Medford man�s daughter in �desperate� Biloxi, Miss. - September 2, 2005

Mail Tribune (Medford, OR — Wayback)

2005-09-24

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Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend September 2, 2005 Medford man’s daughter in ‘desperate’ Biloxi, Miss. By DAMIAN MANN Mail Tribune Though Jennifer Hendrickson weathered the worst hurricane in recent history, she still can’t return to her house near Biloxi, Miss., and has to stand in long lines to pay $4.50 for a gallon of gas. "We’ve siphoned gas out of cars — it’s that desperate here," said the 27-year-old woman, whose father moved to Medford in January in part to get away from the hurricanes. Ron Hendrickson, 53, said he’s been trying to persuade his daughter to move here. "I think she’s thinking about it," he said. He watched in horror as the hurricane ripped through his former neighborhood. He spent days worried about his daughter’s life as he was unable to get in touch with her. Advertisement Jennifer, who can only call out by cell phone and now contacts her father twice a day, said her house was spared but her mother’s house in nearby Happy Landing was leveled like all the others in that community on a bay near Biloxi. "It’s not ‘Happy’ anymore," she said. Because the electricity is still out at her house, Jennifer is staying with friends who have a generator. They’ve siphoned gas out of their own cars and have returned to Happy Valley to siphon gas out of the cars they left behind before the hurricane. With long lines at the pumps, she said, "It is extremely hard to find gas. At least you all can get gas (in Medford)." And going to the grocery store is an ordeal. At the Winn-Dixie, she said, "We waited in line for two to three hours. When we got in we were grabbing cases of beer, drinks, snacks and food. Then we waited in line another hour to check out." She said she hasn’t fully come to terms with the devastation that goes on for miles and miles. "It looks like a bomb went off here," she said. "The smell down there is just awful. It smelled like dead stuff and mud." Jennifer works at the Gulf Coast Outpatient Surgery Center, which is near the coast. She said she’s not even sure how the building fared during the hurricane because she and other workers have been so busy struggling just to survive. But she suspects that the surgery center has at least been inundated with water because all the nearby casinos have been wiped out. Even the Grand Casino in Biloxi, where her father worked, has been wiped out. Ron, who was in Biloxi when Hurricane Camille hit in 1969, said it took about 10 years before things looked normal again. But this one is far worse. "This is massive," he said. "There is an entire city under water." His daughter said Medford sounds like a pretty nice place to live in comparison to her area. "I would really like to move there," she said. Reach reporter Damian Mann at 776-4476, or e-mail Medford man�s daughter in �desperate� Biloxi, Miss. ">[email protected] . Mail Tribune Home  | Local News  | Sports  | Business  | Obituaries  | Life | Opinion AP News | Archives  |  Site Map  | Community  | Classified   Copyright © 1997-2005 Mail Tribune, Inc. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions | Website Feedback Distance Education www.bingo.com Home Security Systems Trunks, Footlocker dvd-r Helzberg Diamonds Computer Security Casino Gambling Sites Cheap Website Templates Budget Website Hosting Student Loans tcg student loan consolidation Online Pharmacy Memory Foam Mattress Diamonds Online Poker Home Equity Loans Reservationstogo Hotel Reservations w2 forms Mortgage Calculator Free Home-Loan Referrals Online Casino News Natto Kinase Nattokinase   Advertisement s