From a Brother at Local 130 New Orleans

Thanks for thinking of my family, it is times like now that an e-mail from a friend and brother means so much!!!!

First, I am glad to say we are all safe, but in my 58 years, I have never been so despondent. I have been in hurricanes all my life, but never one like this. Katrina has really done damage to the entire Gulf Coast area, three states and many cities wiped out, and some off the map forever. We have been on the road for five days trying to locate safe haven. We first left the city going north-northeast, because those roads were open. After five days and 1,500 miles, gas shortages, gas lines for hours, and traffic jams moving so slow, that "stopped" is a better statement, we are now in Austin, Texas. Austin is normally a 12-hour drive from New Orleans going west, but we did it the hard way and maybe the only way with gas.

Secondly, the condition of the members and staff of Local 130 is unknown at this time. The only thing that I know is that most of the city is filled with water, some places are under 14 feet, and they are using the New Orleans Convention Center as a makeshift morgue. I have seen things posted on the Internet stating that there are thousands of bodies recovered. We have 1,200 members in our local, all I can hope and pray for is that they made it out alive.....the only other information I have at this time is from the national news, which is painting a very bleak picture for New Orleans, which I am sure you have already seen.

How can you help us, we need your prayers. It will take years to get New Orleans back on its feet. As I drove here I was also thinking about how we can help the members of Local 130. It will take months to get our current jobs started again, our members will be with out pay for some time..... I would like to see a national IBEW Relief Fund started for all the locals in Katrina devastation. See If we can start this ball rolling.  

Thanks,
Big John