Vulsin, one of my closest friends, and also the creator of this website, is subject to a tropical storm in the New Orleans area. Him and his family have vacated the area due to the storm's intensity, but they had to leave most of their belongings behind. Chances are, from what I've read, that most homes in the area won't be able to sustain the winds, and will more than likely be destroyed unless the storm changes direction and/or power sometime in the near future.

With that said, he probably won't be online for quite some time. I just wanted to take the time to ask everyone to wish him the best of luck, and wish him and his family/friends safety.

Jorlain

You hear about this stuff all of the time...it never really hits you until it's someone you know. Haven't personly known the guy for a great about of time but from what I do know he is a great guy. Never really been much of a religious guy myself but....wish you the best of luck and all that Craig. Check in when you can, let us know how things are going.

Our thoughts and prayers here in Maine go out to all of you that may be displaced or otherwise effected by this event, and to all in the US hold on to your wallets because we will be paying for this one big time; from gas and oil prices to donations. I hope we all can find our own way to help those in need, now and in the future.

Good luck and stay safe…Lan

If any of you believe in God or any kind of higher power, now would be a good time to send a few prayers up for the safety of Vulsin and his family. He stayed online getting this forum to go live when he should have been preparing to evacuate from this hurricane.
Now that's dedication.

Be safe Craig. All my thoughts and prayers go out to you. *huggles*

Well, I just got a call from Vulsin... Him and his family are just fine. They're sittin' up in northern Liousianna in a motel. All but one of his friends are accounted for, I think it was... But sounds like he might not have a place to go home to.

I have a feeling his house will still be there, but the damage might be more than it's worth.

Best of luck to you, Craigles.

Good to hear he's safe. Let us know as you hear more

I too am glad to hear that Vulsin is safe and my thoughts are with him and his family as they go through this ordeal. If you have further information about his situation please continue to keep us posted. In addition, Vulsin, thank you for all your hard work on this web site. You've done a wonderful job.

Best regards to all,

--Nezmar

Vulsin is doing alright. They'll be in their motel until Friday, and longer if need be. Apparantly the levees are starting to erode away because of all the flooding, so water is still coming in. So until the water starts slowing down, and they can patch the levees, there's really no point in openning the flood gates, et cetera.

Here's a link to some pictures of what's happened in the New Orleans area. The top left picture, actually, is a picture of Vulsin's neighborhood. His house is in the picture, but I can't find it again.

http://www.wwltv.com/weather/pix/

We're doing okay, considering. And in the post above, Jorlain posted a link to an aerial photo of the area I've lived in. I can point out the exact spot my house is.

Near the center of the picture, you'll see two yellowish apartment buildings next to each other. The one on the left, my house is directly up from the upper-left point of it. It's the black roofed house with the white thing on the left (probably my boat or my dad's truck) and a black thing on the right, probably my old Ford Escort.

We're staying in Monroe, LA at the present time, but we only have our hotel room until Friday. After that, the hotel is booked solid for four weeks, so we're not sure where we're going to head after that. We've got plenty of resources available to us (more than what I had ever thought), so we'll be quite alright.

In response to the post about one of my friends being unaccounted for, yes he and his family are still, to my knowledge, missing. I've known Joe and his family for the past 20 years, and I've been chewing through my fingers worrying about them. I swear I must have gone through an entire pack of cigarettes in 12 hours. I think some whiskey might be in order, but I don't have the extra money (well, technically I do, but we want to conserve as much as possible until insurance crap goes through) to spring for a bottle of Jack Daniels

In the span of two hours, we packed up my little Mercury Sable with essentials, leaving behind about 99% of what we own. I packed everything I could, which was mostly clothing and stuff for my contact lenses and such into a small duffle bag (Jorlain can vouch for how small the bag is) and a laptop messenger bag. That's it. My brothers brought along their Xbox, so we have some diversions since our hotel doesn't have an internet connection or cable television. We're lucky to be able to receive CNN, Fox News and The Weather Channel. When the Xbox isn't on, it's usually on CNN.

But for the time being, we're okay. I just wanted to give everyone a heads-up on our situation and condition because I know a lot of you guys are worried. I had talked to a few of you on the telephone earlier (I can call out, but nobody can call me - the entire area codes of 504, 985 and 601 are out of service for incoming calls) and I cannot express enough gratitude for the love, prayers and well wishes we've been receiving. It's more than we could ever ask for, and my family and I thank you all dearly.

I've contaminated my laptop with AOL so I can leech off the hotel's telephone line to keep you guys up to date. I'll be keeping my online journal updated, its address is http://www.livejournal.com/users/lifeblind/ if you wish to check it. Anonymous posting is allowed, so you don't have to create an account to post anything. There's a National Weather Service bulletin that forecast the destruction to come (in grave detail) that is the absolute most frightening thing I've ever read. It's seriously not for the faint of heart. I have that bulletin posted on my LiveJournal.

Everyone take care, and my family and I cannot extend enough thanks for all the thoughts, prayers and well-wishing. It's vastly appreciated.

Love to all,
--Vulsin

Well we have been watching the news and trying to keep updated as to what is going on and Our hopes and prayers go out to you and your family.

It is unfortunate that you may have lost much with the ruthless act of nature and all we can offer is the grace of god has smiled down on you and your family to keep you together and keep you safe.

The loss of your home and belongings is discouraging and no doubt has broken some of your will and your heart but your family is your strength hold on to them and you all will struggle through this together.

Keep your chin up and look forward to a new beginning, it will be a struggle but your freinds here are behind you, and your family with you.

From my faimly to you and yours,
Our sincere hope you will be well
and stay safe and look to your furture.


Alendamar

Wow Alen... I think that's the most legible thing I've ever seen you write...


But, moreover, thanks to all of you showing your support! It means a lot to me to see all you guys banding together to offer Vulsin and his family support right now, and I'm sure it means even more to them.

From the bottom of my heart, I thank you all.

My family and I cannot thank you all enough for the thoughts, well wishes and support. It's a bit overwhelming, but undeniably welcomed

Every day I watch the news, I hear and see more and more terrible news about the ravaged area that is my home, but my family and I will not submit. I firmly believe that our "We will not be crushed" attitude has been tremendously boosted by everyone's support. We will not give up. We will rise like a phoenix from the ashes.

We have just arrived in Baltimore, MD today and we're unsure of how long we will be living here. If I didn't hate driving around Baltimore/DC so much, I'd consider moving here permanently. The area my sister lives in isn't bad at all, honestly. It's actually quite nice.

Also, everyone I know in the area has been accounted for (my friend of 20 years has been found okay and has contacted one of our friends who contacted me) with the exception of my grandfather. He was in the hospital at the time the storm hit and was evacuated to another hospital in the New Orleans area (one with more levels - 6 instead of 2 or 3.) We're unsure of where they took all the patients there, but we'll find out.

Just giving a heads-up to let everyone know what's going on and to give many thanks to all the kind words, wishes and everything