Friday October 10th, 2008

Reluctant Recovery Standing Still And On The Run

Recovery marching in place after the media hype is over:  pageantry with recovery standing still while on the run playing roulette with the inevitable – another storm marching in to scatter resources both residents, recovery staff, and volunteers. 

Evacuation is a crowded hour of making choices of what is critical need and what is to be left for collateral damage.  Returning is rainbow or rubble – the first producing exasperation at the enormity of the effort and cost of evacuation. The latter frustration at the effort in vain as the crowded hour in the trunk of the family car can not sustain the family for long while the engine of recovery sputters out of fitful slumber back into a labored motion. Failover capability is not built into the recovery equation. 

Current practice in the Gulf Coast allows raw recruits, from diverse educational backgrounds,  to practice Case Management while in a loose unmonitored, or untested, fast tracked short term apprentice type  training programs without course testing or accreditation in place, all-the-while employed in  full fledged case management in the field.

Pay rates for these positions are spiraling upward, with assistance from Federal and private grants, to pay rates that are four to six times the basic wage rate in short term contracts from one to two years.  Equipped with training manuals in three ring binders bolstered with two day training sessions and power point presentations – these Case Manager recruits struggle, at this late hour in the Katrina recovery,  to implement broad scope programs without  readily available matching resources for the clients while having  personal issues embracing the “out of the box” concepts and, in some cases, struggling with their own recovery.

The hardy resilient successful case managers in the field are usually “street smart” and resourceful outspoken advocates for the residents they are assigned to. Their training coming from social services or self apprenticeship in the field over years in disaster work. Case Managers in the disaster regions are forced to develop their own resource list compiled from networking with fellow case workers who all embrace the “me too” program. By attrition – it is the survival of the fittest and well trained suitable case managers are high demand and short on supply.

One outcome of this high case manager turnover is that residents can have a dozen or more case managers, with varying skill sets, over the term of their long term recovery. The flip side is the resident that goes from relief organization to relief organization soliciting multiple case managers – an enormous waste of a critical resource. But the practice, also called “door knocking”, is very beneficial for the residents as they get to cherry pick the available resources and to program test case managers until they settle on the one case manager producing the required outcome. The door knocking program would be easily overcome if all the relief organizations were mandated to report to a central data base. Although one is available, CAN, no one is mandated to use the data bases and, by design, access is flawed by the fact that no government agency can access the data base – not even FEMA.

After the end of the privately funded Katrina Aid Today there was a drive to develop funding for case management and the outcome of that was that now 10% of the hurricane impacted population has 90% of the Case Managers. The remaining 90% of the hurricane impacted residents have only 10% of the available case managers in the region who are either volunteers or privately funded by faith based relief efforts. Discussion on this current crisis is muffled by contract gag restraint placed on those participating in some contract programs preventing them from talking publicly about issues they are having with programs they have under contract. There is discussion that they are searching for funding for Case Managers for the 90% of the residents not being currently served – but reality is that those best able to do that solicitation are tied up in the current contract implementation. Gustav, Ike, and time passed from Katrina have decimated the labor pool that was previously focused on Katrina – management, staff, and volunteers.

The infrastructure of recovery would be more robust if the funding was more flexible with respect to soliciting, housing and funding for training both outsourced and local personnel for recovery specialists. Along with that - working the distribution of emergency resources simultaneously with immediate and long term case management assignment to streamline the recovery and, also, apply the skills of the Case Managers while the resources are readily available at the beginning of the recovery equation.

Maintaining case manager consistency with simplified and repeatable processes for implementing fast tracked family continuity would produce significant reductions in downtime for the family unit being served. In short – Case Management must become monitored with tested training as well as a fully funded facet of the recovery process in the aftermath of a disaster. Else the recovery is disproportionably applied across the socio economic spectrum and the outcome relative to case management training and case manager availability – or lack there of.  End result a stalled, erratic, and reluctant recovery in the aftermath of Katrina this three years hence.

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Tuesday October 7th, 2008

I came from a "mixed" marriage - my mother was Scottish and Presbyterian and my father Irish and Catholic. And this all took place in Western Australia. Explains a lot doesn't it?  Of course, my father being the good Irish Catholic insisted on the Catholic Baptism - my mother acquiesced. The nurse at my birth thought I was deceased - she tossed me in the sink and baptized my under the faucet. Kindly nurse though - she name me Maria since the nurse was an Italian immigrant and Catholic - seemed appropriate.  And I gurgled to life quite to the surprise of all concerned in the operating room.

The priest, weeks later, on being presented with me for Baptism, asked for my name - and my father relayed the story of the earlier baptism. The priest, being from the old school - said well that's settled her name is Maria. My mother, being of stout Scottish heritage, forgot her normal submissive stance and stated her case. "Her first born child was to be a girl and was to be born with black hair and blue eyes and was to be named Kathleen Joan and that had been the plan for years and years". She was not moving from that platform.  The name came about from the only song she managed to learn on the piano despite my Grandmothers grandiose plan of her being a concert pianist. And what she learned was "I Will Take You Home Again Kathleen" and the fact the piano teacher did not have the patience to go any further with my none musically inclined mother - the only thing my mother and the piano teacher agreed upon. And, along with that, my mother's sister's name was Joan and she was to be included in this all family affair way out in the outback of Australia although my Aunt Joan was currently residing in America having married after the war to a Navy recruit.  And there stood my shy Presbyterian mother arguing with this stoic Irish priest and my father is in awe at the loud outburst, in church no less, in front of God and everyone.  The outcome - Kathleen Joan Maria

I never understood where the people in recovery learnt to communicate as we have done in recovery the past three years. He said that. She said that. We are right, you are wrong. Did you hear that about them? And so and so said that he did that. And whats his name said they saw them do it also. And the rumor mill ran amuck and the conversations on recovery ran in circles. I was nonplussed for three plus years till now. But then this recovery was all about the religious groups driving the engine of recovery.

I was nonplussed until Domonic sent me this today - it explains it all. Makes perfect sense to me. And for the record - my dog is going to heaven - my mother's Pastor said so !

We are having a fun time with this volunteering !

Saturday October 4th, 2008

It had been ten years at least since I had seen Willie Nelson in concert. The last time was at Miles City, Montana, at the Miles City Bucking Horse Sale which I usually attended every year for some years when I lived in Wyoming. The show was held at the fairgrounds and, again, Willie was right down in the crowd playing.

This time there were a far less cowboy hats and boots at the Hard Rock Cafe in Biloxi - but still it was the same old Willie Nelson. How could you not love his energy for life?

A resident had donated the tickets so I took Brian, our full time volunteer electrician, and headed out to the Hard Rock Casino on Friday night. I felt like I was back in highschool out on a Friday night escapade. And it was just a fantastic show - thank you Carolyn Caranna for those tickets. You made my day!

It was a packed and loving crowd ! Young and "old".......

And it was a non stop show filled with a history of songs that obviously have always reflected his loves and his life........

And at the end graciously signing autographs with that wonderful smile......

Meanwhile, back at "work" Elton has been washing the tents that were donated to us by IDTF. Prior to packing them up we needed to make sure they were clean and so out came the pressure washer and a fun time was had by all. The locals rent those big tent slippery slide massive things and stick in their front yards for birthdays, weddings, and every other occasion. We just have our tents laid out - but they too made a good slippery slide for a day or two until they dry. We have two more tents to clean this week and then we are done with this project

Over at Victor Cemino's we are making progress with Brian - our long term volunteer and electrician. We are on the punch out list and should be done by next week and get Victor moved into his home. I am not sure who is more excited - Victor or us?

And the recovery - where is it going you ask? Well, no where very fast as there is not a dime to be found for funding right now. It is a crisis. Bill Minor had a few words on the subject this week. He shares all the Case Managers frustrations at this point. The lack of funds to finish a job barely started is the elephant screaming in the corner.

Our Carolina Team with John Carpenter made great headway on the Gustav Work Orders. For their patience and dedication - I thank them profusely. This elderly team rocked with two houses gutted and other projects along the way. And in just a few days. With determination - volunteers can make a difference like no other team !

And here at base camp Progress, always progress. The Case Management Contract program is moving ahead at full steam. The paperwork is a mammoth task but we seem to have it in hand and the process is rolling out. I am very pleased with the progress and you can see it in the number of people rolling in and out the front door. We are still getting referrals for people we have not assisted before - most of that from Gustav impacted clients. As other organizations are leaving left and right - we are assuming more and more of the load for Katrina.

And that is me heading into Saturday. Quiet day planned with some work on the infamous motor home. I wonder how much it would cost to get it spray pained pink?

That is our week - how is yours going?

Thursday October 2nd, 2008

The Lawnmower gif many have asked - inner circle snicker at the small things that hold up big programs and the cash flow for those programs because someone used the company to do their own personal landscaping or too cheap on their CEO salary to buy their own lawnmower resulting in a leave of absence from a major position here in Mississippi. Unbelievable. When you get down here - we will explain it.

And whats going on here this week - Gustav cleanup still. Luther finally got around to picking up the roof off the dog pen that had blown off in the storm. He had been promising to do that for Elton for a couple of weeks (Elton is the one who takes care of the lawn and grounds here and does a great job !) And Luther just missed the code enforcement officer taking pictures too. If he had just got here a few minutes earlier he could have been in the "news". And since nothing has changed since Steven Hand gave the place accolades in July for the changes they requested - then this latest visit is an interesting venture? Maybe we are going to get an award for the most improved since Elton has been working so hard on the lawn mowing.

Salvage metal has become big business around here since Katrina. When we do debris removal we make sure we keep the piles separate and "share the wealth" with the small scrap metal dealers. In our case - we give it all to Luther. He is a our hero.

Case Management is going along like a house on fire - the crew is full steam ahead on intakes. The paperwork trail is tremendous but with the "team" approach - the progress has been faster than expected.

Adding insult to injury - our VAL team has been cut back with VAL's being sent off to the "other" disasters. Not surprising as it has been three years. But the VAL's (Volunteer Agency Liasons) were, and still are despite the reduced staff, are the life line from us to the convoluted maze over at FEMA. They are what has made the program work for us here. We are now down to a staff of four - headed by Marion Wingo. Of course - Marion Wingo and Tammy Martin have always been heros to me. Tammy is over in La now headed up the VAL part of the pilot plan for the Case Management Consortium over there. It is a separate and distinctly different game plan with their program over the one we have here - with the concept of "may the better plan win". So, that is the challenge now - to show them that the Mississippi pilot plan for case management is a winner.

And the motor home project - still working on that. Now have to work on the generator, the air conditioner on top, and the pump for water. Not sure why the pump is not working - but I am in the process of tracking down the wires for the DC system. Remember the movie called the "Money Pit" - there is some assemblance between that home and this motor home but there are a mile of parts here in the salvage yards and private back yards as so many motor homes succumbed to Katrina. The best improvement has been the addition of the second awning - that has certainly solved some air conditioning issues. And when I get it all done - I am off for a vacation. No not scuba diving in some far off fancy island retreat (along with all the cosmetic fingernail work required to socialize in that environment) as per the staff from the shamed operation in Kiln. Mine is more like a little creek up north of Kiln and a full load of bait for a week of solitary fishing. Finally after three years - a true vacation. In the meantime the motor home is insitu in the yard and a fixture until I get the balance of the "little kinks" taken care of. But I work on it every day after work - just a unique hobby in lieu of more fun things to do.

What else you ask? Volunteers here all week and I had them working on Gustav cases. Not many of those left now - mostly debris removal and one more home with sheetrock to remove. As soon as this week is over - we will be back to working on Katrina cases exclusively.

The ten hour work days - Monday thru Thursday is working well for the staff. Leaves the property looking abandoned on Friday/Saturday/Sunday with no cars around. But the concept of giving Case Managers three days off is working well and they all are very much in favor of the schedule.

The buyout plan is still being tossed around. Apparently there is a Corp of Engineers plan and a FEMA/MEMA plan. The two plans are being evaluated but it appears that this buyout concept is going to come to fruition in one form or another. Not too surprising in light of the flood damage from Gustav and Ike.

And so it is Thursday (Friday to the crew here) and all is well.

Monday September 29th, 2008 Update

Monday September 29th, 2008

The storms have passed and it is back to Paradise - and paradise it is out on the Bay of St. Louis on a picture perfect Sunday afternoon where all these pictures were taken.

And I always start my trips off with Tom babysitting the boat as it seems, just when I come along, the boat puts on a hissy fit about starting. But Tom was off to get a big hammer, starting fluid, and away it went once we threatened to feed it the entire can if it would not sputter into start mode. And so it was that we toddled out into the Bay to the railroad bridge that just three years ago lay at the bottom of the Bay.

An interesting view from underneath. I sat there and wondered if the train just "fell" then were we too close? Such a strange thought - but then look at the next picture. The bridge is "tied" together at this span for some reason. Not very reassuring. There were two piers with this cable tie on them - not sure exactly what the purpose is.

I still remember after Katrina there were no birds - not one. It was silent for months. But now they abound and show little fear as you wander around in their world.

And it truly is paradise out in the bay.

Meanwhile back at the City of Waveland ...it was the Planning and Zoning meeting that was not last night. Not quite sure what happened as I was a few minutes late. But the ladies were out on the deck shunning the Board President as they claimed he was "rude". In fact, they stated, everyone was rude. And they put their heads down as they turned away from the President as he tried to explain the legalities of the proceedings. But they would hear none of it as they repeated "You were rude". That was interesting to see unfold. It is something that is practiced here - "The Shunning".

And work - it proceeds along at a rapid rate. There is a crew in town from Carolina - they are working through the Gustav Work Orders we had and those from the Hancock Housing Resource Center. The first job up yesterday was a gutting job.

Case Management

Case Management falls into two categories. Those under the "contract" which is roughly 10% of our clients and there we have 90% of the Case Managers (as it is across the Gulf Coast right now) and that program is going along like a freight train on a mission. The Case Managers are scattered from Bay St Louis all the way to Wiggins knocking on doors and doing intakes.

The residents on the other side of that fence are also getting assistance - albeit not as many Case Managers. But the work is coming along and it is the larger of the construction load.

The boys at the office are working, they say, on the garden of the month club sign they want in the front yard. Not sure how they are going to manage that around all the parked cars during the day from Monday thru Thursday - but I say go for it. They do have the yard freshly mowed and they are working around the other projects going on.

This past weekend the long term volunteers toddled off to work at Wavefest. We got a call as the trash was not being picked up so, with the offer of a golf cart and all the food they could eat, they headed to the Park to put in a full day at Wavefest on Saturday. I never get over the good nature of people and their willingness to help out no matter what is asked of them.

And it is Monday. And all is well with the world.

Tuesday September 23rd 2008

Lack of Master Plan = Homelessness after Gustav = Denial and irrational phobia by those that label "Homelessness" equitable to a social disgrace to be shunned, ignored, and the homeless feared.

How soon so many forget that they, a little over three years ago, were also homeless due to Katrina and how easily a quick moment can leave you in that status. And those presenting their inflated and distorted arguments to the Waveland City Alderman last week were trying to disarm assistance for those that are homeless in Hancock County - not only due to Gustav, but due to Katrina, and while they may try to deny it, all those homeless in Hancock County long before Katrina. It is a serious issue here - and it has never been addressed. And the lack of empathy by the MEMA officials in the aftermath of Gustav was indicative of a prevailing attitude of the Gulf Coast towards "homelesshess". Ignore it, shun it, label it a despicable plague and make those afflicted a social outcast that is only collateral damage and therefore can be discounted. Something went very very wrong after Gustav - people were left at the curb as their homes were towed away.

But the Relief Agencies prevailed and worked towards a solution one family at a time. And when Red Cross closed it's shelter last Friday the calls were coming into us and Hope Haven about mid afternoon on Friday and asking us what we were going to do. Us? We? And with just a few hours notice they were closing and they told us "those people" would be out on the street at 6pm? The question should have been what is Hancock County going to do? When did these social issues become a problem you hand to the outside relief agencies that came in the aftermath of Katrina. Where is the infrastructure in Hancock County to deal with these issues? Who is responsible for homelessness in Hancock County? Where is the homeless shelter?

The contract Case Manager program is under full swing with Scott Kindred firmly insitu in as the Case Manager Supervisor with Monday being his first day. The scope of the program is from Bay St Louis all the way to Wiggins. The residents not covered under the contract are also having their needs met and we will be starting three houses in the next week.

This past weekend the Steve Gooch crew were here and worked on a house up in Pascagoula for Miss Ruby - dubbed the Ruby Do Project. And great progress was made with more to be done. The next crew in will be working partly on that home.

At the homefront - we are assisting where we can to get food supplies over to Louisianna as well as volunteers. The volunteer recruitment in Louisianna has been tough for them. Not sure why they dropped so quickly off the radar in the national news and the "story" of the damage over there has not been broadcast as a "need". There has been water and ice deliveries - Doc has observed those and that seems to be working for most of the impacted areas. But food still remains short in the supply line.

Domonic should be back today - a good thing! John, our accountant was in town with us last week working on the payroll and logistics of the contract we have. I can never ever thank him enough for his help over the past couple of years.

Else, the pace is as hectic as ever.

And that is our day here at Katrina Relief. How is yours going?

Tuesday September 23rd 2008

Lack of Master Plan = Homelessness after Gustav = Denial and irrational phobia by those that label "Homelessness" equitable to a social disgrace to be shunned, ignored, and the homeless feared.

How soon so many forget that they, a little over three years ago, were also homeless due to Katrina and how easily a quick moment can leave you in that status. And those presenting their inflated and distorted arguments to the Waveland City Alderman last week were trying to disarm assistance for those that are homeless in Hancock County - not only due to Gustav, but due to Katrina, and while they may try to deny it, all those homeless in Hancock County long before Katrina. It is a serious issue here - and it has never been addressed. And the lack of empathy by the MEMA officials in the aftermath of Gustav was indicative of a prevailing attitude of the Gulf Coast towards "homelesshess". Ignore it, shun it, label it a despicable plague and make those afflicted a social outcast that is only collateral damage and therefore can be discounted. Something went very very wrong after Gustav - people were left at the curb as their homes were towed away.

But the Relief Agencies prevailed and worked towards a solution one family at a time. And when Red Cross closed it's shelter last Friday the calls were coming into us and Hope Haven about mid afternoon on Friday and asking us what we were going to do. Us? We? And with just a few hours notice they were closing and they told us "those people" would be out on the street at 6pm? The question should have been what is Hancock County going to do? When did these social issues become a problem you hand to the outside relief agencies that came in the aftermath of Katrina. Where is the infrastructure in Hancock County to deal with these issues? Who is responsible for homelessness in Hancock County? Where is the homeless shelter?

The contract Case Manager program is under full swing with Scott Kindred firmly insitu in as the Case Manager Supervisor with Monday being his first day. The scope of the program is from Bay St Louis all the way to Wiggins. The residents not covered under the contract are also having their needs met and we will be starting three houses in the next week.

This past weekend the Steve Gooch crew were here and worked on a house up in Pascagoula for Miss Ruby - dubbed the Ruby Do Project. And great progress was made with more to be done. The next crew in will be working partly on that home.

At the homefront - we are assisting where we can to get food supplies over to Louisianna as well as volunteers. The volunteer recruitment in Louisianna has been tough for them. Not sure why they dropped so quickly off the radar in the national news and the "story" of the damage over there has not been broadcast as a "need". There has been water and ice deliveries - Doc has observed those and that seems to be working for most of the impacted areas. But food still remains short in the supply line.

Domonic should be back today - a good thing! John, our accountant was in town with us last week working on the payroll and logistics of the contract we have. I can never ever thank him enough for his help over the past couple of years.

Else, the pace is as hectic as ever.

And that is our day here at Katrina Relief. How is yours going?

Saturday September 20th 2008

Fire in the hole all week this week. First up went Elton's house remnants pile over in Bay St Louis. The volunteers had taken down the home weeks ago as it was an attractive nuisance and we still had not been able to fit the hauling off of the debris into the hectic schedule here. On Thursday someone started the pile on fire and what could have been a disaster for the neighborhood was averted by the Bay St Louis fire department.

Next up on the firing line was Camp Coastal Outpost in Kiln covered by both WLOX and the Sea Coast Echo as front page news. Not a surprise as it has been talked about in hushed whispers for months and months. It has been alleged that everytime questions would arise concerning the camp - the camp Director was heard to have threatened those people with suit for libel, slander, or just personal threats. As a result many had hunkered down and hoped the next person would make more progress. Finally the State stepped and made the matter very open and transparent for those with "questions" and now there is to be a hearing - to which I hear the public is allowed to attend. The latter is what was reported in the Sea Coast Echo.

WLOX

Sea Coast Echo

The next fire in the hole came at the City of Waveland Alderman meeting Wednesday where Mayor Tommy Longo was having a tough time coming up with words to explain the operation at Katrina Relief in Waveland when a question was posed by a Waveland Citizen. In fact, for the first time in years, Tommy was at a loss for words. Hard to explain since he had called the same operation some two weeks earlier and tried to get his ex wife hired by the same funded program. But, in the end, after much stumbling and stuttering (inclusive of the normal "Well, they are under investigation" type of comments A-typical for anyone not in Tommy Longo's favored status) he managed to comment that "There are some FEMA case management people down there and that is a good thing". Of course, the facts were not on track per usual - the Case Managers at this operation at Katrina Relief are not working for FEMA. We need to correct that mis-statement here once and for all.

But that is not the last of the fires in the hole. Remember the story I relayed to you about the homeless lady the Bay Police had brought here and we spent the next two days trying to get her help only to find out that her "hopelessness" was, for the most part, an enormous Academy Award performance and that that limp and heart condition only came forward when ever she needed a place to stay in lieu of giving up drinking for a couple of days? Remember that story? Go back to the August 28th blog is you did not read that. But basically after we had taken this lady, in one day, to two hospitals (Gulfport and Hancock) who both declared her "well" - this little ole lady after being told in Gulfport that she could not come back here - came all the way back from Gulfport by hitching a ride (within 40 minutes of being taken to the hospital there) and went across the street and knocked on the door of a stangers home and announced "We had kicked her out and she just had got out of the hosptial with a heart condition and she felt faint". Then to add insult to injury the neighbor reported to the Alderman that the little ole lady had brashly walked thru his front door when no adults were home and accosted his children (Of course one has to wonder why there would be no adults at home and why the children would let a stranger in). Of course - the police report does not back up that rendition of the neighbors at all. The police rendition of the saga is that she knocked on the door. But it sounded very inflamatory at the council meeting. The Alderman wisely had no comment - they most certainly only had one side of the story. What was disheartening about it all was that neither the Waveland Police or the neighbor contacted this operation to find out "the other side of the little ole ladies story" prior to the libelous and inflamatory presentation to the Alderman. And myself - I just happened to be at the meeting and opted to not comment and the Alderman never asked me to stand and comment. It was a matter that should have been handled in the Mayors office in a far more appropriate manner - addressing both sides.

And, meanwhile back at the ranch And that ends the frivolous side to recovery that ties up so much time from getting the real job done here on the Gulf Coast

The Case Managers are flying thru the tasks here with the new contract - it is coming together as a cohesive team. Scott Kindred arrived from California on Friday to run this part of the program. Formerly of Salvation Army administrative staff - he brings a mile of management experience to the table.

As soon as that contract program is settled in this week - we are moving forward on the other part of the program here. The 90% of the clients are not funded under the contract and we are setting out to start work on those 1500+ clients who still need construction services. To that end we have a team in town today working on one home and a second team will be arriving on Sunday.

And to the homesless issue again and the "he said, she said" regarding whether FEMA or MEMA "did, or did not" offer people with flooded homes assistance after their trailers or cottages flooded after Katrina. Part of the problem is that residents are having trouble identifying who is assisting them, who they associated with, and what their role is in their recovery.

Again - it has to do with marketing and the fractionalizing of the response between the church groups, private recovery groups, and the government. There is a Case Manager for this, a case manager for that, and there is this other person, who actually has a definitive role, but forgot to produce their ID and explain what that role was again. And then, there are the people who are flat not doing their job. To that end was this article from Sea Coast Echo

We are still in desperate need of volunteers - we still have far far to go in this recovery.

And that is our day here at Katrina Relief. How is yours going?

Monday September 15th, 2008

Brice Phillips from WQRZ picks up the clothes that the staff at Katrina Relief washed after clearing out his Gustav impacked FEMA trailer.

Gustav packed quite a blow to multiple families across Hancock County who were still housed in FEMA trailers and MEMA cottages. John Payne lost his FEMA trailer and while FEMA offered him a hotel room outside Hancock County John opted to go stay with his sister while we build him a home. Brice was given a hotel room here locally by FEMA until another solution can be found for his flooded FEMA trailer.

The report from and Langiappe Gustav shelter is that they are winding down with placement being found for those left homeless from Gustav. It may only be open a couple of more days.

The homeless situation is becoming chronic here with each agency sending the residents to "other" agencies to get some relief. So the homeless are forced from pillar to post with very very few resources available and certainly little to no assistance with rent or housing . It is the children that I see impacted by this critical oversight in the aftermath of Katrina. How can we force these children to live in the conditions I see everyday here? The conditions are out of the dark ages.

Out of that 5.8 billion dollars that was sent - why do we still not have housing for the homeless? Surely it would be cheaper to acquire a building and turn into a housing shelter rather than house these families in hotels without kitchen facilities. And for those that we find in sub-standard housing - I am left without words to describe the conditions. I just honestly do not understand why we are at this point.

Report: FEMA Wasted Millions on Hurricane Katrina Work : A report out slams FEMA for poor choices on FEMA contracts. Not new to those of us watching some of these programs unfold. Recovery is not an out outcome of a disaster - it has to be treated as a business development bridge. If all of this recovery was run as a business with a Master Plan - we would not be seeing this end result we have today some three years down the road which is a mish mash of success and failures.

And that is our day here at Katrina Relief. How is yours going?

Friday September 12th 2008 Updated

And this is Central Ave and Highway 603 (the road down to Noel Piazza's home for those of you who worked on that home). Picture taken on Friday morning as volunteers and the sheriff's department bring in home owners who had not heeded warnings and evacuated.

The old Todd's gas station that was decimated by Katrina now houses vehicles from Shoreline Park on this one bit of high ground.

There is an enormous investment in emergency personnel for these repetitive floods in Shoreline Park. And there is little they can do to assist the emergency personnel in the boats except "wait" and "take pictures". Their primary job is traffic control on Highway 603 - because despite this being a frequent event there has been no attempt to build an off road staging area here where the emergency vehicles could be safely staged off Highway 603. You have to ask why this has never been discussed in all the aftermath planning from Katrina?

The impact of the flooding on Highway 603 without a safe staging area is that it impedes traffic and creates some major safety issues. In the first picture a homeowner, who was just picked up by Search and Rescue, is returning to her truck to pick up supplies and retrieve her life vest (she confided in me that she can not swim) so Search and Rescue can return the resident to her home where her elderly mother is staying. The home is 14 feet up in the air and is in little danger of flooding. The issue is that if a health issue does arise during these regular flood incidents in Shoreline - then Search and Rescue in a boat is the only way to retrieve these residents from their homes if they fail to heed voluntary or mandatory evacuation warnings. Why is this cost being borne by the State and County?

This volunteer ran into issues with the gusting wind and his boat was driven into the large boat that was driven onto the bridge (now under water) during hurricane Gustav. These momentary issues can result in major problems. Fortunately the boat owner was able to restart his engine and get his boat back over to the Todd high ground.

Most of you who have volunteered here will recognize this commercial property at the corner of Central and Highway 603 (across from Todds). The picture gives you some idea as to the depth of the flood water.

This car was not pulled off Central into Todd's parking lot quite far enough and it was not faring well at high tide.

And here is Joan Smith from the Giving Circle in New York overlooking this scene. Joan, an attorney, has been here all week working at Katrina Relief helping us with the office work and some gutting duties in the aftermath of Gustov. What a trooper !

And out of all of this is one success story. This is a picture taken across from Highway 603 as I stood at the flooded intersection. This is a family (with major disability and health issues) that came into my office in 2006 devastated because they had just found out they could not replace their trailer destroyed by Katrina as the new Waveland ordinance was not going to allow them to have another trailer. I asked them how much money they had - and it was just barely enough to buy a trailer. I looked at them and said "No problem, we will just build a house". I remember that lady looking at me across the table with tears pouring down her face and asking"How are we going to do that with this amount of money"? (She was directing her anger at the Waveland building department as she felt that they were being unfair. They had tried to bypass the new building rules by going to see Mayor Tommy Longo and Tommy sent them over to see me). So I responded with an over confident "No problem - we are going to get a Salvation Army Grant and that, combined with what you have, and volunteers - we can get the job done". And we did - thanks to Salvation Army, the Amish, and a slew of other volunteer groups. And what you see there across the road from the devastating flooding in Shoreline - is Eugene Johnson's home safely above the flood waters. And if you want to drop by and ask him about his successful Katrina Recovery - he would be thrilled to tell you that if he can do it so can you too! It just takes determination and resolve and a tenacious Case Manager.

Moral of the story: If you are not where the Johnson's are today - find yourself a good Case Manager!

Question of today: Why are we still building in Shoreline Park when there is so much land around that does not flood to this degree every time the wind blows over 25 miles per hour? And why is the State and County picking up the tab for this amount of emergency response when people will not evacuate when asked? And why do we not have an staging area at Todds to keep the emergency vehicles off Highway 603?

And this is Saturday and Ike is flooding the same areas again. And so it goes here in the aftermath of Katrina, Gustav and Ike. Some lessons learned, some not.

And of FEMA and the Gustav homeless - came the report that FEMA called over to Hancock County very upset of the "false" reports that people were being left at the curb as trailers were hauled off leaving the occupants without housing options and homeless. Fortunately we had documented all the cases that had come across our door step and I turned those over. Yes, it is true. Residents were left floundering without any directions from the FEMA representatives as to where they could get assistance for temporary housing. And in some cases were told there was not help available as there had not been an emergency declared. WLOX has documented some interesting outcomes of the Gustav homeless in the aftermath.

The new Director of Housing for the Gulf Coast was at a meeting sponsored by the Renaissance Group on Thursday. The interesting development at that meeting is the wide chasm between the Rennasance programs being developed for those with viable current employment and healthy credit and the desperate need for immediate fast tracked solutions for the very low income home owners and renters. There is an obvious chasm between immediate needs and the process of development and placemnt of affodable housing. It became asutely obvious that the needs of Harrison County were being met by the promise of development - but the accute and immediate diverse needs of Hancock county soon became evident as the meeting evolved. In both counties the needs of the homeless are not being met - something that everyone agreed upon.

So what is going to come of this new appointment by the Governor? It is going to come down to a need for immediate strategy planning and the development of a Master Plan. And in short order as the piles of files are building up on the desks from the Case Manager contract grant and the Case Managers in all the counties covered. There needs to be fast tracked solutions. Whispy promises of grandiose long winded plans somewhere down the line in the future is not going to put roofs over the heads of those in immediate need of housing today - not next month, not next year, not in three years. It is needed now and those affordable housing programs need to be on the ground building now.

So also do the funds that are being touted for the Long Term Recovery platforms. Those funds need to be fast tracked into immediate housing rebuilds and new construction. Those building permits need to be applied for in the next couple of weeks if we are going to get those houses built with volunteers by March of next year. And for that to come to fruition we need volunteers.

Poor volunteer marketing strategy And still the State site for Volunteer Mississippi pretty well says paraphrased "Dont call us - we will call you". What the site does actually says is "Be aware that we are registering volunteers who wish to be contacted as response and recovery needs are identified". Who on earth came up with that marketing plan? Good grief - you are competing with Texas and Louisianna for volunteers and this is the marketing verbage for Mississippi? We have to do better than this if we are going to attract volunteers with a sense of urgency to get the job done here.

Tuesday September 9th 2008

One of the interesting facets of this recovery is resource brokering and information brokering. What good is a mile of donations if they land in a warehouse and are never distributed - but the owner of the warehouse brags at every meeting that he has resources for distribution. Or long term organizations that gather information and power and then broker that power it to favored partners and clients. It has gone on here insufferably since the onset of Katrina. Recognized by some as a chronic syndrome and denied by the perpetrators as they view it thru rose colored glasses.

And so why the resource brokering of these Katrina Cottages - they are not doing anyone any good sitting out in a field behind a barb wire fence when so many of our clients were promised cottages and never received them for one reason or another, or "there were none left", or could still could use a cottage if one were available. What is taking so long to get these cottages out to residents?

So, after all these months - what good have these Mississippi cottages done for residents sitting behind this barb wire fence in a field off of 49 in Gulfport? They are sitting ducks for a tornado - one tornado and they all would be toast. Equitably distributed - not even an issue. So, why put all your marbles in one field waiting for that hurricane or tornado? Why leave them in the field at all? T

The homeless left from Hurricane Gustav continue to trickle in. The homeless shelter at Langiappe is still open. FEMA continues to drag off trailers and not offer solutions to the residents. Without a disaster declaration - these victims of Gustav, and the system, lay in limbo and there is no room at the Inn in Waveland and Bay St Louis. There is just not enough affordable housing on the market to absorb this many residents carte blanche.

Blessey is giving a talk tomorrow in Gulfport to the non profits. Apparantly the meeting room was not big enough for all those that RSVP'd - that is a shame. But that is the story of Katrina - everything has come up short in one form or another. We really do have to get outside the box with the solutions. Myself - I was lucky enough to get my RSVP in soon enough. Yeah!

From Bay St Louis to Wiggins - the story is the same. We see and hear the same story over and over. The elderly, single parent families, and disabled have to have access to affordable housing. And it is not to be found. We are heading into winter again and still no answers on the horizon.

Case Management Our contract here expanded and now we have nine Case Managers onsite plus supporting staff. We will have an office in Poplarville by next week and some of the staff will be working out of that office serving Picayune, Poplarville, Wiggins, and all points in between.

Now that Ike has headed west - we are getting the camp in Pass Christian back up and operational. Of course - we could always use some local help to make that happen. If you have some time - we could sure use your services.

Kiln fiasco AJ Giardina did an expose on Camp Coastal in Kiln last night on WLOX. I looked on WLOX this morning but did not see the link up yet. I will post it as soon as they get it online. You can search for it yourself at WLOX We had been working on one of these homes the past few months. Unfortunately we had to take a mile of the building apart and put it back together - almost rebuilding the entire house. We had to replace the roof, tear out the windows and put back in appropriately and to building code, put on the porches that had not been built although in the design package, and repair faulty construction on the interior portion. We still have some work to do on the home but it is almost complete. The repairs had to be done at enormous extra expense and it has delayed completion of the home by months. The air conditioner was supposed to come with the package but that is going to have to be re-purchased by the owner out of his limited funds and fixed income. Six months ago no one would listen to our concerns - now they are looking seriously into the problems and the unfinished homes - despite millions in grant funds that were supposed to be there to complete these homes.

Despite the camp being closed for weeks - still the website is up with claims that Dozens of newly built houses are ready for a few finishing touches. Tasks like painting, flooring, decking, trimming, even landscaping are all that’s needed to make these homes live-in ready. " and that "The State of Mississippi recognized Camp Coastal Outpost for our dedicated and committed service in recovery activities following Hurricane Katrina. A concurrent resolution commending CCO was introduced by Representative Dirk Dedeaux. ". Whoops..........

Moral of story - there needs to be more accountability when it comes to grant management in recovery. And there needs to be an engine to carry complaints and concerns to an entity that can enforce accountability much more quickly than this story unfolded. The good ole boys club played a major role in driving this engine way beyond the edges of ethics and they cloaked this operation negating any complaints from the minions and thus there was no piecing of the veil.

And that is our week - how is yours going?

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Tuesday September 9th 2008

There is no end of my understanding of man's inhumanity to man. Today a young family showed up here with 9 month old baby in tow - homeless. And why you ask - because FEMA towed off their FEMA trailer as it had been flooded due to Gustav. Now I understand the need to tow off the flooded trailers - but without finding a placement for housing for these clients? Without figuring out if there was even a shelter for these clients? Without their Case Manager sitting down with them and, at the very least, giving them a flyer of where the available emergency housing might be? Come on - we have to be able to do a better job than this.

If it was the only homeless family left on the curb after FEMA towed the trailer - yes I would understand. But we are seeing multiple families - young and old. And when I start to call around - I hear the same story over and over again. Yes there is a shelter at Langiappe - but it is there for a "few days" with no promises. The men in one trailer, the woman and children in another - fractionalizing the family at a very stressful time.

So, will someone please tell me what we are to do with these families? Nothing has crossed my email box, not a message on my phone, not nothing. Stone cold silence.

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Monday September 8th 2008

The Governor requested that Gustav be declared a disaster thus giving us some ammunition to deal with the aftermath including a sad story last night on WLOX of an elderly couple living in their truck as their Mississippi Cottage was flooded. How embarrassing that we leave people to struggle to that degree in the aftermath.

We continue to do intakes here on our clients - for some the extent of the damage was extensive flood damage to the "old" and the "new" part of the recovery equation for them. But, honestly, for those on pylons - it did make a difference this time. It did save hundreds of homes from flooding and for that I am very very thankful.

Our Case Manager program here has grown again with the addition of two more Case Managers this week taking us up to a total of seven paid Case Managers. The pace in the office is hectic - like all new programs we are cutting new swaths in the path to recovery. Our area extends from Bay St Louis to Wiggins. We covered Picayune and Poplarville with house visits last Thursday and we plan on getting up to Wiggins this week to do the same up there.

In the meantime we are in the office do intakes with the contract program and also doing intakes for Gustav clients. Today we had the joy of welcoming Joan from the Giving Circle out of New York. She is here to help us with the overwhelming Case Manager load in the office - and we desperately need the assistance.

And our friend Al Showers has injured himself playing carpenter - broke some bones in his hand placing a beam in his home after Gustov - the beam actually had floated away and he had rounded up the unruly piece of lumber and opted to corral the wild beast by installing it insitu in his home. The wild bronc got the best of Al and now he is nursing a cast on his hand. Send flowers !

And Chris Lagarde - the rumor is that he went down to the beach at the height of the storm to watch and marvel at the power of it all. Now why does that not surprise me! *G*

Brice Phillips was flooded out again - his FEMA trailer office was under two foot of water in the storm. He could sure use some donations at WQRZ - please search him out and get him some help.

Joan got water up to under the Mississippi Cottage, Bert Martin had water within two feet of the top of the pylons, Kenny had water under the house (in fact it flooded six feet over in his neck of the woods), Noel Piazza flooded but not the house, Eldon flooded - but not the house. And Joyce - well her house is off the blocks and the house will have to be condemned. It was only remodeled after the storm and it really should have been up on pylons in that neck of the woods. If I have forgotten someone whose house we worked on - just drop me an email and I will fill you in on the details.

Were we ready for Gustov - yes we evacuated. Did we have the programs and staff in place in the recovery process overall to implement a disaster plan - no. The recovery information has been slow to surface and it has not been a pretty picture of teamwork. Not sure why. Maybe everyone is just tired. Maybe the power trips and power plays are just an integral part of the culture. Maybe we just have a long way to go to implement a Master Plan. But then - there was not a Master Plan. And that is the problem.

And that is our week so far - how is yours going? Mine would be going great if I just knew that Ike truly was headed west.

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Friday September 5th 2008

The infamous Katrina sign on the beach bit the dust under the power of Gustav.

And since Katrina it has rained and rained. Here is one of the destroyed Missisippi cottages that had been placed on a beach front property below flood level. $90,000 out the window and since a disaster has not been declared - the owner has been advised to clear out his belongings and there is no temporary housing available for them.

FEMA to Katrina Registrants: Contact the Call Center for Assistance
From: FEMA   Filed 9/4/08  3:51 p.m. GCN

BILOXI, Miss. – Field assessment teams from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) are currently examining FEMA travel trailers and mobile homes provided after Hurricane Katrina to determine damage caused by Hurricane Gustav.

Officials encourage families who registered with FEMA after Katrina in 2005, and who have repair issues or sustained serious damage to their FEMA unit, to call the Mississippi Maintenance Call Center at 866-877-6075. More than 4,000 units are currently occupied throughout Mississippi down from a peak of 43,000 units.

For the rest of the story from the Beach in Hancock County comes this smelly piece of news

And it is a pity that we do not have scratch and sniff on the internet - because the odor coming from the hundreds of dead Nutria that were washed up is not describable. Along with the Nutria were a few of wild large hogs and a deer. The Pelicans and other wild birds that were alive were taken to a wild life specialist and are being nursed back to health. The county started picking up the carcasses on the beach yesterday. If they were still paying the bounty of .25c per Nutria as they were in the 60's - we would have the large bill from this massive cleanup paid for in Nutria tails. *G*

And those quonset huts in a storm.......

And this City of Waveland quonset hut that was supposed to be rated for 130 mile an hour winds did not fare too well. It lays in shreds on Coleman Ave at the Market. For safety sake maybe these need to be removed not only from all the volunteer camps but from the other locations in town inclusive of private yards. Obviously they do not hold up well under siege.

And that is all the photograph news I have today excepting that Gustav has not been declared a disaster yet and all those whose homes are flooded "are on their own" and there is very little to no housing available - homelessness is at peak right now with calls left right and center to the office. Again 90% of the Case Managers are assigned to a contract that only covers 10% of the residents and they cannot work on Gustav cases. Those other residents in Hancock County are totally dependent on a handful of Case Managers who are not bound up in the "contract" and they total 90% of the Case load. There are no funds from the round table - it is closed until October. Relief construction has ground to a halt due to lack of funds.

Volunteers needed

We are talking to our volunteers and lining them up to come in and gut. The first teams in will have to assist us putting up the camp again as we evacuated the camp. If your church is insterested in assisting us with that - we would be very greatful. There is going to be gutting needing to be done as well as clearing downed trees and debris removal to the curb again.

If your team is talking of mobilizing - please call to give us a heads up as I need to make sure we have housing all organized for you.

Deployment

And Domionic is deployed to Louisianna for the FEMA Case Manager pilot program. He is leaving for the staging area in Baton Rouge today. He will be deployed from two weeks to a month. He was very excited about this assignment as it will provide a mile of training for him as a Case Manager.

We still have yet to unpack from Gustav. We are starting on that today along with doing some intakes from Gustav.

Work Orders and Case Manager intakes for Gustav

I just talked to Perlington and it is business as usual over there with intakes at the Perlington Recovery Center and their Work Order system will remain the same as it was before the storm. Here we also will be doing intakes for Gustav just as we did for Katrina. Our Work Order system will work the same as it was before. We should be under full power by Monday and out in the field working on re-construction issues.

We have been calling clients and taking reports on damages. We have a list of clients who have lost their MEMA cottages and FEMA trailers. We should have that totally compiled on Monday not only for here but for Stone County and Pearl River County. We have a new Case Manager starting next week up in Picayune and opening an office up there.

Clean up kits for flooded houses

We have cleanup kits here for flooded homes. Stop by the office and we would be glad to give you one.

Conclusion And that is our week so far in the aftermath of Gustav and the continuing recovery from Katrina. How is it going for you?

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Thursday September 4th 2008

So many have asked - how are the Elkviews. They are just fine. Not one of them flooded. Water got within two feet under Bert's home - that was a surprise. Else they all weathered the storm without damage. Jim Mitchell is fine - you know Jim. Eldon evacuated.

But the Elkview's stood their ground in the flooded areas! $25,000 for an Elkview. About $90,000 for a Mississippi cottage and many of them floated off and got flooded as they were not elevated.

And that speech from Sarah Palin - WOW! Four great contenders - two on each side. This is going to be a grand debate till the end.

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Wednesday September 3rd 2008

Someone wrote today and asked if I was taking care of myself. And I responded in my usual short quipped email - not. *G* For those of you who know me so well. So, to save time - I just reprinted my response here as it says exactly how I feel now and it will save me a lot of time writing the blog and thus, and therefore, taking care of me. *G* [*G* = grinning for those of you who have asked me that question]

Thank you for your kind concern. I was exhausted even before Gustav hit but I was hanging in there.

• I am not sure how, under these circumstances, any of us can take care of ourselves. We are all understaffed and raising funds to drive these volunteer operations that are the mainstay of the recovery effort. We are tied up trying to cover the overhead costs of these volunteer operations and there is no money tree in the backyard to cover electrical costs, gas costs, cost of water, maintenance, vehicle costs, or gasoline. La somehow got volunteer camps funded in part - why it was never done here I have never understood.
  
• I went to the Long Term Coordination meeting today and they admitted to only having four staff in the office to manage 46,000 people in Hancock County. They were planning on doing the Case intakes on all these people with a staff of four who would not only be doing the intakes but managing all the volunteers (it is mandated that all the volunteers will report to Hancock Housing Resource Center), handling all the donations, and writing and managing all the Work Orders for work. 90% of the Case Managers are hired at this time to specifically cover 10% of the cases in the county leaving the other 90% of the residents with 10% of the remaining Case Mangers. We have known that for weeks as the new Case Mangager plan came to fruition. I know they asked a large local relief group today for Case Managers and were told the Case Managers were on the contract program and could not go outside that list of clients. I also know the Case Managers were asked to volunteer over at the Housing Resource as Case Managers and it was reported to me that they all declined. Even the Case Mangers are frazzled with the politics of what is going on. I do know that I have never received a call from the Long Term Recovery Committee to discuss anything although we have always had a very organized Work Order system and are already working on Gustav Work Orders and intakes at this time. At the meeting it became very obvious that there had been no plan to train volunteers how to gut a home - something we should have learned by now. Gutting is not an unskilled labor task. Untrained gutting crews can destroy a home making poor decisions on what needs to be "gutted" and failing to follow up on those work orders to complete the task by treating the homes correctly for mold and drying in the home so it is protected from future water damage. This should have already been in place - it is at the the larger camps here who understand the problem - but it was a new concept to Housing Resource Center excepting one member of their design team.
• I have yet to hear from the City of Waveland regarding their residents. They do have a list of volunteer groups in their community. They used it last to dictate that the volunteers have a limited time line in their community i.e. 16 months. Maybe now they might want to reevaluate that time line. This was a ten year plan at best even in the rhetoric coming out of Congressman Taylor's office of Wicker's office.
• We are already fielding calls from evacuees wanting to know what is going on.
  
• I am still packed from evacuation from Gustav and we have determined to only unpack the essentials as we may have to pack up again for Ike.
• I have the Hancock Medical Center referring pregnant clients here for me to house in the aftermath of Gustav. I have had to turn them away. I am not a homeless shelter. Although Hancock County still, after all this time, does not have one. It is time someone gets the message that there is a critical need for such a shelter here on a permanent basis with trained personnel who will advocate for them and not enable the problem. The problem is real. And it is going to get worse. I continue to work tirelessly in the homeless community - that will never change.
  
• I have clients banging on our door for answers and I still have yet to receive a directive from the long term recovery committee, from EOC, or any other official in Hancock County. In fact - I have received not one email from any of them explaining what is going on or what they are planning on doing.
• What I am getting is feed back thru the back door of people calling into me from the Board of Supervisors, from a Waveland Alderman, and from my contacts at the EOC who are feeding me enough information that I am able to direct some people to where they need to go. There have been zero directives on how to handle the aftermath - almost as if there was not a plan in place at all. And from the bickering I am hearing - sadly that is what is being fed back to us out in the field. How much better it would have been to hear of a joint team effort and everyone standing together with politics aside.

And that was the end of the email and I will bid you a good evening and toddle off for some much needed sleep.

Yes, we desperately need volunteers - although Gustav landed in La the damage here was enormous and Hancock County was hammered. We need your help. Please call your favourite relief agency and work with them. If we are your favourites - then we could sure use your help again.

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Monday September 1st 2008 Update

All is not well in Hancock County. Below i10 Fema and Mema cottages are floating everywhere you look in the flooded areas. They know of 200 solid structures down there below I10 that are also flooded. They are out in Jordan River Shores plucking people off the roofs. Steamers is under water there at Jordan River. The EOC is getting food for themselves by getting someone from Walmart to open up and allow them to get food for themselves at their center on Spanish Trail.

Downed trees, downed power lines, flooded homes, floating FEMA and MEMA cottages - this is very serious. The water is going down fast. There is a mandatory curfew at this time and they will allow people in after 6am in the morning and if they can get down the streets to their homes - will be allowed to examine them. Schools are closed till Thursday at this point. City Hall will open on Wednesday. Those are details as of 7pm Monday night.

There will be food distribution tomorrow at Fred's Parking Lot in Waveland.

As soon as we are given a directive - we will call our "list" of people in FEMA housing. At this point we do not want to call if we do not have answers to give them. We are waiting on a call from those in charge of our program. Fopr those in FEMA housing - we are asking that you do not come home until we determine if you still have a FEMA trailer.

For those not on the program - we are hoping to be back at our office tomorrow to check out to see how much flooding they sustained and what sort of assistance they need.

We are going to need assistance - the first order of business is to get the camp at Pass Christian back up and running. It did sustain two feet of water and we need to get our materials back from Indianna/Jackson/Harrisburg and re-install the camp so we can start gutting again.

Will write more later.

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Monday September 1st 2008

Monday and all is well up here on Firetower Road where we evacuated to get away from Waveland - it was a mandatory evacuation.

We are staying at Foundation Hope in a brand new building where the troops are being very well taken care of - air conditioning, direct satellite, wireless, and big screen television. My employees are threatening to jump ship as they do not have it this well at our office in Waveland.

As the hurricane made landfall the wind gusted and trees toppled and my motor home rocked from side to side - as did the multiple other motor homes out in the camp site. At one point, between bands, there was my neighbor out there with a mop and bucked of suds scrubbing off his motor home. I stepped outside and asked him what on earth was he doing and, he says, "Free water thats all I can tell you". People deal with their stress in all manner and means - but that one topped the cake in what I have seen down here in three years.

The ECO building in Bay St Louis was battered before the storm - and apparantly did not fare well during this one. It is probably going to be first on the agenda for "discussion" after this is all over. They are still operating out of the building despite the leaking roof.

The Fire Dept in Kiln had to rescue three people for Jordan River Shores and Brice Phillips tells me his FEMA trailer is flooded in Waveland. He is going to try and go over there before the next band hits and see what damage has been done to the radio station equipment over there. Brice believes his generator went under the water.

I am told that the water got up Coleman Ave as far as Brian Mollere's home, Central is flooded, and Highway 603 is flooded along with Shoreline Park. White caps were coming over the railroad at Cleremont Harbor.

The report from Pass Christian is that Henderson Street is flooded - we have no reports on the camp at Pass Christian yet. But Dominic says if Henderson is flooded - then that is not good.

Everyone here at Foundation Hope is doing well despite the obvious signs of stress - not just from the storm but the two hard weeks of preparation we put into getting the camps packed up, offices packed up, and everyone organized to get evacuated. I truly understand the exhaustion I saw on the people after Katrina. It was not "just" the storm - but also the preamble of preparation.

And our evacuation plan - wow does it need some work. We are going to get one of the semi trailers with shelving built in and we are packing one of those and getting a semi rig to haul everything off. And, it needs to be done a week in advance. I am thinking the tools need to be permanently stored in a semi and we operate out of it. Right now I have tools scattered from Indianna, Hattiesburg, and Jackson Mississippi.

The dogs are still in the laundry room - not particularly thrilled but they are safe and dry. The cats are in the conference room - doing very very well indeed. Kera Jean is with Victor and his birds here in the main building - chatting up a storm.

And the wind is picking up again as the outer bands head this way. I was told they are looking pretty bad and we will be under them for about four hours.

I will write more later.

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Saturday August 31st 2008

I see a whole slew of you in the website this morning - so I am posting here and then transfering the reference to Facebook.

Evacuation is going "OK" - slower than expected when you are trying to organize so many. Everything is packed into the trucks except food and water - that is being loaded at 8am. We will have to make two trips to the Kiln just to get the trailers up there. For those of you who built that white trailer on wheels - pat yourself on the pack as it is loaded as the "survival" trailer with everything inclusive of the generators/gas/propane/chainsaws etc etc.

I thank you all for the emails - but understand I do not have time to respond to them at this time.

Laurie Spaschak is joining us up in Kiln - she is loading her car at this time. She said 90 was so bad going thru Kiln last night that they had to wait 45 minutes until they could cross the line of traffic to get back to camp.

Till later .......

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Saturday August 30th 2008

We continue to work on the evacuation. We were in no way prepared for the volume of work - although we had a plan and knew what needed to be done. We way underestimated the "man power" we would need to evacuate both camps.

For continuing updates use the Facebook link above as it is quick and easy for me to be able to post on there rather than add to this blog. HTML never was the swiftest way to write a letter.

We are evacuating Elton, Joyce, and Victor with us. Laurie is going to join us if we get a direct hit. We will have the animals with us inclusive of Victor's birds as well.

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Thursday August 29th 2008

Gustav is going to land somewhere - and they are going to need assistance.

Today is the aniversary of Katrina but little has been said of memorials or services. Most are buried in evacuation details or stocking up on supplies.

The people I have talked with are trying to disengage from Katrina and looking nervously towards the Gulf. This is just too much for most and many stand there with their heads down shaking it back and forth silently. It is just too much at this time.....

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Thursday August 28th 2008

 Truck arrives so we can evacuate equipment

 First Baptist Church in Pass Christian chats with Randy after they brought back the backhoe from the jobsite where they were working today.

 One of the tool rooms in Pass Christian prior to evac'ing tools to Jackson/p>

 Evac'ing equipment this afternoon

 And the football game at the local highschool goes on despite Gustav threatening in the Gulf

 And around the corner in Pass Christian another volunteer crew, from another camp, work on despite Gustav in the Gulf.

 And at the same house there sits the shower stall on the deck of the home they were working on.

 And this is the problem in Hancock and Harrison County with the approach of Gustav - unsecured building materials from one end of the county to the other. And very little we can do about it. This load was delivered after the warnings in the Gulf despite the plea from the various agencies to secure loose construction materials in the yard. Are the lumber yards, volunteers and contractors responsible if they ignore the warnings and allow these loads to be delivered despite the warnings. And how do you secure these large loose loads?