Dear all who expressed their concern for me in the
aftermath of hurricane Katrina

I am very thankful to everyone of you who wrote
expressing their concern for me in the aftermath of
killer hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast.

Will you believe that I moved to our newly
custom-built home in Slidell (30 miles East of New
Orleans) exactly on August 29, 1985. Twenty years
later on the same exact date Katrina damaged our home.
I do not know the extent of the damage but in all
likelihood the house is not livable right now.

My family and I moved out of the Red Cross Shelter
today and drove 90 miles northeast to Jackson,
Mississippi. My eldest son, Rashad, flew to Jackson
from New Haven, Connecticut, to meet us. Right now we
are staying in a hotel in Jackson.

My son and I will join a group of people who live in
Slidell but now are in Jackson to drive down to
Slidell to check the extent of damage to our houses.
We have to return to Jackson because Slidell is
inhabitable - no electricity and drinkable water.
After that we will move to Atlanta area where my
second son is attending college at Georgia Tech.

One good news about my job is that my employer, the
U.S. Government, has told us that I could relocate to
any of the research center where they do similar work.
At the campus of Univ. of Georgia at Athens there is
an ARS (Agricultural Research Service) facility where
I could work for 6-12 months. By that time our
research center will be renovated.

This is our family rebuilding plan. I will update
later where I am planning to live for the time being.

Again, thanks a million to everyone who posted their
concern in Mukto-mona forum. Your words of
encouragement will go a long way to restart my life,
which has been devastated. This is the first tragedy
in my life. I should not complain much because I have
had a good life thus far. I received my doctoral
degree in 1974 when I was only 26 years old. I got
married at 28 and our first son was born in 1979 when
I was 31. I worked in 3 universities (Univ. of
Cincinnati, SUNY at Stony Brook, and Univ. of
Illinois) before joining the Federal Government in
1985 as a research scientist at GS-12 grade. Within
11 years I was promoted to GS-15 grade (the highest
civilian grade level as per Office of Personal
Management). I am planning to work for another 10-12
years until I retire when I will turn 67-68.

As soon as I settle down, I will take up the pen and
write articles for various forums.

Thanks a million to all of you who expressed their
sincere feeling for my family and my well being. We
all are a part of a big family.

Jaffor Ullah

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