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Destination Mississippi

2005; American Association of Critical-Care Nurses; Volume: 25; Issue: 6 Linguagem: Inglês

10.4037/ccn2005.25.6.14-b

1940-8250

Colleen Wyllie,

What is a disaster? “Crushing misfortune; a calamity; a terrible accident”—according to Webster’s College Dictionary.1 On August 28, 2005, the Gulf Coast was hit hard by a stage 5 hurricane, Katrina—a natural disaster that has never been seen before by the citizens of the United States. The residents of Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama had warnings from the US Weather Service to evacuate. Some responded to this warning, many did not. Interstate 10 was jam packed with motorists who were trying to get out of harms way. The average speed was a “slow crawl” to “a dead stop.” People were desperate, some 9000 fled to the Super Dome. Then the storm hit. Everyone in the country was glued to their televisions, and every channel showed the wind, rain, and water damage (from the broken levy). No one could have been prepared for the extent of the damage Katrina would leave behind.Hourly, we waited to hear from our loved ones. For health reasons my mother was relocating to Pass Christian, Miss. My brother, who has been a Mississippi resident for 2 years, left his 3 children with his in-laws to help my mom move her belongings. He had lost telephone contact with his family in the Gulf Coast. Subsequently, we lost contact with him. Telephone lines, electricity, and water were not functioning. Cellular telephone contact was intermittent. My sister and I decided to make the 2000-mile trek across the country after we had not heard from our family for greater than a day. We had 24 hours to prepare for our journey.Little Company of Mary Hospital-San Pedro (LCM-SP) has been my place of employment for more than 25 years. I have worked in many different departments, including emergency, postanesthesia, general medical-surgical, and hospice. My primary area of expertise is critical care. Needless to say, I know many people who have worked at LCM-SP for as long as I have. The manager of critical care and telemetry, immediately began spreading the word for donations.When we arrived to pick up “some donations,” I was overwhelmed with the concern and generosity for the people in the disaster zone. The staff in every area that I visited gave us cash, checks, and hospital supplies for the hurricane victims. Staff from areas that I did not have time to visit sought me out to give their donations. Our director of nursing, authorized the hospital to give us medical supplies. She came in on her day off to wish us well and pray for our safe journey. Upon recommendation by our critical care director, the medical staff gave a large financial donation. The medical staff administrator came in on her flex day to write me the check. Not to mention the individual physicians who gave personal donations. Father Shigo gave us and the people in the Gulf Coast blessings. An infectious disease nurse made up “Disaster” booklets with FEMA applications for us to distribute to the victims of the hurricane. We loaded all of the supplies into our car.My neighbors were also very generous. They went on shopping sprees to various stores to give us nonperishable food, diapers, propane tanks, paper goods, and basic hygiene items to distribute in Mississippi. Many families also donated cash. Our Bunko group gave me all of the winnings for the month of September.The overwhelming generosity did not stop here. My sister and friends gave us food packages for our personal use while driving the 3-day long trip, as well as gas cans. My sister’s place of employment, Viejas Casino, donated a large sum of money. Golden Acorn Casino gave us 3 cases of brand new t-shirts. Her son permitted us to drive his new truck across the country. We loaded up the truck and started off. First stop was Arizona, in 102°F heat, the mechanic climbed under our truck (it was too heavy for the lifts) to do our oil change. Everywhere we went, people were friendly, polite, and happy to help us with whatever our needs were. Gas prices slowly decreased; the most expensive was in California, the cheapest was in Mississippi, thanks to President Bush. Initially, prices had been $5 per gallon.We hit thunder and lightening storms in Arizona, multiple state troopers in Texas, and increasing heat and humidity as we crossed over to the southern states. At this point, my sister and I had received several cell phone calls from our family. We were at peace that they were physically OK. We did notice the tone in their voices requesting urgent supplies and the need for gas. They had the ability to purchase a generator for their home and were relying on its use to run their refrigerator. Gas may have been cheaper in Mississippi, but not easy to find. Greater than 6-hour waiting lines were not uncommon. Limits on the amount purchased and the inability to fill gas cans existed at most stations.We never got “lost,” but we met a wonderful Navy man in Paris, Tex. He drove us to a short cut that helped us tremendously. Thanks to my son’s “built-in compass” we did not take a wrong turn when we drove through the middle of Mississippi. There are no street lights or signs to let you know what road you are on in Mississippi, which makes it very difficult for nighttime navigation.It took us 3 full days of driving before we reached Pass Christian (west of Gulf Port, Miss). The first thing we noticed when we arrived in Mississippi was the countrywide assistance that was present in full force. We saw hundreds of state electric trucks working from sun up to sun down to restore the power. National guardsmen were on every corner, which was very reassuring to us. We had seen the looting and heard of the violence in the Gulf Coast communities on television and were a little nervous of potential violence.In every parking lot we could see different volunteer organizations setting up to deliver a service to people of Gulf Port and the surrounding communities. At this point, with record-high temperatures, no power, telephone, or water, the survivors of the hurricane were pushed to their limit. Looting had gotten out of hand and the mayors had instituted a military state of operation for many of the towns in the Gulf Coast. The second thing we noticed was the intense, pungent odor of the decaying bodies. The local high school was the temporary, makeshift morgue. It was impossible to keep the dead bodies cool because of the high temperatures and no electricity and little ice.The day after our arrival, we made lists of things for each member in our family to do. The children, headed by my son (20 years old) went door to door in the neighborhood distributing the disaster notebooks, food, baby supplies, water, and basic hygiene items. My sister, sister-in-law, and I were in charge of obtaining gas, which was easier said than done. We drove for about 20 minutes looking for an open gas station. After we found one, we stood in line for more than 2 hours to fill our gas cans. Because the electricity was not working, credit or debit cards could not be used; cash was needed to make any purchase. However, the ATMs were not operating, and bank lines were from 4 to 6 hours long because the banks were only letting in 2 people at a time.Everywhere we went there were lines. Lines to get free food, water, or clothing. Lines to get in or get out of a store. (The stores checked customers’ receipts before they left the store to make sure nothing had been stolen.) Lines for the post office, but there was no daily mail delivery. One can only imagine the difficulties these people had to endure. Can you visualize an older person waiting in 95°F temperature for hours on end? Or a mother with small children waiting in line for food or water?Despite these circumstances, my family was blessed. After our first long day, the children were red faced and sweating. We took turns taking ice cold showers. We had “grilled” spaghetti that was prepared on the outdoor barbeque. It tasted delicious. We were grateful to have any hot food at all. Most survivors were dining on ready-to-eat meals that had been dropped by the helicopters in crates into people’s backyards. The entire neighborhood rushed to any helicopter drop to see what supplies were being distributed by the National Guard. Bartering was a way of life. If you had water, you could trade some of it for ready-to-eat meals etc. Everyone was concerned with their neighbor’s well-being (except for the few that were doing the looting). We settled down for a night’s rest, each of us equipped with a lantern or a flashlight. I couldn’t help but pray for the man across the street who was sleeping in his shed (his house was demolished by the 175-mph winds Katrina brought) or the family down the street who were sleeping in tents in their front yard (their house was also demolished by the hurricane).By sunrise, we were ready to go to work again. We still had a truck half full of medical supplies. The local hospital was closed, and the Red Cross was only taking cash donations. We found a church-sponsored medical trailer from South Florida who wanted our supplies. We happily unloaded everything donated by LCM-SP.The kids back at the house started to help everyone cut down trees and haul debris into piles. “Controlled burning” is permitted in Mississippi. However, people had to wait to burn their debris until the fire department lifted the temporary ban. The fire department needed to be cautious with controlled burning because many of the streets were impassable because of the fallen trees and downed power lines. They had to be available to help in case the burning got out of control. At this point all emergency personnel were tied up in the flooded areas of New Orleans and the beach community of Gulf Port. Also, without the countrywide support from the police and fire departments, the local departments would have been exhausted.We had to inspect everyone for ticks, cuts, and bruises and ensure that no one got dehydrated. Unfortunately, I was unsuccessful to find a place to volunteer as a registered nurse. About 10 days after Katrina hit the area, the primary need was for clean up and distribution of supplies, which is what we did. We were comforted that our family could help with these needs. We were not in the position of requiring help. The electricity came back on in the city of Gulf Port and the surrounding towns. It was time for us to head back to California and our jobs.We feel lucky that we were able to have contributed to the beginning of restoration of the devastated area of Gulf Port, Miss. The people in the communities of Mississippi, Louisiana, and Alabama are still in need of help and support. I strongly urge you to look at the blessings you have received and consider donating time, money, or supplies to the survivors of Hurricane Katrina.Special thanks to everyone who kept us in prayer during our entire journey. An awesome thank you for all of the financial support and donations that were dispersed to the survivors of the disaster.