Monday, November 14, 2005
Arrived at Ocean Springs-Initial Impressions
I’m not much into journaling, but I thought I would try to get on the “Blog” bandwagon. I don’t even know if I will write everyday, or how far into the future I will write, but I thought I’d give it the old “college try.”
Driving down to Ocean Springs from Morristown took quite awhile, nine hours or so. It was about 600 miles, so I think that is pretty good time.
One never knows quite what to expect when coming to something like a “hurricane ravaged re-gion.” I arrived at night (I got here after 10:00 p.m. local time, which is Central), so I couldn’t really see much. I never see anything from the Interstate anyways, except Wal-Mart’s, of which there are plenty.
Anyway, the trip went through Knoxville, Birmingham, Montgomery, Mobile, and then west on I-10 to Ocean Springs. I was rather surprised listening to the radio in Mobile – there was a Pub-lic Service Ad (PSA) with the repeated phrase, “Don’t get burned by Ivan.” I was intrigued, be-cause I knew that Ivan had gone through Mobile a year ago in late September, and was long be-fore Katrina. The ad was a warning to people that the “tree items from Ivan that are on the ground and in the forests are extremely dangerous.” I was wondering why – maybe a home for snakes or something. Then they explained, “an open fire can take off in a flash.” The PSA was a warning not to burn things outside because they might start fires in broken limbs, etc. left by Hurricane Ivan. I thought that was interesting.
Finally I arrived at Ocean Springs, and when I went into the Exxon to, umm, make a pit stop, the early-20’s attendant asked me how I was doing. I said, “Fine, how are you?” He said, “I’m alive.” Again, with my heightened “hurricane sensors” on full thrusters, I thought that an inter-esting comment, although he probably meant nothing by it.
I then continued down the block to Christus Victor Lutheran Church. I was surprised to pull into the parking lot, and to find it rather full of vehicles. There was a semi-trailer parked next to the church, I found out later it was a refrigerator trailer, and the compressor engine was running full bore.
I called my host, who lives around the corner from the church. He immediately walked over to the church, and we went inside so I could get registered. Again, it was after 10:30 p.m., and I was surprised at the quickness of his response. We entered the Narthex, and the carpet had been recently removed – probably damaged by the hurricane. I was even more surprised to find three people at computer stations, ready to “in-process” me. I was given an armband with my name pre-written on it and a nametag that had instructions for how to get to my host’s house. As I left, I noticed a few people using the wireless internet, presumably they were housed at the church.
So, we went around the corner to the host’s house. I entered, and noticed a water stain on the ceiling. Again, I assume it is from the hurricane. There were people sleeping everywhere, in the front room, in the bedrooms, etc. My location is on the landing at the top of the stairs. I was given the quick tour, and from what I saw, even the cadre at my Basic Training would be im-pressed with the level of organization. Towels were stacked, and cleaned daily by the host (who also works during the day as a volunteer coordinating the volunteers). The bathrooms had towels and cleaning supplies that we are to use to leave the facilities sanitary for the next persons. She even provided an iron for my shirt, and offered me a piece of apple pie. By the time I got my stuff for tonight out of the car, they had already inflated the air mattress and had me ready to go.
I am interested to see what happens tomorrow. I noticed several signs missing from businesses, road signs bent over, or missing panels, etc. Power was on and there was a lot of traffic, but I am guessing that there were many more problems closer to the coast. Just from what I have seen, the relief effort here at Christus Victor is still much needed and is very well organized.
One thing I can’t get over – my hosts have been having people living all over their house ever since Katrina hit, and there is no immediate end in sight! Katrina hit in late July, if I’m not mis-taken…
Well, it’s time to go to bed. I will try to troubleshoot the internet connection tomorrow and post this entry.
Driving down to Ocean Springs from Morristown took quite awhile, nine hours or so. It was about 600 miles, so I think that is pretty good time.
One never knows quite what to expect when coming to something like a “hurricane ravaged re-gion.” I arrived at night (I got here after 10:00 p.m. local time, which is Central), so I couldn’t really see much. I never see anything from the Interstate anyways, except Wal-Mart’s, of which there are plenty.
Anyway, the trip went through Knoxville, Birmingham, Montgomery, Mobile, and then west on I-10 to Ocean Springs. I was rather surprised listening to the radio in Mobile – there was a Pub-lic Service Ad (PSA) with the repeated phrase, “Don’t get burned by Ivan.” I was intrigued, be-cause I knew that Ivan had gone through Mobile a year ago in late September, and was long be-fore Katrina. The ad was a warning to people that the “tree items from Ivan that are on the ground and in the forests are extremely dangerous.” I was wondering why – maybe a home for snakes or something. Then they explained, “an open fire can take off in a flash.” The PSA was a warning not to burn things outside because they might start fires in broken limbs, etc. left by Hurricane Ivan. I thought that was interesting.
Finally I arrived at Ocean Springs, and when I went into the Exxon to, umm, make a pit stop, the early-20’s attendant asked me how I was doing. I said, “Fine, how are you?” He said, “I’m alive.” Again, with my heightened “hurricane sensors” on full thrusters, I thought that an inter-esting comment, although he probably meant nothing by it.
I then continued down the block to Christus Victor Lutheran Church. I was surprised to pull into the parking lot, and to find it rather full of vehicles. There was a semi-trailer parked next to the church, I found out later it was a refrigerator trailer, and the compressor engine was running full bore.
I called my host, who lives around the corner from the church. He immediately walked over to the church, and we went inside so I could get registered. Again, it was after 10:30 p.m., and I was surprised at the quickness of his response. We entered the Narthex, and the carpet had been recently removed – probably damaged by the hurricane. I was even more surprised to find three people at computer stations, ready to “in-process” me. I was given an armband with my name pre-written on it and a nametag that had instructions for how to get to my host’s house. As I left, I noticed a few people using the wireless internet, presumably they were housed at the church.
So, we went around the corner to the host’s house. I entered, and noticed a water stain on the ceiling. Again, I assume it is from the hurricane. There were people sleeping everywhere, in the front room, in the bedrooms, etc. My location is on the landing at the top of the stairs. I was given the quick tour, and from what I saw, even the cadre at my Basic Training would be im-pressed with the level of organization. Towels were stacked, and cleaned daily by the host (who also works during the day as a volunteer coordinating the volunteers). The bathrooms had towels and cleaning supplies that we are to use to leave the facilities sanitary for the next persons. She even provided an iron for my shirt, and offered me a piece of apple pie. By the time I got my stuff for tonight out of the car, they had already inflated the air mattress and had me ready to go.
I am interested to see what happens tomorrow. I noticed several signs missing from businesses, road signs bent over, or missing panels, etc. Power was on and there was a lot of traffic, but I am guessing that there were many more problems closer to the coast. Just from what I have seen, the relief effort here at Christus Victor is still much needed and is very well organized.
One thing I can’t get over – my hosts have been having people living all over their house ever since Katrina hit, and there is no immediate end in sight! Katrina hit in late July, if I’m not mis-taken…
Well, it’s time to go to bed. I will try to troubleshoot the internet connection tomorrow and post this entry.
# posted by Pastor Mike @ 11:01 AM 
