CHARITY

Katrina's Aftermath

In early May, my family (husband, Peter, and kids – Katie, 20, and Ben, 24) and I spent an overwhelming week in NOLA and Mississippi doing Katrina hurricane relief work with the Presbyterian Disaster Relief mission.

The destruction in the south is so widespread and has crippled a vast region. We stayed in tents and roughed it for a week, working tiring 8 hour days painting, sanding, dry-walling and mucking out the houses that are left standing, but are salvageable. The particular homes we worked in were flooded with 9-12 feet of water. Houses closer to the coast are gone or damaged beyond repair.

New Orleans was a study of contrasts. Some areas, like the French Quarter and Bourbon Street, were minimally damaged, and it's Mardi Gras beads and business as usual. Other areas that had been flooded are truly like total war zones . . . deserted, destroyed and depressing. Even in the relatively undamaged areas there were mounds and mounds of debris along every street. It was hard to fathom that it was 9 months after the storm.

Mississippi had taken the hurricane hit badly. There was a 40' storm surge that wiped out anything close to the coast line. Another really sad thing is that Louisiana and Mississippi might as well have been different countries. There is quite a lot of bitterness about who has it worse, who FEMA is helping or not, and who is getting volunteer services.

It was a physically exhausting and emotionally draining experience, but important for us as a family. I was really proud of how hard Ben and Katie worked! Had to see it with my own eyes! We feel as though we made a small difference, although the region will never fully recover. Another 3-5 years or so (at least!) of rebuilding is necessary, and that is if there are no more hurricanes. The weather predictions are a bit unsettling, however. The waters in the Gulf are warmer than they ever have been, which is a bad sign. I just can't imagine how the region will cope, as most remaining people are living in small FEMA trailers that are like soup cans. Wouldn't want to see what high winds could do to them.

There are so many sad stories, but also stories of hope and of so many people who are helping. Our cook at the camp was a Vietnam vet who has been volunteering his time for the past 8 months. Another volunteer in our camp had come back for a 5th time to help out.

To follow is an excerpt from a fellow helper’s diary. She is speaking about Ray, a local man who is unselfishly volunteering all of his time to the rebuilding efforts

Ray asked me how long I was staying. I told him that we had to leave the next day, but that our group was planning to organize another trip for the fall. He quickly said that fall was too late; they needed help now---to try to get things in better shape before hurricane season. He said that they needed more people to come, not less. There was still many more years work to be done. He said that Mississippi was the poorest state in the country, and they needed help. Then, he stopped and with tears in his eyes said, “But we’re Mississippians, and we’re proud, and we will get it done. Somehow we’ll get it done. But please go home and tell our story. Please tell everyone what happened to us here.”

So, Ray, this is your story.

While the Katrina victims are no longer in the headline news, their story is far from over. If you can find it in your heart to volunteer your services or make a contribution to a worthy organization, it truly will be more than appreciated!