Have you heard from any of our Carmelites in the Katrina hit areas? If so please tell us where they are by e-mailing me. I am particularly interested in getting in contact with all officers: presidents, directors of formation, and other councillors of our communities on the Mississippi Gulf Coast, New Orleans, and Covington. If you have heard from them and know how they can be reached, please send a message to either Fr. John Michael or contact a provincial councillor. Refrain from any specifics as to how they may be reached in the comments at the end of this blog. From what I have heard, most of our Carmelites in Covington survived the storm and are still in their homes, but have difficulty contacting the outside world due to downed cell phone relay stations and lack of phone service. It would be good to have this hear-say confirmed. New Orleans, as you know, had to be completely evacuated, but word is that local officials in some higher neighborhoods have allowed a few residents to return to their homes as deputies to guard the empty homes of their neighbors.

I have heard nothing from the hard hit Mississippi Gulf Coast except the reports posted here from Diana Nesbitt in Birmingham. I have not listed our Jackson Carmelites here, because I hear the situation there is less severe than at once thought. They appear to have drinking water and power restored, and I presume all are well there aside from storm damaged grounds, roofs and windows.

Comments: Linda said: Fr. John Michael, "I had an idea about a way that we might be able to find some of our OCDS... I know the Red Cross has a website set up to help the families and relatives of the evacuees to find their loved ones. Perhaps it would be possible to get in touch with the Red Cross and give them the names of those OCDS members that we are all so concerned about. The Red Cross website makes it clear that the list they have is not secure and that anyone on the Internet has access to the names on the list. This means that by putting people's names on the list we might be violating their privacy." [Linda]

Dear Linda, thank you for pointing out a serious security issue in publishing over the internet a list of our missing Carmelites. I have take your advice and have removed the list from this posting. I will be happy to e-mail any of our Carmelites that updated list, complete with those we have heard from as they contact either me or our provincial council, but the list will be limited to Carmelites only due to security issues. I had thought that this website would be limited basically to an in-family reading group, since it was only to you Carmelites I have given the address that enabled you to get here. But once it is on the worldwide web (which is what that www strands for, by the way) in link addresses, it is accessible to anyone, and a few outsiders have indeed logged onto our blog by simply searching the web for Katrina related material. I sincerely apologize to anyone whose privacy I have offended by publishing this list, and want you to know I have taken action to correct my misjudgement as soon as it was brought to my attention. [Fr John Michael]