Help Who performed and who did not!!!!!!!!!!!! The next day the local police, people like Marine and Wildlife patrol officers plus some of the churches, went into high gear. The police with help from volunteers set up temp shelters. Our Waveland Walmart superstore had 16 feet of water in it, but as soon as it went down, people went in and got all the camping equipment, wet as it was and set it up in the store parking lot. Church volunteer groups started showing up with food, blankets, clothes, etc. I remember 2 groups in particular, one was from Darlington, SC and the other from Au Claire, Wisconsin. How they got here so quick, I’ll never know. By Wednesday, ice, water and MREs (the new K rations) were arriving with National Guard troops plus truck caravans loaded mostly with water and ice were arriving like gang busters from Florida. Our golf men’s association organized traffic control for those trying to get water, ice and food. MEMA also showed up and went to work. There was no electricity or water or gasoline, etc, etc, etc . It became strictly a cash economy. Luckily, I usually keep 6 to 800 dollars in cash in the house just for emergencies. Our friends from Waveland whose home was completely underwater from the surge somehow returned from Birmingham, Alabama, so we had them as house guests for a couple of days. During that time, the man and I went to his home. The interior was in shambles and we retrieved some of the items they had hoped to find. We emptied out the ref/freezers into trash bags, put them out at the curb (all this over a two-day period). While we were there on the second day, someone with whom he works came by looking for them. He invited them to stay at their home in Alabama and commute with him back and forth to his job in Gulfport. Off he and his wife went to Gulf Shores Alabama. They are commuting now and again back to their gutted home to continue to salvage as best they can. The entire area is covered with a muddy slime about 6 inches deep which holds onto your boots like a suction cup. The entire coast south of Hwy 90 smells like rotten eggs and one sees large (10-12 inches long) dead fish all over the place adding to the aroma. Add to that the smell of food removed from refrigerators plus ref/freezers still loaded and one gets quite a perfume. The next day, which was Friday, I now had some gasoline as the stations were open, usually waited at least 1 hour to get gas as there were long lines, a $50.00 cash only limit on purchases plus pumping was slow as they were using generators, due to no electricity. Went to check on another couple that we know, the ones who live in the house on stilts where the water got up to a total level of 26 ft. Low and behold, they were still there. He is 80 and she is 70 (on oxygen due to an immune system disorder). Invited them over to the house until they could get squared away with FEMA, whom although they had shown up here in Mississippi, were still so disorganized that they we doing nothing but waiting for word from Washington-this is almost 5 days after the storm was over. These are the same people that are under our fearsome Homeland Defense Management. (Maybe if the storm had confined itself to only hitting airports we might have had a better chance!) They stayed with us for a period of nine days due to a whole bunch of comedies of errors, but they finally got squared away with FEMA, their insurance co. etc. The Red Cross got them a motel room in Mobile Alabama, got the lady a bunch of oxygen cylinders, etc, etc. The reason I checked with them is that whenever a hurricane is coming our way, we let them park one of their cars next to the north wall of our brick garage. Although it is out in the open on grass, it still gives them more protection from water and wind than they can get on the Bayou where they live. So far it’s always worked, even this time. To continue reading AK's Katrina account, click Kudos here, or in the frame on the left. |
