Hurricane Katrina Hits New Talavan & New Orleans

[Guest guest]

Dear Devotees,

 

Hare Krsna! Please accept our humble obeisances. All glories to Srila

Prabhupada! All glories to Sri Nrsimhadeva!

 

Yesterday New Talavan and New Orleans were hit by Hurricane Katrina, a

devastating Category 5 storm with sustained winds of 175 MPH. The eye of the

storm came ashore near Gulfport and Biloxi, Mississippi, and passed within

10 miles of New Talavan.

 

By Krsna's grace and Lord Nrsimhadeva's mercy, everyone here at New Talavan

is OK. There were no casualties or injuries. However, we have had no contact

with New Orleans temple since the storm. The situation in New Orleans is

critical: extensive wind damage and flooding, highways into the city are

devastated, and many casualties. We advised the New Orleans devotees on

Sunday to evacuate to the farm before the storm hit, but they could not be

convinced to leave. We are very concerned about the devotees there.

 

Here are the details: the storm hit yesterday early morning. By dawn the

winds were over 60 MPH. The hurricane peaked about 11 AM. There was a short

lull and then the winds picked up again in the reverse direction. Many trees

are down—up to 50% of trees in some wind-exposed areas. The roads are

completely blocked, electricity and phones are down, even cell phones

because the towers rely on electricity to function.

 

We had no significant damage to the Temple and kitchen. There was some

slight damage to the men's ashram, temple office and sannyasi quarters.

There was heavy wind and rain damage to the Gurukula building, and our

workshop building was devastated. One devotee's trailer was destroyed by

falling trees, and another devotee's cottage lost part of the roof. There

may be other damage in remote parts of the farm that we have not yet seen.

Extensive cleanup and repairs will be required before we are back to

anything near normal status.

 

Krsna's cows are fine; as far as we know none were injured by falling trees.

They were seen placidly grazing in 120 MPH winds! Cows are something else.

We do have a lot of fence damage, however, and will have to manage our herds

carefully to keep them on the property and out of danger until the fences

are repaired.

 

We do not expect to have electricity for a few weeks. Roads everywhere are

blocked by fallen trees until county bulldozers can get around to clearing

them. So no one is going anywhere for awhile. Fortunately, we have plenty of

food, gasoline and diesel fuel. Our water system has a propane-powered

generator. As soon as we can clear some roads, we will have a diesel

generator for the temple and kitchen. The devotee community is pulling

together to repair the damage, and we expect that things will turn out well.

We are thankful for Krsna's merciful protection.

 

Our only means of communication is via our satellite internet system. All

other means of communication and travel are presently down. We can't even

get out of our driveway because of huge fallen trees! We will check our

email daily and keep the devotional community up to date on our progress.

Please especially pray for the well-being of the devotees trapped in New

Orleans.

 

Now we know why Srila Prabhupada wanted self-sufficient farm communities.

What happened in New Orleans can happen anywhere.

 

your servant,

Dasanudas Vanacari

 

Secretary,

_____

 

 

ISKCON New Talavan Community

 

Founder-Acharya: His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

 

Temple President: His Grace Yogindra Vandana das Adhikari

 

31492 Anner Rd. • Carriere MS 39426 • 601 749-9460

 

HYPERLINK "http://www.newtalavana.org/"http://www.newtalavana.org/

 

Please always chant:

 

Hare Krsna Hare Krsna Krsna Krsna Hare Hare

 

Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare

 

 

 

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