DAY THREE FROM FRIENDLY GULFPORT, MISSISSIPPI

Howdy y'all. We had a busy day. Today we were at the home of Miss Lucille. Miss Lucille's home was rebuilt this summer and we are now finishing up the details. The goal is to have Miss Lucille and her two children back living in their home one week from now. She is such a friendly, appreciative great lady who gave me a huge hug upon meeting her this afternoon.
So, I am first going to show y'all pictures of what the team that I was on did today. Then, I will show you some more pictures of Gulfport and finally I will answer as many questions as I can today. You are all so wonderful to interact with me and show your concern for the great people who live here on the Gulf Coast. All the volunteers get very excited each day to see your comments. It is very uplifting! So, let's begin.

This is Eloise. Her job today was to paint.













Well, I learned a new skill today. My job was to caulk. By caulking I placed the white lotionlike material along the edges of the wood. This made the wood look like it was all one. Someone then painted the moldings after it dried. I was so happy for Miss Lucille because I thought the caulking made such a difference.




I used my finger to spread the caulking and make it even and flat in the corners of the wood. I could either keep wiping it off with a wet paper towel or else let it dry and peel it off.














Ms. Rentz is covering sheet rock tape and cracks in the wall with a material called "mud"







Tiana and Linda tiled one of the bedroom floors. Linda put the tiles on the floor and made the measurements. Tiana (who is a member of Americorps) then took the measurement and cut the tile to the right size. Later, Tiana mixed the mortar which was spread down on the floor. The mortar causes the tile to stick to the floor. Tomorrow after the mortar is dry grout will be placed between the tiles





These were all over Miss Lucille's backyard. Some of them were smaller and black in color. I asked what they were. I was told that these are homes for crawdads.
Crawdads look like small lobsters. The water table in the Gulf Coast is very high. In this area the water table is 1-1 1/2 feet under the ground.











Here I am painting one of the closet doors. It was really warm outside so we were constantly drinking water.








Here is the team saying goodnight to Miss Lucille. We'll be back tomorrow to continue working in her home.

Well, the work is over.
I will now show you some more pictures of Gulfport.

Tomorrow I will traveling to St. Vincent de Paul School and to a town which was totally destroyed by Katrina. I will have a lot more pictures for you and answers to all your wonderful questions.


Please stay healthy, safe and thankful,
Miss Judy






Notice the crack across this house.

DAY TWO IN VERY SUNNY AND VERY WARM GULFPORT, MISSISSIPPI

Hi everyone, I cannot thank you all enough for the great questions and your fabulous words of encouragement. Today was a big day and I returned back to base very anxious to read the messages from all of you. I was so suprised and extremely happy to find 82 . As I said, today was a very big day and so I will not be able to answer all of the questions today. I will, however, answer the ones I can't get to by tomorrow. I think you're all great to spend your time learning and caring about other human beings in need.
This morning started out at 7a.m. with a great blueberry waffle breakfast made by two of the volunteers. I have met so many people and made so many new friends. Our base is composed of people from Westchester, and a group of Americorps members. After breakfast we each made our sandwich for lunch, packed a couple of bottles of water and jumped into the cars and trucks to begin our day. Ms. Rentz and I went first with Martha Lee, the Mississippi disaster coordinator to the beach area of Gulfport to take some pictures for all of you to see. Upon completion of our trip we joined the other volunteers for our day's assignment. Today my job was to paint 8 doors and the molding around the doors so they could be placed in the home that I was assigned to for today. This happened to be the final day at this family's home and I will show you pictures and tell you about the family.
But first, the Gulfport beach. The Gulfport beach was known for miles and miles of beautiful large old homes. There were no condos, no hotels, just large, gracious old homes. I was told that before Katrina you could not see the water for the homes and now this is what you see.

The Stairs To Nowhere.

This is what the Gulfport beach now looks like. All the houses are gone. I am told there are 70 miles of Mississippi Coast which look just like this. As you drive by the beach there are machines that are sifting the sand for pieces of glass and debris, etc. No one is allowed in the water. The sand under the water is still full of all kinds of depris. Things like stoves, refridgerators, etc. have been found. Recently an 18 wheeler was pulled right up out of the sand under the water. It had been completely buried.


After leaving the beach we rode around the center of Gulfport and I have put a few pictures on for you to see what I saw.

The following is a picture of what used to be a convenience store. Notice the soda machines in the middle of the picture. The left side of the picture shows a huge billboard which blew down. The right side of the picture shows shelves which still have things on them that originally for sale.

The above picture shows the shelves that actually still contain items that were originally for sale.

This picture was another house which had been on the beach. The owners of this home, through it all, loved the U.S.A. enough to erect a flag pole and display an American flag. That says so much.

This picture shows what once was a lovely two story home.

This next picture shows the front door of some family's home and their fear that someone will destroy their house. So many of the homes are just not repairable and have to be torn down. To some, however, this is unthinkable as their family has lived on their property and in their home for generations.

This tug boat was originally washed to shore during the Hurricane Camille. The water level during that storm was only 7 feet deep and the residents of Gulfport left this boat across from the shore and made a gift shop out of it. The inside of this tug is now completely destoyed from katrina.


What you will be looking at next was a school. Only the brick exterior remains. The inside was totally destroyed. Half of the schools down here are still not open and students are forced to go to school in small trailors with very little supplies. The exteriors of many of the buildings which were made of brick stand but stand empty.

I thought you might like to see this next picture. With all that these people have gone through they are still very friendly, appreciative and hospitable. Many also have a great sense of humour. The sign outside of this house says, "Gone to the Virgin Islands".

The tour is over and the work day must begin. Below you can see one of the volunteer teams packing up a truck. These gentlemen were working on a team which was putting a roof on a home. And what did I do for the day?

I was at the new home of Miss Beatrice. She , her daughter, and her three grandchildren lost their home and had been living in a trailor. I was there for the final day of work at Miss Beatrice's. My job was to paint doors and moldings around the doors so they could be placed in her home. Miss Beatrice also had a mixed breed female dog that had just given birth to 7 puppies. I could not get a picture of the puppies to show you as the mommy dog kept them way underneath the house for protection.

This picture shows Miss Beatrice, Ms. Rentz and myself as we were getting ready to leave at the end of the day. Miss Beatrice was so appreciative for her new home and had tears in her eyes and a big smile on her face as we said goodbye. If you are wondering why I keep calling her Miss Beatrice this is why. In this area it is a custom to call a person either Miss or Mr. followed by their first name.

Well I know that you all have been wondering what do the tents look like that we are staying in. The above picture shows the tent city at our base at Westminster. We, however, are staying in small travel trailors due a big problem with the Fire Ants. The Americorps members are camping out in the Church building. I will show you a picture tomorrow.

It is now time for me to sign off for the day. I will be back on tomorrow bringing you more pictures and more information. In the meantime remember the people here in the Gulf Coast. They are wonderful, friendly, hopeful, hospitable and appreciative.

Stay healthy, safe and thankful,
Miss Judy

Howdy to y'all from Gulfport, Mississippi. Well I have arrived and I could spend a month telling all of you what I have seen and heard in just the one day that I have been here. So, let's start at the beginning of the Katrina story.

Hurricane Katrina was one of the strongest storms to hit the coast of the United States in the last 100 years. It first started as a tropical depression in the southeastern Bahamas on August 23rd. By the following day it had developed into a Tropical Storm. It continued moving slowly until a few hours before landfall in south Florida it became classified as a category I (windspeeds of 75 mph or greater) hurricane. Because Katrina was over south Florida for only 7 hours it did not lose much of its strength. Upon hitting the Gulf of Mexico it strengthened to the point that by the morning of August 28th Katrina had reached maximum windspeeds of 150 kts and was now a category 5 hurricane. In order for a hurricane to be classified as a category 5 the winds must be greater than 155 mph (135 kt or 249 km/hr).
The impact that this storm had on the Gulf Coast was devastating. The total loss of life is still not known today but is estimated at this point to be well into the hundreds or even higher. The reason that the total has not yet been reached is due to the fact that still one year later bodies are still being found. Due to the strong winds, the heavy rainfall and the storm surge the levees were unable to stay intact, leaving parts of New Orleans under 20 feet of water. Biloxi and Gulfport, Mississippi were left underwater due to a 20-30+ foot storm surge. In the Mississippi Coast 170,000 homes were damaged and 70,000 totally destroyed. Todate only 5% of these homes have been repaired or replaced.
So, what does the Gulf Coast look like today, one year later.
I landed early this morning very excited about this trip and wondering what I was going to see. Upon arriving in New Orleans and obtaining my luggage, I proceeded to the car rental desk along with Mrs. Rentz, who is also volunteering on this project. The first person we met was Gwen at the Budget car rental desk. We spent about 20 minutes listening to her tell us what life is now like here in the Gulf.
We listened to her tell stories of huge rats (~1 1/2 feet long) that are now found dead or alive in the streets. She also told us about ''crooked people" who upon being hired to repair homes have just taken the money and left town without doing any work that they were hired to do. But, as much sorrow that Katrina has brought we quickly learned that Gwen, like so many other people, would never want to leave. This is their home. We thanked Gwen for her information and then proceeded to get our car.

We next spent some time driving around New Orleans. We saw devastation everywhere.

The house to the right has the 1 cat written on the outside. This means that it was reported that a cat lived in this house. When the rescue workers were inspecting the houses they were looking for people and pets. You will also see the black line across the house. This is the water line.

This next picture shows another part of the same house. What it says is SPCA 9/30 cat not found.

You are now looking right through what used to be a window in this house. You will notice clothes still hanging in the closet. The lines on the yellow walls are the water lines.

Not only did we see destroyed homes but we also saw destroyed boats. This is an example of many boats that we saw out of the water piled on top of one another.

These are only a few of the 60 photos that I took today. Each and everyone of them is a powerful testimony to life in the Gulf one year later. We saw so much and spoke to so many. We learned so much in one day. Someone said to us today that not only is there a water line on the walls of the buildings but there is a water line inside of the people. Many told us that people were just so shocked that after the hurricane hit it was if they were paralyzed and just could not move. We saw pain, anger and despair. But, we also saw determination, appreciation and hope.
Tomorrow, breakfast will be at 7 a.m. I will then be taking more pictures before working on the house which I have been assigned to. Tomorrow evening I will be putting more pictures on and answering any of the questions that you have today.

Stay healthy, safe and thankful.

Judy Flagg

The color of hope

The color of defiance

Welcome. This is the place to follow Mrs. Flagg's trip to Gulfport, Mississippi to help rebuild areas devastated by hurricane Katrina. I'll be leaving on Monday morning. Keep checking back! There will be lots more to come.