Help needed for friends in louisiana.

[ZR1cliff]

Sorry to double post this but ime going to be a right pain in the @rse if it helps to get some help for my friends,no matter how small.

Mike,Karin and junior(their 6 month old son) are fellow ZR-1/corvette/car enthusiasts,Mike is a respected corvette and other vehicle engineer and has done some fantastic work for myself and Zr1368,not only has his work been to a high standard but he has been a very honest guy to do buiseness with, unfortunately they have been caught up in the Hurricane and have been evacuated to Baton Rouge,away from the immediate serious damage but still in a damaged suburb,they badly need food,water,clothes,toiletries etc and if you read the following link that will show a clearer picture,any help no matter how small would be appreciated,thanks.

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/showthread.php?p=1551967826#post1551967826

[ErnestM]

Looks like some of the people on the board are organizing the necessities for him nicely. If you know him well, I would give him some other advice. He is going to find out that his homeowner/business owner insurance does not cover floods (almost none of them do unless you have supplemental insurance). He needs to get his FEMA application done ASAP. They operate on a first come first served basis.

The FEMA response last year in Florida was absolutely fantastic with most people receiving 110% or better of money that they thought that they needed.

He also needs to check with his State insurance board. Because of the high deductable for Hurricane insurance in Florida, the State set up a fund to help people pay their deductable. Some people in the State had zero dollars in out of pocket expenses for repairs.

I know, from a friend of mine, that BR was spared a lot of destruction and that power is coming on and regular services are being restored. The best thing he can do is keep a cool head for his family.

Good luck to him. Hope everything works out.

ErnestM

[Trooper2]

Hi ZR1cliff, I've got some adult (male) clothes I could donate, a bunch of Levi's sized 38"waist by 32" inseam and can round up more stuff (shirts,etc.) I'm sure.

My problem is I'm out of work and a starving student so coming up with the cash to ship the stuff to your friends is problematic. I'll see if I can get my sister & her husband to pony up the shipping costs. Do you know if United Parcel Service is delivering in Baton Rouge or would it be better to send items U.S. Mail?

Can you try to keeps us updated on this thread of what their current needs are?

Is the shipping address available on the other forum's thread or should we Email you when ready to ship?

[ErnestM]

Regular US mail service is spotty in BR right now. The US mail site will give you information about zip codes that are not getting service. Real world terms, however, US mail is probably not the best bet. FedEx or UPS is probably better. Better yet would be something like a Western Union wire transfer or MoneyGram for cash assuming that he still has ID (he will need ID to pick up the money). I wouldn't wire money directly into his account (especially if it is a local bank) because he may have issues getting to it.

ErnestM

[ZR1cliff]

Thanks Ernest,thanks Trooper,thats Fantastic advice and help,they would really appreciate it,as you can see from the other forum we are trying to organise the stuff badly needed down there,ive just bought some clothes from asda,they are selling jeans for £3 and tops for not much more,obviously from the UK's prospective the lighter the goods the cheaper to send,it is going to take 5 working days to reach them from the UK and some might think its not worth bothering,but look how far out from the hurricane we are already and they are still struggling.
As all to often we can only go by what we are fed on the news and never get to know the true facts until after the event, but going by what mike has been saying if things are bad then they are real bad, keep the help coming.