Katrina's Aftermath
By: Bonnie Schraeder, Financial Examiner
(Editor's note: On September 1, 2005, Governor Kathleen Sebelius signed Executive Order 05-06 into effect. This order entitled State of Kansas employees who were certified to serve in Red Cross relief efforts, resulting from Hurricane Katrina, to disaster leave benefits and granted them up to 20 working days leave. Bonnie Schraeder, an OSBC financial examiner in the West Region, accepted a three week assignment in Louisiana and describes her experiences in the following excerpt.)
As volunteers for the American Red Cross, my husband and I departed from Dodge City on September 18, 2005, and embarked on our hurricane relief assignment in Louisiana. Our first stop was in Baton Rouge, where we were assigned a specific job and given our identification papers. From there, we traveled to Covington for the final-processing paperwork; then we were transported to Slidell, Louisiana, a city of 30,000 located on the north shore of Lake Pontchartrain. Our accommodations in Slidell were in a Methodist church auditorium (with 150 of our new best friends!) and our bed was a cot. The culture shock was just beginning!! We were assigned to an Emergency Response Vehicle (ERV), shown in the photo at right, and learned that our task would be to distribute food to the hurricane victims. Each morning at 8:00 a.m., we were debriefed on the potential problems and situations that we could expect to encounter during that day. After our meeting, we drove the ERV to another church, where our delivery meals were being prepared under tents in the parking lot. Eventually, we were off to our assigned neighborhood.
Upon arrival in the neighborhood, we announced over our loud speaker that we had both food and ice to offer. The food was greatly appreciated, but most of the people would have given their first born for a bag of ice! Their front lawns displayed their remaining worldly possessions; their homes were gutted and they were without electricity. Electricity lines were down in every location and, in addition to the necessary repairs to those lines, home inspections (which were very expensive) were needed before electricity could be restored. The homes on stilts generally had extensive damage, although the newer homes, located furthest from the lake, were somewhat spared. Despite their difficulties, the majority of the people maintained a positive attitude and, fortunately, I didn't meet anyone who had lost a family member to the hurricane.
As visitors, we found that we were also subject to the conditions. We usually did not receive an evening meal at our staff shelter. And, finding a hot meal was a challenge - we had limited methods of transportation and, because of the extensive damage all over town, most of the restaurants (even the fast food varieties) were closed. Those restaurants which were able to serve customers were forced to reduce their hours of operation and function with a very limited staff, as many of their employees were forced to evacuate. In addition, with the influx of disaster relief volunteers, the population swelled to three times the city's usual size and, as such, travel from one area of the city to another was difficult and, at times, impossible.
While we were given only one day off during the three weeks, it was a very rewarding experience. The people of Louisiana were very appreciative of our endeavors and we made friends with other volunteers from all across the United States and from all walks of life. You get acquainted rapidly when your cot is three feet from the next person!
