The following is one person's account of his experiences during a week on the Gulf Coast of Mississippi in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. I will follow this report with updates on issues that I believe the Presbytery of Monmouth should address, but for now I just want to share what I saw and heard while in D'Iberville and Biloxi, MS.

The members of the team were Al Sagosz (team leader), Stephan Heinlein, Peter Tamblyn, Krissa Van Hoorebeke, and Leo Wagner of Red Bank Church, and myself. Bill Faust came later in the week.

We left Red Bank Saturday morning about 8:15AM, and drove to the home of Rodger and Judy Sellers near Concord, NC, where Rodger is an NCD pastor. He and Judy met at Red Bank Church while Rodger served there as youth pastor several years ago. Bill Faust had made the arrangements for us to stay with the Sellers, and the hospitality was just what we needed after a long day's drive.

On Sunday we began to see evidence of storm damage to trees somewhere southwest of Montgomery, AL, and some damage to buildings in Mobile. As we entered Mississippi we saw signs for the casinos still standing, even though many of the casinos themselves are not.

We exited Interstate-10 in D'Iberville en route to the camp and drove through the commercial section just north of town. There were crowds of people at department stores and lumber stores, as well as families dining at a number of the restaurants. We arrived at Camp New Hope (aka PDA Volunteer Village #2 or 'tent city') about 5:00 PM Central Time and met camp director, the Rev. Douglas Macdonald of Florence, SC, who had come the previous week and will be here for a month. 'Tent City' is located just south of I-10 on one of the baseball fields at Rudy Moran Park. Camp New Hope has the capacity to accommodate approximately 90 people at one time.

Rev. Macdonald introduced us to Joan Koehler from Scottsbluff, Nebraska, Jenny Kay Edwards from Mississippi, and Tony from California, whose last name I did not get. At that point they were the only other people in the camp. After registering and getting our tent assignments, we went to the City of D'Iberville's Volunteer Center, where we got our ID badges and general work orientation. There we met Dr. Irene MacIntosh, who is co-director of the City's volunteer relief efforts. She teaches at the University of Southern Alabama in Mobile, about 40 miles east of D'Iberville. We also met Kay Scarbrough, a local school teacher, who is the day-to-day volunteer coordinator.

Later our team reconnected at the local Chili's, where we waited for some time to get a booth. It is apparent that the restaurants have become the gathering places for families and other groups, who may not yet be able to enjoy meals at home or wherever they are now located. Electricity is up in only parts of the town. We are blessed to be in an area that has electricity and potable running water.

There is a great deal of debris gathered in places along the sides of the roads and many, many signs advertising the services of contractors, carpenters, roofers, and so on. These signs are everywhere in town, and a number of houses that we saw are already having work done to them. Most houses that have sustained damage, however, remain in post-storm condition, many with only blue plastic tarpaulins draped over their roofs.

Monday, October 3

We had breakfast at the volunteer center and met people from other states under Americorps, Red Cross, and some local governments, including the City of Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, near the home of my alma mater, the College of Wooster. After that we went to the Point of Distribution (POD) at the former Kroger's store in a shopping area known as Jitney Premier. We were shown what has become a great warehouse for food and personal items.

Jitney is where people come for supplies and is managed by local volunteers with help from members of our team and others. It is a point at which the stresses and strains brought about in the aftermath of Katrina are most keenly felt and where people are challenged to the limits of their patience. It is supervised by a woman named Kelly, a local resident who is, herself, homeless now, and who works long hours every day. She said that Jitney's greatest need is for others to come to share the load and support the local volunteers. Most of our team spent the day at Jitney helping to distribute supplies to local residents.

After surveying the situation at Jitney and talking with Kelly to get a sense of the issues she was facing, I returned to camp to help Rev. Macdonald handle some administrative chores and to police up the area. I had the chance to talk with a woman who was seeking temporary housing for her daughter and granddaughter, who suffers from asthma. She was asking about some shelters that were being built adjacent to our site by the Navy Seabees.

These shelters were designed to house up to 200 people temporarily when completed. FEMA also has many small recreational trailers to shelter people displaced by the hurricane. I found out that the Mayor of D'Iberville is coordinating this effort, and I told the woman that I would try to contact him for information that could help her find out how to apply for this housing.

Tuesday, October 4

Very early two other new people showed up at camp — Dennis Berry and Michael Ray from the Detroit area. They, too, joined our group as we went to morning check-in and breakfast. With the exception of Sissy and Stokes Mayfield, the entire team went to the Jitney center to help the local volunteers set up the inventory for distribution the following day. Sissy and Stokes were assigned to work with the Americorps team doing debris removal and chain sawing fallen trees.

While other team members were inside bringing canned and dry food products and personal care items forward, I consolidated all the bottled water to give out from the pallets on which they had been trucked in. While giving out bottles of water, I met a gentleman and his son who were riding their bicycles around town. The father, Robert Smith, told me that he had lost his truck in the hurricane and could not get to work. He, his mother, and his son were staying at his sister's house for the time being. He told me that he had been working at one of the casinos that had been damaged. He said that he had 25 years experience laying carpet and had several offers of work, but his lack of transportation prevented him from getting started.

Robert did not seem to have many options, so I suggested that he contact the mayor's office at City Hall to see if he could get some help finding a decent vehicle. The mayor, Rusty Quave, was taking an active role in monitoring the relief efforts around town, as I had been told. I let Robert know that I would take the opportunity to talk to the Mayor about this matter if and when I saw him. (Later in our evening debriefing Stokes suggested that maybe Robert should check out chances to work with Home Depot or Lowe's in order to get transportation to work. I suspected that Robert was too much of an independent operator to do that, but I said that I would check with him if I could to see if he was open to that idea.)

The storm had lifted off parts of the Jitney roof, and water had come in, creating flooding and black mold problems. As a result, many boxes of clothing and other soft materials had to be discarded. In order to accommodate the storage of more goods coming into the distribution center, Michael Ray and I went about mucking out a section in the rear of the building. This was unpleasant, but necessary, work. Michael stepped up and applied bleach to the area, while I moved on to working with Peter Tamblyn, Stefan Heinlein, and some other volunteers from Florida to take pallets of bottled water and other supplies to the front of the building.

General coordination was provided by Kelly, Johnnie, June, Peggy Sue, and others whose names I did not get. Husband and wife Johnnie and June are not local, as it turns out, but make their home in northern Alabama near Huntsville. While in D'Iberville, they — and others from Jitney, including Peggy Sue, who is from southwest Ohio — have been occupying tents at the far end of Rudy Moran Park.

Many of these volunteers come from lower economic backgrounds and are in D'Iberville because they want to help in any way they can. They and the local volunteers appear to be present for the long haul. It is essential that they be supported by short-timers like our team and others participating through Presbyterian Disaster Assistance.

We left Jitney and spent some time touring Biloxi and seeing the devastation that had occurred there. We spent some time visiting First Presbyterian (PCA) Church right across Route 90 from the beach. Although it had sustained some damage, the church was standing tall, while houses on both sides were collapsed or flattened outright.

As we returned to camp we saw that a tractor-trailer truck was parked at the distribution center. The next morning we found that it had left a full load of boxes of cookies!

That evening we were treated to a Cajun chicken barbeque prepared by a bunch of local men who wanted to help the volunteers. I got into an interesting discussion with them concerning what was going on in the Gulf, their comments about the relative merits of the work of FEMA, Red Cross, and the Churches. They expressed the opinion that — rather than being involved so much in distributing food and supplies —- the church groups should be given more responsibility for doing outreach and education for the citizens who did not know where to go for help.

Wednesday, October 5

Al Sagosz left camp early to take Stefan Heinlein to the Gulfport airport and to pick up Bill Faust. Stefan had to go back to work, and Bill had had meetings in the early part of the week to attend to back home.

In preparing the Jitney distribution center for the day, we had the help of two teen-agers, boy and girl friends, who had just resumed attending school. Because the schools were running on split shifts, the two made themselves available to help out at Jitney in the mornings. Dustin and Angelic (no last names) and their families had suffered different degrees of damage to their homes, and they were experiencing family tensions as a result of the hurricane.

These two young people were obviously devoted to each other and operated as a unit, as they tried to help others the best they could. They were remarkably mature for people 14 and 15 years old. As it happened, Kay Scarbrough, the City's volunteer coordinator, is Dustin's teacher. So he was well plugged in to the whole volunteer effort, and he and Angelic had become active participants.

Besides working with Bill Faust to distribute the water, I assisted Krissa Van Hoorebeke, Leo Wagner, Stokes Mayfield, and others to sort through canned goods and to prepare them for distribution to people coming through the line.

The most striking aspect of the day's events was the number of people (over 500) who came though the line. Many of them were coping, but so many were sad in their demeanor. There were limits as to how many cans of food, packages of personal items, and bottled water we could give out, and we had to make allowances for those representing more than one family. Between the water and the cookies there was a great deal of work to accomplish. Most of the people were gracious as they came through the line, but some were not, which was disappointing. This continued to be a humbling experience for everyone involved in the process. The hurricane was a great equalizer, in that it caused many people from all walks of life to depend upon these donations.

Furthermore, and perhaps even more humbling, was the fact that so many of the same people were seen looking through the donated clothes, most of which had gotten wet from the rain that had come through the roof of the center. People were climbing over the ever-growing mountain of clothes and trash that was accumulating at the far end of the parking lot, looking through what was available. This included a mother and two college-aged daughters who were going to school in Texas. Folks had reached a stage that depending on donated food, water, personal supplies, and clothing seemed to have become a way of life.

At one point Mayor Quave arrived, and I had a chance to tell him of Robert Smith's dilemma. I also told him of the woman with the asthmatic granddaughter in need of adequate shelter. He asked me to obtain the names and numbers of anyone with particular needs and to contact him with such information. I also met Dan 'Grumpy' Grimes of PDA who is now Doug Macdonald's supervisor. He was present to gain an understanding of what we were all up against.

Altogether this day was long and depressing with a sense of being overwhelmed by people's tragedies, and the ofttimes incomplete information that we received from various sources as to what was going on. The blisters on my feet — along with my aching back — had become very bothersome and added to the discomfort of the day.

Thursday, October 6

We worshipped in the morning with Simon Park of the World Mission unit of the PC(USA). Simon had been staying at a camp near Mobile. He was getting ready to leave for Minnesota, then for Pakistan. He gave us many words of encouragement.

For the most part the day felt better than the one before. Robert Smith, the man on the bicycle, came by and I was able to get the information that the mayor had requested. I subsequently called the mayor's office and left word for him to contact Mr. Smith.

I also had a chance to talk with Irene and related what I had been told by the local men who had barbequed the chicken Tuesday evening. I believe that Irene MacIntosh interpreted their remarks as a criticism of the volunteer efforts, but I was drawn away for a moment and did not get the chance to correct her impression. Nevertheless, I was given her phone number and e-mail address and plan to stay in touch with her.

Late in the afternoon I had occasion to give out water to one of the many Vietnamese who now live and fish in the area. He was very gracious, and in broken English he began to tell me of injuries that he has sustained from various causes. Not all of what he said was clear, but I surmised that he has gone through a bitter divorce, been beaten up by his wife's new boyfriend, and had several accidents that have resulted in numerous scars on his arms, torso, and head.

He started to cry as he said that either he was mad at God, or God was mad at him. This sounded as if it had to do with the hurricane. The best I could do was to listen to him while he cried and try to comfort him. Eventually he stopped crying and went on his way. I had a great feeling of helplessness, but maybe it was enough that someone spent time listening to him.

Friday, October 7

Our last day of work. We helped unload a truck of supplies from Olympia, Washington. Other trucks with supplies and volunteers from a group called Helping Hands and from Southern Baptist Churches arrived, as well, from Naples, Florida, and South Carolina. These new volunteers were a God-send. They were mostly young people who were fresh and strong and able to pick up the workload in support of the local volunteers, as we were winding down. Sissy and Stokes Mayfield had to leave about noon, and Dennis Berry and Mike Ray left about 5:00 p.m.

Mayor Quave came by, and I told him that I had left the information about Robert Smith at his office and to please contact him as soon as possible. I then spoke with Robert's sister and left word for him to get in touch with City Hall to find out about a truck.

I also spoke with Irene MacIntosh and Dan Grimes. Irene seemed in a more upbeat frame of mind, and Dan looked concerned about the entire nature of the post-hurricane situation. He first spoke to Al Sagosz and then to me about continued support for PDA's efforts. He and I talked about possibilities for serving as camp managers, a subject that I will pursue now that I am back home.

A very sobering incident occurred about midday. The truck from Washington had left several mattresses and box springs. Kelly told us that for Department of Health reasons, we were not permitted to give out these items, but did not have to prevent anyone from taking them. A woman drove up in a large utility van. She had two small children — a boy and a girl — with her. She asked me if she could take a mattress in order to be able to snuggle with her children while they stayed at the local shelter. She said that she was having back problems, and she needed help loading the mattress into her van.

From the look on her face, I knew that I had to help her. When she opened the back of her van, it appeared that all her worldly positions were jammed in there. It was heartbreaking. Yet, seeing the bright eyes and the smiles of her children made the situation bearable. The mother, whose name I did not get, and I managed to slide the mattress into the back of her van far enough that it would not fall out.

Then, with a rueful smile, she said that her van had died. I thought that she just did not need any more hardship today, but before I needed to find someone with jumper cables, she turned the engine over and went on her way. She waved, smiled, and thanked me for my help.

Please send prayers for the people here who have had to deal with utter hardship and privation. There is no Presbyterian Church in this area, so I urge all of you to pray for guidance to determine how Monmouth Presbytery can serve these people now and into the future. There will come a time when rebuilding can occur. That will involve Habitat for Humanity and other organizations.

We are, however, many weeks away from that phase. Right now we should think about how we can support the local residents and volunteers — including stalwarts like Rev. Macdonald, who will be here the month of October — as they try to get back on their feet. We also need to decide how to contribute to the overall clean-up effort.

Saturday, October 8

We left camp early to eat breakfast and to take Krissa to the airport. She had to get home early to join her daughter in preparation for a Girl Scout camp out.

Sunday, October 9

The drive home avoided the most heavy traffic and the rain that was coming up the coast. Seeing our wives at the end of the journey was the most wonderful thing we could have imagined.