transposed 'bentrider

re_biker@yahoo.

Hi folks, my name is Bill, and, on the 3rd of August, I landed at SeaTac Airport in Seattle to make my new home in Bremerton, Washington. I'm 48 years old, I grew up in Slidell, Louisiana, and I flew in from New Orleans Louis Armstrong Airport after having lived the last two years in Kenner. Kenner is just a bit west of New Orleans in Jefferson Parish. My brother Steve and his wife continue to live in Kenner. As you know, Hurricane Katrina has very effectively obliterated southeast Louisiana as well as the Gulf coast in Mississippi and Alabama. The flooding of the city of New Orleans and the devastation of coastal Mississippi is shaping up to be the most horrific natural catastrophe in the modern history of our great nation. Katrina, a monster Category 4 storm, struck its swath of utter devastation the Monday morning of August 29. Only today I have learned that my brother and his wonderful wife Susan made good their escape to the city of Monroe in northern Louisiana. At the moment, I have no news of my friends and former co-workers in the New Orleans suburbs of Kenner and Metairie, including my former girlfriend Kerrie Ann, who is five months pregnant with my first baby. On Sunday I called Kerrie to tell her that I loved her and begged her to get out of Katrina's path. There is no phone service anywhere in the stricken area, so I continue to await news of all my friends and loved ones, and I fear that the current situation in the greater New Orleans area will continue to see a civilization in a state of collapse for many months to come. I am, as you can imagine, heartsick. My new baby is due on 20 December, and I just don't even know how or when I could possibly reach Kerrie Ann. Each day, I ride my Cycle Genius STX recumbent bicycle to nearby Silverdale, and with the days here so far sunny and clear, I look across to the beautiful distant Mount Rainier, and my heart goes out to everyone who is suffering so back home in the Gulf South. Folks, pray for everyone there! Thank you all so much for listening, ah, reading me!!