Hawai'i families are frustrated and anxious about friends and relatives who were in the path of Hurricane Katrina, and who have not been in touch.

"I'm getting contradictory stories about the damage, about the path of the storm. I heard that the eye went right over them ... I've heard so many conflicting stories," said Dawn Dural, of Mililani, concerned about her in-laws in Bogalusa, La.

By Friday none of them had turned up on the American Red Cross Web site for people to report they are well, even if they can't get in touch. The organization's Family Links Registry is available at www.redcross.org.

"I talked to them Sunday before it hit, but since then, when I call it's a fast busy signal or all circuits are busy," she said.

Wayland Baptist Academy student and adviser Ana Tsukano went to school in Gulfport, Miss., and has also been unable to make contact.

"I have so many friends down there. I'm just waiting to hear from anybody. My friend Samantha McDaniel, I've known her since I was 7. Her house is right there next to the beach. I'm almost positive it's not there anymore," she said.

"I cannot get through to anyone," Tsukano said.

A few Hawai'i folks have had more luck. Matau Tuitele said via e-mail that she and her sister, Toe Tuitele Simpson, of Gautier, Miss., made contact through text messaging.

The family has four children, and they are all staying in the living room because of damage to the roof elsewhere in the house.

They are without electricity, and are limiting communication to cell phone text messaging to save battery power. They are able to charge the phone's battery using the car, Tuitele said.

"Please keep your thoughts and prayers for all that are still alive," Tuitele said.

Meagan Gonzalez said she was able to talk to her husband during the storm. He is at Camp Shelby, Miss., about a 30-minutes drive from Gulfport, training to go to Iraq.

"He was locked in a barracks surrounded by sandbags. Every now and then he would call to check in to let me know he was OK. He said it got real bad with the wind and rain. Trees were crashing by the barracks and the floor was starting to flood," Gonzalez wrote via e-mail.

Her husband and his unit survived the hurricane and have been working in the recovery, she said.

"I know that he is out helping people clean up. I'm just a little worried, hoping to hear from him soon," she wrote.

Reach Jan TenBruggencate at jant@honoluluadvertiser.com.