Famine, then Feast of Aid in Gulf Town
In Pearlington, Miss., volunteer John Green of England shows the contents of a "shelter box" to Donald and Danielle Vince, who lost their house in Hurricane Katrina. Evie Stone, NPR hide caption
In Pearlington, Miss., volunteer John Green of England shows the contents of a "shelter box" to Donald and Danielle Vince, who lost their house in Hurricane Katrina.
Evie Stone, NPR
Green assembles a dome tent supplied to hurricane victims as temporary shelter by his group. Evie Stone, NPR hide caption
Green assembles a dome tent supplied to hurricane victims as temporary shelter by his group.
Evie Stone, NPRKatrina Stories from Miss.
Joe Vince, a retired construction worker in Pearlington, Miss., describes how his house was tossed into a road by Hurricane Katrina, and then demolished by cleanup workers after the storm passed.
Dee Lumpkin, the deputy emergency manager of Hancock County, Miss., talks about her own tragic losses from Hurricane Katrina.
Betty Brunner, an emergency services volunteer, recalls a painful story told by a young hurricane survivor at an emergency operations center.
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Pearlington, Miss., had no help for days after Katrina struck the Gulf Coast. Now, the town that had no relief is filled with workers from the federal government and charitable organizations.
Standing outside the Hancock County Emergency Operations Center, Betty Brunner says she quit as a Red Cross volunteer, frustrated with the initial delay in getting help to the area. She now works with the county.
"They didn't get the food when they first needed it," Brunner says. "There was some people that told me they didn't eat for four days. People would come out of the bayous, come up out of the bayous walking, and ask people to take them into a shelter. Those people needed food immediately…"
A local elementary school has become a warehouse, where pallets loaded with cots, diapers, water and food are assembled. There are also plastic storage bins, each holding a pair of three-room tents, collapsible water jugs, and fun kits for the kids.
"They provide shelter where there is no shelter," says Shelter Box volunteer John Green, who brought the kits over from England. "They provide shelter where people want to go back home and rebuild. This tent can go up in a very small space, provide accommodation for eight to 10 people while people are rebuilding their homes. Because we've found that in the three days that we've been here people are so desperate, so keen, to rebuild their homes…"