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The phones are down all over the place. My brother wasn't able to call his son until late Tuesday night, 24 hrs. after the storm. SirKit's brother also couldn't get any word out until then. It could be that your friend just hasn't been able to get someone with a Sat phone yet. The regular phones are not working; land or cell. I guess some folks have the opportunity to get to someone with a satellite phone, and some don't.

The phones are still out in some parts of Hattiesburg, as well. I talked to my big brother this morning and he's trying to contact my older sister, Brenda, who is in H'burg, and he can't reach her. He found out from my younger sister that Brenda's house is gone, and he's trying to let her know. They actually had two homes and a cottage on their property, which is right on the water in Ocean Springs. Their concrete block cottage was 12' off the water and about 100' back from the edge of the yard where the steps went down to the beach. The storm surge came up far enough to wash that structure away. They had a smaller house about 300' off the beach, and it is still there, but that house had been rented. I don't know about the little cottage that was between the two.

It will be tough for her and for my brother, but they are alive, and grateful to be so. SirKit is going to call FedEx today to see about shipping a pallet down to the coast with some of his tools so that they can start rebuilding. He had recently bought a new table saw, and still has his old one that works, he just wanted to update because the other one is almost 35 years old. At least that would give them something to start with. SirKit also said it would be good to try to recycle the wood left over after the houses came apart. He's thinking that folks could remove the nails, let the wood dry for a bit, then it could be used to at least make some temporary shelters.