Recovery Road Paved With Self-Help
Release Date: August 17, 2006
Release Number: 1604-417
» More Information on Mississippi Hurricane Katrina
BILOXI, Miss. -- It's hard to think of recovering from Hurricane Katrina in terms of being successful, especially when everything that defines a life was taken by the storm-homes, jobs, cars, clothing, photos, trophies, even family members.
But Mississippi's steady progress is highlighted and measured by individual success stories about those who have taken charge of their recovery, who embrace the challenges of reassembling a life and who make good choices.
"If there's one thing we've said throughout this recovery, it's that our citizens are taking an active part in putting their lives and communities back together," said MikeWomack,Mississippi Emergency Management Agency Interim Director.
Pass Christian residents Paula and Billy Armbruster lost 80 percent of their home and its contents. Their lives as shrimpers were placed on hold. Floodwaters in Cheryl Rasbury's Bay St. Louis house rose to within six inches of the ceiling. She lost her home and her job as a graphics designer. Judy and Mike Hearne of Belle Fountaine Beach in Ocean Springs lost the side of their house facing the Gulf, everything on the first floor and Mike's job with a seafood broker.
While the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) was there to help Mississippians with expedited cash, temporary housing and other assistance, each of these families knew it was only part of the whole recovery process. FEMA assistance was there as a bridge to recovery, not a way to make things whole.
"You have to do whatever it takes," said Paula Armbruster about rebuilding their lives. They got a FEMA trailer in September but needed income to keep afloat. Paula took a job with FEMA in Picayune and ate meals at her mother-in-law's home nearby. Husband Billy stayed at their house in Pass Christian to wrangle with the insurance company and to do the repairs. They moved back into their repaired house in July.
Cheryl Rasbury sold her damaged Bay St. Louis house filled with mud and ruined furniture and moved to Wiggins with her daughter and granddaughter. "You have to get up and go on," she said. With the proceeds of the house sale, she bought a large mobile home after staying in the FEMA trailer for only a month. She's paying off her new property and now works for the company that prints the newspaper that formerly employed her.
Judy Hearne, a speech pathologist, works three jobs. Husband Mike couldn't work in the devastated seafood industry but landed a job with a building contractor. "We're not wealthy," said Judy, "but we're doing what's right. We started [in this recovery] like newlyweds concerned with money.
We're better off than we were a year ago." They're still in a FEMA trailer waiting for contractors to repair their home.
"FEMA provides assistance in starting a recovery; it's up to the applicants to carry the ball to complete it," said Nick Russo, federal coordinating officer for the Mississippi recovery. "But we're here to help for as long as the people of Mississippi need us."
Since Hurricane Katrina, FEMA has taken more than 518,000 disaster assistance applications in Mississippi and has provided more than $1.2 billion dollars in individual assistance. The maximum amount, or grant, that can be disbursed to a family is $26,200 and includes housing assistance and other needs assistance to cover medical or dental bills and funeral costs of someone who died as a result of the storm. Nearly 3,300 families in Mississippi have received the maximum grant and the number goes up each week.
FEMA manages federal response and recovery efforts following any national incident. FEMA also initiates mitigation activities, works with state and local emergency managers, and manages the National Flood Insurance Program. FEMA became part of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security on March 1, 2003.
Last Modified: Tuesday, 22-Aug-2006 14:02:07