I live in Mobile, and most of the people around here feel for our neighbors in New Orleans and on the Mississippi coast. There was damage around here, people suffered losses, and 25 percent of the county schools were catastrophically damaged, but in comparasion to our neighbors, we have very little to complain about.
In April, my wife and I moved from our trailer into an apartment, about a mile from where I work, so we stayed home during the storm.
Shingles were blown off roofs, three trees in our complex were blown down, and power was out for a day and a half. Power remains out in many places around the county and will be out for some time. My work place still has no power, but the building has no damage.
Mobile is on the bay, but it spreads out over a wide area. Downtown got flooded because of the water that was pushed into the bay and backed into the Mobile River, but farther west, flooding wasn't such a problem because the storm didn't produce a lot of rain as was predicted.
The Mississippi cities like Gulfport, Biloxi, and Pascagoula are basically on the beach, and there is hardly any place in town where folks can hide from a hurricane there. Mobile's closest point to the Gulf may be 15 or 20 miles, as the crow flies, which helps when the big storms blow.
My family and self are all ok. My oldest son, Adam stayed at the apartment with us and will stay until power is back on at his place. My younger son, Josh is in Germany with his National Guard unit. During Ivan's aftermath last year, he worked several weeks helping with relief efforts.
Roy
