| 09/08/2005 |
| Volunteers witness the power of Mother Nature |
| By Lorraine Sciuto-Ballasy |
Local witnesses to the disaster areas agree the depth of Hurricane Katrina's wrath still remains largely unknown.
Although the official death toll throughout Louisiana is under 100, New Orleans Mayor C. Ray Nagin said the figure is likely to reach more than 10,000 people. When American Red Cross volunteers Keller Taylor of Richboro and Ed Sherman of Levittown, both retirees, arrived on the scene early last week their efforts were initially thwarted. Reports of the government halting Red Cross delivery of much-needed supplies, like water and medicine, because they were not allowed access to those most in need, have not yet been addressed by the White House. Some sources say the prohibition was a safety precaution. The Bucks County American Red Cross has not, however, confirmed those reports. It took a whole week, but President George W. Bush finally visited New Orleans on foot Monday, speaking with displaced flood victims and surveying the damage up close and personal rather than taking a bird's eye view from a helicopter as he did last week. Long feared as a potential disaster, two levees broke, giving in to the immense water pressure, and essentially opened the floodgates into New Orleans, drowning the city several hours after Hurricane Katrina already had blasted through the area. Meanwhile on Monday, the Army Corps of Engineers successfully patched up the two damaged levees that burst in the aftermath of the storm, beginning the process of pumping water out of flood-ravaged New Orleans for the first time in a week. It took hundreds of bags, tons of sand and cement dumped on the 17th Street Canal and London Avenue levees to stem the water. Portable pumps are being used to drain the streets, directing the receding water back into Lake Pontchartrain. In the midst of controversy surrounding his tardy response to the disaster, President Bush was photographed comforting people in Poplarville, Miss. and Baton Rouge, La. In Louisiana, Democratic Governor Kathleen Babineaux Blanco, who criticized the president for the lack of the federal government's emergency response to the destruction wrought by Hurricane Katrina, cancelled alternate plans to fly to Houston when she heard of Bush's visit through news reports. Bush's trip has been dubbed as an effort to quell criticism and circumvent political repercussions prompted by the White House's failure to react promptly to rescue and aid victims, the thousands stranded on rooftops and trapped in their attics when the waters unexpectedly elevated, evacuees who were left without water and adequate shelter, and those who remained in the city despite warnings to leave, many of whom simply did not have the means to evacuate. Blanco blamed Bush for the delayed deployment of the National Guard in Louisiana. As recently as Friday, Blanco refused to sign a White House proposed agreement in which the state would share its autonomous control of National Guard forces with federal authorities. On Sunday, the Times-Picayune, Louisiana's largest newspaper, published an open letter to the president calling for every official at the Federal Emergency Management Agency to be fired. In Baton Rouge Monday, Bush told a group of homeless, hungry victims the country would "do what it takes to help people get back on their feet." Police report the entire New Orleans area, except for the French Quarter, has been completely destroyed, still they are having difficulty convincing residents to go elsewhere. In the more western parts of the city, some residents were permitted to return home for a few hours to salvage whatever possible from their homes. Stationed since Friday in Bogalusa, La., a rural suburb in Washington Parish 50 miles east of New Orleans, Taylor described utility lines mangled by Hurricane Katrina as "a big handful of wet spaghetti." It's estimated half of the area's 45,000 homes are totally uninhabitable, torn apart by the 125 mile per hour hurricane winds. The town is without power, phone service, or running water. The community hospital is operating from generators, keeping only "critical" life-saving equipment running. "It's just amazing the damage here. Never, ever, ever have I seen anything like this," he said. "They are saying it will be at least six weeks before power is restored." Downed phone lines and cell phone towers have made routine communication with the relief workers impossible. Taylor traveled 19 miles out of town before he could pick up a cell phone signal. Taylor is currently delivering food cooked in portable kitchens to outlying shelters and homeless people, bringing over 1,000 meals to displaced residents in two days. Relief workers said Red Cross volunteers brought the first supplies in on Friday. Until then, thousands of people went without water or food since Sunday. Many more people in other areas still wait for aid, having not yet received any supplies. Taylor said nothing remains of the homes and neighborhoods these people once knew. Even gas and money won't make a difference in light of the "severe destruction," he explained. "These are folks who have needs," Taylor said. "They'll tell you today is better than yesterday, but they don't see the light at the end of the tunnel." Taylor, who had been accepting calls on his cell phone when possible, received a call from Congressman Mike Fitzpatrick on Friday. Apparently, Fitzpatrick asked Taylor how he could help and inquired as to what supplies or services were needed. Since Thursday, Sherman has worked the graveyard shift at an emergency shelter housing about 1,000 people in the Burton Coliseum in Lake Charles located six hours outside New Orleans. For many, their shoes had to be cut from their waterlogged feet; they were so swollen and blistered. These flood victims, people who refused or were unable to leave when the evacuation order was issued, survived for four days in local schools and warehouses without water, food, or medicine. Most were rescued from St. Bernard Parish, east of New Orleans, an area where Hurricane Katrina struck directly. "These are the people who went through hell," Sherman said. Initially, Sherman assisted 3,000 victims at the nearby Civic Center emergency shelter before he transferred to Burton Coliseum. He listened to unfathomable tales of survival while he distributed bottled water, food and toiletries, disposed of soiled clothes and garments, and set-up cots and air mattresses so the weary evacuees could finally rest. He heard from people who fought against huge waves surging at 20 feet high during the height of the storm, hanging onto debris and tree limbs and others who swam, floating and doggie-paddling, for days until rescued from the water. There were daring boat rescues and traumatic recollections of lives lost. Families forced to break through the roof to escape rising waters recounted their desperate hours. "I've heard a lot of stories of survival," said Sherman. "We've had every type of person come through our door. Yesterday, we had a whole group from a senior citizen center come in. There are pregnant women here and there are families who are now mostly adrift." Despite the mayhem and looting that ravaged New Orleans, Sherman maintained that he has only seen unprecedented generosity in the people of his host town. "People come in asking if they can volunteer, just wanting to help in any way that they can and not complaining about anything."
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