Stirring up workers and vision to provide clean homes and new hope:
House-gutting proves gut-wrenching
for seven local volunteers in Katrina "war zone"

I was an outsider to the biggest natural disaster in US history, but recently was afforded an insider's view, along with six others from this area. Come with me -- inside the first days of our trip to New Orleans (Feb 12-19), inside the "war zone" otherwise known at St. Bernard Parish, inside the first home we gutted, inside my own gut.

That's where I lost it. I just lost my innocence and ignorance about the tragic issues of recovery for the hundreds of thousands of victims of hurricane Katrina.

You may "lose it," too, but regain your soul. Here's how.

Seven of us were organized at this end by High Point Church mission leaders Rick Zynda and myself to undertake the 2000-mile round trip to New Orleans. Once there, we were organized by Samaritan's Purse, an excellent international disaster relief agency, whom local officials love.

More trips from this area are being scheduled soon, so do consider taking a week off your regular work, retirement life, or Spring Break -- as we did. But come with the eyes of your heart open to what God will show you. We came, we saw, we wept. From the Lower 9th Ward to the historic fishing villages, all were totally wiped out. Where houses once stood, there are now "steps to nowhere."

We sweated and we smelled, feeling both good and bad, as we worked among the blacked out, mudded out, flooded out areas. Many more of the 100s of digital pictures we took may be viewed at: www.highpointchurch.org/home.php?min=7, the church's "Community Outreach Ministry" page.

Hundreds more volunteers are needed each week, just in St. Bernard Parish, to clean up 5000 homes by June 30. The growing mold problem and dwindling FEMA matching funds have set that tight deadline for remedial work and community activists have set that ambitious target for rehabbing 5000 homes in that parrish.

As you may know, parish is Louisiana's governmental unit meaning "county," and the St. Bernard parish -- located in the direct path of Hurricane Katrina and the Murphy Oil spill -- was hardest hit. The habitable part of this parish stretches 51 miles long by just 2 miles wide, as it is surrounded by wetlands that comprise the Louisiana boot, extending into the Gulf.

"Habitable," of course, must now be redefined post-Katrina. All 26,900 homes in St. Bernard Parish were rendered uninhabitable -- by either flood waters, wind, fire, or oil spill, but especially mold -- creepy, ugly, smelly, mucky, hazardous, floor-to-ceiling, plague-like mold. Only 200 of these 26,900 residences are sufficiently cleaned up to be re-occupied, almost six months after Katrina hit -- and then only the second floor. About 4500 priority residents (mostly government workers) live in FEMA and other trailers, another 1000 in tent camps (such as Camp Premier or "tent city," where we stayed), while another 900 live on the cruise ship parked in the city of Violet.

This parish now also houses hundreds of recovery volunteers -- mostly affiliated with Samaritan's Purse, Habitat for Humanity, and Americorps. Six of us older volunteers, plus one young one, formed a "Disaster Response Team" (appropriately code-named "D[I]RT"), in partnership with Samaritan's Purse. As it turned out, the "High Point Seven" as we were dubbed (even though two came from other Madison area churches, and one later joined us from Chicago) -- was first of many groups to "mud out" these homes. Twelve more groups, of 6-12 volunteers each, took our place the week we left.

House gutters must sign waivers and don OSHA-approved gear -- Tyvek suits, gas masks, protective eyewear, hard hats, boots and gloves -- just to enter these abandoned homes at their own risk. For hours each day we carried, wheeled, raked, and shoveled out the heavy furniture, househould contents and massive debris. With crowbars, we stripped the walls and ceilings down to bare studs and beams. With compassion for the lost, we searched for any valuables and personal affects that homeowners specified they still wanted.

In the tons of crud, we found valuable wedding rings, religious artifacts, and valuable mementos. Among the neighbors we talked to, we found out that older residents -- the ones who remembered Hurricane Betsy of 1964 -- got out in time and for good, and are not coming back. Their $150,000 to $200,000 homes, once cleaned up, will likely sell for just $25,000.

Younger residents, with jobs and other ties to the community, are coming back, but will pay a steep (and gouged) price to complete the remodeling. Only 50% of residents had any flood insurance, and few had enough. The water came upon them suddenly, rising nine feet in 12 minutes in some areas, and 28 feet in the "eye" of the hurricane.

We talked with one displaced resident, Mary Crespo, who descends from eight generations of Germans on her dad's side and seven generations of Hispanics on her mother's side -- all living within blocks of each other. She had nowhere to go when Katrina hit, as all her extended family lived right there. So where does one turn for help and hope?

Mary was quick with an answer: "If you don't have God in your life, there's no way to express the anger, or the hope. We had to get rid of the clutter, the hindrance of stuff, which keep us from seeing God more clearly. God has given this community a unique opportunity to clean up our lives."

Another unique opportunity coming to New Orleans is the Billy and Franklin Graham crusade, March 11-12. With all the churches equally devastated, the people are coming together, worshipping ecumenically in parking lots and meeting for prayer and Bible study in tents.

Talk about old-fashioned "tent revival meetings," perhaps the future of New Orleans hangs in the balance. The people of faith whom we encountered certainly hope so. They are praying and working for both an "extreme makeover" and a "Jesus takeover" of their beloved city, a city that looks like a bombed-out war zone, one rife with corruption, but no longer complacent and showing signs of new life.

Coming next week: More pictures, plus more on the big picture issues facing St. Bernard Parish: The huge economic losses, the political SNAFUs, and the spiritual lessons learned by those seeking to make a difference.

© 2005 Middleton Outreach Ministry

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