Katrina impact continued...

The eye of Katrina passed directly over Waveland.  Both eye walls and a 30 foot storm surge demolished our coastal town.

Monday September 5 

Road closures and gasoline shortages prevented returning to our property for one week.  Ninety percent of the homes in Waveland were destroyed. A satellite image gave us some hope that our house was in the lucky 10%.  Our house had survived the category 5 Hurricane Camille in 1969―but not this storm.  For the second time in four years, our property was wiped out by a hurricane (in 2001, Hurricane Iris destroyed our Belize rainforest home).

Our house collapsed – the walls gone and the roof resting 3 feet from the ground supported by debris and Susan’s roll top desk.

The entire area was one of total devastation.

Our next-door neighbor’s house was on top of the railroad tracks.  Homes adjacent to the Gulf were simply gone, an occasional staircase or pilings the only remnants of the once beautiful houses that adorned the sandy shores.  

Pets are affected as well.  These are two dogs we rescued and fortunately, were able to re-unite with owners.  We have also volunteered in Katrina pet rescue centers sporadically during our salvage operations.

Personal losses

The house and contents are a total loss.  We are insured but recovery will take considerable time and effort.

Continued over and to the top...

Elephant Care International losses

Our office equipment; supplies; and all of the invaluable elephant books and files that formed the basis of our informative elephant database were lost.  Fortunately, we had just sent the manuscript for the new book, Elephant Biology, Medicine, and Surgery to the publisher the week before the hurricane.

This rare book by Sylvia Sikes
was among the losses.

How you can help

Our Nepal Project is a unique opportunity to investigate tuberculosis in elephants in Southeast Asia.  This project and others must move forward.  We must also replace our elephant healthcare files and get them properly catalogued and digitized to prevent a recurrence of this loss.  As we deal with our personal recovery, we need the assurance that funds will be available to support the elephant organization we founded.

ECI needs your help now more than ever!  Donations are tax-deductible and can be made online below through our secure connection or may be mailed to our new interim address:

Secure credit card one-time donation
of the amount of your choice.
OR
Check these links below for
monthly payments and incentive gifts.
Donate    Join Us

Elephant Care International
233 Pollock Cemetery Rd.
Hohenwald, TN 38462

You may call us at:
931-796-7102
Email us at:
hh@elephantcare.org
or
smikota@elephantcare.org

Thanks to those who have responded!  Disney's Animal Kingdom will replace our elephant articles - a $17,000 value!  Drs. Mikota and Miller have been awarded a $4,500 grant for our Nepal TB Project.  Hogle Zoo has given $3,000 for our Alternatives to Culling Program  and two private donors have contributed $1,000 each.

Acknowledgements.

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