with Lorelle and Brent VanFossen

Tag Archives: hurricane victims

Trailers for Hurricane Victims

I found this posted by allthatjazz01 Coffee Talk on her AOL blog: Driving south on I57 from Indianapolis, we noticed that every fifth vehicle was a new travel trailer towed by a pick up truck. At first I thought there must be a lot of campers till I realized that these trailers were going to […]

Tax Relief for Hurricane and Disaster Victims

The US government and federally funded programs are available to help hurricane, tornado, flood, earthquake and other disasters, and there is also tax benefits and relief for victims. You can find more information on tax benefits and relief from the IRS Tax Relief in Disaster Situations. As one of the millions of victims of Hurricane […]

One Month After Hurricane Katrina

I finally got a full hour of exercise this morning. It was amazing. I sweated and hated every moment of it, and feel much better for it. I finally pulled my little potted garden set into place after a month tied to trees behind the trailer, and caught up on my hand washing and cleaning […]

Your Life is So Easy

I drag my laptop with me every night to the campground office, and set it up. My intentions are to get some work done during the moments between panics, since I hardly find time during the daylight hours. Sometimes I can get as much as 30 minutes of quiet time, other times, I’m lucky to […]

The Creeping Rot of Depression

I can feel it, creeping in from behind my eyes and ears, and curving up around my body. It pushes my shoulders up and head down. My back bows under the weight. Thoughts come in black clouds instead of bright shiny ideas and incentive. I feel it pressing in all around me, coming from all […]

I Love You, I Love You, You Know I Love You

We lost another victim of Hurricane Katrina last night. No, he won’t be in the statistics of the hundreds of lives lost across Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. But he should be. Mr. Walden lived along the Gulf Coast near Pascagoula, Mississippi. He’d been up and active and managing his life until recently, when it just […]

Surviving Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita

We escaped the rage of Hurricane Katrina by evacuating to Atlanta, only to return to Mobile, Alabama, and be threatened by Hurricane Rita. Luckily for us, and unluckily for others, Rita moved to the west, so we’ve missed the full impact, but not the brush by. The damage around us from Hurricane Katrina would be […]

Shady Acres Campground – New Home for FEMA and Insurance Adjusters for Hurricane Katrina

We’ve been back in Mobile, Alabama, for less than three days and I’m still struggling to find words. The stupid thing is that the damage here is totally insignificant. Yet, it isn’t the damage to the surrounding area and homes and lives that ties my fingers up in knots. It’s the look on the face […]

Visual Impact of Hurricane Katrina – Starting to Head Back

Some of you may know that we are also among the millions of refugees/evacuees from Hurricane Katrina. We’ve been in Atlanta for over a week now, waiting for the electricity and water to be turned on and the roads to be cleaned up back in Mobile, Alabama. Where we are staying, we have had no […]

Hurricane Katrina – This is Our Life

The wizard known as Rincewind lurched into the room, white-faced, and stopped in front of the table. “I do not wish to volunteer for this mission.” he said. “I beg your pardon?” said Lord Vetinari. “I do not wish to volunteer, sir.” “No one was asking you to.” Rincewind wagged a weary finger. “Oh, but […]

Escaping Hurricane Katrina: We’re in Atlanta

We are safe and out of Mobile, Alabama, and away from Hurricane Katrina. We left early Sunday morning and are now in Atlanta, Georgia. Right now, we have a WIFI connection but we’re not sure how long it will last. Friends of ours and their families have evacuated from New Orleans and along the Gulf […]

Hurricane Katrina – Knocking on Our Door

There is a lot I could say about the tension and stress we are under, debating to stay or evacuate from Mobile and Hurricane Katrina. And then I saw this from weather.com. They say a picture is worth a thousand words? Well, this one is worth a single decision.

New Evacuation Map for Mobile, Alabama – Almost

As we are preparing to evacuate Mobile, Alabama, we’re packing up and constantly pausing to check the news and we found an an article discussing a new Mobile County Emergency Management Agency evacuation map. It’s announcement came Friday, just before the National Hurricane Center announced the predicted path of Hurricane Katrina towards Mobile and the […]

Looks Like We’re in the Path of Hurricane Katrina

While we will be watching closely, I spent long hours last night packing up the inside of the trailer and this morning we’re attacking the outside, replacing the hot water heater that is leaking and packing up to head out. Where? Where else? Away from the hurricane. Hurricane Katrina is now pretty much confirmed to […]

Hurricane Katrina Approaches

Yes, another hurricane is on its way. And wow, it’s almost the end of August and we are already into the “k” for hurricane names. Hurricane Katrina. That’s a lot of hurricane names used up this year. Brent said, in that authoritative way he has, that they just keep going with the names at the […]