, since we just added 300,000 souls to the 425,000 folks who lived in East Baton Rouge parish two weeks ago ... BK.  It will be interesting, but we can handle it.

[Rich -- Also, a quick clarification of what Cathy and Daryl wrote last week:  When they were talking about exaggerated reports, they were specifically referring to outsiders, especially the media, coming in and immediately becoming experts on New Orleans -- ready to diagnose and solve all its problems, many unrelated to the present disaster.]

Finally, excerpted from a September 6th article in the Times, written by Cornelia Dean:  The six-seater Cessna was flying low and two coastal researchers were photographing the marks left on the region's barrier islands by Hurricane Katrina.  "My God," said Robert Young as he caught sight of what would be miles of desolate landscape.  Neighborhood after neighborhood appeared to have been raked clear.  "I have been on the scene of every major hurricane since Hurricane Hugo in 1989," said Dr. Young, a geologist at Western Carolina University.  "This is the worst I have ever seen."
    Since Hurricane Katrina struck, much of the nation's attention has been on New Orleans, but the scientists on the plane are looking instead at the Gulf Coast, where the storm came ashore.  They are mapping changes in inland and offshore topography, part of their continuing study on whether some parts of the coast can ever be made safe enough.  "We have never learned that lesson," said Abby Sallenger, a scientist with the United States Geological Survey.  Dr. Sallenger does not advocate wholesale retreat from the coast, but "the coastal research community should come together and come to some conclusions about where it is safer to go.  What's happened before is you come back, and you not only rebuild, you rebuild bigger.  But there are some places where you should think twice about putting up a pup tent."
    "It's amazing how much better natural shorelines look after a storm than developed shorelines," Dr. Young said.  "More evidence that damage to barrier islands is largely a matter of interference by people.  On undeveloped islands, sand washes toward the back of the island, in effect retreating from the ocean.  Eventually, this sand is colonized by beach grass and other plants.  New marshes form on its landward fringes. The island will look the same; it will just be farther landward."
    Dr. Sallenger said he hoped that as events unfolded in coastal Mississippi and nearby, the realization of what occurred there would bring scientists and policymakers together.  "There are a lot of smart people, from the research guys, to the engineers, to the people who build these things.  As people consider how and what to rebuild, let's just do it better."

Eventually, the rest of the reunion wrap-up.  Meanwhile, a last reminder that the class of '70 reunion is this Saturday.  For information, contact Steve Cahn.