Greykyttyn is okay!

Got a text from Greykyttyn in Joplin.. She is okay! Thank God.. Thank God.

Please take a moment to exchange phone numbers!

It is very frustrating and scary when we can't check on our DG buddiez!!

edited to remove my number.. I think it's been up there long enough. Thank you everyone who participated.. I think this is important.

This message was edited May 24, 2011 9:28 AM

Can call anyone at no charge and can receive text but not send. edited to remove number. If anyone wants it just D-Mail

This message was edited May 24, 2011 9:12 AM

Anyone wanting mine, I'll dmail if requested. I don't just want to put my # out there for everyone...Hay

I'll also d-mail my phone number. I really worry when we don't hear from people!!!!!

Thanks so much for letting us know Greykyttyn is OK! Whew, those were wicked storms!

Whooooosh , thats a relief!!! These Storms are getting worse and worse! Be safe DG friends!
If you want my number just D-mail....If for some reason you cant get me to reply, contact Digger.

I guess Greykyttyn is trapped from the flooding.. They have to boil water... There is no power for 2 weeks... ATMs are useless.. can't get supplies. There is so much more behind the scenes that we don't know about.. Yes, she was out of immediate danger, and their property was not destroyed.. but they have family in hospitals all over the country and now the flooding is causing problems! My heart goes out to all those people... I love MO..

Keep the prayers and good thoughts coming.

I know exactly how miserable that all is. She and everyone there is going through what we all did after Hurricane Katrina. My heart really goes out to everyone there and I pray their recovery is swift

My internet modem went bad and I had to wait for a new one before I could get online. All the affected people have bben in my prayers. I was worried about Gray Kitten and her brood. So relieved to know they are good.

So glad she is safe. If anyone wants my phone# dmail me.

You make an excellent point ZZ's. There is always so much more behind the scenes that we don't know about. We do need to continue to pray for Greykyttyn and that whole area. Without adequate supplies and potable water, health issues can quickly become a terrible threat. I just can't imagine the heartache and fear some of those wonderful people are experiencing...Lord help them in this great time of need...Hay

If anyone comes up with a collective way to help Greykyttyn and her family, please let me know...

Okay.. She has been able to post once or twice on FB but can't get on here. I guess they lost the family business, but have been able to salvage a few of the wreckers. She said that when they were up there digging around, tiny shards of glass got in her shoes.. it's hard to navigate in all the debris. They found one cat that lives at the biz and were able to catch it.. the other one is still being hard to catch..
She also got an order of chicks from Meyers! Tell me it is not the stupidest thing you ever heard for that company to just ship out baby chicks to Joplin??? Hello? Like Cindy said, they don't even have a post office anymore.. or a phone, or any power to heat the brooder.. I mean really? I was very upset when she told me about it.. Really, is there anyone who doesn't know Joplin MO is hurting right now?

Haystack, you are so right.. We all need to be supportive and pray for all those people. We are lucky to be able to communicate with her.. There is so much after the fact that we don't know that goes on.. it goes so much further beyond the day of the disaster... I don't know what we can do other than send love and prayers for healing and strength and just be there for her when she needs us. :)

Joplin your in my prayers,so glad greykyttn is ok but so sad for everything else

Lately, I just have no words.

i have INTERNET!!!! I am back! Thanks guys.. i've been able to read this.. but not able to post.. phone wouldn't let me.. I appreciate all the thoughts & prayers...Yes Meyers sent the chicks.. with no way for the post office to return them, find us.. or anything. They are sitting on the kitchen counter in a fish tank bc i don't have time to do anything else with them. It was pure irresponsibility on Meyers part. There was no phone service, cell or landline.. no internet.. they didn't' even know we were ALIVE... yet they send an order of chicks. I was just speechless when my phone rang at 430 am one morning & the post office on the other end of town was trying to located me to come pick them up bc they didn't' know what to do with them.. they had just heard them cheeping & needed them moved soon.

That is ridiculous.

You should post that in the Garden Watchdog if it's in there.. Bad judgment if you ask me!

I'm so glad you are back online.. :) Hope all is getting better.

Happy to know you are safe Greykyttyn. Is there anything we can do to help?

not really at this point but thank you. Most of our issues is trying to pay bills while trying to rebuild. I'm getting a paycheck but idk for how long.. Mom's trying.. insurance is trying.. but its hard. Fema doesn't help businesses.. and SMB told us that we'd have to repay back the help.... which we won't be able to do.. they only loan you money.. so we get NO government assistance after all this. Businesses are pretty much screwed help wise. DH & i are stretched thinner than the rest of the family bc we don't have a stove yet.. just a microwave.. the guy going to hook up the stove is helping dig us out & that seems more important.. but microwave friendly foods that kids will eat are expensive after awhile. trying to stock up on cheese & lunch meat.. they will live on sandwiches for awhile.. pb & j's too. Hardest one is the 18m old.. he's a picky eater... but then i was feeding them lots of veggies, fruits & home cooked meals.... & this has lowered our standard of food.. thus he protests loudly... or thinks he can live on chips.

Fema forgets about the ones on the edges of town.. the ones that lost a business.. but have no power at thier homes as well... they are only concerned for the homes in the foot print... i went to a couple supply places & picked up some food for us.. to kinda balance out what cash we've got with bills for a bit. Just means we can't remodel the garage into a bedroom now.. will be living in the lil bedroom till next tax season... found a guy who puts in storm shelters... $2500 but then he found out we have a backhoe.. said if we'd dig the hole he'd put one in considerably cheaper... now to find the money to do that... we need one. Mom's putting one in.. but i'd feel better with one right out our back door!

lastly... CNN's photos.. DO NOT DO THIS JUSTICE. NO photo does... trust me. its 100x's worse than what you are seeing on TV. It looks like a war zone. like a bomb went off.. we've had people thru here that said its worse than Katrina.. worse than Haiti... i never saw those places.. but that gives you an idea of what volunteers coming in to help are saying. There are hills where i never knew there was one. The kids mom's apartment complex.. was leveled.. a family i babysit for their kids were in the building across from them.. their apartment.. is gone... totally flat floor where they lived. I called and they ran.. a Father that NEVER leaves for a tornado.... he left this time but only bc i called & threw a fit that he leave... didn't get far.. made it to the Gas station that's been all over CNN that the people were in the beer cooler... 3 of those were my babies I've babysat for the last 5 yrs...

Some are crying all over everything..... the rest.. are bottling it.. bc you don't have time to process it. If you stop to process you can't get done what you need to do. You have to detach yourself & laugh thru the digging.. Its the only way to get thru it. I lost everything i had my of my Fathers, my Great Aunts.. my grandma's and a few things of my mom's i keep in my hope chest.. my HOPE chest.. had it since i was 15.. its been packed & stuffed full of memories & treasures for my babies some day to know our family... Its strewed so far.. we can't find it in the first mile of searching.

People keep saying things can be replaced.. yes a house can be replaced.. but its those items.. like i lost...75 yrs of items passed down thru family i had collected... you can't replace that.

Sounds like it is a miracle you are alive.

greykyttyn just take one day at a time and try to keep your stress level down. Don't let it destroy your marriage.

I know what you are talking about with FEMA. We had flood insurance and couldn't get any help other than the 1,200 they gave everyone and a months food stamps. I guess it didn't matter that we never got our flood insurance money until mid Febuary of 2006 then had to sign it and send it to the mortgage company to take their part first and wait for them to send the rest back to us. SBA would only give us a loan to rebuild on our old property so we had to go regular loan again to buy this house since there was no way I could do a house on stilts which was now required for my area. The only way we got this house was from a wealthy relative loaned us a down payment until our insurance money came in or we would have been homeless while all the people that knew they were in flood zones but chose not to buy flood ins. got FEMA trailers.
It is really sickening they way they work things

Hang in there girl. It's going to be a long bumpy road ahead of you and family

Grey, You have been on my mind and in my prayers. I know how hard it must be. I have lived through many hurricanes but thankfully never lost everything all at once. Did your house get destroyed.

Wow Donna.. Those are true words of wisdom. You are a very wise woman. I really admire you for that! Such good advice.."Don't let it ruin your marriage" I bet many marriages have perished under that kind of stress..

Cindy, I'm so sorry you have all this on your plate. I know you are strong and you will be okay. Wow..

PLEASE let us know if there is anything you need, now or in the future. My heart aches for you and all the people in your area.

I've seen pictures and videos on Fox news and Weather channel that are just unbelievable. I don't even have words to express how awful I feel about what people are going through. I have seen that there is a lot of outpouring help. I just wish I could be there to help in some way...I think I will give to the red cross or salvation army so they can help out with what people need the most.

Just take it one day at a time and keep plugging away and this will make one stronger. Good luck with getting the house and business back in order.

I've seen on TV people are finding stuff that belongs to others and saving it for later. I know it will be difficult to get everything to the right person, but I hope most of your hope chest stuff makes its way back to you. Prayers for you, your family, and friends.

We had a tornado in 95. I know we were all in shock for about two weeks, and the tiniest little cloud in the sky sent my mind into a panic.

It was really amazing how people cleaned things up so quickly. Ours wasn't nearly as bad as yours though.

Your situation has made me want a shelter of my own too.

our streets are clean already... everything's been pushed to the side... my stuff didn't' have my name on it.. no way to find it.. a few pictures maybe... but most of it.. no one but me will remember what it was... most stuff they are just picking up with track hoe's & putting in dumpsters or burning in huge piles on sight. too much to sort thru. My DH is AMAZING. ABSOLUTELY AMAZING. there's been no fights, no arguing.. he jumped right in & helped me pick thru stuff.. just as dirty & cut up as I was the first 3 days. he crawled thru twisted steel beams & shredded sheet metal to pull out mom's fake flowers she saw & freaked out she wanted.... When i picked up my baby sheet.. a queen size sheet mom has used since i learned to crawl for me & other kids to eat on in the beauty shop.. and it was full of holes but i clung to it demanding it go home & be washed.. he just tenderly folded it as best as he could & stuffed it in the car. he finally broke down today when we went by the apartments... if your on FB you can see them... the kids mom's apartment is totally gone.. not a wall or anything left.. floor just as bare as the day they started building it. It hit home how close we came to losing our babies if we'd picked them up 20 mins later...

@CajuninKy... no.. house is fine... we just lost the business.. BUT Dustin & I had just moved out of mom's 3 weeks prior.. and hadn't gotten everything out of storage.. so most of my furniture was stored in a trailer behind our shop. So i didn't lose my house.. but i lost several things that cant' be replaced like my hope chest. I lost a box of clothes that was the girls, mine & mom's summer clothing. We've got enough to get by.... its just one of those things that upsets you & you don't realize it till you go looking for it & notice its gone.

@AnnieBBB .... i just don't know. I'm not one to ask for things.. or take things very well... i can give all day long.. i just don't receive things very well. We are ok for now i think. i broke down & got food from one of the supply lines, dang near killed me to do it but i did it for the kids.. and Hannah.. she will be coming to live with us for awhile. It'll be enough for a week or so till things slow down. but thank you.

the picture is the gas station my little friend hid in with her family.. in the beer cooler.. its been all over CNN. Found out tonight.. i knew another family in that cooler.. i went to school with the parents.

They must have been scared out of their wits. Poor things. God is so merciful. It seems a miracle the death toll is not higher.

Glad your home is fine. I am sorry you have lost your precious belongings. Many "things" cannot be replaced but the love you had for their meaning can never be taken away from you. Later, as you think of some of the items, you can tell their story to the kids, make a sketch of the item and put it all in a memory book.

And somewhere inside all that destruction there is an undamaged beer cooler?

yes.. a very undamaged beer cooler that held 8 people i know & another 8 to 10 i didn't know. Last family wasn't totally inside when the from windows blew out of the gas station.

here's our shop.. second morning i was there.. couldn't take photos Sunday night.. so much natural gas in the air & diesel fuel, oil & what not on the ground we'd have blown ourselves to kingdom come if i'd clicked the shutter on the camera. Dustin & I walked in.. were down there 20 mins... and were sick for a good 24 hours afterwards from all the gas we inhaled.

My brothers & friends had already cut away a good chunk of metal covering the truck on the end...

here's a wider shot. the water tower in the background.. the brick structure was apartment buildings...

Greykyttyn, I'm sorry. I went thru Hurricane Andrew (cat 5) in Fl, and then the Hurricanes Jeanne and Frances took out my house. Wilma later took out the storage pod with much of what I'd "saved".
So I can relate. Few pictures (no albums) survived, my two most treasured pieces of family furniture were lost as well. An 18th century watercolor painting simply disappeared from the paper. So many treasures just became a pile of rubble.
You don't get over it. You do learn to go on. It's not easy, and it's a very long process. 7 years later I still get weepy over some of the "stuff".

Please let me know if I can help.

I`m sitting here looking at these pictures with tears in my eyes.I don` watch the news much because I don`t like the sadness and the fear that peaple have to go through.I still know whats going on I do listen to the radio and read the paper.My heart aches for the peaple that have to go through these disasters,and I do pray for them.

I'm teary too. The damage is just unbelievable, and so is the courage of those who keep on going. Bless your heart Greykyttyn. Please, please let me know when you need something. You're all in my thoughts and prayers.

catmad.. you helped just knowing someone understands & doesn't think i'm crazy for being upset over a few pieces of furniture.

There is memories in those few pieces of furniture

ok i do have one small need for a very small friend of mine. The girl that was in the Gas station during the tornado lost her phone during that time. She's been whisked away to Wellington, KS to her mom since the following morning, with no good byes to any of us. She's going to be living with me for a couple weeks starting Saturday before heading back to her mother so it could be mailed here. A phone is such a small thing but its such a big thing for a teen whose been though what she has. She has to beg her brother to use his phone to stay connected to us in any way. Please if anyone can help she is asking for a donation of a USED Verizon phone.. anything basically she doesn't care what it looks like as long as she can make phone calls & text. Can anyone help please? We'd really appreciate it!

you are luckie to have found anything. I was only able to get a very small porcelin baby figurine my grand father got me when I was 9. Some how it didn't break, also got my DG coffee mug that was in the dish washer. No pictures and that hurts the worst

This is a good reminder to all of us to secure our family pictures.

Cindy!! Let me look!! I think I have one!! I'll email you.. I have to do some searching, but I had Verizon on the truck!