[I] This post is to inform all mustangers that fellow ms.com member maucoin65 member 1420 had to evacuate his home in the New Orleans area for huricane Katrina and had to leave his 1965 fastback behind, He and his family still do not know what is left of their home and his car. Ive meet mike thru this site by a posting he had about the 05 mustang car cover but, he and I e-mailed a few times, but as fellow mustangers and americans I figure we could lend him some support, yes he has insurance but does not know what is covered yet plus the cost of evacuating probably has not been cheap. Anyone who feels they are wanting to help but do not feel there is anything they can do could send him a gas card, wal-mart girt card, a small check $5 or $10 dollars. If we all band together it could really ad up. anyone wanting to help can reach him at Mike Aucoin
4508 Grant Rd.
Erath, La 70533
Thanks
Jay (69mach)

 

With the risk of sounding like a jerk, I feel we should donate to the Red Cross instead of individual people. Hopefully his car and his house are ok but it seems he still has his health. IMO health is a lot more valuable than material items. Many people there are sick and need food and water. The Red Cross is set up to save these peoples' lives. Of course you want to help your friend but not everyone has a friend like you and they need our help also. He is just one out of the millions that need our help.

Also, I hope everyone here can donate some money to the Red Cross or other organizations. I'm sure if you can afford a new Mustang you can donate a few dollars to people who have nothing. I myself donated $300 and I plan to donate blood later this week. Now I'm a 20 year old college student and I work part time and paying foy my Mustang by myself. If I can donate some money I hope some of you can too, and if you can't help financially I hope you can donate blood. Any donation helps.

Our hearts and prayers go out to all of those affected by this Hurricane.

P.S. sorry if I made anyone feel guilty.

 

More Horrible news-
I hate to hear it.

 

I personally would rather give to a real person in need than to give my money to an organization.

Are we sure this is a good address that he can receive mail at? I will send a donation.

 

Not to sound like a jerk, but, you met him in, in one post? I noticed your 2 post count. Almost sounds like a scam to me.

You're better off sending money to the Red Cross, or Salvation Army.

Just my .02 I donated 25 bucks myself.

 

A real person who is apparently fine, only lacking some material items. Sounds like he evacuated fine and has a place to stay for the time being.

The Red Cross, Americares, United Way, etc are helping out people who have no food, no water, no diapers for babies, and nowhere to go. Give to a known charity, the money will be put to better use.

 

retracted

 

I'm stuck in Texas myself right now. I lived in St. Bernard Parish/County which was hit harder than the city itself.

 

Sorry that you had to leave your home and that you are stuck in Texas. I hope that you will be able to return home soon. Best of luck to you and to everyone who was affected by this storm. You are all in our thoughts and prayers.

I urge everyone who can make a donation to the Red Cross to do so.

 

[I] Hello, Yes I meet him thru this website, but e-mailed him on my own as I have ISELLFORD some thru regular e-mail, this is not a scam and you can check mike's post's and know he is legit. his current e-mail address is daniel514@***.net
Ive watched what has happened and felt helpless and mike was the only person I knew in the area affected. Its up to you if you want to contact him and see if this is real. I felt as a fellow mustanger I wanted to try to help, anyone who felt I am trying to scam I am sorry for trying to help this guy out. I have not posted much on this site but read it alot. I live in missouri and he is in Louisianna, like I stated before Im sending him something if not that is your choice but this is Not a scam. Jay 69mach

 

[I]Is there anything that we can do to help you DrunkenDragon713 ?

 

Sorry to hear that, Pat. I am from Mandeville... just north of New Orleans and I had to evacuate the family (and the Mustang) to Baton Rouge. The storm hit B.R. pretty hard, and I didn't have electricity for a couple days. But, I probably won't be able to go back home for another week or two. Hang in there. I used to live in New Orleans east... close to St. Bernard Parish. I know Chalmette and that are got hit really hard (as far as flooding). Good luck to you.

 

[I] Hello, When I listed this post, Mike was the only person I had meet from the N.O. area If any members need to talk to each other or vent or ask for help why not with another mustanger, we can all relate to each other thru the love of the mustang. Someone questioned my only having a few post's the reason I usually do not post is almost any subject on the fourms gets a few Leno and Letterman's to add in. I read this site weekly to stay informed. If you have chatted or delt with anyone from any of the area's hit in the past check with just that person and see what they might need if you have delt with them as I had mike then you know they are from that area and you are not being scammed. Thanks Jay (69mach)

 

Folks: Thanks for remembering me. We have been displaced from our home by Hurricane Katrina for 2 weeks today, and will continue to be for another 1 to 3 weeks or longer. I am in a little town called Erath, LA, south of Lafayette. It started with our evacuation on Sunday morning 8/28/05. What should have been a 2 hour ride took 8 hours for most of my family; it took me 10 hours due to a diversion to a hospital along the way when my 82 year old mother (who has Alzheimer’s) went in to respiratory distress. Ever have to call 911 during an evacuation? Special thanks to the Patterson, LA police department who came to our aid within 3 minutes then escorted us to the hospital in Morgan City, LA.

All family members are now safe, but some didn't fare well at all with their homes.

My house is OK, no flooding or structural damage that I am aware of yet but I haven't been able to do a thorough inspection. We were allowed into the area this week, and we made 2 trips---one to grab clothes and essentials and one to clean out some really nasty refrigerators and freezers at my and my Dad's house. That equipment is ruined and will have to be replaced, but at least the source of the smell is now out of the houses.

My fence is down, my shed is gone, there is debris everywhere (twisted sheet metal, boards, roofing and fence nails, etc.). But my oldest sister, dad and me are blessed---my middle sister and my niece suffered major damage to their homes which will be uninhabitable for months. It was heartbreaking to narrate my tour of my sister's place to her on the telephone, then listen to her sobs on the telephone before I finished. Then to call my older sister to tell her that while her house was fine, her daughter's had suffered major roof (and thus interior) damage along with flooding.

My in laws also had 12-15 feet of water in their house in Arabi in St. Bernard Parish--it is sure to be a total loss. My stepdaughter was living with her in-laws while building a house---the in-laws home was flooded and will need to be rebuilt; her stuff in storage was also flooded so she's lost most everything except the cash in the bank from selling her previous house.

I did take the 2005 Mustang with me, left the 1965 behind but later got it out to safety at a friend’s facility about an hour away from home, where it will remain for a few months until we can get things somewhat back to normal. It looks like my job will be temporarily relocated to Baton Rouge, so I'll be commuting for a while. Don't know when (or if) we will get back in to our offices in downtown N.O., right next to the Superdome and the Hyatt Regency hotel that had all the windows blown out. The city is under quarantine due to health reasons for the foreseeable future. Yes, bodies are still floating in the water as I type this.

Since my house will rebound fairly quickly, once they let us back in (Jefferson Parish where I live was placed under lockdown Thursday evening 9/8/05 at 6 p.m., no one can get in until further notice and if you stayed you can't drive around, only emergency vehicles; we left again due to lack of power, water and sewerage)---we will soon be taking in 8 extended family members who are now homeless.

Unexpected out of pocket living expenses are starting to mount, so we really need to get back home soon. Longer term concern is the uninsurable loss of market value of our home; structural and flood damage is covered, loss of value is not and we have all taken a huge hit to our property values due to this storm.

The ultimate death toll, just in the metro N.O. area, will shock the nation. They are stacking body bags on overpasses for when they bring the bodies out. When you add in the toll all the way to Mobile, look out.

Life goes on around the country and the world. But this event is not merely an inconvenience; this is one of those "defining moments" that will alter the course of all of our lives, forever. The emotional and physical turmoil and disruption are hard to describe. And I am by far one of the more fortunate and blessed; many people have suffered far greater than me, in so many ways. But none of our lives will ever be the same.

It will be a long road back. Your prayers and encouragement are appreciated.

Special thanks to Jay Thorpe / 69Mach who has been emailing me to offer prayer, encouragement and support. A real Christian, a great American, a loyal Mustanger, and a true friend. Thank you, Jay.

What I wrote above is only the tip of the iceberg; I didn't want to burden people with lengthy stories or sound like a whiner. But unless you have personally experienced something like this, you cannot begin to fathom what those affected are going through. I know I couldn't, until now.

For those of you who feared a scam, don't blame Jay---his heart was in the right place and I assure you, his appeal was no scam. Nor am I looking for donations. God will provide for our needs.

As for donating to various Agencies like the Red Cross, well I can only tell you to be very careful and selective in your choice of organization to receive your donation. The Red Cross has been very conspicous by their absence from the area. Perhaps they made it to downtown N.O. (and I'm not certain about that), but they certainly haven't make it to the heavily afflicted suburbs that you probably haven't heard about because the media is also ignoring them. Like those stranded in St. Bernard Parish (did you know there were 1,000 people stuck on a levee due to the inundation, awaiting rescue for days? The Red Cross apparently didn't know about them either). We spent two, 12 hour days in Metairie and never saw any sign of the Red Cross. My house was spared the worst, but Jefferson Parish was hit very hard by both high winds and flooding, and a lot of people are still in need there.

Your hearts are all in the right place; just be judicious and choose your donee organization thoughtfully and carefully, that's all.

Craig / Ripstang wrote me: "With global warming things are only going to get worse Mike this may sound hard but please get what you can for your place and don't look back , it will only happen again."

Ripstang is right. I’ve lived there my entire life, almost 50 years, but I have had enough. I’ve seen storms all my life, but nothing ever like this. The destruction is so widespread as to be incredible---from the west side of (East) Jefferson Parish all the way to Mobile AL. Normally a storm hits N.O., or Biloxi, or Mobile, but never before the entire area.

When the timing is right, I will move away. That is a sad prospect to have to leave your life long home. But we will continue to live under this constant threat of not only a storm, but a levee break. And I won't be on the planet long enough for them to "fix" the problem by building a big enough protection system, if such a thing even exists. It will take decades, and tons of money (although it would have been cheaper if Congress had given the Army Corps of Engineers the money they wanted over the past 30 years to provide flood protection; well, as taxpayers we're all paying for it now, many many times over).

I don’t know yet where to move, but I’m open to suggestion. Acadian is fortunate, he is already above sea level on the north shore of Lake Pontchartrain. So all of you out there---help me to find paradise. Thanks. Mike

 

C'mon, you guys are all over North America, and even other parts of the world. No suggestions on where to move when I get out of the flood bowl??

 

ALABAMA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

April---the entrie state??? Or some part in particular?

Appealing, still in the South, but far inland. Elevation well above sea level??

 

Yes alabama is well above sea level. The very gulf coast cities are about the only ones that you have to worry about flooding in a major hurricane such as katrina.

AL has alot to offer, but I suggest researching everything as much as possible before deciding.

Good luck Mike, let us know if we can be of help.

 

In Alabama it is super easy to make a living.....Housing is cheaper than other places as well(If we would have taken any of the offered transfers we have received, we could have never had a house like this). Cost of living is good- there is entertainment o plenty as well.....

BUT I am also from here and have lived here most of my life save for my 8 years of explorations around the country so I am a little biased.

 

Alabama sounds very interesting. Thanks Scott I will let you know how we make out. Birmingham and surrounding area?? I'll check it out.