Well I'm back from Mississippi and had a great week! Last week for spring break I was in
D'Iberville, Mississippi volunteering with a foundation to help with Hurricane Katrina relief. Going down there I
wasn't sure what to expect. I mean, its been over a year since the hurricane so there cant be that much left to do...right? Little did I know, there is still a TON of work that needs to be done! It was incredible being down there and seeing only a tiny bit of what these people have been through.
D'Iberville is right next to
Boluxi, Mississippi which is right on the coast. Both towns, as was the case with just about every town along the coast, have severe damage. All the news that was focused on the hurricane could never
truly portray how horrible and scary its was for these people. Irene, the lady who has headed up the whole volunteer village we worked with, gave us a little idea of what it was like on our first night there. She
described how the wind was sustained at 120 mph for about 18 hours, with gusts on top of that! These extremely high winds brought a 20-25 ft wave from the gulf that swept over and demolished hundreds of homes and businesses and whatever else was in its path. Can you even imagine what that would look like?! As she was describing what went on that day/night it sounded like something that could only be on a movie, but it was actually reality and I was standing where it all happened.
My group took one evening to drive along the coast and even now it looks like there was a war in this town. Many properties have only the foundations left where beautiful homes used to stand, others have huge holes in the side of their businesses where it looks like one of those big demolition balls swung through the building. Some hotels and other buildings are already rebuilt, but many are still sitting there in ruins.
Hearing the stories of people who experienced the hurricane was amazing. Judy, the owner of one house we worked on, told us how she had 12 ft of water in her house and the whole thing floated off its foundation about 3 ft! The only thing now left of her old house is the foundation.
My job for the week was to help Tony and Cocoa paint the inside of their house. They had about 4 ft of water rush through their home and as a result had to re-sheet rock house and then everything that follows. After all this time, they were finally able to move back into their house about a month ago and painting was one of the final steps to having their home completed again.
These are just two homes we were able to work on, but there are so many more! Because low funds, problems with insurance companies and grant money...many people rely on the volunteers and donated material to rebuild their homes. Since this is so limited, some people have only been able to wait this whole time and are just beginning the rebuilding process...other have not even been able to start! These people have gone through so much it's unbelievable and even though the drama of the storm is over and we never hear about it in the media...they are still trying to living with its effects and are struggling to build their lives back to normal.
Though the hurricane has caused so much devastation, there has still been good that has been a result of it. Because the government has provided the aid that is needed, many people have relied on the faith based organizations for help getting their lives back. It was such a blessing to be able to provide hope for these people. Even though I was only there for a week and these families still have a ways to go, I was able to bring them that much further to completion. Its amazing how God can use what may seem like even the worst circumstances to show His love and glory!
There is a lot of progress that has been made, but still a lot to be done and people who need hope. So if you have anytime at all to help...do it! They need you down there and they need the word to be spread that even though the storm is over, the people are still suffering from it.
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