SA girls escape Katrina nightmare
2005-09-03 21:40
Durban - The father of a Durban teenager who was caught in the devastating hurricane Katrina, in New Orleans said he was "absolutely relieved" when she managed to contact them on Saturday.
John Dimmick from Westville said his daughter Reyne, her best friend Hayley Collins also from Westville and a Johannesburg friend of theirs, known only as Joy, were together when the hurricane struck earlier this week.
"I've probably aged about ten years. I've got a thousand extra grey hairs it's actually been bloody stressful. It's been helluva hard," said Dimmick.
He said the last time they heard from the girls was on Tuesday and he and members of the Collins family spent lots of anxious moments together watching the hurricane reports on CNN.
"When Reyne finally made contact this morning [Saturday] they were on a bus just outside Dallas. She contacted my wife, Pam, who is also visiting the United States at about 04:00 this morning," Dimmick said.
He said the girls had stayed at the Hotel Remada during the hurricane.
"When the initial hurricane warnings were issued last Sunday they couldn't get on a flight because there were mass evacuations with everyone trying to get out of the area," Dimmick said.
He said he did not have much detail on how they managed to leave the hurricane area but he was happy they were finally safe. "I'm absolutely relieved it's over, everything is finally over," he said.
He said his daughter and her friends were part of a group of girls who were touring the Unites States after spending time as counsellors in the Camp America programme.
- SAPA