CT man in New Orleans safe

2005-09-04 22:38

Pia Nänny

Cape Town - At least one Cape family could sleep more peacefully on Sunday night after hearing that their son was safe.

Two other families were, however, still waiting for news about their sons after the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico last week.

The three, Leonard Kerwan, 23, Sidney Vermeulen, 21, and Charl le Roux, 27, work for a entertainment company in New Orleans.

Leonard, from Villiersdorp, was reached by e-mail and he then called his parents.

His father, Leonard sen, said the contact person fetched his son and " took him to a radio telephone to call us".

The younger Kerwan was just north of where the hurricane hit.

He said there had been no way to contact his family, since telephone lines were down within a 600km radius.

"I have told him to come home, but we don't know if he will," said his father.

Chris Vermeulen from Melkbosstrand was wondering why his son Sidney could not just buy a "phone card and phone us if he doesn't have any cellphone reception".

"We don't even know if he is in the city, but if I haven't heard from him by Wednesday, I will travel to the US," Vermeulen said.

He asked a cousin to send an e-mail to the company's contact person in the US after hearing about the Kerwan family's success.

"The Le Roux family from Caledon was also waiting to hear from their son and brother, Charl.

Charl's sister, Dalene, said he usually didn't make regular contact.

"We talked to him about three weeks ago. We have tried to make contact, but his cellphone was switched off.

"We don't know whether we should be concerned."

Ronnie Mamoepa, the spokesperson for foreign affairs, said more information on any South Africans still missing in New Orleans should be available on Monday.

"So far the embassy in Washington has only said that five citizens were allegedly missing," he said.

- Die Burger