Purdy, Missouri, Church Brought Hope, Relief During Hurricane Katrina

Ozark Christian Church of Purdy sent out a team of 10 volunteers for 2005's Katrina cleanup to Mandeville, in western St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana., on the north side of Lake Pontchartrain. The town suffered heavy hurricane force winds of up to 145 mph, plus tornado damage.

It came as no surprise when the church's minister, Jay Rambo, suggested the possibility of the church sending out a team of volunteers to the hurricane-stricken southern coast. Several members had already been considering the challenge and checking their schedules. The only question left was when and where.

"Our youth minister, Amy Sampson, had done an internship at Mandeville Christian Church (MCC). She had called the church's minister, Joe Major, to check on her friends there when he mentioned that the town was in dire need of chain saw and cleanup crews and had suffered immense damage. Joe was also overseeing the cleanup of the Christian Church in Slidell," said Rambo.

Major and his wife, Mina, have more long-term goals to pursue after the cleanup is completed. He'd like to see his church continue the goodwill by rebuilding homes, much like a "Habitat for Humanity" program, for local citizens who lost their homes from Katrina.

As it turned out, time was of the essence and it seemed the Lord was already putting things into place for the trip.

We also worked in nearby Slidell, which received heavy flooding from a 30-foot storm surge. Most homes and buildings that suffered water damage had to have all the drywall stripped due to black mold, which can cause headaches, burning of the eyes and difficulty in breathing and worse, much like the result of a chemical spill.

One hotel had flooding up through the second floor. The combination of heat and high humidity would not allow the homes and businesses to dry out without the dangerous mold forming.

In Slidell, residents had emptied their homes of all their belongings. Furniture, appliances and toys. One could say theses peoples' lives were inside out.
Many on the north shore of the lake did not have flood insurance as it was believed the levee would protect them.

Our caravan drove through the night, arriving at Mandeville Christian Church early Saturday morning. Members included OCC's minister, Jay Rambo, Everett Patterson, Darrell Williams, Michael Williams, Bob and Debbie Berger, Joe McCaffrey, Daniel Duncan and Randy and Lori Duncan.

After an 11-hour drive through the night, the group pulled into the church parking lot, changed clothes and got out the chainsaws. At 7 a.m., temperatures had already reached into the 80s and the humidity was pushing 90 percent. We finally caved to the heat about 6:30 p.m. and decided we better conserve our strength for the days ahead.

The next day, we took a tour of the once pristine suburbs of Mandeville. Each home had been beautifully manicured and was graced with majestic pines. Now many of those pines laid upon cars, roofs, fences and yards, like so many broken toothpicks.

I just remember hearing myself saying, "Oh look at that...oh those poor people." Another observation I made was, where are all the pets? The whole time I was there in Mandeville, I did not see one cat or dog.

Several in the community were contemplating throwing out their refrigerators and freezers due to loss of electricity for so long, and the odors and mold could not be removed. Some of the lucky ones had either insurance or RVs with refrigerators.

"Nothing we saw on TV even came close to showing the damage caused by Katrina in nearby cities. So much news coverage focused on how horrible things were in New Orleans, but these little communities like Mandeville and Slidell suffered greatly," said Bob Berger, one of OCC's team.

Piles of broken trees and branches at least 10 feet high laid in rows upon rows in front of homes, waiting for FEMA trucks to pick up the timber. Everywhere we drove, trees of every size were bent, twisted and fallen.

We worked on one fallen tree that the root ball measured about 12 feet across. That tree meant a lot to the owners, Norm and Mary Ann Schuler. I witnessed her grabbing pieces of bark from the tree and bringing it up to the house, cupped in her hand like it was a newborn kitten. She was also particularly gratefully to have a cut section of the tree as a rememberence of how Katrina changed her backyard view.

Due to the hurricane's effect on the lush landscape of western St. Tammany Parish, the communities of Mandeville and Slidell, will be changed forever. This densely wooded community, once teaming with majestic pines, is now littered with downed trees and flooded neighborhoods.

Little could prepare us for the destruction we would observe. Some areas not only received extreme damage from the hurricane, but also suffered some bizarre damage from tornadoes, spawned by the tropical storm.

OCC's team returned home Wednesday night, after four intense days of labor. Debbie Berger reflected on the impact of these small groups of volunteers, "It reminds me of the story of the girl walking along the seashore, throwing starfish after starfish back into the ocean. Someone asked her, 'why are you doing that, there are so many, how can it matter?' The girl said, "yes but, it matters to each of those starfish!"

OCC's Daniel Duncan found the hard work not only challenging, but rewarding. "I could do this all the time. It's hard work, but it feels good to help these people."

Almost every home in the Parish had some destruction, some minor, but many homes were inhabitable for a time.

"Folks were so appreciative, it just breaks your heart to see them so shell-shocked and helpless, we ended up helping about 10 or 12 homes while we were there. That doesn't sound like much, but much more help is coming," said Bob Berger, one of the team members.

One man's home the group worked on was inhabitable by his family. Both hospital workers had been at the hospital when the storm hit. They came back to view the damage and found a large tree that had fallen on both cars in the driveway. One of which the owner had just taken off of full coverage. It was almost split in half. His plumbing was totally disabled and you could not tell where the yard was.

Another home in Mandeville, owned by Russell Arthur, suffered severe tree damage, however the he was very upbeat considering the rough road and months of repair ahead of him. We called his home, "the tree house."

As it happened, many in the group were craving at least one Cajun meal before leaving and had found a restaurant in town that served authentic Cajun food. But the "tree house" owner was so thrilled with the work done on his home by the church groups, that he offered to feed the whole group Cajun food of about 50 workers at the Mandeville Christian Church. "I can't believe you guys could do this much work in four hours. It's unbelievable, I can't thank you enough," said Arthur.

Another individual who was temporarily staying in an apartment, said he was working full time six days a week, and then coming home in the evenings and trying to clear his yard and home of debris. The team came along and cleared it in only a couple of hours. He came by Mandeville Christian Church during dinner that night, full of thanks. "What you guys did in one afternoon, would have taken me a month. This is unbelievable." He went on to tell us if we wanted anything from his tire shop, to stop by and he'd fix us right up.

The team worked daily in temperatures at times 100 degrees and high humidity. OCC's Joe McCaffrey worked tirelessly clearing pine needles and debris from the rooftops. "I'm so glad I got to come and do this. It's great to be able to help these people. This has been a great time for me."

The give and take of warmth and appreciation was wide-spread. Truckload after truckload of goods were being dropped off and sent to the church building for relief workers and for victims. Water, food, MREs (meals ready to eat), money, service equipment, medications, clothing, furniture and appliances kept coming in daily, to be given to whoever needed it.

One ray of light was brought by the four-year-old daughter of some members of Mandeville Christian Church, Grace Warren. Little Grace would entertain the volunteers with her stories and brilliant conversation. Everyone who met her fell in love with her. It was so refreshing to see her cheery face after a long hot day of work.

At one evening meal, she sat at a table surrounded by grownups, captivating every eye and ear as she spoke of "the storm," and further explained that she was, "going to be a fireman and fight the bad guys," when she grew up.

Grace's parents, Dean and Jeanne Warren, were constant fixtures at the church. Dean works for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), National Weather Service New Orleans/Baton Rouge Weather Forecast Office, in Slidell, as an electronics technician. He is responsible for monitoring equipment for current weather conditions and oversees a 400-mile area with the Slidell office in the center. Jeanne had the tedious task of keeping track and organizing the incoming troups of church workers from all over the United States.

There was a small amount of crime spawned by the events surrounding Katrina. MCC's minister, Joe Major, noted, "There has been some looting, but not anything like they saw in New Orleans. People protect their property well here. Some have put up signs saying, 'You loot, we shoot,' and, 'This home is protected by two friends of mine, Smith and Wesson.' But it's not been too bad."

All over Mandeville, trees were split in half or completely uprooted. For most of this town, flooding was not an issue, but wind and tornado damage. There was a strange mix of the scents of delicious pine, and nauseating sewage, black mold and standing water.

One home had lost it's water line, so while others of the group were cutting trees in the yard, two of the team members repaired the plumbing.

Major told us that there would be months and months of cleanup work in the town. One woman told us that "money-making" tree-removal teams were going about giving quotes as high as $14,000 to clear trees in yards. But churches from all over the U.S. were sending out volunteers to help families pick up the pieces.

"I'd like to see our churches continue in this good work by rebuilding homes and lives after all the trees, homes and yards have been cleared," Major said.
I was fortunate enough to spend part of our last morning interviewing Paul Trotter, the meteorologist in charge at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), National Weather Service New Orleans/Baton Rouge Weather Forecast Office, in Slidell, La. He has been employed at the facility for 11 years. When I arrived, Trotter had just been in a conference call with other meteorologists, talking about Hurricane Rita.

The new storm began to make its presence known on Sunday, Sept. 18, 2005, which began developing into a strong tropical storm east of the Bahamas.

By the time Rita made landfall, around 3:30 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 24, 2005, the hurricane had become a Category 3 where the eye landed just west of the Sabine Pass near Cameron, La., on the Texas-Louisiana line. The storm brought winds of 120 miles per hour. About 90 percent of the parishes in southwestern Louisiana evacuated not knowing exactly which way Rita would turn. However, most of the parishes were spared significant damage.

NOAA/NWS first observed Hurricane Katrina in the Bahamas on Aug. 23, 2005. When Katrina went southwest of Miami, and aimed itself toward the Gulf of Mexico, as with any major storm, the south Louisiana weather center embarked on the long and exhausting job of tracking the unprecedented storm.

"It was by far the worst hurricane we've encountered since I've been here," said Trotter.

By Monday morning, Hurricane Rita had thinned out along the Gulf coast states and headed north into the interior of the country. I asked Trotter a few last questions concerning the newest storm:

LD: Now that Hurricane Rita has arrived, is this storm playing out as strong as predicted?

Trotter: The storm was a little weaker than anticipated but compromised southeast Louisiana and coastal Mississippi with storm surge, high tides, rainfall and wind. The advances made were demolished by added water.

LD: Do you feel that information gathered before and after Hurricane Katrina, was beneficial in how you prepared for Hurricane Rita?

Trotter: Yes, people evacuated and heeded the advice.

LD: Since the southern Gulf states are so prone to tropical storms, are there any plans in place for widespread weather radios or scanners to be placed in most homes in those areas?

Trotter: Hopefully, there will be a push to add resources to get this word out. Weather radios and scanners are our first line a defense to diasters.

LD: What methods of emergency preparedness is in place for your facility during a major storm, and how protected is it so that your offices may continue to provide timely predictions and announcements?

Trotter: Our offices have been upgraded and have a last resort shelter in place. The office will likely get another level of security and upgrades to enhance our stead against emergencies and storms.

Originally from Delaware, Trotter has worked in the weather tracking business for 31 years. He's also worked in Los Angeles, Calif., San Juan, Puerto Rico, Oklahoma City, Okla., Albuquerque, N. Mex., Memphis, Tenn., Washington, D.C., and New Orleans. He attended school at the University of Marilyn Eastern Shore and Penn State University.

Trotter summed up his feelings of the last few weeks. "We're just trying to deal with nature's difficulties. But with faith in God, we must leave everything in His hands. Communication is ultimately important, and men and women helping each other."

In Slidell, the first 10 days following Katrina, only one tanker of gas per day was available to supply the Parish.

A woman which we assisted had waited over three weeks for someone to removed the tree tops from the roof of her house before the electric company would reconnect her electricity. The temperatures had been in the 90s since the storm.

Another member of the church, Daniel Duncan, enjoyed the comradery shared by the group. "The last time I went on a mission trip with our church was back in 2001, when we went to Juarez, Mexico. I really missed being able to do good things for others. This makes me want to do more."

OCC's Everett Patterson stated his concern for all the folks we didn't get a chance to help. "We get to go back to our homes and nice yards, and these people have to go on dealing with this. Like this lady with no electricity for air conditioning and the tree tops on her roof. This heat is too much, I don't know how they do it," he said.

Michael Williams summed up his feelings on the trip to southern Louisiana, "I just felt like I had to help, and I glad I went, it felt good to help in any way I could."
Williams' father, Darrell, noted how proud he was of his son, "I am so proud of Michael, he worked so hard. I really enjoyed this time we spent together and what we accomplished."

OCC's Randy Duncan encouraged members at church Sunday to volunteer if they could for our next mission, which will probably occur in late fall. "There is so much more to be done, I guarantee you'll be blessed by doing this."

Trees that were twisted and broke off, were from tornadoes within the hurricane, and trees that were simply blown over in half, were from the hurricane's force. For miles and miles, tall yellow pines that would have been power poles and building lumber, were now laid to waste in countless fields.

Wherever we went, we overheard conversations about Katrina, Rita coming, evacuations, destroyed homes, lost jobs, lost friends and relatives, and on and on. You didn't hear conversations about the war, the football game, or the latest movie. It was all about the weather and what it had done to their lives.

During our stay, we shared the church building with several others. One group was from Tennessee and another from Ohio. Others that had been there since the beginning of the effort on Sept. 11, totalling 130, were from West Virginia, Virginia, Carthage, Minnesota, Indiana and a group of 94 from Texas. Many, many more were scheduled to follow, but the weekend group's visit after we left would be postponed due to Rita.

Hurricane Katrina damaged over 5,000 poles and 2,500 crossbars in the city's electrical grid in St. Tammany Parish. Tree damage was extensive and it is estimated that 35 to 40 percent were damaged.

By Friday, Sept. 23, 2005, Katrina's death toll stood at 841 in Louisiana and 1,078 across the Gulf Coast.