Mississippi

[SKay]

I got back from Pascagoula, MS, a little while ago. DH is at work so I'll share with you my experience. A group of us went over to help clean up from Katrina. We were in a large neighborhood about a mile from the gulf. All the houses in this neighborhood were flooded. We helped with 2 houses that had had almost 4 feet of water in them. Fortunately the people we helped had evacuated, but their neighbors hadn't. They had to be rescued from their roof--with their babies in trash cans to keep them afloat. No one expected this neighborhood to be flooded because it had been fine during Camielle in 1969. These people lost practically everything. Everything had to be removed from the homes and then the drywall had be taken out about halfway up the wall. It was amazing to drive through the area with walls of debris along the roadside.

Then we went along the waterfront. Some houses were heaps; some were shells, with everything gone but the outer walls. (There were areas here in town like this after Ivan, but I didn't see them in person.) I may try to post a couple of pics.

[SKay]

Sorry about the faces, but I wanted to protect my friends' privacy. Anyway, this is in front of one of the houses we worked at.



This was Trent Lott's house--now a pile of bricks.

[Amsmom]

oh skay, bless you for all that you have done!!
hearing about babies being put in garbage cans to be floated to safety leaves me speechless. what a life-changing experience you must have had.

[Linda]

amsmom said:

oh skay, bless you for all that you have done!!
hearing about babies being put in garbage cans to be floated to safety leaves me speechless. what a life-changing experience you must have had.

I hope the babies are all right How are YOU doing? I think I would have been crying

[AnneM]

Skay ... this is just so sad ... and those photos make it soooo "real" - much moreso I think than the photos from the TV .... Thankyou so much for sharing this ...

[SKay]

I didn't get to talk to the people myself so it wasn't as much an emotional experience as it would have been. I just heard about it from my friend, and she had only heard it from the neighbors whom we were helping. It really is very hard to describe seeing street after street lined with people's possessions. I was going to post a few other pics but something has happened to my Ripway account AGAIN! I was just there this morning, and it hasn't been 30 days since I started the new account!! Maybe there's some mixup because I used the same username and password as before? Oops I sort of changed subjects, didn't I?

[AnneM]

Feel free to email the photos to me at:

[e-mail]

and I would happily post them for you!!

[SKay]

I appreciate that. I just sent you 3 pics. Thanks! I'll try to get my Ripway account straightened out.

[finnmom]

Skay, what a great work you´ve done That seem´s so devasteting that it make´s me cry, as well as the thought of the babies in the garbage cann´s

[AnneM]

Here are two of the three pictures SKay sent me .. I will leave her to fill in the details .. (Skay please send me the third one again as I it was blank!!)

Oh! but don't these pictures tell a story!!

[SKay]

In the first picture, I'm not sure if it's obvious, but there is just a shell of a house left. There is nothing left of the interior. The houses in this area had been very nice one. This sort of thing hits people of all social classes.

In the second picture, as well as in the one that we weren't able to post, the roof of a house can be seen on the ground, looking as though the houses just collapsed under them.

I told DH today that I feel that helping out in this way is just something I need to do. It's not that I feel I have any certain talent in this area, but rather a compulsion to help. I have worked at my current job for 21 years (which is nothing at all close to this) and am ready to change--to do something like this all the time.

[Linda]

SK We need more people like you.....you go girl

[camismom]

Skay, you are such a wonderful person! I admire you immensely for taking your desire to help and putting it to action. The world is a better place with people like you walking it. Thanks for sharing the photos and take care!

[SKay]

Thank you all for your VERY kind words. I am just one worker of hundreds, however. I know there are MANY who have given much more time and effort than I have. I'm just glad that I live close enough to be able to go help a little.

[finnmom]

Skay, you did great That´s just the thing that matter´s; that people try to help each other´s and can feel empathy towards other´s

The shell of the house look´s so sad