Jan. 22 - 24 "the surge"

January 22: Hartford to Biloxi
Team B at Bradley Airport, ready to fly south.

We flew in to Gulfport Airport from the Gulf side, and when we finally descended below the deep cloud cover, those of us on our first trip here got our first glimpse of the hurricane’s devastation. We’d read about it, we’d heard about, we’d discussed it – but nothing compares with seeing it ourselves.

There were lots of “blue roofs” visible – roofs still covered with blue tarps. There are lots of identical white trailers in even rows. Block-sized areas are empty, showing just an occasional driveway and some trash on the overgrown lots.

Our observations continued as we drove on a lovely 4-lane boulevard next to the beach. Returnees commented on how “green” it was! When they were here shortly after Katrina came through, every leaf on every tree was stripped off, and grass was covered or dead. First-timers marveled at the almost total emptiness, mile after mile: every single home – lovely, beachside elegant homes that had stood here for years – is now gone. An occasional lot has been sold to a condo developer, and high rise condos have been built. And the casinos, now allowed to build on land, are mostly back in business. They provide both employment and much-needed income for this area, but their elegance and rich plantings look incongruous right now: they are the only buildings which look really good along the entire coast. In general, it’s so empty that it doesn’t seem like a city at all.

The floor tiles are all that’s left of this place, one of hundreds that are now simply empty.

Juanita’s home is one of the sites where we’ll be working. She was glad to see Pete again!

Returnees were amazed at the beautiful work that has been done on St. Paul’s, where we are all staying. The men even have beds! After a brief tour to see the four sites where we will be working, we gratefully ate a wonderful turkey dinner, had a brief service and a welcome from Rev. Moses, then fell into bed.

Rev. Moses greets us, lets us know what we can expect.

January 23: Our first day of work!
Mildred’s house: the garage needed to be sheetrocked, completely!

Eugene and Juanita’s house, with their FEMA trailer. The previous Team had accomplished wonders with sheetrock; we started in on the paintng.

The handicapped access ramp for Juanita, with Fran and Ted checking out their new railings.

A big breakfast set us all up for tackling whatever needed tackling. The crew leaders got us all settled in at Eugene’s and Juanita’s home, where we could start working right away while they organized the supplies and priorities at the other sites. After lunch one crew moved to Mildred’s house. By the end of our first day, major progress was noticeable in four areas: painting, door frames and railings for the access ramp at Juanita’s and Eugene’s, and sheetrocking of the two small closets in the rear of Mildred’s garage. We were grateful for the preparative work that the previous crews had done: it’s encouraging to see visible progress right from the start.

Beth applies the finish coat to Juanita’s and Eugene’s front bedroom. Eugene didn’t like the color, but Juanita loves it!

Sheetrocking at Mildred’s: Dorrie and Cassandra with drills in hand, encouraged by Dick.













Rev. Mel admires; Rudy labors!














During our debriefing back at the Church, Cassandra noted that the type of work we’re doing is changing as the months have passed. The mucking out and debris removal is now largely over; carpentry work is increasingly needed; and by next year perhaps another field (maybe flooring?) will dominate. The need is indescribably huge. (One person compared asking ‘how long will it take to restore this area?’ to ‘how long would it take to fill in the Grand Canyon?”) All the noises in the street are things like generators, table saws, and traffic. No children, no music, not many birds. Lots of folks are working hard, but this is just so vast that it will take years.

Time for bed: tomorrow’s another day!

Laurel Swan, Journalist for Team B