Entertainment News
2005-09-02
Ellen DeGeneres
discusses Katrina's impact on her family
A shaken and
emotional Ellen DeGeneres said her 82-year-old aunt had to
quickly evacuate her home in Pass Christia
A shaken and
emotional Ellen DeGeneres said her 82-year-old aunt had to
quickly evacuate her home in Pass Christian, Miss., as
Hurricane Katrina headed toward the Gulf Coast. "My
aunt has lost everything, she has nothing," DeGeneres
told AP Radio Wednesday. "She grabbed four pictures
out of her house. She's lost her entire life."
DeGeneres, who
was born in Metairie, La., said her childhood was filled
with weekends at her aunt Helen Currie's home, just over the
state line from New Orleans. "It's where I grew up
every weekend. I spent all my childhood there," she
said. "Pass Christian...is just gone. There's not one
building left—no church, no nothing."
Mississippi
governor Haley Barbour has said towns such as Pass
Christian, Gulfport, and Long Beach are "simply not
there" and compared the damage to Hiroshima.
Meanwhile, DeGeneres said she is talking to networks
about organizing a telethon to raise funds for hurricane
victims,* similar to what was done after the September
11 terror attacks. Katrina telethons are already
taking shape, featuring artists including Wynton
Marsalis and Green Day. "Whether you have family there or
not, it's a devastating situation," the 47-year-old
actress-comedian said.
The third season
of her syndicated talk show, The Ellen DeGeneres
Show, starts Tuesday. (AP)
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