THE GULF — I’d never been to Mississippi before. My trips to the deep South were as a college kid traveling through the Carolinas and Georgia coming to and from spring break at Daytona Beach, Fla. This trip into the South was a very different experience.
I flew into Montgomery, Ala., nearly three weeks ago and “processed” into the headquarters for the American Red Cross Hurricane Katrina disaster relief operation. I was assigned to the public affairs desk.
I was paired with Jim Robesky, a first-timer from Quincy, Ill. Our jobs were to write and distribute press releases updating the media about the Red Cross relief operations in Alabama and Mississippi.
Press relations is important in a disaster operation because it’s vital to let people know what is going on and, in the case of Hurricane Katrina, counter the many rumors and misinformation on the streets about what the Red Cross was or wasn’t doing.
Jim and I were shuttled off to Hattiesburg, Miss., 60 miles inland from Gulfport. The wind gauge at the local weather station malfunctioned at 115 mph. There was extensive damage to structures and trees. Roofs and porches were heavily damaged by the high winds.
They call this part of Mississippi the “Pine Belt” and many of the region’s pine trees were snapped like twigs. There were still hundreds of displaced persons from the Gulf Coast and Louisiana We took over the public relations function, here and like in Montgomery, most of our effort was countering rumors that the Red Cross was pulling out.
The Red Cross was entering a transition phase in Alabama, Mississippi and Florida north of the Gulf Coast. After six weeks, the shift from “emergency” to “recovery” was in full swing.
Service centers were being shut down and replaced by the toll free Red Cross 866-GET-INFO phone number. Area shelter populations were declining so local Red Cross shelters were closing. Those few remaining displaced persons were placed in hotels and motels for stays as long as 30 days.
Jim was reassigned to Pensacola, Fla., and I wrote public service announcements for radio and issued three press releases in a week and a half providing updates, defining what kind of assistance the Red Cross was providing at that point. I reminded the public that the “866” phone line was a much better way to apply for financial aid than long drives to service centers and standing in lines for even longer hours.
Nobody cares more about her community than Babs Faulk, the chapter manager in Hattiesburg at the South Central Mississippi Red Cross.
I’ll always remember Raylawni Branch, a nurse who had worked in the local shelter in nearby Lumberton, Miss., and later joined us at the Disaster Operations Center (DOC). Last Saturday, I joined Raylawni and her husband as we took time off and drove 35 miles down Route 49 to Wiggins, Miss. The occasion was a graveside service for her close friend, a 42-year-old Hattiesburg businessman and political activist who had died a week earlier from complications of AIDS.
The small country cemetery at Wiggins dates back to the early 1800s and the service was a celebration of his life and one of those rare moments that one feels privileged to observe. There were so many more Red Cross staff and volunteers that profoundly affected my life and impressed me with their professionalism and courage — like Teresa Carver, who was the Hattiesburg site manager and Judy Frank, a Canadian Red Cross volunteer who worked in family services.
I took Nanette Bester on a radio interview. She also was in family service at the Hattiesburg DOC and like Raylawni, she was a local. The “Nannette and Bill Show” was a big hit on the local soul and gospel radio outlet. Absorbing the local color is a big benefit in this kind of work. I learned that “all you all” is plural for “you all” and when in a restaurant you can order tea or “sweet” tea. Then there’s the food, including catfish and hush puppies.
Volunteering and working a disaster is not for everyone, but if one can take the time, go through the basic Red Cross volunteer training and take off for two or three weeks, I can guarantee that working with the Red Cross — or any legitimate relief or aid organization — can be a profound, rewarding and life changing experience. (Bill Bauer’s columns normally appear on Mondays.)
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on October 13, 2005. Read the original PDF.