Dear All,

On September 6 (Tuesday), we (myself and my son, Rashad) went to Slidell (my
hometown
next to N.O.) with Rashad's friend Jhonathan and his father to evaluate the
extent of
damage to our houses. The trip was 180 miles from Jackson, MS. We filled the
gas tank
of the car and on top of it, took a 2-gallon gas tank filled with gasolene. We
reached
there by 11:00 a.m.

The damage that we saw while going down in the affected areas was very
extensive. Trees
were scattered everywhere starting from Hattiesburg (90 miles to the north of
New
Orleans). Electric lines were mangled with fallen trees. In all, it was a
ghastly seen.

One of my cars that was parked in a shopping mall (higher ground) was shifted 90
degrees. The car is now beyond repair.

On reaching home we found every items scattered all over the house. Rashad's
piano (a
big item) was thrown upside down! All the electronic gadgets, sofas,
furnitures, kitchen
items, clothes, beds were a total ruin. The smell of the mold was overwhelming.

The good thing is that he house suffered no damage. One of my latest laptop was
placed
7-8 higher than the ground. It came unscathed. The watermark inside the house
tells me
that at one point water reached 5.5 to 6 feet. We live 5-6 miles from the big
lake. The
neighborhood is surrounded by a 11 feet levy. Therefore, the tidal surge was
atleast 6-17
feet.

We cleaned the refrigerator and many other items. Slidell is not livable
without electricity
and running water. Slidell looked like a ghost town. We saw quite a few
emergency
management people manning the main streets. The police was giving their rounds
to
make sure there is no looting and intruders in the town.

I had several oriental rugs inside the house. I decided to take out two (a
gorgeous
Bukhara and a Balochi rug) rugs out for drying. One of my neighbors helped me
out to
clean my house. While cleaning, we also found our dead pet bird. The bird was
my
second son's pet. I do not have the courage to tell my son that the bird is
dead.

We have to go several times to our hurricane-stricken home for clean up. All
the damaged
things have to go outside. There is a muck of dried lake water inside our home
whose
stench is unbearable. There is a lot of work cut out for us to do to restore
the place.

I have to relocate to some other place my employer will ask me to go for a
period of 6-12
months. Life is uncertain but I am hanging in there. What my family and I have
gone
through in the last 7-8 days, I do not want anyone to experience anything like
this.

The pieces that we lost carry a lot of memory of our family. All three of our
children grew
up in this house. My son was very sad seeing his childhood stuff rotting
inside. I had an
extensive collection of books. All gone! The bookcases came apart. The floors
were
strewn with books. I found many of my vinyl record albums scattered on the
floor. This
pained me a lot.

I will update again. My experience will be shared by millions of people in the
Gulf State.