Newell Gurus

the flooding there is epic right now.  one of our gurus and moderators (Forest) lives in the middle of all of it.  His cell phone is not working but we talked via messenger this morning and he and cindy are fine and fortunately though the flooding is extremely close to them, they were spared.  He lives just outside of Baton Rouge.  

I know there are other friends near there and i hope all of you are ok.  

tom

All of them are in our thoughts and prayers. I was thinking of them this morning as we watched the news.

We're alive and well.  And most importantly very dry.  Thankfully our house was not affected nor were our 2 sons.  Cindy and I appreciate the concern and once again are reminded how wonderful a community the Gurus are.  However this entire region will be impacted for months if not years by this massive event.  Since many of the areas that did flood were not in a flood zone, or even a flood plain, only 12% of the people that did flood had flood insurance.  Fema only allows a $30,000 grant to those who qualify.  That ain't much when you lose everything.  
If anyone would like to do something to help here are a few places to donate online.  I'm sure there will be many more.  I've heard the newest way to help are organizations, churches, schools, etc. are putting up wish lists on Amazon of needed items.  Thanks again for y'all concern.
American Red Cross
NOLA Pay It Forward Fund: Helping Families in Neighboring Parishes | Greater New Orleans Foundation
https://apel.site-ym.com/donations/donate.asp?id=14775 helps teachers rebuild classrooms
https://www.gofundme.com/2jdh3xg4 Denham Springs Animal shelter
http://www.caabr.org/#!donate/ctzx pet shelter
https://www.gofundme.com/2j453p7w humane society