Mr. Worchel's Ravaged Neighborhood

Thurs. 20 Oct.: Winds from the northeast building all day.  Water is blowing through spaces between windows and window sills on north side of house.  We have 2 upstairs and 2 downstairs windows on the north side.  Winds steadily increase all night.  Fri. morning 21 Oct. we loose electricity.  I pray the windows hold up to the pounding they are getting.  We are busy mopping up the water that blows through  the window spaces.  Judging from the wind direction I calculate the eye to be to our south and a little east still out to sea.  By nightfall the wind has shifted to the east but is really pounding that side.  Thank goodness we have no windows on that side.  Fri. night we experience the worst winds.  I look out the front door and see water has risen to the top of the front steps. We go to bed hoping water does not enter from the street through the front door.  The only water coming in is from around the skylights, one over the stairs and one in each of 2 bathrooms upstairs.  Sat. 22 Oct. the first thing I do is check the front door.  I am relieved to see the water has resided.  The wind shifts to the south of east and begins slackening off.  I know the worst has past.  But water begins coming in the windows on the south side which is the front of the house.  Only one window upstairs and one downstairs are exposed to the direct wind and rain.  The others are protected by porches.  We manage to keep up with the mopping now.  I thank God that the windows and skylights have held up.  By evening the wind has moved to the south indicating the eye has past us.  Sun. morning I wade outside through knee deep water to clear trash from the grate over the drainage pipes so the water can drain off the streets.  Only light gusts of wind and rain from the southwest.  People begin to come out to clean up.  Then the looting starts.  We live a few blocks from some warehouses and about 8 blocks from a Wallmart.  We see lots of strangers pass the house and return with loads of meat, refrigerators, and all kinds of things.  About 10 AM shots ring out.  The storeowners are fighting back.  About 11 AM the police show up.  All they can do is stop a few people and scare others off by their presence.  I saw no arrests.  All the police could do was to protect what was left.  It is a shame people react this way in an emergency.  I can understand desperately poor people taking advantage of a situation.  But many of the people we saw were not poor at all.  We saw late model vans and pickups loaded with loot. 

Most houses in Mexico are built with reinforced concrete pilings and concrete blocks.  That is why there was not as much damage here as in the U. S.  This construction is labor intensive, especially when you consider all concrete is hand mixed on site.  That is why this type of construction is cheaper here than in the U.S.  Our house stood up very well.  All we had was some water damage and of course the satellite disk was blown off the roof.  And our nerves were frazzled after three full days of hurricane force winds.    

Ron (Davidson)

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Thanks (along with many others with NAVOCEANO
backgrounds) for your time and efforts with the "Roll
Call".  How you can manage it, with all the other
pressures and constant "downers" is beyond me.

The words "true grit" come to mind while reading the
accounts of those effected by Katrina.

Even though 30 years have passed since we all moved to
SSC, I feel somewhat guilty now for supporting the
move from the NCR area.  As it turned out, I was the
first Navy civilian employee PCS'd to SSC.  Who could
have known what lay ahead?

Sorry to hear that you may be moving on to another
area.  I suppose many will do likewise - especially
retirees.

You are welcome to use any of the above along with my
sincere regrets and wishes for a successful recovery.