Atlanta Journal-Constitution: “Our whole life is in that debris”

[marmar]

Losses mount for families at Cobb shelter: “Our whole life is in that debris”

By Jennifer Brett
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution



When the flooding came Lessie Daniels moved fast, but the water moved faster.

It toppled her refrigerator, scooted the furniture around and pushed dressers on their sides. Parts of the ceiling buckled. Who knows where the televisions ended up.

“Our whole life is in that debris,” she said Wednesday. Daniels and her daughter Ronique Green, 15, are staying at the American Red Cross at the Cobb Civic Center. The boxy building has become a haven for those seeking a dry stop on the long road back to normal.

The Red Cross has opened five metro Atlanta shelters — at First United Methodist Church of Lawrenceville, Clairmont Presbyterian Church in Decatur, the Cherokee Recreation and Parks Agency south annex in Woodstock and Hiram High School — for displaced storm victims.

“The Red Cross is here to provide hope and stability to those who need it the most,” said spokesman Ruben Brown, who said the shelters are serving about 300 people. MUST Ministries, which operates a shelter, food pantry, clothes closet and is headquartered on Cobb Parkway, is seeing increased traffic at all of its locations.

“I anticipate that in the days ahead more will come once they find out about MUST Ministries and our services,” spokeswoman Sherry King Castellanos said. ...........(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.ajc.com/news/cobb/losses-mount-for-families-145219.html

[AnnieBW]

1. My cousin lives in Lawrenceville

She's from Pittsburgh, so she knows enough to NOT buy a house in a flood plain. Or, at least to stay away from small creeks and such. I got an e-mail from her last night. The water came up to their sliding glass door in the basement. They have wet carpet in their basement. She also said that there were a lot of McMansions that were near a creek that were totally under water. BTW, she lives near a road called Ronald Reagan Parkway. I almost puked when she drove us on that road.