When you have the time could you email me info on just how bad you got hit. Believe it or not, even here in Huntsville, we don't seem to know what happened any where east of NO.
You are right. Here in B'ham all the evacuees we've had come through our center have been from NO, a few from Mississippi. Not even our local news affiliates have said much about damage in Alabama. I would love to help Alabamians too.
Listening to all these folks on Fox saying people are steamed about evacuating for no reason. It'll get worse as they sit in the snarled traffic to get back in.
I find that so odd. Will the same people complain about "paying all that money" for insurance...and they didn't even get to use it!?
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As for Katrina and Mobile, I personally had trees, branches about 15' deep in my front/back yards...all fell during the back side of the storm. None hit the house, but lots of shingles blew off. No power for 7 days. I'm high, so no flooding here.
Downtown Mobile had 10' of water. Of course, Bayou la Batre and Dauphin Island took major damage. In Mobile itself, homes along west side of Mobile Bay were wiped out (including my niece's in-laws' house). Damage was from tidal surge, not wind.
Mobile took a big hit, but now---just 3 1/2 weeks later---one would hardly know a hurricane had come through here. By far most people in town had their yards clean and houses tarped within 4 or 5 days. All done with no complaining given the horror stories we were hearing from just west of us. Even now, almost half the huge debris piles along the street have been hauled away. The City and FEMA have done an outstanding job here. Mobile has quickly gone from a victim city to a refuge for our neighbors in MS and LA.
I say all this recognizing there's a HUGE difference when most homes are left habitable. All in all, Mobile was lucky and resilient. We know how close we came.