Biloxi Relief Trip by Tom Strothers

Biloxi Relief Trip by Tom Strothers
Shortly after Katrina hit Mississippi and Louisiana we spent a lot of time checking on our friends living in Mississippi and around New Orleans. Fortunately everyone had been accounted for. Like so many others, we sent a large donation to a relief group. It just wasn’t enough. During the week following Katrina’s onslaught we communicated with a close friend, Shannon, living near the Gulf in Biloxi. Her location is shown below:

What struck me in one letter from Shannon entitled “Tears for Katrina” was that her family and neighbors were pooling resources and helping each other without help from the outside. The only help being received was from the Salvation Army and from a Baptist relief center.

At the end of the first week after Katrina hit I talked with a friend in Park Forest, Illinois, about getting some supplies together and heading to Biloxi to help Shannon and her neighbors.

Preparation

My friend, David Lynch, and I talked to Shannon about the most urgent needs. At the end of the first week they were getting food and water. The Marine Corps came in via amphibious landing and quickly got the sewer system repaired. They had a generator running and were able to get gasoline. Shannon and her neighbors pooled resources and used Shannon’s house as a supply center. Miss Mel, Shannon’s neighbor did all the cooking. A church center was providing water, food and sporadic quantities of ice. What was really needed were items for personal hygiene and cleaning supplies.

David and I are both members of a dulcimer chat group called Everything Dulcimer. We asked for donations for our trip. Missy, David and I were also scheduled to be at the Harmony Harvest music festival in Lancaster, Ohio, on September 17. We decided that we would accept donations at Harmony Harvest then head to Biloxi on the 18th.

We began receiving financial contributions and boxes of supplies from Everything Dulcimer. On the 17th the organizers of Harmony Harvest took up a collection and went to a store to pick up various supplies including coloring books and crayons for children.

We went and returned to Lancaster on the 17th then spent most of Sunday, the 18th, sorting through our supplies and boxing them.



The Trip
We left Cincinnati at about 6pm Sunday figuring a 14 hour drive. We were really loaded and didn’t figure on making good time but Dave’s van did quite well. We had no problem getting to Hattiesburg, Mississippi, as the sun came up. We were already starting to see the effects of Katrina – fallen trees, twisted road signs and piles of debris. We missed our turn off toward Rt. 49 that would take us toward Biloxi. Apparently the sign was blown away. We ended up and a back road. It was a narrow paved road. The smell of dying pine trees was everywhere. It smelled like shopping for a cut tree for Christmas.

We finally made it to I-10 north of Biloxi. Shannon told us that there were three routes to her house from I-10. We planned on taking I-110 into Biloxi and we found that exit with no problem. However, traffic was bumper to bumper and there was a sign “Emergency Vehicles and Residents Only.” We were tired and figured that we would be in line for a long time so we did a U turn and headed back to I-10. This was two weeks after Katrina and debris was barely pushed aside from both sides of the roadway: clothes, bedding, shattered lumber, roofing, sheets of metal and so forth. This was the first real sign of the devastation. (We found out later that the area from I-110 south to the Gulf shore was one of the hardest hit areas.)

We made it back to I-10 and I called Shannon on our cell phone. She directed us to a Kangaroo gas station and said she would meet us there. Dave walked into the service station and mentioned that we were down to help some friends and told them where we were headed. They told him that nothing was left “South of the Track.” It took Shannon about 45 minutes to drive the 7 miles to where we were waiting. At this time I had been up over 24 hours but one look at Shannon and hearing her hack and cough and seeing that she was physically drained, my sleepiness disappeared and I realized we had some work to do.

The drive across Pass Road to Shannon’s neighborhood was slow. Most of the traffic lights were still out. There were National Guard personnel directing traffic at major intersections. We passed small and large businesses that were boarded up. One grocery store had large sheets of plywood across shattered store front openings that were hand painted words “We’re Open” crossed out. We a McDonald’s sign that was twisted but still partially lit. The restaurant roof was a foot off the ground. There was a small “Mom and Pop” hardware store with a panel van that had been blown through the back of the shop. Only a few iron beams held the roof in place. The walls were gone. We saw slabs of concrete partially covered with floor tile but no building.

Then we headed south across the railroad track. I was actually surprised to see anything standing but most of the houses were in tack though each house had a pile of debris at curbside. I noticed that the elementary school across the road from Shannon’s looked as though it had been untouched by Katrina. Nonetheless, we had arrived.

Monday

Shannon lives in a neighborhood close to Keesler Air Force Base south of the railroad track that runs parallel with the Gulf shore. The area is appropriately called “South of the Track.”

Shannon’s husband, Kit, is a Biloxi police officer. He had no choice but to stay in Biloxi during Katrina. Shannon and her two sons, Logan and Mike, also stayed. They had survived Camille and figured they could withstand this one. Besides, by the time that the path and intensity of Katrina was established, there was no time to leave.

Katrina came ashore between Gulf Port and New Orleans. The most dangerous part of Katrina, the northeast quadrant was right over Biloxi. Reports were that the storm surge was 25 feet but there were clear signs that it was much higher. Nonetheless, Shannon’s neighborhood was a bit higher in elevation than others that ended up under water. The map below shows approximately where the storm surge was in relationship to Shannon’s house.



After arriving, exchanging greetings and grabbing a cup of coffee, we began unloading the van. Kit was in bed as was working a 12-hour shift from 6pm to 6am. Shannon’s house already looked like a warehouse with boxes of various food and water. They had already removed the soaked carpet from the front room. The musty smell of mold was prevalent. We stacked and shoved our supplies sorting out some special gifts for Shannon – like chocolates and special bathroom goodies.

Two elderly ladies stopped over in the early afternoon asking about the electricity guy. Another friend of ours wanted to join us. He is a certified electrician and they wanted him to restore their power. The ladies lived a few houses toward the Gulf from Shannon. Though Shannon’s block had power, they did not. Unfortunately our friend’s boss wouldn’t let him take the time off. I’m not sure he could have done anything anyway. The utility companies were restoring power where it was safe to do so.

Dave decided to lay down for a while. I was on second wind and decided to chat with Shannon and take a walk down the street toward the Gulf. The picture below is typical of what I first saw.


On the way back from our walk I saw another scene typical of life in Biloxi near the Gulf. Nothing was left but the concrete slab where a house used to stand. A camping trailer is now being used for the residents and a sign identifying the address and owner placed outside. I’m not sure if this trailer was provide by FEMA or by someone else.

While Dave and Kit were still sleeping, I looked around at the damage in Shannon’s house and tried to think about where to start. They had a tarp partially placed over the roof to cover the damage. Since Katrina had hit the weather had been typical hot, muggy days but sunny. However, the tarp wasn’t enough to handle any significant rain.

After Kit and Dave got up we discussed what could be done during the time we were there. Kit had been remodeling the house on his time off but working mostly by himself and only between shifts. It was slow going. Kit had had only one day off in 28. However, he was scheduled to have Tuesday through Thursday off.

Shannon’s father and stepfather from Caldwell, Ohio, had delivered roofing supplies and plywood the previous week. It looked like enough to replace the roof. Our first thought was to go ahead and replace the roof thinking that it would not make sense to repair the front room if there was a chance of the roof leaking. Kit figured we would not have time to do this and that there was a chance of rain toward the end of the week. Also, State Farm Insurance had told them not to touch the roof until an adjustor could assess the damage. It was not clear when this would happen. Kit had checked with FEMA and they said that they did not qualify for assistance. Therefore, we decided to work on re-covering the roof, remove the ceiling and walls in the front room and to put up new ceiling and walls.

We spent the next three hours or so removing the old tarp that was there to cover more of the front roof where most of damage was. Dave and I had brought a couple tarps so we used that to cover the front porch and the rest of the roof. We then piled new shingle bundles on the tarp to keep it from blowing away.

Shannon decided that they couldn’t use all the supplies we brought but that her neighbors would need some of the stuff. She also had boxes of stuff everywhere. We decided it would be best to sort through everything and set aside what they could use and get rid of the other stuff. We spent the next couple hours doing this. Her neighbors came over and went through the extra supplies taking only what they absolutely needed. That left quite a few boxes of first aid, cleaning and personal hygiene supplies.

Miss Mel stopped by and said that her husband was going to grill up some burgers. She invited us to dinner and to drink some beer and watch the New Orleans Saints on Monday night football. We took her up on this but left at half time. I had been up some 40 hours or so and was feeling it.

Tuesday

First thing Tuesday morning, we made a list of list of materials needed for the living room. Kit and Dave headed to Lowe’s while Shannon and I cleared the north side of the room. There was heavy furniture in the room so we decided to do move the furniture to one side of the room, do two-thirds then move the furniture and finish the other part. We sealed off the rest of the house with heavy plastic and ran a plastic barrier across the room to seal off the larger area since we would be removing material coated with black mold.

After Dave and Kit returned we began tearing off paneling, rain soaked dry wall and removing insulation. Respirators were definitely required.




Around 11:30am the Salvation Army drove by handing out hot meals. It wasn’t much – ravioli, vegetables and sliced peaches – but it was good.

During our work period Kit mentioned that the Biloxi police department had lost 20 cars due to Katrina that have yet to be replaced. They were getting help from several police departments. His partner is an Indiana State Police officer who will be there for a few more weeks.

Shannon described how the Marine Corps had done an amphibious landing in order to get the sewage system working. She said it seemed like something from a war movie. I asked about the elementary school on the opposite corner where she lived. The lot and outside of the building seemed untouched. Shannon said that the week before we arrived that the Army Corps of Engineers were assigned to get all the schools up and running. This particular school can’t be opened yet due to some problems with their sewers. The city water system is running but they are still advising that people first boil the water before drinking. We were strictly using bottled water for cooking and drinking.

While we were eating the mail man showed up. The week before he showed up twice and that was welcomed. The week we were there the mail was delivered daily – a small sign that some semblance of routine was returning.

By four o’clock we had pretty much removed all the old material from the room and piled it up curbside. Normal garbage service was set up to run two to three times weekly. Once a week front end loaders and dump trucks were scheduled to pick up all debris piled up curbside. No matter where we traveled large piles of debris were in front of most residences and businesses. Most of the debris was hauled to designated burn sites.



After getting all the old material removed we vacuumed all the dust and years of inner wall stuff then sprayed everything with a mixture of bleach and water. After this dried we hand painted the exterior walls and ceiling with a mold retardant. Finally we installed new insulation on the walls and ceiling and covered this with heavy plastic.

After cleaning up, we decided to load up all the extra supplies and head to Shannon’s friends Dennis and Suzie who lived north of the track. They took a few things that they needed. Suzie showed me a dulcimer that Dave had built for her. Wow, did it have a good sound. Suzie had just started playing recently. I played around with it a bit when Dennis asked if I knew the song “Ashokan Farewell.” I had come up with a dulcimer arrangement and played it. Dennis literally had goose bumps on his arms while I was playing.

We left Suzie and Dennis and headed to find a place to drop off the rest of our supplies. We saw a relief center being run by a Baptist group. They had placed pylons across the entrance as it was about 6:30pm. Nonetheless, we pulled up to a fellow at the entrance and told him we had supplies. He said that they were closed. Then he said that they don’t need clothing or water. He glanced at the full pickup load and asked what we had. We told him cleaning supplies and personal hygiene items. After yelling to someone about what we had another fellow came running up and directed us to another entrance. They were thrilled to receive our supplies.

We pulled into a bee hive of activity. They directed us around a forklift that had run out of gas and passed a semi-truck they were unloading by hand. Several people helped us unload and asked if we needed anything. Ice. One guy yelled over to have someone bring us ice. “How much do you need?” he asked. We told him four bags would work. He asked if we could take ten. We thought of Suzie and Dennis and took ten.

While they were unloading us and loading the ice I chatted with the driver of the semi-truck. He had donated his rig and diesel fuel to bring supplies down from North Carolina. He asked who we were with thinking that we were with some larger group. We just told him that we were friends of Shannon and simply trying to help in a small way.

One of the directors asked where we lived and that they would deliver ice to us. When we told him “South of the Track” he looked in surprise and said that he didn’t think anything was left “South of the Track.” Ice was indeed delivered the next day.

Shannon fixed a nice dinner that evening. This was the first I had a chance to meet her son, Mike. Shannon brought out her dulcimers and Mike his mandolin. We swapped tunes while Dave restrung one of Shannon’s dulcimers.

Mike, an ex-marine, was working at a bar as a bouncer. That’s also where he spent two nights during and after Katrina. Shannon’s younger son, Logan, was spending the night with a friend a few blocks away when Katrina hit. Well into the storm the roof where Logan was staying began collapsing. He left the house and ran through the heavy rain and wind to Shannon’s house where they spent the next endless hours listening to the living oak outside knocking to get in. Shannon’s biggest fear was to have one of the three trees in their yard come crashing down. Her fears were warranted as the pignut hickory at the front corner had come nearly out of the ground. The surface roots were obviously separated from the soil and a portion of the sidewalk over the root base had lifted and was cracked. The tree should come down but it will have to be at their own expense. Neither FEMA nor the insurance company will do anything. Logan had left the previous week to start 8th grade in Caldwell, Ohio, where Shannon’s dad lives. Gary, another son of Shannon, was staying in an apartment a bit closer to the Gulf. Gary left the apartment as the storm surge flooded the first floor. He waded through chest deep water to get to Shannon’s place.




I guess we stayed up until about 1am chatting and listening to some of the various stories about Katrina. Just so many lives were touched. Somehow no one that they knew had lost their lives though many were living in various stages of destruction.

During the day on Tuesday we first started paying attention to Hurricane Rita. With the Gulf being above 90 degrees surface temperature we figured it would develop into a cat 5.

Wednesday

It didn’t take us long Wednesday morning to finish up the cleanup that we were doing.

Just before lunch two FBI guys came up asking for Kit. Relatives of one of the neighbors had not heard from her and they had filed an inquiry. Kit pointed out where she lived and thought that she had left for Mobile. They were looking at me strange having long hair and beard. Kit told them that I was wanted in Ohio. We joked around with them for a while then went back to work.

At lunch time the Red Cross came by with hot food. As much as had been said about the Red Cross not being there for anyone, the food was pretty good. It was a tomato-beef mixture with lots of ground beef and very filling.

The Baptist group also showed up with additional ice that we distributed to the neighbors.

We spent the rest of the day putting up the plywood sheeting. Shannon had commented on how much better she breathed after us sealing off the area. Shannon has to use an inhaler due to burned lungs from ammonia vapors. She was going through two inhalers daily just before we got there. By Wednesday she was down to less than one.

It seemed like we were ahead of the game and would easily finish what we were doing before we had to leave.

Hurricane Rita had built to a Cat 5 but the track seemed headed toward Texas and probably wouldn’t affect us other than rain. We were pretty sure that we could handle rain.

Thursday
We tore down the plastic barrier in the room Thursday morning and moved the furniture to the finished area then sealed this area off to avoid spreading mold to the furniture and new paneling. Then we began tearing down the remaining walls and ceiling.

By afternoon the winds had picked up and the temperature dropped from the muggy 90’s to comfortable lower 80’s. The wind was advanced warning of Hurricane Rita that was close to being directly south of us.

Gary drove over his Jeep Cherokee that had been under water from the storm surge. He was having trouble with the electrical system and had bought a new wiring harness for it. Gary’s children were in the Houston area and with Rita heading that way wanted to drive over to get them. While he was working on the Jeep we were ripping out moldy dry wall and fiberglass insulation.

We had one light shower that forced us to scramble and cover all our building material.

The Salvation Army delivered hot food around noon. Ravioli again but it was welcomed.

By late afternoon we had the remaining part of the room stripped, chemically cleaned and painted with the mold retardant. We then installed the insulation and covered the room in plastic. It was beginning to look good and smell clean. We removed the plastic barrier again opening the house and getting the now fresh breeze throughout the lower floor. We figured that all we had to do on Friday was to put up the remaining paneling and hang the new ceiling fans that Kit had bought.

Dave and I figured we had done all we could and would head back to Ohio on Saturday. We had a few beers and a late supper then went to bed early feeling pretty good.

Friday
I woke up at around 5am with the sound of an explosion and bright flash followed by another smaller more distant explosion. The power went out.

Kit hooked up the generator and plugged in the refrigerator and coffee pot. Thank goodness for that. It was raining pretty hard and we scrambled around making sure all the wood outside was covered well.

We found out that at least five transformers had blown. One of them outside of Mel’s house had exploded and had set a debris pile on fire. Her and a neighbor were hosing it off trying to keep the fire from expanding. It eventually went out when a utility truck arrived. There was several trucks with lift buckets roaming the neighborhood looking for frayed wires and blown transformers. Power finally came on around 4pm.

Kit had to work that evening so laid down to get a bit of sleep. That’s when we saw it. There was a drip of water above the plastic we had put on the ceiling. It wasn’t much more than a teaspoon full but, nonetheless, there was a leak. Our hearts sunk. We hoped it was just a small leak that we could fix easily since it wasn’t all that much water. Dave, not knowing the extent of the leak had laid down to take a nap until the power came back on. We decided that we shouldn’t continue further until we got enough rain to make sure this wasn’t the only leak.

Then it began to rain very heavy outside and the wind got strong. We saw more water on the ceiling in a different spot. Shannon went to the attic and said that water was coming in everywhere. Shannon was losing it. I was losing it.

After pulling it together we grabbed anything that would hold water and headed to the attic. We took a roll of plastic sheeting and began spreading that above the new fiberglass hoping to keep it dry. I saw a hole in the roof about 2 inches wide by about six inches long. I looked up and it looked as though the tarp covering the hole was no thicker than cellophane. Chances are the rain was coming through tears in this thin tarp. I shoved a towel in this hole and placed a bucket beneath the towel. Shannon and Mike were spreading buckets and containers wherever they could. We then went back downstairs to assess the damage. It actually seemed like we had reached a stalemate with the rain. There was water from before but it wasn’t getting worse.

Dave got up and I explained the situation to him. We both felt like our efforts all week long were in vain. The feeling we both had was indescribable. We tried to rationalize that we had made an impact, that we had brought needed supplies and brightened up life for Shannon. Yet, we were about to leave with a leaky roof and uncertain future for her house.

Kit got up and wouldn’t talk to anyone. He wouldn’t listen to anyone. We each kind of went to separate places in the house and in the front yard. It was time to gather our thoughts and try to figure out what made sense.

We all concluded that the problem was the original tarp. Shannon’s dad had delivered several rolls of tar paper. We figured that we could lay this on top of the tarp in real roofing style. Dave recalled that Mel had a large roll of heavy-duty tarp. Enough to cover the roof.

Mike and Kit began to layout the tar paper and stapled it down. The wind was so strong that the tar paper was just tearing as they laid it down. Finally they used roofing nails with large plastic washers. This seemed to hold. Shannon and I headed out to Lowe’s to get additional roofing nails and a dozen lengths of furring strips.

Kit had to go to work shortly after we got back from Lowe’s. Dave was too heavy to go up on the roof. Mike had to go to work. Shannon and I climbed up onto the roof to lay down the new tarp. Dave stayed below to hand us the furring strips and to guide us in getting the tarp aligned. In strong wind Shannon and I managed to get one end of the tarp down and secured it with a furring strip. Dave handed up a bundle of six, 8-foot strips. We laid those down on the tarp only to see the wind pick up the tarp and strips. We managed to get the strips down and secure them with long screws. We were very glad to get off the roof.

The next ring of feeder bands poured more rain on us. We checked the attic and didn’t see any leaks other than residual water that had already penetrated the old tarp. We finally felt that we had the roof sealed.

Saturday
The next morning the rain had let up. Kit came home from work and said that it had rained very hard during the night. We didn’t see any new leaks and the ceiling had dried from the previous leaks. Whew. I think we were ready to leave.

Kit had promised us a tour of Biloxi and some areas not open to the public. As soon as we drove onto Rt. 90 along the Gulf a MP stopped us since we weren’t supposed to be there. He accepted Kit’s police ID and left us alone.

We spent the next hour or so driving around areas of Biloxi. On one occasion Kit go disoriented though he had been working the area as a police officer for eight years. The destruction was widespread and complete. Houses had either blown apart or had floated as far as 100 yards before breaking apart. Many frame houses were stacked against one another like so many wooden blocks. Cars were tossed around like hot wheels without regard to weight or model. Clothing and other debris still hung in the trees 15 to 20 feet above ground. Water marks could be seen in areas that were not supposed to be under water. Sections of Rt 90 across Back Bay of Biloxi were stacked like dominoes. Pictures of this tour and other pictures taken are displayed at www.strothers.com/Biloxi.htm .

The trip home to Ohio was uneventful other than some heavy rain near the Alabama-Mississippi border. It is good to be back home. I will forever be impacted by this trip and I will not hesitate to offer direct assistance to hurricane victims. The recovery from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita will take a long time. I really don’t know the most effective way to help but for Missy and me this will be a part of our monthly budget.