[23926] in APO-L
[APO-L] Hurricane Isable Update
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Derek Cashman)
Fri Sep 19 21:48:28 2003
Date: Fri, 19 Sep 2003 18:45:39 -0700
Reply-To: Derek Cashman <derek_cashman@yahoo.com>
From: Derek Cashman <derek_cashman@yahoo.com>
To: APO-L@LISTSERV.IUPUI.EDU
Just wanted to let everyone know that there are still
11 Regions (Region III - VA/NC/MD/DC is still here,
albeit somewhat of a disaster area right now).
Virtually every part of this tri-state/DC area was
affected by Hurricane Isabel.
I can't really speak for those in other parts, but as
for the Richmond area, we got quite a storm. Isabel
gave us Tropical Storm Force winds in the range of 40
- 60 mph, and it's possible that several funnel clouds
touched down as well. Large sections of the area are
still without power, and at least in Virginia,
approximately 1.8 million customers have no
electricity. Another problem in Richmond is running
water; a lot of the major pumping stations serving the
city and surrounding counties shut down, so there's
basically no running water.
The roads are not in good shape (although most of the
main roads are clear now. Many secondary roads have
been blocked by uprooted trees of as much as 3 feet in
diameter, and there is brush everywhere. The death
toll has so far reached 17 (from what information I
have).
There also appears to be long lines at gas stations. I
haven't had to fuel up yet (since I was smart enough
to fuel up BEFORE the storm), but I imagine this is
due to the lack of electricity and the limited pumps
available to those needing gas.
I still don't have power or internet at home. I was
able to travel downtown to the Biotech Park, which
fortunately has electricity (but unfortunately still
no running water, toilets, or a/c).
Slowly, things are returning to normal. I expect
Virginia Commonwealth University to open up again
monday (as most other schools in the Richmond area).
Hopefully power will be restored this weekend,
although they're saying it could be as much as a week.
The lack of water seems a more critical problem (I'm
not sure I want to stick around in a city where no one
has been showering for a week - sad attempt at humor
in this situation - LOL).
From what I am told, Hampton Roads got hit much worse.
Massive flooding and major damage. The cost could
easily climb into the millions. As for North Carolina,
I haven't really heard yet. But I would expect things
to be on the same scale as Virginia, perhaps worse,
since landfall occured on the coast of NC. Although I
do know of major flooding on the Potomac and in
Baltimore's Inner Harbor, so the disaster has extended
further.
If anyone wants to help out, the American Red Cross is
in desperate need of cash. Their Disaster Relief Fund
is pretty much depleted (although they have funds in
the WTC Disaster Fund, those funds can only go to
victims of the 911 WTC Terrorist Attacks). So they are
really in need of assistance. The website is
www.redcross.org.
Well, that's all for now! We'll keep you posted as
things progress,...
Cheers!
=====
Derek J. Cashman (derek_cashman@yahoo.com) (derek.cashman@vcu.edu)
Ph.D. Candidate, Department of Medicinal Chemistry
MCV Campus of Virginia Commonwealth University
Technology & Electronic Communications (TEC) Coordinator
National Media & Technology Committee
Alpha Phi Omega; Region III
"A Drug is any substance which, when injected into a rat, produces a publishable, scientific paper."
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