That's it. We can't do this anymore. The baby is not doing well and I'm afraid she's going to die. The heat is too much and there's no relief. She seems lethargic and has broken out in an awful heat rash. Both she and Yvonne have severe diarrhea and the diaper rash is so bad it's bleeding.
The struggle for ice and water continues - there still is no help. Dave took his bike out to try to find an open drug store for my mother's medication and he was able to bring home a few bottles of water in his backpack.
We hear more and more that there is no gasoline. Our local stations are flooded or have no electricity - but they say that even those with electricity are running out. The radio said the gasoline trucks are not able to get through and there is a shortage around the country. So Mom is with us and we have her car - but what can we do with it? We are afraid that if we take it out somewhere to try to find a place to stay -- or even to get gasoline -- there will be no where and we will be trapped. We can't use the car to get to the fairgrounds where they say there is some ice. The radio says that people are waiting in their cars as long as six hours and running out of gas. We thought maybe Dave could try and keep turning the engine off, but a neighbor told us that they will only give you enough supplies for the people in your car and that our whole family would have to go. I can't bring the kids out into the heat of the car for six hours with the possibility of being stranded with no gasoline to get home. I don't know what to do.
To make matters worse - the plumbing is now backing up. No water has come out of the tap again since the three gallons I got for the wash yesterday and the toilets are backing up. We aren't able to use the water in the bathtub to flush them as it's not going anywhere. The stench is terrible. We've found some coffee cans and I've labelled our names on each of them so we each have our own to use as toilets and Dave has tried to dig a hole in the backyard to dispose of it. George is very upset about this and refuses to use the can. I've been trying to explain that we have no choice, but the poor kid is mortified. I can't blame him.
The neighbors have all started to put out their garbage and debris and the neighborhood looks like it has been bombed. There are flies everywhere and all you can smell is sewage and dead things and rotting garbage.
I haven't told anyone here about my own problem. I started cramping and bleeding again right after the storm and it has gotten quite heavy. I figured the stress and heavy work could make things worse so soon after having a baby but now I'm starting to feel lightheaded and sick to my stomach all the time. Everything in our bathroom cabinets flooded - so I have no toiletries, nothing clean, and there's no way to take a bath or shower. What are the chances I die of some horrific infection?
We have decided we can try to go to Mobile and look for a place to stay there. Just a night or two in a hotel - a good bath for each of us... And some time in air conditioning for the babies would save us, I think.
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