Dear Editor,

My heart goes out to these people (“Evacuees thankful butlonging to go home,” Aug. 31).

In a time like this we have to be grateful that we’re stillhere, no matter how grim the situation looks. All of us in theBrookhaven and surrounding areas should welcome these people andhelp them any way we can.

The problem is we can’t help ourselves, much less anyone else atthis point, until we can get the help we need, such as electricity,water, gas, etc. If we can get back on our feet,then by all means,we should open up our homes and hearts to the ones who have nothingor nowhere to go.

We ourselves could be in this same shape someday and will needthe help of our neighbors.

Debbie Vanhoose,

via e-mail