Friday, September 16, 2005

Wednesday, September 14, 2005

Hey all:
I finally have internet access. For those unaware, I joined a special team of wildland firefighters to work in the Katrina recovery efforts in Mississipi. We recieved our orders on Saturday, September 3 and left the following morning out of Roanoke. We arrived in Ocean Springs, MS on Monday afternooon.
The incident command post for our assignment is at the Gulf Island National Seashore near Ocean Springs. This park and town was located in the direct path of the storm.
My crew is composed of 17 men and 2 women., We are sent out to park employees houses to help them clean up and try to sort through belongings. This is used as a starting point to help others in the community.
Stories I am hearing form the locals are almost unimaginable. One woman was telling me as she stood in her house at the start of the storm she had a few feet of water flood into her house. Then the eye came through and there was quiet. Then the other side of the storm came over and her house flooded so high she, her mom, and daughter had to stand on stools to keep their heads above water. As we carried out all her ruined furniture and maggot filled refridgerator(the power had been off for over a week by this time) she thanked the Lord for sparing all of their lives. A few houses down the road, nine unidentified bodies had been found in a ditch.
Another single woman, Faye, was almost in tears as we hauled out the majority of her belongings to pile in the front yard as trash. She tried to monetary value on sentimental items. She had some 6 feet of water in her house.
One man's home had been some six feet under water. Most of his possessions were destroyed. Luckily he had gone to higher ground at as friend's house just before the storm. He came back to his house the next day to find 5 trees laying on his roof.
It is hard to comprehend the devastation in these people's lives. They live in houses which we can barely stand to enter because of the stench of mildew and rotten food. They have been relying on food and water delivered to them by charitable organizations, military reserves, and national guard.And yet, even in their exhaustion and frustration these people have been thanking us everywhere we go. we have been invited to come back to homes after they are restored for dinner, a picnic, or just a place to visit.
We are camping in tents in an areas near the beach that was under 26 feet of seawater. They trees are burnt or dead...everything is brown. We are slowly getting some luxuries as things are organized. We can shower every night now, had some laundry done recently, and recieved some cots to sleep on.Up at 5, we have 30 minutes to get ready for the day in the dark( stars still out). At 5:30 we head for breakfast and get back to the command post at 7 in time for briefing. After this we head out into the community to work. The work is hard and tiring but rewarding. It is amazing how fast the days go by though. But by 7 when we head for dinner we are almost ready for bed. We get back to camp around 9 (never seeing the camp in the daytime). Usually off to bed by 10.
Continue praying for these people that live here. Health is still a major concern as well as making a living. Pray for this crew to work as hard as we can for the next week that we are here.

Sunday, September 04, 2005

Birmingham, AL

Roughin' it at the Holiday Inn Express in Birmingham, AL. Should be on the Mississippi coast sometime tomorrow. Lots of equipment on the road headed south..lots of people headed north.

Saturday, September 03, 2005

Ill be headed to the Gulf Area sometime within the next few days. The Virginia Department of Forestry has set up a team of 20 firefighters to send as soon as a orders are arranged. We will be leaving the Roanoke airport and will be on assignment for 2 weeks. If I have time before leaving I will try to post where we will be and what assignment we have been given.

Thursday, September 01, 2005

Smitty's Boss

Today I went to a auto repair shop to pay a bill for Jen. I met an older man outside and asked him if Smitty was around. Upon handing Smitty the money he immediately handed it back to this older fellow. While heading back to the truck, I was held back as the man begun telling me war stories. "Three wars I have been in and let me tell you that is no place for a woman. Women are too petite for that kind of work( as I stand over him) ......and let me tell you about when I was in...(hand goes on shoulder)". I humored Smitty's boss for some 20 minutes until finally he recieved a phone call. Unfortunately Smitty's boss was in the middle of a story. He told the other end to hang on ...lowered the phone...and finished his story. Finally I was free and jumped into the truck as he started on the next victim.