Thornhills in Mississippi

Harry and Joan have kept us up to date with their adventures volunteering with Hands On USA. If you want a chronological account start at the bottom of the page!

2/5/06

Friday evening we attended the local theater group performance of "Ordinary People". It is in a very old theather that our group helped to repair after the storm. Several of our members also helped with the lighting for the show and a few other things. The show was very good--much better than we had expected. The show is rather depressing as it is about the death of one son and the attempted suicide of another. The 16 year old lead was very good as were most of the others.

On Saturday we both did "Interiors" for the last time. We worked on a two story house that still needed some walls to be taken out and lots and lots of nails to be pulled. We also had to pull up a couple layers of floors. The day started a little funny as when we had just arrived one of our group locked the keys in the car with all the tools. We tried to open it with coat hangers and finally called AAA so we wasted a little over an hour. We did get some extra help in the afternoon and pretty much got it ready for "mold". In the evening we had a double meeting as many people will not be here tonight for the Superbowl as we can't get TV reception in this building very well. We may go out later just to be with part of the group.

Joan did street clean up this morning and I repacked the car to prepare for us to leave tomorrow. I met her and most of the crew at a church at 11. It was Liberty and was held in th Miracle Tabernacle as the Liberty church was destroyed. It had a very active youth choir who both sang and danced. The Hands On people represented 90% of the congregation as many of the usual people have moved out of the area. It lasted about an hour and a half and was considered short. Lots of singing and scripture reading and interpretation (some of which I would not agree with).

For lunch I stopped at Le Bakery and picked up a couple sandwiches and met Joan and her crew at the "Point". This is the end of Biloxi and is where the bridge is wiped out but a nice view. This afternoon I had the rest of my pictures developed and bought a case of beer as a departure gift. The sandwiches are very good and cheap--$2.50. They also have French bread and pasteries which are outstanding. It is run by Vietnamese. Joan got back a bit early this afternoon as many want to do something for the Superbowl. She is taking her last outside shower as I type.

This has been a fantastic experience and we recommend it!! Just come on down and they will offer you an air mattress, floor space, and food. We have met some great people.

2/3/06

This may be very short as I just wrote another letter and lost it before anything was sent.

Anyway, the the past two days Joan and I have been "street walkers". This involved walking the streets and trying to engage people in conversation to be sure that they know how and where to go for a variety of help. We also listen to their story of survival during the hurricane. Several people stayed because of their animals as animals were not allowed in the shelters. One stayed for his exotic birds but lost all but one. Another man who stayed for his dog ended up rescuing several others. However, he hot a bad leg injury which developed a flesh-eating bacteria and he was in the hospital for over two months. When he got out he lived in a tent as he had not yet gotten his FEMA trailer. Most trailers were not delivered until November or later. Yesterday we went out with Dr. Bob, a physician from Minesota, and he and some other volunteers had found him in the tent a couple of months ago and they have established a close relationship. A second woman was in her 80's and has lived in Biloxi her whole life. She is starting over after having lost everything.

The wave that came through that part of the city was over 30 feet--just like a tsunami. Many homes were completely under water and many had to swim out of crawl spaces to two story buildings. We were told many stories including a young couple who tied the legs of their three year old daughter around her fathers neck so she would not fall off and the parents tied themselves together with sheets. They they attempted to walk to higher ground when the water got to about five feet. They hot to the home of someone with a two story building and went in there.

Another man saved his family with an old boat he had in his yard as a memorial to his parents. His parents had survived Hurricane Camille in 1969 in that boat--now it saved him and his family. He had not been born at the time of Camille. The stories are wonderful and their hope and courage is amazing.

During lunch hour today we went into one of the Casinos to see what they were like. The one we went into was very large, smoky, and did not appear to have a theme. This one is still on a barge and was not destroyed by the storm. They did have damage on the first three floors but not the massive damage of others.

Tonight we are planning to go to a local little theater. A friend is doing the lighting as a voluteer. They are doing "Ordinary People".

Will tell more stories at another time. We loved doing this assignment!! Meeting the people and hearing their stories was wonderful.

2/1/06

This has been an exciting time to be here as Hands On USA was taken over by Hands On Network. The USA organization came out of a group that had gone to Thailand after the Tsunami and got together as Hands On Worldwide/Thailand. They then came to the Gulf Coast right after the huricane. The "Network" organization is more long term and plan to be here for at least two years. Some of the leaders of the USA group left today and others will be leaving soon.

Yesterday we went the the Pass Christian Day Care Center. This is located in a tent city. They are large army tents on wood platforms. Inside they are lined with particle board and painted in a variety of children's scenes. They are much larger than the FEMA trailers and I think I would rather live in that than the very small trailer. We were in the baby room which were infants of a few months to age one. They had three tents and a second one was for two and three year olds and then the third one for the older kids. The two older groups walk to a very large dining tent for their lunch. The little ones are fed in high chairs in their tent. This area was one of the hardest hit as the eye of the hurricane went through here. The kids were all very good.

We have meetings every night after dinner were new people introduce themselves, crews report on the activities of the day and try to recruit people for the next day, and people say goodbye. Last night was quite emotional as the Hands On USA people said goodbye. Terry Amhrein, out Returned Peace Corps Volunteer friend stopped by and gave the organization a donation. A large group of us then went to a bar called Just Us where they had karaoke and had a great time. Some of the younger people stayed out a bit to late and felt it today.

Today we went to the Community Center again as they are trying to close the facility this week. We helped to pack up some books and sorted them for some school use. We took several boxes to the Biloxi Schools and met several people. They have had alot of books donated and are not in need of many more right now. They have already replaced the books in most school classrooms. They have alot in a school gym and want to empty that out so that they can give it back to the students. They are opening it up to any teachers from public or private schools to come and take what they want to help get them out. We have gotten some contact numbers for other schools that were very hard hit and will try to find out if they need/want more now. Originally they did not have any place to put them. Some towns lost all their schools and are now having classes in portable trailers. Back at the Community Center we shrink wrapped things to be taken out. They had about 25 air men/women from the local air base but because they did not have trucks to move the things today they were somewhat wasted in terms of help.

This afternoon Joan went back to do more "mold" as she did not feel that we were really needed at the community center. When we took the books to the school, Joan and another gal came back to our home base and got another assignment. I had to go back because I had the van that we had gone in and had to get the other people. We were helping people carry things to their cars and pretty much letting them have whatever they wanted just to get it out of the place and not have to move it. There had been a medical clinic upstairs so some of the things being moved are medicines--we were not handing that out!

Will close this off as someone is waiting for the computer. Thanks for your notes and family pictures.

1/31/06

On Sunday we went to church in the same place that we did last week. It is about forty miles away but is worth it. This week they only had the men singing but it was still great. It was a rocking, alive Mass. The Priest this week was the regular local Priest and he was also very good. We again had the chance to talk to some of the people after Mass and hear more of their stories. We bought one of their CD's but it does not do them justice.

In the afternoon we went to Mobile, Alabama--about 50 miles away--with Terry Amhrein, our friend from Burnt Hills who is down here with FEMA. We had a good time and went to a Sports Bar for a beer and snacks. There does not seem to be any hurricane damage there. We also went to a Flea Market and it was interesting to see so many people walking around because here it is mostly a ghost city with very few people either living here or they are inside their FEMA trailers. We have only seen one group of three Vietnamese children playing outside. Of course, the streets are lined with debris and could be dangerous--like a war zone.

On Monday, Joan and I did "Mold". We actually spent quite a bit of time moving from house to house finding one ready as the first three we went to still needed work to be done--nails out, floors pulled up, etc. before we could do our thing. Our thing was brushing the rafters, frame, and outside walls with wire brushes or using an electrical wire sander. To have the electricity we have to bring our own generator as none of the homes we are working in still have any electricity. Today they will finish that process and then vacuum, wipe the walls with some chemical that kills mold, and then paint it with Kilz. We have to wear a full body hazardous suit covering our shoes all the way up to our head. We also wear special masks for breathing and goggles. We look like space people--one small step for Biloxi, one giant leap for the mold war. There is another group working on a Casino barge that is partially in the water and partially out of the water. It is on a twenty degree angle. Walking and carrying things was difficult.

Today we are going to a Day Care Center in Pass Christian, about ten miles west, where the eye of the hurricane passed through. We will be going to a tent city where the Day Care is located. We are trying to get in almost all the activities that Hands On has going while we are here. We won't do roofing nor the barge.

Will write again in a few days.

1/28/06

I'm (Joan) starting this letter while Harry is doing our laundry. I haven't been using the computer because I think I'm getting that carpal tunnel thing. Probably from all the hammering and destruction we are doing. We are having a lot of fun and the people in this organization are people anyone would want on their team. Harry is back so he is going to continue--I ran to keep the computer while he went to get the laundry after dinner.

A continuation of our Playground/Laura Bush story. More exciting for many of you and many of the people here was that Brett Favre--the NFL star was there. He and his wife had both gone to that elementary school in Kiln, MS.

On Friday, Joan and I split up for the day. I went to the Humane Society and walked several small dogs and puppies. They had quite a few volunteers yesterday so I let the young people walk the larger dogs which in some cases walked (or ran) them. It was fun and a nice break but I would most likely not do it again as I did not feel that useful or needed. The shelter is very well run and very clean. They have shipped out many of the dogs after the storm to all parts of the U.S.

Joan went with a friend, Clare, who is from D.C. They distributed pots and pans and linens donated by the Mormans to FEMA trailers. The trailers are very small and did not come with much other than the beds, refrigerator and other very basic furniture. She got into several of the trailers and they are very small. People here are anxious to get into a trailer so that they can be on their own property and are just as anxious to get out again to move back into their own house.

Today, Saturday, we both did Interiors. We spent the morning pulling nails and staples from the studs of a house to make it ready for the mold people. In the afternoon we went to another house that needed all the ceiling to be pulled down. All the walls had already been stripped. When we pulled the ceilings we also had all the insulation to pull down and throw out to the street. It is a very rewarding job but also tiring and dirty. We use the big garbage cans to carry the plaster and insulation to the street and just dump it into huge piles.

One of the projects which the group started today was to start cleaning out a Casino that was on a barge that is now partially on land on about a twenty degree angle so that going up and down stairs is really strange. They are going to allow people to use the toilets, sinks, and other things for their homes. The groups taking it may also sell some things on E-Bay to raise money for supplies-such as shingles, paints, etc. that are still very needed.

We are planning to get together with Terry Amrhein-a Returned Peace Corps friend from Burnt Hills-tomorrow.

1/26/06

Tuesday evening Terry Amrhein (a friend from our Return Peace Corps group) came over to visit. He works for FEMA and has just moved to Biloxi. We are hoping to see him again this weekend. He is working six day weeks.

On Wednesday Joan and I went to the "Pass Road Elementary School" in Gulf Port. We were tutors in reading for their lowest performing students. The teacher is very well organized and the students know just what to do when they come into the room. We worked with the students one on one. They had a worksheet to complete and then they read a book to us and answered questions about the story. The school welcomed our help. The principal, teacher, and aides all lost their homes or at least had major damage. They wanted to talk about the situation. Only one teacher left the school after the storm because her home had been destroyed. She now lives in Richmondville near Cobbleskill which is about an hour from us in upstate New York. The school was about two thirds African-American and one third white. It was very clean, bright and inviting. All were very appreciative of the help. This school seems to have schools from throughout the United States sending them supplies, including library books. Other volunteer groups are sleeping in their gym and in some empty classrooms. They had approximately 320 students before the storm and have about 260 now. Some families have been forced to move because of the lack of housing. We hope to do some more scouting of the local schools to help determine their needs.

After school we looked for an "Interiors" group to help them for a couple of hours but we got lost and never found them.

Today, Thursday was a big change of pace--very political!!! Almost our entire group went to Kiln, MS about 30 miles away to help build a school playground with a group called Kaboom. This is a middle class white community. The school had some wind damage and was used as a shelter during and after the storm. There were Seabees, National Guard, Americorps, and several other volunteer groups there with a total of over 200 workers. The whole playground was put together in one morning--shoveling tons of mulch, putting together the playground, cementing the pieces into place, constructing eight picnic tables, and building an outdoor classroom. They served us breakfast (until they ran out) and lunch. Lunch was hamburgers, salad, jambalaya, gumbo, chips, cookies, soda and water. We then mainly sat or stood around for the next few hours waiting for First Lady Laura Bush to show up. She arrived about 3:15 and walked around thanking the different groups and giving a short speech. She is smaller and prettier in person than on TV. At one point the entire group was moved to the side of the building so that security could do their thing. All cars had to be moved from the fence close to the playground and they parked school buses along the road. We were loaded with security with local police out near the woods and Secret Service guys around. Joan felt used by the whole political setup. We both thought that our time would have been better spent doing our usual jobs here in Biloxi.

Will wrap this up as dinner will be starting soon.

1/24/06

Yesterday, Monday, we did Interiors--sounds boring doesn't it--but it's not. We tore another house apart. This house had two levels of ceilings throughout and two linoleum floors which had to be taken out. It had a freezer and a refrigerator which had not been emptied. Both leaked when we moved them even though we taped them shut. The odor was beyond belief!!!! Joan thought that she was going to puke--we had to leave the house to get fresh air. When they took out the air conditioner in the wall, the freon leaked and we had to leave the house again. Fun--fun--fun. It was a very hot and humid day and the luke warm shower when we got back felt wonderful.

We did three loads of laundry. They do want us wearing the tee shirts with the Hands On logo when we are on the job so keeping them clean is a bit of a chore since they are white. We have purchased both long sleeve tee shirts and sweat shirts with the logo as well.

Today we worked at the Community Center which distributes water, clothes, some books, and some food. What is available varies from day to day. We helped to unload a huge tractor trailer truck delivery. However, most of that work was done by fork lifts but we did have to move things to make room for the delivery. There were boxes of things (books, clothes, etc) from Wisconsin with a note to the people of Biloxi giving them encouragement. It was interesting meeting the people and listening to some of their stories. Most of the people stayed here for the storm and did not evacuate. One women lives in a trailer and both her front door and back windows blew out which created almost a tornado inside the house with the wind taking things out the windows. Another woman's husband was fixing their house and gashed his arm. She took him to the emergency room and they have a bill for over $2,000. This same woman sent her children to live with relatives in Tennessee until their house is liveable. We are amazed at how patient the people are and how "up" most of them seem even though they have lost everything. We asked one of the other workers from Biloxi what you called someone from here--Biloxian or what--she said "no, homeless!"

This afternoon I took the car to Walmart to have the oil changed for the rest of the trip. I also had quite a few pictures developed while I was there. I also had them make a disk of the pictures so that I can erase the digital cameral card. Joan and another volunteer were asked to help a crew cleaning out furniture from a motel after the Community Center. They guys were hoisting bedding and furniture from the seventh floor. The furniture is going to be used for some architects who are coming into Gulfport. Some of the people who were at the Community Center in the morning were there in the afternoon getting furniture. Joan also helped to clean the "base camp" by cleaning bathrooms and sweeping floors in the dining hall.

Today is a beautiful, warm, sunny day--perfect outside. We did eat lunch at the point again where the bridge is collapsed. Hope that everything is going well with all of you.

1/23/06

We attended Mass about thirty miles from here in Waveland. We later drove into New Orleans. There was devistation the entire way! It is hard to believe that they will ever get life back to anything approaching "normal".

The Mass was great! They have a Gospel Choir with about 25 members led by a Baptist. The priest was visiting from New Orleans as his people are all gone. The whole atmosphere was very uplifting and positive. They were about 2/3's black and 1/3 white and to see everyone holding hands at the Our Father and embracing each other at the Kiss of Peace was wonderful. The choir had several soloists who were outstanding. The sermon was about the hurricane and the priest related his survival story in New Orleans when he thought he had come through the storm well only to have the flood later. He also talked about all the people who were saying that God had done this to destroy the evil in New Orleans--his response was that if that were so why was the French Quarter left intact. He sees the storm as a way of God reminding us that what we have here on earth is temporary and that it can all be taken away in an instant. He also felt that it had brought people closer together. Really, a very uplifting message. This church has the reputation of being one of the most progressive in the area. The volunteers who attended were recognized and thanked. He told us that water was up to the second story ten miles inland.

We spoke to a resident of Waveland. His family had lost four of six family homes--relative, sons, daughter, etc. His wife had grown up in the town and knew everyone. He owned some apartments and has moved into one of them while he is working on the others. He has been in touch with Habitat for Humanity and hopes to get help from them as well. He told us that having the volunteers gives them hope when they get down. They realize that there are others that care about them and what happens. He is more wealthy than most and he knows that too.

In New Orleans we went to the French Quarter and walked around. We saw the St Louis (?) Catherdral where Bush came out to give his speech after the storm. We also saw how the city is lower than the Mississippi as cars are parked lower than the river and big cargo ships are going by above them. We walked around the area and it is pretty clean and back in business. It had not been flooded. There were not alot of tourists for a Sunday and we were able to find parking on the street. We had a snack at the Cafe Du Mond (?) and there were street performers just outside the open air cafe. We drove through the Ninth Ward--it is like a ghost town. It looks like almost every house will need to be replaced. They do look alot like the homes that we are working on--only there are so many more of them. We also drove past the Superdome which looks like it may have been fixed. There did not seem to be anyone around there either. We are glad we took the day to do this but I don't think we will go back any time soon.

We are about 80 miles from New Orleans and the distruction was along the entire way. We crossed one of the bridges that has been repaired and all the side rails are gone--they have put in the concrete barriers like they have at work sites. There are many places where you still see one house or car on top of another--and this is after much of the work to clean thing up has already been done.

Time for breakfast--will continue later.

1/22/06

We did Interiors again yesterday. We stopped at one house and left almost immediately because it did not have a roof in part of the structure and the rest was pretty rotted out. We moved on to another building where we mainly pulled nails and staples from the studs. Imagine how many staples are in a building to hold up the insulation! All this has to be out so that the mold crew will not cut their hands as they apply the solution that kills the mold. Joan went to do some "Rejubliation" work (clearing empty lots and streets of debris). The lots that she worked in had two houses that were flooded off their foundation from the storm surge. One finds interesting things, personal things like jazz tapes, dolls, recipe books, Bibles and turned over cars. It reminded her of moving a small land fill. It's mucky, dirty, and swampy and alot of fun with the right people! Her new Christmas work boots are well broken in.

We ate lunch outside under an awning at the Salvation Army location which is at a sports stadium. Our group was not allowed insided because they were doing some carpentry work. We did see trucks from the Beaverton Oregon Four Square Church (Kyle and Beth do you know where that is?). They send twenty people down every month for a month's stay. We are not sure where they stay.

We did have very heavy rain again on Friday night so we have fully moved inside and abandoned the tent. The huge metal roof over the building enhances the sound affects of the night rain and thunder--consequently little sleep. Harry came back from the job site a little early to empty the tent and to empty the water out of it. Today we plan to attend Mass at a church that has a Baptist Gospel choir combined with its own choir. We think it is a Baptist/Catholic kind of thing. After Mass we plan to drive to New Orleans for the day as we are taking the day off.

Will tell you about that later.

1/20/06

This may be very short as we have already written a letter today and when we hit send we don't think that anything went and a failure page came up--so, we will try again.

Today we went to the Jefferson Davis Home and Confederacy Museum to do an archeological dig to try to find artifacts that were washed away by the storm. The water completely destroyed the museum and washed it away. The water level was above tree level. The home and museum are right along the Gulf Coast. I (Harry) did find a belt buckle and we found a button but it was not a very productive day. A few days ago they found a Confederate Medal of Honor and only about a dozen of these had ever been awarded. The museum used to be a hospital for Confederate veterans. A local TV crew did show up and filmed us as we were sifting debris so we may have been on a local station but don't know for sure. We came home early as it started to rain pretty hard and the sand we were sifting was becoming muddy.

We spent the afternoon doing laundry, taking a shower and just relaxing. About 4pm we got a call from the Civic center that they needed help unloading a truck and sorting some food. We went there and got back about 6.

The food here has been very good--and plentiful. We have full breakfasts of eggs, waffles, pancakes, bacon, etc. in addition to cereal. Dinners have been very good including pork sloppy joes, pasta, rice, oven roasted vegetables, shepards pie and other items including pizza on Wednesday. We always have home made dessert. There are always snacks around. It is like Concern For the Hungry only we all live here. We are mainly staying inside now as many of the college kids have left and it is not as crowded. There are probably about 100 people here now.

The people here are great. Some very interesting and connected people. People who have worked for the Fed. Gov't and still have connections there. Last night we went out for a beer (yes, I did have one) with a guy from Project Hope. Hands On Network is going to assume administrative responsibility for this group (Hands On USA) in February. They have existed longer and have many corporate contacts. They are the ones making the video that Joan may appear on.

Tomorrow we are going to go back to doing the Interiors which is tearing houses apart to get them ready to demold. Sunday we plan to take the day off. We will most likely go to a southern religious service and then drive to New Orleans--maybe.

The people here are not happy with either FEMA or the Red Cross. The Red Cross mainly came in and gave money but they made it very inconvient for the people to pick it up. Most people here had lost their cars but they were expected to go miles to get the help. A FEMA story we were told was that a man could not get a trailer until he had a phone number of his own where he could be reached. The fact that he did not have a home didn't seem to matter.

Many people here tell stories of escaping to the attac or swimming out of their second story windows.

We did take a walk along the beach at lunch time today and the water and beach is covered with trash. It seems as if it will be years before the water would be safe for people to swim. We did see a fiberglass horse that had been part of the museum display that was out in the water stuck into the sand.

Will close this for now and pray that it goes when I hit send.

1/19/06

We have just gotten back from our third work day on "Interiors" where we tear apart the inside of houses and de-nail them so that the crew can come in and de-mold.  If they just put sheet rock up without this they will have a mold problem forever and the people living in the house could get sick.

Yesterday while we were working, a film crew showed that is associated with Hands On Network which is combining with Hands On USA.  They have many corporate contacts and plan to show this to many corporate groups to recruit volunteers to come to help.  Joan was interviewed and should end up as part of the film.  Only the corporate world will see this.  (Hey John A, if they show this at GE look for Joan.)

The home that we did yesterday was owned by a black woman named Ann Humphrey.  She an adult special needs person living with her.  They had evacuated to a friend's house for the storm.  The water came up to the ceiling in her house.  In the house to which they evacuated, they had a pull down stair to the attic to which they all climbed and made a hole in the roof.  They waited about three hours for the water to recede and walked in waste deep water to another location.  They could see their furniture floating in and out of the house.  Everything that got wet has to be thrown out.  She is currently living in a FEMA trailer on the property.  She was very appreciative and cried quite a bit. Today we mainly cleaned a yard on the outside of a house that had already been worked on.  We spent most of the day just getting debris from inside that had been left on the yard pulled out to the street.  We were putting most of the stuff in a vacant lot next door until the owner of the lot showed up and asked us not to do that.  She was really very nice about it.  She does not plan to build and she thinks that she has a buyer for the lot so she wants it to look nice when these other people look at it.  The house today is owned by a Vietnamese family and they had a second house in the back which was rented to a couple who had just renovated it. There was also a large tree that needed to be cut down and the branches pulled to the street.

We later worked on a second house where the grandmother had an eight month old baby which she was taking care of for her daughter.  There also seemed to be at least one other child living there in the FEMA trailer.

For the last two days we have had lunch at the point where the bridge to the mainland has been totally destroyed.  The waves must have lifted every section of the bridge off its piling so that every section is down.

The destruction here is hard to comprehend.  We kind of get used to seeing it and then something else jumps out at you.  There was a church which now has only a sort of cross bar going in four directions.  In front of it was a memorial for the victims from hurricane Camille which has been destroyed.

We have pretty much moved inside as it is quite cold at night.  The weather the past two days has been very nice--60's and 70's and sunny.  It is suppose to rain again this weekend. The people here are great and we are having a wonderful time trading stories.  There are some very "connected" people here.

They have just called us for dinner so will close for now.

1/17/06

Our first full day here was Martin Luther King's Birthday. As a result we spent a good part of the getting ready for and being in a parade. We helped to decorate the float and make signs having maps of all 50 states plus some foreign countries with slogans like "New York Cares". All the banners also had the hand imprint which is the "Hands On USA" logo. Joan road in the back of a pick-up truck throwing Mardi Gras beads, candy and other items. We had about 70 people marching with the posters in addition to the float and truck. The people were very appreciative of this group and many of the women wanted to hug us and thank us for our work. (We felt a bit strange as we had not done any work yet.) Many had tears in their eyes and indicated that our organization was one of the most visible and helpful here.

In the afternoon we did take a short ride along the Gulf Coast. It is amazing how much damage has been done. We did see a few of the Casinos that were on barges and were on the other side of the main road in ruins. The home of Jefferson Davis was very close to us and one of the things that we are doing as a group is an archelogical dig on the grounds and they have lost about 2/3's of their material. I will most likely do that for at least one day.

Today we went on a work crew that was stripping houses of wallboard and other things that had gotten wet. The first house we did today was entirely under water to the second floor. The family had stayed in the house and had an elderly, sickly mother with them. We have heard tails of people in one story homes getting into the crawl space and getting out and swimming to neignbors homes. One man is said to have hung on to a church steeple through the storm. We had a crew of about 15 people working today. They had worked on this house before and another crew will come in and de-mold, which is very difficult and time consuming.

The second house ended up being a bit of a waste as we spent several hours tearing things apart and then learning that the owner had changed their mind about rebuilding and had decided to take the house down and start from scratch.

We did have rain today and our tent leaked a bit but nothing got wet as we had moved most things into our car or put them on top of plastic containers. It did take a while to bail out the tent and it was quite cold. We did take a nice warm shower to warm up. We are now waiting for dinner to be served at 6:30. We have not decided what job to do tomorrow but may do what we did today again.

1/16/06

We arrived Sunday afternoon after a three day drive from home. Just about 1500 miles. Weather was good most of the way. We did drive along the coast between Gulfport and Biloxi and the devastation reminded us of Mt. Saint Helen's when we were there after the volcano only these were house, churches, and other buildings instead of trees. Over 500,000 homes along the coast were either destroyed or damaged. We saw tree damage over 100 miles inland.

We are staying in a tent in the back instead of inside in the loft. There are about 150 volunteers here right now and the loft seems pretty crowded. There have been about 12,000 volunteers with this Hands On USA organization since September. They are very well organized and seem to be getting alot done.

Today is Martin Luther King's Birthday and there is a big parade in town and we are going to be marching in that to let the local people know that we are still here to help. They give us shirts with the organization's logo to wear.

We may not have internet access often so we do not know how often we will be able to write. We will try to fill you in on the jobs that we do. Last night we did data entry after we arrived and helped make posters for the parade.

Some teams came back from jobs that entailed clearing trees, demolding houses, demolishing houses, clearing streets, walking dogs for the humaine society, and other tasks.

We get three meals. Breakfast and dinner are prepared by volunteers and lunch is MRE's (meals ready to eat) which we will take to the job site. We are encouraged to try all of the different jobs. The people here are wonderful. Ages from 16 to older than we.

Love and Prayers,

Joan and Harry