Katrina Recovery Efforts Periodic Log from the Men in Mississippi—October 2006 Continue Supporting Ongoing Katrina Relief Effort Donate to PDA— Presbyterian Disaster Assistance At Church: Drop a check in the collection plate Sunday. Make out check to "PCUSA -- DR000169" Donations will be forwarded to the Presbyterian Disaster Assistance collection center for use in assisting victims of Hurrican Katrina. [Reports from Frank Van Fleet to Elden Wright] Sunday, October 22, 2006 5:18 PM Hi Elden We're here safe and sound, in hot and humid Gautier, Mississippi. We had a great trip down without any incidents of significance. The following is a summary of our trip and status as of 3:41 PM local time today: We met (all 7 present and accounted for) in the Church parking lot yesterday morning at 7:30, loaded our tools and personal gear and said goodbye to our wives. After a brief prayer by Toby to carry us safely on our way, we departed at 8AM with six of us driving down and Harry Pontius departing and planning to fly down on the 22nd. We made few stops, stopping in Burlington, NC for lunch at barbecue restaurant (that also had catfish for me). With filled stomachs we continued on our journey stopping in Charlotte to refuel the van and continued on our way. We swapped off with driving allowing all to have their turn to drive and to rest. Lots of conversation on the way - we're convinced we solved all the world's problems including Congress! That one was a challenge. At 6P we arrived at our pre arranged lodging (Fairfield Inn) in Atlanta and after a brief refreshing we departed for a wonderful Italian meal at Scalini's restaurant. A spot that Jeff was familiar with. Back at the hotel, we all proceeded to our team rooms (2 to a room) and watched either baseball or football, or in the case of Jeff and I, we switched back and forth watching both. After a good night's sleep and breakfast at the hotel, we departed around 8AM from Atlanta. We had a hard rain in the Atlanta area and a forecast of continued rain for the next few days. After traveling in a light rain through Georgia we entered Alabama when the sun broke through and brightened our day. God is Good! Our first stop was for fuel and rest break near Greenville, AL. While at the rest area, we met another large group on their way down from a Methodist Church in Lancaster, PA. We exchanged good wishes and shared information, when we suddenly became aware that two of that group (a mother and son) had the last name of Fitzkee! Toby, was beside himself. He has probably met a heretofore unknown relative now. They swapped cards and agreed to contact each other in the future. Their group were heading for a camp near Van Cleve, MS - just north of us. Needless to say the conversation for the next hour in our van as we traveled onward, focused on genealogy. We arrived at the camp site around 2:30 local and after waiting awhile for a camp employee to show, we learned of the location of our quarters (corrugated paper and plastic "tents", placed on wooden floors. Harry had also arrived, having had a safe flight. On inspection, we found that most were flooded with water so we spent most of our next hour mopping out the floors before we could unload and store our gear. It gave us an opportunity to learn how quickly humidity and heat can consume you. Those of us in long trousers, very quickly changed into shorts. Our camp coordinator is to arrive later this evening and brief us on administrative details and perhaps our work detail for tomorrow. Well, my battery is getting low Elden, so I need to charge it up before I lose the opportunity to send this. I will attempt to give you and update daily that you may use as you see fit. Take care. fvf Monday, October 23, 2006 9:35 PM Last evening after my email to you, our group cooked dinner and in lieu of devotional, we got our orientation from the camp manager. Every group is tasked with some part of the work of the camp, i.e. cooking (we cooked - grilled burgers with all the trimmings); cleaning the showers, toilets and policing the area and assuming responsibility for conduct of the evening devotional. We did not get our work assignment until this morning - it was to rip up flooring in two rooms of a home at Moss Point which is east of Gautier and determine what needed to be done and, of course, to do what we could. We had the cleaning detail of the toilets and showers this morning, so we did not depart the camp until around 10AM. We arrived at the home assigned to us around 10:30 and had to wait for the owner to return before we could begin work, because they have to sign a release form allowing us to perform. He got there around 11 and we began - we split into two crews with one team working the kitchen floor and the other the sunroom floor. The kitchen team had the added responsibility of pulling out all the appliances and removing the cabinets. Jeff, Ray and myself took on the sunroom floor and the more we removed the more problems we encountered. We found not only rot and termites in the floor and subfloor, but also the floor joists. So far we have determined a need to replace 6 floor joists and shore up one other and we've only unncovered about 1/2 of the floor area. We worked until around 4:30 having replaced only two joists, when we determined that we could not position any more without additional jacks to lift the house off the footing to allow the new joists to fit. We also need additional materials which we hope will be provided while we are here to do the work. Harry, Toby, Pete and Clint were succesful in removing everything in the kitchen except the dishwasher and a small hot water heater. We need a plumber to come in and help with that move. They did get part of the floor uncovered and encountered similar problems as we had in the sunroom. We worked until around 5PM and returned, hot, dirty and tired to the camp, took a shower and strolled to dinner, which was cooked by the Lehigh Presbyterian Group (PA) tonight. They cooked spaghetti with a very nice salad and garlic bread; It was really good and filling. We discussed among ourselves and agreed that we would to the devotional on Friday evening. The camp is fairly well organized and managed as best as you might expect with part time volunteers. Of course, you can always find improvements, but by and large it's well done. Our only complaint has been the weather. It's been beautiful during the day, but very cold at night. Last night it got down into the 30's and it's hard to keep warm sleeping in a paper "tent" or hut on a cot with only a sleeping bag. None of us brought sufficient warm clothing. Something that needs to be considered in the future. The weather is supposed to improve the rest of the week, although tonight it is around 40 and I'm cold!!! We go back to the same house tomorrow (we will be there all week) and we hope that we have sufficient materials to make a major improvement before we have to depart. I doubt we can finish the job. There's just too much to do. Thank God that others will be coming behind us. We've heard from the locals that if it were not for the faith based groups coming down to help, nothing would get done. That's all for now. I hope you get this. More tomorrow. fvf Tuesday, October 24, 2006 10:23 PM Today was a good day. We got an earlier start than yesterday—knowing what had to be done and what materials we needed. Our first stop was to Lowes to pick up lumber and hardware. (funded by PDA throught the use of gift cards.) We continued to work on the floor in the sunroom of the home, finding more damage by rot and termites as we went. The room measures about 12 X 24 and we will have refloored, including replacing joists, all but about 4 feet. Every joist install is a challenge. We purchased two 20 ton jacks at Lowes which greatly helped in raising the walls allowing us to place the joists onto the concrete beams beneath the house. Prior to that we only had two screw jacks that took forever to move the walls, then we had to beat the joists into place using a 20 pound sledge hammer. Our guys have really worked hard these two days. With the new jacks we were able to install the joists in about 1/2 the time it took to do the others. We have 5 more joists to replace and then we can begin laying the plywood underflooring. I suspect that is as much as we'll get done this week. No more work can be done in the kitchen until a professional plumber and electrician can do their part. We ran into trouble today on our flooring job. As we approached the opposite wall from where we began, we saw that termites had eaten through the floor and up the wall. We don't know what the PDA coordinator will advise, but it appears the home needs more work than we have time for, plus probably beyond our expertise. However, we will give the owner a much better floor than he had as far as we can go. Everything continues to go well. Our team works well together and all are giving their best. There are no slackers in this group. Camp personnel have responded well and the other groups here have been very friendly and helpful as well. We have a free evening on Thursday so we've decided to go out to dinner. I have a friend who lives near here and we are going to meet him and he will direct us to a good place to dine. We're all looking forward to that opportunity, even though the food in the camp kitchen has been awfully good. Tonight we are reviewing passages from the Bible and from a book I am reading written by Dietrich Bonhoeffer in order to prepare for our devotional on Friday evening. The weather has improved somewhat, not nearly as cold tonight, so I'm sure we will all sleep a little better. We are expected to get rain on Thursday which could be a problem since all of the tents leak—from the ground up! But, we'll cope. At devotional tonight many of the folks spoke of chance meetings with local citizens and the praise that was heaped on the PDA and the various Presbyterian groups that have been down to help. Interestingly, although many homes have been repaired and completed, some people cannot move into them because they have no furniture and they need what little money they have to survive. Some of the folks were employed at the casinos and since they are not all up and running now, people are still unemployed. The camp provides magnetic signs for our vehicles which show the PDA emblem and indicate we are part of the Presbyterian Disaster Assistance teams. While at Lowes, a customer coming in toward the store walked out of his way and over to our van and said how much he appreciated we Presbyterians for all we are doing and have done to help the folks here. We have such an opportunity to witness in many ways here. I've attached two photos I took with my cell phone, the first is over Clint's shoulder on the way down on Sunday to MS. He's preparing for his Sunday School class that he will teach in November. The second photo show's Toby on the ground on his back helping to set one of the jacks for raising the wall before inserting the new joists. Ray is helping hold from above. As you can see it is hard, dirty work, but very rewarding. More tomorrow. Take care. fvf Wednesday, October 25, 2006 9:04 PM Hi Elden. Things are going well on the front lines. The troops are working hard and enjoying every minute of it. Some even began singing today! Lot's of laughs and kidding about mistakes, but getting the job done. Since it is supposed to rain tomorrow, another group that was doing roofing asked for help to get the job finished today before the rain came. So we volunteered to split our team into two groups and Toby, Jeff, Clint and Ray went to help the roofing crew, while Pete, Harry and myself continued to work on the flooring job. They had sufficient help to complete their part of the work by noon, so after meeting us for lunch they returned to resume helping us do the floor. We were able to got all the floor joists in today, got them braced and hope to begin laying the sub flooring tomorrow. We figure we can complete the floor tomorrow if we have the materials. The concern is whether the PDA has sufficient funds to pay for the materials. If not, I guess we'll be given another task to do. We would sure hate to leave that family without a floor so we pray that PDA will be able to come through. All else continues to go well. The food has been plentiful and very good. The weather has improved, though it may begin to get worse tomorrow. Everyone works well together and has many stories to tell of their day when we all gather back at camp and go to dinner. We have decided on our devotional for Friday evening - Ray Monroe will lead and each of us will have a part, either reading or prayer. We will use that portion of Bonhoeffer's book relating to Faith and Works, reading from both the book of James and verses from some of Paul's writings to Ephesians, Timothy and Phillipians. We think it clearly speaks to the work that God is doing through us. We were pleased to pass on to the news that Clint received from Sandy this evening—that the Logos kids will do a fund raiser to send a donation for the work the PDA is doing here. One incident that I meant to pass on to you two nights ago, but forgot. As we were a removing subflooring and getting down to the joists the other day, we encountered an area where termites had eaten all the way across the floor and up a wall. While focusing on ripping up the flooring and getting the debris out of our way, Jeff stepped back over the area where the termites had eaten away the joists and part of the subflooring and crashed clear through with a loud bang all the way to the ground Luckily he did not encounter any nails or other sharp material and escaped unscathed. After learning he was unhurt, we all had a great laugh. I wish I had gotten a picture of him before he climbed back out. Not much else to add Elden except we all think this is something we need to continue as we can and should also encourage others to join us. It is most rewarding, the people here are so grateful, the work is hard, but enjoyable and the spirit of God abounds. I'll report in again tomorrow. Take care. fvf Thursday, October 26, 2006 6:34 PM Hi Elden, another report coming to you from wet and chilly Gautier, MS. Today was a great day. PDA found sufficient funds to purchase the plywood for the flooring and we all pitched in to purchase the few remaining 2 X 6's that we needed to complete the framing needed to nail the subflooring to. Also, early this morning I stepped on one of the older floor joists that appeared to be solid, but snapped under my weight, so we had to install another floor joist. We got a new team mate yesterday afternoon and she worked with us again today. A lady from PA who is Catholic learned of this effort from a friend of hers, so she contacted PDA and asked if she could come down. She traveled with the Lehigh Church group and had been working with them, but reached a point yesterday noon when there was not enough work to go around, so she asked if she could help us. We said, of course, so she became very helpful in cleaning up and measuring and cutting the short blocking pieces we needed. We also included her in nailing down the first piece of subflooring too, while Harry took her picture. She was most appreciative and her being around kept our guys on their best manners. We completed all the prep work for the subflooring and were able to install 3 pieces of the 3/4" plywood before we quit for the day. We quit early today so that we could take a tour of the area along the beach at Pascagoula [sp] and see how they are faring after the devestation. We were told that the wall of water that came ashore was 30 ft high and that 11 miles north it was still 6ft high. That wouild be about how high the water was that flooded the house we are working on and it is about 5 miles north of the gulf. We took some photos of the area showing where one home once stood. They are rebuilding under new rules that require the homes to stand at least 12' above the ground. However, there are several lots listed for sale. We got back to the camp around 4:30 and showered and changed for our dinner out this evening. We are meeting a friend of mine at Ocean Springs and then on to Biloxi for dinner. Everything has worked out very well and we should easily finish laying the subflooring tomorrow (10 sheets of 4 X 8 X 3/4 plywood). Take care. fvf. Friday, October 27, 2006 5:51 PM Our last day at Gautier! Like the man says "We gotter dun!" We had a great day again today. It started off rough though. The rain that was predicted for yesterday was only a precursor to what came early this morning. Around 5:20 the rain came in like a monsoon—it must have measured an inch on rain in the two hours or so that hit us. Except for those who had gotten up early to prepare breakfast, (not our group) everyone else remained in their hut. Jeff and I lay in our cots trying to get that last bit of good sleep as the water came creeping into our tent. By the end of the rain, we had about 1/2 inch on the unlevel floor in several places. Undeterred, our group managed to make the breakfast on time and stayed to clean up as we were scheduled for today. Last evening we had a great dinner at the Isle of Capris Casino (no, none of us stayed to gamble). We met my friend in Ocean Springs and drove to Biloxi and the Casino. The meal was simply scrumptuous and we all left there sinfully stuffed. It was a great way to celebrate our near completion of the work we were charged to do. We arrived at the worksite around 8:45 and by 1PM, Toby drove the last nail in the last piece of flooring. We took the time to take photos of us all as well as the homeowner before we departed for a late lunch. Unfortunately, Clint became ill overnight and stayed back at the camp today to nurse a cold and try to overcome his sickness. He took medication during the day and by the time we returned around 3PM he was feeling much better, although still not back to 100%. The floor really looked good and is very solid, the homeowner was most pleased and we all went away wishing we could have done more, but at least he has a better floor now. We have been relaxing the rest of the afternoon and reading our selected Bible verses in preparation for the Devotional which we will present after dinner this evening. Afterwards we will pack and be prepared to make an early departure in the morning so that we can arrive in Charlotte at a decent hour tomorrow evening. We have taken lots of photos and will share those at the MOC breakfast next month. I will forward the one I took of Toby with my camera with this email. All in all it's been a wonderful experience despite the rain, mud, cold, heat, sweat, dirty clothes, chemical toilets, and etc., but we will remember little of this, because it is much overshadowed by the smiling faces, the warm greetings, the friendly camraderie among our group and the new friends we have made here. As you can see I got the computer fixed—last evening I apparently had gotten too much dust and moisture in the keyboard causing the crazy performance it gave. We are all ready to head home and back to our families. We pray for a safe trip home and warm greetings on our arrival on Sunday. Take care. fvf Sunday, October 29, 2006 3:43 PM We're home Elden. Arrived at the Church around 2:45 today after a pleasant drive in beautiful weather all the way back. One thing that I forgot to mention to you in my email on Friday. When we finished the floor, Mr. Kirkland was not around, but after cleaning up and loading our tools for departure, he returned as we were just pulling away and getting out of his car raised his bible in the air, held up both arms in an eagle like pose and said as we waved goodbye to him "Hallelulah, hallelulah." It was a memorable moment. We arose early on Saturday morning for an anticipated 7:30 departure. After we had cleaned our sleeping quarters and loaded our baggage we stopped by the kitchen for a last cup or coffee and tea (for me and Jeff), then said our good byes to those still there. Many of them approached us to thank us for the devotional we had presented Friday evening and Phyllis, the camp manager, asked if we would gather for a circle prayer with her before we departed. We all gathered with Phyllis near the gate of the camp and held hands in a circle as she offered prayer for our safekeeping and God's thanks for all that had been done in His name this past week. We all gave her a hug and wished her our best then loaded in the van and departed just before 7:30. We stopped near Mobile for breakfast then started on our way. We again took turns driving while some tried to catch up on the sleep they had missed. We talked a lot about how the week had gone and some of the people we had met as well as the work that was done - remembering the funny things that had happened along with the still terrible condition that the home remained in. We voiced hope that the owner, Mr. Kirkland would be able to receive a grant to get the home completely repaired or that PDA would be able to do more for him with future Church teams efforts. We arrived at our hotel in Charlotte around 7:30 PM and after refreshing in our rooms, we departed for dinner. Toby remained at the hotel stating that he had rather sleep, so the rest of us found a restaurant—Harpers—recommended by the hotel clerk and enjoyed a very delicious and relaxing meal. We returned to the hotel and hit the sack around 9:30 and arose at 6AM for breakfast in the hotel and loaded for a departure at 7:30 this morning. We had an uneventful drive from Charlotte to here until we reached the Quantico area on I-95. There we were stopped and learned of an accident some 5 miles ahead of us that was blocking two lanes, so we took the off ramp onto 234 and cut through MontClair to reach 123 and on to the Church. I believe that I can speak for all us when I conclude that this trip and the work that we did was very meaningful and personally rewarding. It was something we'll never forget and something, I think, that each of us would do again in a heart beat. We are already talking about making another trip down next year and believe that there will be many years before there is a full recovery in that area. There is such a need (although not all attributable to Katrina). Sorry for the misspellings and word errors in my earlier emails Elden, I didn't take time to edit as we were not under the most favorable conditions. It has been fun doing the work and hanging out with these guys as well as doing the emails. Thanks be to God for this opportunity, to the Church for its support, and to our families for their encouragment. It has just been great. See you at the MOC breakfast next Saturday, we'll bring photos. fvf