In early June of 2001 with virtually no warning, Houston was hit by Tropical
Storm Allison, twice.  Allison hit Houston on day 1 then it went north and
soaked Dallas for a while, then it came back to Houston on day 4 and 5.
Large parts of Houston were underwater and 22 people died.  We live a ways
north of Houston and on "high" ground so we were ok.

The next morning, a Sunday, my wife and I loaded the minivan with toys,
blankets, clothing and drove to the nearest Kroger, where we bought as much
groceries and supplies as we could fit in the minivan and drove to an
affected area of Houston.  After about 1.5 hours of driving we were able to
get to a local church which was being used as an emergency shelter.  We were
not alone; it made me very happy to see that a lot of other folks had the
same idea we did.  After waiting in line for another half hour or so, it was
our turn to have our supplies unloaded.

The first question that was asked of us when we opened the door was:  "Do
you have any diapers?"  We unfortunately did not think of buying any of
those.  They were nevertheless very happy to take all our goods.  We told
them that we would try to go and get some diapers but they urged us not do
that.  There was a huge line behind us and just to return with diapers was
not worth it.  We made our way back home after several hours.

The subscribers to this list are helpful people as has been demonstrated
time and again over the years, whether in their willingness to help with
answers or volunteering for various tasks.

I would now urge everyone to help the people affected by Katrina.  Visit
www.redcross.org and make a cash donation.  On the local radio stations,
they are calling for blood donors.  The blood supply is running low and the
affected areas will probably not have access to whatever blood supplies they
would have had.

This time, I can't drive there; I am sure I would be turned back.  I am
certain that donation stations will be set up around the country, and the
collected goods will be loaded on trucks to be driven to the affected areas.
If there is not one in your area, then start it yourself.

When it comes to donations, my bias is always in favor of the children in
such cases.  If you are going to send goods, please include things for the
children, I would suggest stuffed candy, animals and children's books.

And of course, diapers and wipes.

Denys
-----Original Message-----
From: HP-3000 Systems Discussion [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf
Of Ron Seybold
Sent: Tuesday, August 30, 2005 1:09 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [HP3000-L] 3000 Newswire Blog: Katrina misses HP show site

Hello Friends:

Thanks to Denys for keeping everybody up to date. I reached my daily
limit on tragedy about 9 this morning. I was watching an interview
with a man on the street in Gulfport. His house split in two, with
his wife on the other side of the roof. Her hand slipped out of his,
after she told him "You can't hold on anymore." The waters carried
her away. He sobbed on camera, with his two boys under his arms, and
the local TV reporter was in tears, too.

It makes the problems of scheduling a computer conference a minor
issue in comparison. HP intends to make its news announcements, even
if the conference doesn't take place, they told me this morning. In
the meantime, the suffering along the Gulf takes center stage. My
prayers are with them all.

I posted an entry in my personal blog (Half-Baked Light) this morning
about the catastrophe in New Orleans. The sounds of bullfrogs
carpeted the air last night in the city. It makes that prediction of
"a wilderness" seem accurate:

* To join/leave the list, search archives, change list settings, *
* etc., please visit http://raven.utc.edu/archives/hp3000-l.html *