The following update from the Gulf coast is provided by
Sandra & Bob Shanklin – “The Lighthouse People,” who recently visited Biloxi
Lighthouse and had a firsthand opportunity to view the recovery process in
the wake of Hurricane Katrina…
“We went over
to Gautier Miss. Saturday, to visit with Virginia and John Bennett and
see how they were doing with the recovery from the damage caused by
Hurricane Katrina (Virginia is a childhood friend of mine).
First of all
the devastation along the beaches is still unbelievable. The casinos
are more or less gone, and piles of tangled debris are still sitting
north of Highway 90, which goes along the beaches along the
Photo courtesy Bob & Sandra Shanklin
A close-up of the
Biloxi Lighthouse lantern
coastal towns.
During our visit we saw giant oak trees down and historic houses reduced to
piles of rubble. Yet a few streets back, houses are still standing.
Actually, things are starting to “look” normal here in this town. However,
what you don't see is that these houses had water to the rooftops.
Everything inside the homes had to be thrown out…carpets, furniture,
belongings, drywall, etc. Homeowners have to strip the structures down to
the 2x4s comprising the framework.
Many of the people here have little in the way of anything. FEMA trailers
have been established while homeowners work on their houses
Photo courtesy Bob & Sandra Shanklin
Biloxi Lighthouse stands tall amidst
the ravaged shoreline
or have the
work contracted out. Many people simply have no money to do repair their
homes though. Virginia and John's group, with many volunteers from other
states and fellow assistance from similar groups, have been cleaning up
debris in people’s yards, gutting their houses, putting up
drywall and ceilings and
new roofs. If these people get insurance or FEMA money (and it doesn't
begin to cover their losses) the people pay for the supplies. If they don't
have the money, the organizations buy the supplies for them. These dedicated
workers do all this work with no pay.
Many churches have what looks like RV parks around them. These are for the
volunteers that come to spend some time like Virginia and
John. Many others come for a week at a time. At the
Crossroads church, where John and Virginia are, these other volunteers
sleep on the gym floor on mattresses. In other places they are sleeping
in tents. They had one group of students come in yesterday from South
Dakota, 13, or 14 of them, that will be working all week. They brought
a trailer loaded with 100 sheets of drywall.
FEMA, the Red Cross and others are helping, but it's the
Faith Based groups that are out getting things done. They are
everywhere. It's just amazing.
We filled our van with contributions from our church
Photo courtesy Bob & Sandra Shanklin
Biloxi Lighthouse stands tall
amidst the ravaged shoreline
when we went down for our visit. Later on we will go over to work
ourselves, for at least a few days. Virginia and John are doing an amazing
job.”
