I'm not sure who lives where, but I hope everyone here and their family and friends got clear of the storm. Are we certain everyone's OK? My prayers everyone down South. Keep safe.

For those who haven't seen as much coverage as we're getting on US news, Katrina devastated several southern cities and will probably rack up as the costliest natural disaster in our history. There is no running water or electricity and hundreds, possibly thousands of people are already known to be dead and tens of thousands more are stranded in the Superdome or on rooftops. The AP article ishere

Thank you very much for your concern. Well, I'm all right. I'm pretty lucky, too. If the storm had followed the course it looked like it was going to follow, I'd be out of a home right now. Fortunately for my family (please, anyone who got hit because of Katrina's change in course, forgive me), it veered to the east. We lost a small tree that was already dying from being hit by a car, and a lot of our shingles fell off. Nonetheless, no one and nothing was hurt beyond the point of minor annoyance. Also, all of my family, including the ones living in New Orleans, are all right. Thank you, again, for your concern.

This is a storm that is going to affect a lot of lives for a long time to come... all the death and destruction of the storm itself is being followed by deprivation and shortages... and not just in the hardest hit areas. Even while those of us not directly affected by the storm pray for -and prepare to assist- our brothers and sisters, our attempts are being hampered by Gas and material shortages in our own communities, caused by panic, hording and price gouging.... all of which, at the moment, are perfectly legal, because no state of emergency has been declared! Here, in South Carolina, the law is that complaints of Gouging can not even be investigated, unless a disaster has been declared, here. Meanwhile, news of refineries being down in other states has caused gas prices here to skyrocket...

And, I know, that Complaining about gas prices may seem petty, in the wake of this emergency, but those greater prices and shortages will only increase suffering in the storm wracked states, in the long run... While the rich get richer...

I'm glad to hear that you and yours are alright... I've been seeing some truly horrendous images coming out of that area. And it amazes me, once again, how something so bad can happen, so close by, without so much as a breeze, elsewhere...

'Glad you're okay Fluffy. Do you know if anyone else on here was in the area hit?

Some of my friends over on the west coast came over when the storm was coming. We're cool here on the east coast, though.

Well, if anyone remembers Beans, Godfather, and Nachodude (none of them stayed very long), they all live within a few blocks of me. They're all fine; they didn't even lose any shingles. Other than that, I don't know if anyone on the board lives in the affected area. If whoever reads this does, though, I wish you well (that's not to say that I don't wish you well if you weren't hit, but if you were, I wish you especially well).

My friend Jax lives in Miami-Dade where Katrina hit first before it refuled in the Golf. His power was out for 4 or 5 days but he's alright. I suppose his house is fine too (I didnt ask) and his friends. It would be a rather sad bit of irony if he was killed by a hurricane named Katrina, seeing as my name is Katrina and I'm his EX girlfriend.... Heh

I'm glad to hear you're alright Fluffy ^^ Hope everyone else on here is doing alright

First of all I just want to say how happy I am that Fluffy is okay...for the past few days I've been a nervous wreck...I can sleep easy now.

Second of all... it's kind of frightening to see all the damage. Yesterday a cable news channel showed footage of some kind of oil leak I guess, but it made it look like the floodwaters were on fire.

Third of all...I was thinking of starting some kind of charity business to raise money to donate to the victims. I'm considering selling cookies...