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I drove down to Biloxi with another volunteer from New England to help out with disaster relief through HandsOn USA. This is a grass roots organization with no red tape that helps out on the ground. They were here 3 days after the storm and have set up a base at a church conference center. (The Red Cross showed up a few weeks later.) There are 60 or more volunteers here right now and more arriving.
We have a place to sleep indoors, a kitchen, diing area, showers, and tools. We even have internet access and David Becker loaned me a laptop to bring along. (Thanks, David-- that's made all the difference!)
There are volunteers from all over the country, especially from New England and New York.
The first project of the organization was to help clear trees, brush, etc., for the police and fire people in Biloxi and Gulfport. They've been working 18 hours a day seven days a week without being able to take care of their own places.
If you know anyone who wants to come down, give me a shout. ( vacation@maplegreen.com -- this is the only email address I am monitoring while here.) There's plenty to be done here and it's very rewarding. If you can't come and want to make a donation, see www.HandsOnUSA.org.
Arrived Wednesday, October 5
Here I am just outside Biloxi. Guess who's already here!
The first day, I worked with a cleanup crew. The police officers' homes have pretty much been taken care of now, so the focus now is on helping people who need to make space for a FEMA mobile home in their yard.
FEMA won't deliver unless there's a cleared space and electricity available.
Some of the people are elderly or disabled or otherwise unable to clear up their property.
While we were finishing up one work request, a one-legged guy in a car stopped to ask for our help. He'd been trying for days to clear the downed trees and debris by himself. He had ridden out the storm in his house only blocks from the sea. There was a storm surge that washed over the land and joined up with the back bay behind Biloxi and flooded the houses for almost a week. The guy had taken refuge in his attic with his dog and had to stay there four days until the water receded.
There was a small church on this site nearby. It's gone now but they saved a few chairs to have services outside.
We've seen houses floated off their foundations, cars in trees, cars under houses, all sorts of things.
I'm as busy as a Florida roofer, so I may be spotty on getting updates to these pages.
On Thursday, some of us were up before sunrise (and before breakfast) in order to supply help to Project HALO. These are volunteers from Maryland, North Carolina, and elsewhere who are camped at the partially completed Humane Society building in Gulfport. It's a huge facility and is made with steel girders and metal siding that withstood the storm very well. (Just like our own base camp.) They've been sheltering dogs, cats, and a few bunnies and preparing them for shipment to NC for adoption. Their crew are exhausted from all the work. We helped to walk and feed all the dogs, and to clean cages.
I can see why they're exhausted-- I must have walked 5 or 6 miles in the heat while walking dogs. This was much more tiring than wrangling trees and rubbish the day before.
They have a lot of fine animals there. Some were found as strays, others had to be put there because their families are living in tents and can't care for them. One family visit their dog every day and bring ice to the volunteers but, sadly, their dog will be going north on Saturday.
There's a barrel full of very cute pups including four 2-month old Dalmatians.
Up before dawn for more dog walking today. The vet says the critters are ready to roll.
We cleaned and assembled dozens of travel cages in preparation for the move. They have an old mobile mammogram bus that's been gutted but still has air conditioning. Tomorrow is the big day so we're planning to send a larger team to help.
The Humane Society chapters all over the country really came through. They trucked dozens of pallets of dog food to the Gulf Coast. Anyone with animals can come here and get free supplies right now. Here are some supplies ready to go out the door. The dog is a trained warehouse assistant. Also, when any of the cats get loose, he finds and corners them until they can be recovered.
I spent the day meeting new volunteers at the airport and ferrying them to the base camp. On the way to find the airport the first time, I got lost due to a myriad of detours and ended up in a well-to-do area of the city. The houses were practically all patched up and the grounds clean and neat. When you have the money, it's easier to hire out of state contractors to make everything good again. Quite a contrast with East Biloxi where our teams have been working.
Having traveled all over the world, including many third world countries, I quickly noticed that the Gulfport/Biloxi airport is unlike any other airport in the world: there is no board with the arriving and departing flights posted. You have to go to the individual airline counters and ask!
Since the coastal boulevard (US 90) is closed off by the Army, all traffic must use Pass Road, the main drag. Traffic is wicked bad. I'm going back to slinging brush as soon as we get the animals shipped tomorrow.
There's a big Air Force base right here in town (Keesler). The airmen have been chafing at the bit but the law doesn't allow the active duty military to work on civilian property. Today, the Air Force gave their people the day off to volunteer, so we had about 250 troops (officers and other ranks) assigned to work for our crews. They really kicked butt. We got a number of yards cleared for FEMA trailers, roofs patched, and houses gutted. (The wallboard needs to be knocked out for about 5 feet up, the rugs pulled out, and the contents of the house removed.)
We also had a crew of 20 Marines who helped out. They not only kicked butt-- they worked late!
We've been assigned a grid in East Biloxi (East of Rt 110). See
MapQuest.
There are many interesting stories to be told from the neighborhoods but this will have to wait.
If it weren't for this blog, I wuould know what day it is.
Today we got up early again and took the crew over to the Humane Society to help them pull
up camp and load the dogs. The logistics are immense.
We got the dogs walked and loaded on the bus to North Carolina and said goodbye to the Project Halo volunteers. They put that whole thing together in a week and were in Biloxi saving and caring for animals. Most of them seemed to be from Maryland.
We finished before lunch and then went over to the hard-hit East Biloxi seaside neighborhoods that got hit so hard. We joined one of our house crews who were already engaged in gutting an apartment house so the people can get it refinished. That neighborhood was one that had been flooded.
The day before, our Air Force helpers had carried out the furniture. We were assigned to clear out the interior. First, you have to pry off all the baseboards and moldings. Then you take off the doors and frames and remove the sinks and toilets. After that, you try to pry off the paneling and wallboard.
When all that debris is cleaned up and tossed by the roadside, it's time to drop the ceilings. Then we can shovel up the ceiling plaster and dump that too.
The water level was about 7 feet up inside the house. The light fixture in the photo is full of flood water.
A mobile team from HandsOn comes around with water, supplies, and occasionally popsicles. Lunch was at a soup kitchen around the corner. Relief workers can eat free pretty much anywhere.
We have a number of college students who are here to help on their school break. The Finance Club and their professor showed up from St. Bonaventure in upper NY State and went right to work.
We didn't get the whole house done, but you can see we got a goodly portion of it stripped right down to the studs by quitting time.
There's a fellow living in the yard in a camper provided by FEMA. He told us how he had to swim for his life during the storm
and managed to survive. He didn't seem very phased by it all. The former Marine said, "I lived through the A Shau Valley and two other major battles in Vietnam, so this isn't so bad."
The neighbors out back were still living in a tent. Our teams report that many people are doing so. Several actually have FEMA trailers but no electricity. Without power, FEMA won't allow them to inhabit the trailers. One FEMA official informed our crew at one of these places that there is a shortage of poles so the power will be a month in coming.
On the way back to base we followed the coastal boulevard. This is where all the seaside mansions, casinos, and other high-priced real estate was located. I say "was" because it now looks a lot like ground zero at Hiroshima in 1945. We're allowed to travel there although it's closed off to the general public by armt roadblocks. Even so, we were stopped by a state police checkpoint established to prevent sightseers. I keep wondering if the restrictions are motivated by the Chamber of Commerce not wanting to ruin the tourist image of the area.
Needless to say, we couldn't stop for pictures but I did sneak one out the window of the car. This is one of the least damaged waterfront properties.
Back at base camp we had a wonderful meal of salad and spaghetti. As I mentioned earlier, we are guests at the United Methodist Church who are doing good works by letting us use their large conference building. It's sort of like an airplane hangar with rooms along the side. There is a complete kitchen, bathrooms, a shower, and office.
On entering the building, you leave your boots at the entrance. (If you've experienced Mississippi mud, you know why.) we also have an equipment supply room there with gloves, masks, tools, and everything you need for the job.
Upstairs is a huge balcony that will eventually contain rooms. (The place isn't finished yet.) It's perfect for us-- we can camp upstairs and use the downstairs as recreation room and cafeteria.
There is also an encampment on the back lot where people have set up their tents on the 2 acres of lawn. This is known as "The Colony". The inhabitants like to party late into the night. There are a few porta-potties out back and our carpentry team has built an elaborate outdoor shower (cold).
Lights out is at 10:00PM but on a warm Mississippi evening you can find people tailgating outside. There is also a chainsaw sharpening club that readies the equipment for the next day's work.
