"Cleaning-up after Katrina is like trying to eat a whale. You do it one bite at a time."
In some places, you would think the storm hit last week. Trash and rubble carried by flood waters still litter front yards and cars sit wrecked in ditches on the sides of the roads. Boats of all sizes are scattered about the coast, some being deposited on land miles from the shore. The lucky ones have FEMA trailers parked in their front yards to live in while their houses are fixed or rebuilt, but most don't know when that will be done. Others evacuated inland and have yet to return. It's a mess.
Last week, 19 members of the Keene State College community spent their spring break helping the Hurricane Katrina relief effort on the Gulf coast of Mississippi. I was lucky to be part of this group that drove the 1,500 miles to this area that is still slowly healing from the devastation that happened when Katrina struck last fall. Our trip, part of KSC's Alternative Spring Break (ASB) program, is something I will never forget. I'm sure others will agree.
The ASB trip was actually the second trip to the city of Gautier, Miss., where volunteer efforts were coordinated through the Overlook Presbyterian Church and its site coordinator Susan Duffee-Braun. Members of the January KSC trip were Susan's first volunteer group in her position as coordinator, so she was pleased to work with KSC students again.
We stayed at a church in Mobile, Ala. and drove the hour to the Overlook Church in Gautier every morning to work. From there, our large group was split into smaller teams and sent to different work sites in the area. Several groups worked directly with homeowners in need, (while) others started out working on another church in the area. The Restoration Apostolic Church of Gautier, a predominantly African-American church, had been planning a new building on land adjacent to its current location, a former convenience store, long before Hurricane Katrina hit. After the storm damaged the old building beyond realistic use, efforts on the new building progressed through the help of volunteer groups like ours.
One retired volunteer couple, George and Bonnie, had traveled from their home in Illinois intending to do work on the Gulf Coast for a week. From a list at the Mississippi Visitor's Center, they found their way to the Gautier Presbyterian Church and started working. Seven weeks later George, having acquired building skills along the way, was instructing our group on cutting and raising drywall at the Restoration Church.
Throughout the day, members of the Restoration Church would stop in to observe the progress. They were very grateful for our presence and hard work.
The attitude of the residents, even those who lost everything, is surprisingly optimistic. Senior Rachel Ladd was also a member of the January trip to Gautier, so she had some previous experience with the conditions of the area in which we worked. Rachel said her most memorable experiences included talking to the owners of homes and members of the Restoration Church. She noted that most people she worked with have come to terms with the fact that they have lost their house and possessions, but are just happy that they and their families are alive and healthy.
One work site where Rachel and sophomore Amy Patryn worked early in the week was the home of Don and Joanne Johnsen. Amy retold the story of what the couple did when the storm hit.
At the time of the flood, Don Johnsen refused to leave his home. Instead, he and his wife, both in their seventies, retreated to their attic with their dachshund "Peter" and watched the floodwater rise several feet throughout their house in only a matter of minutes. The water receded after eight hours, and the Johnsens descended to survey the damage, though Peter was reluctant to follow. They tied his leash to the rafters to keep him safe.
Their house was in shambles, but not knowing what they could do, the couple found clean chairs and set them up under their carport. Soon after, their faithful dog appeared outside looking proud of himself, after somehow getting down from the attic on his own to be back with his people. The Johnsens didn't know it then, but those chairs would serve as their beds for the next six weeks while they awaited help.
With their cars being damaged beyond use, the Johnsens were forced to rent a vehicle for more than 11 weeks, amounting to a $7,000 rental bill. They managed to talk it down to $4,000 and acquired a truck from their son. Eventually the couple were given a FEMA trailer to live in, but Joanne says living in the small space together is difficult.
Rachel had worked at the Johnsens’ house in January, and was happy to see them again. On that first trip she helped install new drywall, and this time around the group painted two rooms inside. Rachel says the house is close to being done, and once a building inspector clears it, the Johnsens will be able to move back in. Amy says she will never forget the sound of Joanne's voice as she told this story.
One couple that junior Becca Fuller worked with was originally from Guatemala. They evacuated their home prior to the storm and returned a week after, but soon after the husband suffered a head injury and could not live in the conditions. He had to seek a safer living situation in Virginia to recover while his wife lived in a tent on the front yard for three months with only her dogs and her "attack goose." She was frightened at night by "You loot, We shoot" signs, as she often did hear gunshots at night.
The woman was a dressmaker, and lost over 150 dresses of her own creation, as well as all her sewing equipment, to the flooding. She also bred birds to be sold, and lost all of them as well. The woman showed Becca and others the one dress she managed to save, a beautiful dress she made for her daughter's 16th birthday.
The feeling of appreciation towards volunteers is very clear. One afternoon after painting all morning, Becca and trip co-leader Carla Lessig went to Lowe's to buy more paint and supplies. An elderly man in line ahead noticed their paint-spattered clothing and asked if they were volunteering. "God bless you," he said. "You folks are the only ones who are helping."
A problem faced throughout this already poverty-stricken region is the denial of insurance money for damages. We learned that many insurance companies are trying to pass off damage to houses as being the result of flooding, rather than damage from the hurricane directly, deeming any claims ineligible. Driving through a neighborhood in Gautier we saw a house with a spray-painted wood sign propped against the boarded house. It read, "Katrina: Category 4 Hurricane. Not a flood." Many homeowners who lost everything have not seen a dime.
The problems and stresses encountered by volunteers are often overwhelming, but the volunteer coordinators deal with so much as well, for much longer. Susan is an amazing woman and has cared so much about the people we helped and the volunteers she had working under her direction. On Thursday night, after working in one of the worst-affected areas of Mississippi, we headed two hours West to New Orleans, La. to experience the city, and convinced Susan to come enjoy our night off with us. Driving into the city, we saw from the highway that many of the houses in the run-down neighborhoods were still in terrible shape.
Bourbon Street and the French Quarter were still in good condition and bustling with night life and business, a sign that life is going on and there is hope for further improvement.
Through the efforts of thousands of volunteers, life on the Gulf Coast of Mississippi and Louisiana is slowly returning to normalcy, but the scars of this natural disaster will undoubtedly remain for years. As spring arrives, the people of this region will have to brace for another hurricane season and the potential for even more destruction where there is already such a struggle to rebuild.
The following story was told to us on two separate occasions by different volunteer coodinators during our trip:
About six weeks after the storm hit, a work group was sent into a neighborhood in Bay St. Louis, Miss. to begin working on "mucking" out houses in need of cleaning and repair. The team had been assigned a work plan with an address and map, prepared as a result of a damage assessment that had been done at this house at an earlier date. At this point many street signs were missing so navigting the neighborhoods would have to be done by counting streets and houses.
The group entered the house at the address they had been assigned to work on and found the owners, an elderly couple, living in a single room as the rest of the house was too damaged to use. The workers got to work cleaning out debris and preparing for further work that would get the house back to a healthy state.
At the end of the day, the couple thanked the workers for their work and attention. The man said that he and his wife had been living alone like this for the whole six weeks, and the team of workers was the first group of people they had seen. No other help had come, and the couple did not know why this group had. The man said that he and his wife had given up all hope and, before the help came, they were so distraught that they had planned to commit suicide together the very next day.
The workers had said they were assigned to work at that address, so someone had to have been by in the past, but the man insisted they were the first. He asked to see the work order. The elderly man told the relief workers that the address on the sheet, the house they thought they had found, was two blocks away.
Last week, 19 members of the Keene State College community spent their spring break helping the Hurricane Katrina relief effort on the Gulf coast of Mississippi. I was lucky to be part of this group that drove the 1,500 miles to this area that is still slowly healing from the devastation that happened when Katrina struck last fall. Our trip, part of KSC's Alternative Spring Break (ASB) program, is something I will never forget. I'm sure others will agree.
The ASB trip was actually the second trip to the city of Gautier, Miss., where volunteer efforts were coordinated through the Overlook Presbyterian Church and its site coordinator Susan Duffee-Braun. Members of the January KSC trip were Susan's first volunteer group in her position as coordinator, so she was pleased to work with KSC students again.
We stayed at a church in Mobile, Ala. and drove the hour to the Overlook Church in Gautier every morning to work. From there, our large group was split into smaller teams and sent to different work sites in the area. Several groups worked directly with homeowners in need, (while) others started out working on another church in the area. The Restoration Apostolic Church of Gautier, a predominantly African-American church, had been planning a new building on land adjacent to its current location, a former convenience store, long before Hurricane Katrina hit. After the storm damaged the old building beyond realistic use, efforts on the new building progressed through the help of volunteer groups like ours.
One retired volunteer couple, George and Bonnie, had traveled from their home in Illinois intending to do work on the Gulf Coast for a week. From a list at the Mississippi Visitor's Center, they found their way to the Gautier Presbyterian Church and started working. Seven weeks later George, having acquired building skills along the way, was instructing our group on cutting and raising drywall at the Restoration Church.
Throughout the day, members of the Restoration Church would stop in to observe the progress. They were very grateful for our presence and hard work.
The attitude of the residents, even those who lost everything, is surprisingly optimistic. Senior Rachel Ladd was also a member of the January trip to Gautier, so she had some previous experience with the conditions of the area in which we worked. Rachel said her most memorable experiences included talking to the owners of homes and members of the Restoration Church. She noted that most people she worked with have come to terms with the fact that they have lost their house and possessions, but are just happy that they and their families are alive and healthy.
One work site where Rachel and sophomore Amy Patryn worked early in the week was the home of Don and Joanne Johnsen. Amy retold the story of what the couple did when the storm hit.
At the time of the flood, Don Johnsen refused to leave his home. Instead, he and his wife, both in their seventies, retreated to their attic with their dachshund "Peter" and watched the floodwater rise several feet throughout their house in only a matter of minutes. The water receded after eight hours, and the Johnsens descended to survey the damage, though Peter was reluctant to follow. They tied his leash to the rafters to keep him safe.
Their house was in shambles, but not knowing what they could do, the couple found clean chairs and set them up under their carport. Soon after, their faithful dog appeared outside looking proud of himself, after somehow getting down from the attic on his own to be back with his people. The Johnsens didn't know it then, but those chairs would serve as their beds for the next six weeks while they awaited help.
With their cars being damaged beyond use, the Johnsens were forced to rent a vehicle for more than 11 weeks, amounting to a $7,000 rental bill. They managed to talk it down to $4,000 and acquired a truck from their son. Eventually the couple were given a FEMA trailer to live in, but Joanne says living in the small space together is difficult.
Rachel had worked at the Johnsens’ house in January, and was happy to see them again. On that first trip she helped install new drywall, and this time around the group painted two rooms inside. Rachel says the house is close to being done, and once a building inspector clears it, the Johnsens will be able to move back in. Amy says she will never forget the sound of Joanne's voice as she told this story.
One couple that junior Becca Fuller worked with was originally from Guatemala. They evacuated their home prior to the storm and returned a week after, but soon after the husband suffered a head injury and could not live in the conditions. He had to seek a safer living situation in Virginia to recover while his wife lived in a tent on the front yard for three months with only her dogs and her "attack goose." She was frightened at night by "You loot, We shoot" signs, as she often did hear gunshots at night.
The woman was a dressmaker, and lost over 150 dresses of her own creation, as well as all her sewing equipment, to the flooding. She also bred birds to be sold, and lost all of them as well. The woman showed Becca and others the one dress she managed to save, a beautiful dress she made for her daughter's 16th birthday.
The feeling of appreciation towards volunteers is very clear. One afternoon after painting all morning, Becca and trip co-leader Carla Lessig went to Lowe's to buy more paint and supplies. An elderly man in line ahead noticed their paint-spattered clothing and asked if they were volunteering. "God bless you," he said. "You folks are the only ones who are helping."
A problem faced throughout this already poverty-stricken region is the denial of insurance money for damages. We learned that many insurance companies are trying to pass off damage to houses as being the result of flooding, rather than damage from the hurricane directly, deeming any claims ineligible. Driving through a neighborhood in Gautier we saw a house with a spray-painted wood sign propped against the boarded house. It read, "Katrina: Category 4 Hurricane. Not a flood." Many homeowners who lost everything have not seen a dime.
The problems and stresses encountered by volunteers are often overwhelming, but the volunteer coordinators deal with so much as well, for much longer. Susan is an amazing woman and has cared so much about the people we helped and the volunteers she had working under her direction. On Thursday night, after working in one of the worst-affected areas of Mississippi, we headed two hours West to New Orleans, La. to experience the city, and convinced Susan to come enjoy our night off with us. Driving into the city, we saw from the highway that many of the houses in the run-down neighborhoods were still in terrible shape.
Bourbon Street and the French Quarter were still in good condition and bustling with night life and business, a sign that life is going on and there is hope for further improvement.
Through the efforts of thousands of volunteers, life on the Gulf Coast of Mississippi and Louisiana is slowly returning to normalcy, but the scars of this natural disaster will undoubtedly remain for years. As spring arrives, the people of this region will have to brace for another hurricane season and the potential for even more destruction where there is already such a struggle to rebuild.
The following story was told to us on two separate occasions by different volunteer coodinators during our trip:
About six weeks after the storm hit, a work group was sent into a neighborhood in Bay St. Louis, Miss. to begin working on "mucking" out houses in need of cleaning and repair. The team had been assigned a work plan with an address and map, prepared as a result of a damage assessment that had been done at this house at an earlier date. At this point many street signs were missing so navigting the neighborhoods would have to be done by counting streets and houses.
The group entered the house at the address they had been assigned to work on and found the owners, an elderly couple, living in a single room as the rest of the house was too damaged to use. The workers got to work cleaning out debris and preparing for further work that would get the house back to a healthy state.
At the end of the day, the couple thanked the workers for their work and attention. The man said that he and his wife had been living alone like this for the whole six weeks, and the team of workers was the first group of people they had seen. No other help had come, and the couple did not know why this group had. The man said that he and his wife had given up all hope and, before the help came, they were so distraught that they had planned to commit suicide together the very next day.
The workers had said they were assigned to work at that address, so someone had to have been by in the past, but the man insisted they were the first. He asked to see the work order. The elderly man told the relief workers that the address on the sheet, the house they thought they had found, was two blocks away.