On Tuesday, September 20th, after a week of sorting, packing and boxing the mountain of donated clothing, shoes, underwear, books, toys, old police gear, uniforms and a variety of other items it was loading day. The skies were dark and rainy, except for a beautiful rainbow that stretched across the west side of the lodge. I couldn't help but think, maybe, this was an omen.
With the help of so many volunteers, the 28' truck was loaded. The driver was leaving that evening. As we were closing the door, literally, more donations were arriving.
On Wednesday morning, Brad Woolridge, Ron Kraus, Gary Simkins (my hubby) and myself headed south in the donated rental car. We arrived in Memphis to meet an escort that took us into Jackson, MS to the staging warehouse. In amazement, this huge 70,000 sq.ft. warehouse had pallets of water, new mattresses, bags of unsorted clothing and boxes of items to be shipped to the officers and their families along the coast. Two ladies were filling boxes with officer's names from Waveland PD. They searched for clothing of the appropriate sizes for all members of their families. Each box reflected the officer's last name or code number for distribution.
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On Thursday, Ralph, our wonderful driver that donated the truck and fuel (Petitt Environmental) arrived at the warehouse. The truck was unloaded and another trailer was loaded with the personalized boxes and other supplies and we headed to Waveland and Gulfport PD's. As we neared the coast we saw damage (bent billboards, downed trees), but as we exited I-10 the damage grew as we entered Gulfport. There were trees snapped like toothpicks, cars that lay on their roofs or sides where they landed when the water subsided and hundreds of building/homes with tarps to protect them from the weather. Some businesses and homes were destroyed. We took pictures of people living in tents or rummaging through piles of clothing in parking lots of shopping centers. A single small house sat on the roadside medium.
Then we entered Waveland. Even the sights through Gulfport did not prepare us for the wrath of Katrina and her damage to Waveland's people. This town was destroyed. We pulled up in front of Waveland's PD where their sign still stood. Several officers were busy putting supplies away from the rain. They then gathered around the trailer to receive their personal box of items. It was like presents at Christmas time. They gingerly carried their boxes to their cars to take to wherever their family may be staying. One female officer named Laura asked if we were from Louisville and said that she had family in New Albany. As on all their faces, it showed the stress and helplessness. She told me that she couldn't go through this again and if she could get her mother and aunt to leave she would move here. She and her husband were with Waveland PD. We exchanged cell numbers. Of 27 officers 25 lost everything. Some rode out the storm on the roof of their small police station holding onto a rope from their flag pole. They had to shoot out the windows to escape the rising water.
Another female officer told me that we had her wrong bra, panty and shoe size. The simple things that we take for granted are so important to them.
We also delivered cases of iced down beer and they made plans to have a cold one after their shift. Hugs, hand shakes and thanks were exchanged and we headed back to Gulfport to visit their department. We stopped in the Wal-mart parking lot to get fuel directly from a tanker. While waiting in line, we talked to more officers. One officer from Hendersonville, TN had been there for 5 days. He pointed out that the water was over the Wal-mart and the enormous brown pine trees, explaining that when the salt water hits them they turn brown. He said they found bodies on top of the K-mart. He also told me that the first power came on the previous day. Most of the electricity was still off. He made a call to another officer to let him know where the beer was stashed.
The parking lot was filled with more clothing, now getting wet from the rain, volunteer police departments and mobile trailers set up with assistance. Giant generators stood everywhere. I saw a man playing with a child next to a tent in another parking lot.
We made another stop at the end of the main street. It ended where a bridge once stood. The road washed away. Homes just yards away were just a slap or picked up and moved. Some homes with the sides and roofs missing. We passed a cemetery where the Virgin Mary stood watching over barren graves. A safe stood at one end of the cemetery with its door open. This oddity wasn't the only site. We also saw a boat at the Burger King drive through.
Brad and I snapped pictures on both sides of the streets trying to record what we saw. Even the pictures can't reveal the terror these folks endured. Many did not survive.
We pulled into Gulfport PD's parking lot where there was much more activity. Obviously, their larger department was receiving much more assistance. We carried the mini baby shower bags that we prepared for two female officers that lost everything into the police station. Deanna was standing at the door and couldn't believe it. She dug through the baby items showing them off like they were precious gems. The smile on her face was priceless. She told me that she was living with her mom and sleeping on an air mattress. She protested as I tried to give her some cash, but she finally took it. Everyone had tear-filled eyes. Her mother, another officer, said this was the first time she cried since Katrina destroyed her home.
We spoke with the Commander and a Captain that had attended SPI and they asked about Phil Turner and Dr. Walsh. Gary spoke to them about the experience since he had also attended many years ago.
After a mentally exhausting trip to our extended family in these police departments, we headed back to Jackson. We were heading back on Friday morning.
There are so many people that made this relief effort possible:
Pettit Environmental - Ralph and Alissa Wilson (truck, driver and fuel)
Enterprise Car Rental (Preston Hwy) (free rental for car)
D & R Pharmacare – Glenda Lehmann (medical supplies)
Chief Robert White – LMPD (old police gear)
Volunteers that sorted & boxed
The Associates/Citizen's Police Academy
Ronnie
Jackie Roberts
Marilyn Chyoweth
Melanie Schardein
Joe Collins
Laura Bowling
Tricia Amrhein
Tessa Priddy
Cash donations from:
Louisville Police Officer's Credit Union
Numerous individuals
Major Tim Emington