Welcome to Mississippi

[gunthorp]

WELCOME TO MISSISSIPPI

O.K. I'll make an attempt to tell what's going on down here right now. It's
hard to do for several reasons. First, because there is so much , it's hard
to talk about. Let's try to focus on the positive.

You're right to be sick about New Orleans. They've turned into a bunch of
animals over there. The idiots are shooting at the people who are trying to
help them???? I think for the most part it's due to the frustration caused
by the lack of response by their State Government....I mean, an SOS call?
Give me a break.

Everybody is so focused on what's going on in the Superdome, the Mississippi
story is going un-reported.

It's one of the bright things that are happening here now.

We are NOT leaving our people to wallow and starve in their own filth ,and
the cadavers of loved ones. Were finding the live ones and getting them
north as fast a possible. Most of the hundreds showing up here have at least
had a meal, and a bath.

Haley Barbour the Governor and his administration will come out as true
heroes in this disaster once the total story is told. The differences
between the Louisiana and Mississippi responses are truly startling. Haley
and MEMA had already had Mississippi declared disaster areas TWO DAYS before
Katrina hit......What does that mean? A lot........

It means we had a two day head start on recovery. It means we had
pre-positioned response teams...FULLY EQUIPPED ! It means we already had
supplies being loaded on trucks to go to the coast while the hurricane was
still going on. It means Federal representatives from FEMA were already IN
State when it hit. Which means somebody on the Satellite Phone moving troops
and aid our way while Louisiana was still trying to get . .

We have been dealing with looters a little differently on the coast. Once
you shoot a few and leave their bodies laying in front of the store with
their arms full of booty, the rest get the idea pretty quickly. Hasn't been
a big problem. In the case of breaking in to get survival supplies...food
and water. The police have shot the locks off the doors and helped take the
stuff to distribution points.

School buses to haul refuges to shelters north, an idea Louisiana JUST
figured out by the way, have been running shuttle since Wednesday morning.

They are pouring in here by the hundreds. Red Cross has been doing a GREAT
job on setting up relief shelters in our area.

The local Governments have opened all of the convention centers and school
auditoriums to them. I know it's hard to believe, but the local Friday night
Football games have ALL been canceled this week. Our efforts are going
elsewhere this weekend. My daughter is the editor for the local University
newspaper. She asked me what she could do for these folks, and I told her"
The main thing they need right now is bottled water". So she made a few
phone calls and set it up with her newspaper and the local T.V.
stations....in 24 hours they had collected over 600 gallons. This story is
typical and is happening all over this part of the state.

Pulpwood haulers (lumberjacks to you Yankees) who showed up at Interstates
and main feeder hi-ways heading south. Started cutting up the downed trees
with their own chainsaws, and loading them up with their hydraulic boom
hauling trucks. Opening the way south for our relief effort...nobody called
them....they just showed up and started doing what had to be done. Welcome
to Mississippi The local churches are jumping in too. Emmanuel Baptist has
been cooking and serving three meals a day for 1500 people at the shelter
there since Wednesday. Where is the food coming from? Strangers are just
showing up at the convention center and dropping it off. Red Cross is
providing some of it, but the majority is just showing up....from people who
aren't seeking and never will be recognized. It's happening all over the
state. again and again. Welcome to Mississippi.

Our local hotels are full of people here from New Orleans......most are
starting to run out of money, so we have begun collecting for their hotel
bills and providing them with meals at the shelters. Quite a few in town
have taken them in to their own homes...knowing they may be there for
months. I filled up one guy's tank at the gas station Tuesday because he
only had enough money for a few gallons. Welcome to Mississippi.


Just stopped and put an antenna on one of our E.O.C. Trucks headed south to
Ocean Springs. Their headed down to do a fuel supply run. While here, my
daughter came in with another 300 gallons of bottled water, asking where she
could store it. I said" How 'bout the back of this truck?" )) This is how
it works, over and over and over .

Sorry if this E-mail seems a little jumpy, I've been adding to it all day.
As I get a minute and as thoughts occur to me. Things are happening all
around me, and it's hard to sort it all out while "in the moment". I think
that's the way this story will be told.....later

.It's going to take a while.

While I'm thinking about it.....BIG thank you to Motorola. I'm almost as
proud of being a Motorolan as I am a Mississippian. You guys may not know
about it yet, but Motorola has put on a Herculean support effort. I was
involved on the fringes for a while, but the effort to send radios and
infrastructure has been nothing short of phenomenal! My guys on the coast
called with a SEVERE need for repeaters and W.T's. They had a few towers and
antennas still standing, but the repeaters were in about three feet of
water. After a few phone calls around the campus there in Schaumburg, I was
given the Bridge call number for the emergency request line. Made a call
back to my guys and passed it on.

I'll be sheep dipped if Motorola didn't have equipment THERE the NEXT
DAY!!!!!!

HOT DANG!!! That's the way you do it. ))

Mississippians have loooong memories. This one will NOT be forgotten.
Anybody see Jim Geary up there....kiss him for me. Lord knows I won't. ))
And anybody else that you know was involved in Motorola's support effort.
Tell them Mississippi gives a heartfelt "God Bless You"' Most of us cry at
least once a day. You can't deal with the hundreds we have coming in here
everyday and not be affected. I've seen big bears break down and just fall
apart. Mostly blaming themselves for not getting out in time. That choice
cost him a wife, child or in some cases both. They all usually say the same
things. "I didn't think it would get that bad." All you can do is listen and
try to comfort. Sometimes you see guys just staring into the sunset....not
saying anything....but you see those jaw muscles working hard to hold it in.
I had one tell me yesterday "We had to choose,Stay in the attic and drown,or
climb on the roof into a 150 mile an hour wind. She was screaming my name as
she flew away." How do you respond to that? You don't.....you just cry with
him and listen.... Loose children who don't know where Mamma or Daddy are,
or even if their alive. Ten year olds, trying to be "mama" or "daddy" to a
little sister or brother......it will tear your heart out. Most also know
there is NOTHING to go home to. The house is gone, and in most cases the job
too. They show up here with the clothes on their back, and that's it. It's
all they have left. It's hard, just too hard for words.................you
do what you can,but..........

FORGET about Mississippi burning. That was our dark, distant past. Watch us
NOW. This is Mississippi today. We've opened our Homes,Hearts and wallets to
strangers in need. We don't care if their White, Black, Brown or Polka -dot.
Were going to be O.K., It will take years, but we're dealing with it. We
will deal with it the way only a true southerner can...one day at a time.
Were out of gasoline today. All the local stations have run out.

My phones are still acting squirrelly on out of state calls and my cell
phone has been a paper weight since Tuesday. But I did sleep in my own bed
last night, and took a hot shower this morning. There is food in my house,
and I know where all my family is. You take these things for granted, until
their gone........

Forward as you see fit....
Mark Flemmons
Modern Communications
Cleveland, Mississippi
---

[DefensiveCarry.com]

[rstickle]

And there is the problem! If things go right, that's NOT news!

[Team American]

Thanks for posting this, gunthorp :fing02:
The Democrat plantation in New Orleans has gotten all the news coverage, but this e-mail gives a more truthful view of what the rest of America would look like in the face of a disaster.

Well, most of the rest of America :1prost:

[P95Carry]

Outstanding Gardner - thx for posting.

As Rick said - nowhere near enough bad news in that to be ''worth'' reporting by the media (bletch).

The days of unbiased (main) media is over - it was, long ago.

[srfl]

I went to Gulfport to support my fellow agents in the field....I noted the support given to the area by a significant number of FL LEO's (everyone from Miami-Dade PD to FL Highway Patrol to FL Fish & Wildlife and everyone in between), military (ArNG?) and USCG personnel and the GA power utility company.

The devestation I witnessed was very, very sad so my heart goes out to any forum member who was affected by Katrina.

[Betty]

gunthorp,

I don't like to spill the beans on upcoming articles, but I can say the Mississippi story will be told. The havoc visited on Gulport was astounding. I have the image of a cop's face forever burned into my memory - a man who has lost everything but is still working and helping others.

What everybody is going through in the affected areas is absolutely terrible. You only hear about the bad stuff - the looting, the deaths, etc. You'd think America and human kindness was obliterated, but that is so wrong. Times like this is when you also see the best of human nature.

[TheGreatGonzo]

Great to see another Magnolia State member on the board. Welcome.
Gonzo (another MS boy)

[standles]

Great to see another Magnolia State member on the board. Welcome.
Gonzo (another MS boy)

Problem is when we get transplanted into another area via job.. the indiginant lifeforms don't know how to deal with the obviously superior manners and intellect.

The folks I am around just don't undersatnd:

Hunting
Shooting
Catfish grabbing
Eating rattlesnake, possum,coon etc.
the list goes on ad nauseum.

There is one kindred spirit but he happens to be from Lousianna ( not new orleans)

The guvment security folks asked me when I was being intereviewed for my clearance had I traveled much. I responded yes. They asked where to. I told them GA,LA,AL,TN, and TX. They said no I meant foreign travel. I told them I did go to Chicago and Oklahoma once.

He then looked disgusted and asked whether I had ever been a member of a subversive group. I said yes. He asked which one(s) . I said the Boy Scouts and NRA.

It was at this point I realized that Guvment Security folks don't have a very keen sense of humor.


Steven (Yazoo MS native, Florida transplant)

[gunthorp]

You just have to break through the pompous, controlling, patronizing, self-righteous, superior, bureaucratic, power-tripping, insecure Napoleon complex. That's all. Try bathroom humor.