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Seeing the disaster up close
Twenty members from First Congregational United Church of Christ in Boulder help out victims in New Orleans with Katrina relief

By Linda Woods

Twenty members of the First Congregational/UCC in Boulder spent an eye-opening week in November on their first Katrina Relief Work Trip in New Orleans. This diverse group of 7 men and 13 women, most of whom didn't know each other before the trip, formed a strong bond.

We camped in tent-like structures, slept on cots, and ate together in a large tent through Presbyterian Disaster Assistance in Luling, LA. Accommodations were clean and adequate, although basic. The first day, we had a tour of the Lower Ninth Ward which left most of us speechless. Concrete slabs remained in place of homes or, in many cases, houses still stood in their dilapidated state. Giant X's marked the front of each home giving the date the homes were inspected and the number of bodies discovered. We saw where the levees were breeched, the roads buckled from sitting under water, and the lack of road signs and traffic lights.

When we were given our two homes to "gut" (clean out the entire interior of the home down to the studs), we divided into two work teams. Most of us had never raised a sledgehammer to knock down walls before, or pried up hardwood floors, or pulled nails out of ceilings, or carried refrigerators out of homes, or cleaned out closets of clothing, books, and food items left in 10 feet of water for 3 weeks (until the water subsided and left the items full of mold). Yet, as a team, we did it all.

Challenges we faced were the same as any resident of the area. No plumbing (we had to drive several vacant miles to the nearest restroom), no electricity, no water, no restaurants nearby. Most of all, there were hardly any people.

Few homes have been restored for many reasons. Of the $12 billion in relief allocated to Katrina, $700,000 has been spent with 5,000 families receiving some funds. When the money comes, it often goes to the banks to repay mortgages. If they choose to rebuild, they are faced with the difficulty of getting mortgages for homes in neighborhoods that are mostly uninhabited. Also, when people think they might be the only ones returning to their block with no services or utilities, rebuilding is not an easy decision. This has created a state of limbo for the families of 72,000 homes and businesses that remain devastated 16 months after Katrina.

We heard a lot of upsetting stories from residents. The couple in their 60's that lived in one of our homes had thought their home had escaped the hurricane, only to be overwhelmed when they saw a television news story showing a neighbor on his roof after a levee broke due to poor construction by the Corps of Engineers (something they have admitted). A man working for the National Park Service told us how he had walked 9 hours through chest high water seeking safety.

Both families we helped were very generous in their appreciation. The couple made jambalaya for our group and served it in their front yard on a portable table. The daughter who grew up in the other house left us sacks of chicory coffee, jambalaya, and beignet mix to take home. The morning she left, we arrived at the house to find mardi gras beads hanging from a nail with a note that said "Thanks for all your help! May God bless you!"

We visited the French Quarter on several occasions to eat the great food, hear jazz, and get a sense of what New Orleans was known for (and hopefully, may someday regain)-the Big Easy. But talking with residents at the National Park Service, and salespeople in the stores, life is anything but easy right now. Families are living in different states, people are depressed (suicide rates are up), less than a third of the hospitals are open so health care is restricted, crime is up, and less than half the schools are open. Walking around the area, we missed the sight of children. By the way, 2,000 children were orphaned from Katrina.

Our group was so overwhelmed by this experience that re-entering our normal lives wasn't easy. How could we go on in a comfortable lifestyle when fellow Americans are so distraught? We organized two more trips to New Orleans for this spring and we visited with staffers in our US congressman Mark Udall and Senator Ken Salazar's offices to lobby for the Katrina victims. One team member created a website about our trip (www.firstcong.net/katrina) which you are welcome to visit. Our group is anxious to help you join our efforts.