The Long Road Ahead
Print this Page- By Jamaica Corker
- Country: United States
- Dates of Service: 2006
Like millions of people throughout the United States, I watched hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast and was shocked by the devastation. I found myself wondering how, and if, I could help. The answer came to me in the form of an e-mail from the Crisis Corps, asking if I would be willing to head down to the Gulf for a month as part of their disaster recovery team. Four days later I was among the first wave of relief workers to arrive in Gulfport, Mississippi, which had been particularly hard hit by Katrina.
Before arriving in Mississippi I had imagined myself as a sort of first responder, picking through debris and going house-to-house to find survivors. When I got to Gulfport and saw buildings flattened and roads piled high with debris, I couldn't imagine the need for anything else. It turned out, however, that my primary responsibility in the recovery effort involved something I had never given much thought to: the logistics of registering and processing victims of the hurricane who needed immediate and long-term assistance.
As an "Applicant Services Specialist" at the Gulfport Disaster Recovery Center, I registered hundreds of people a day, entering their information on computer files, checking to see if they had been approved for FEMA assistance, and trying to find immediate emergency services for those left without food, water, or basic shelter. The official registration process was often eclipsed by my attempts to track down anything from temporary shelter to medical services for whomever I was assisting.
Trying to figure out where the Red Cross was set up on a particular day, whether a portable medical clinic had moved, or where temporary shelter was available gave me an understanding of the complicated logistics involved in such a large recovery effort. In many cases, the biggest challenge I faced was giving those I assisted correct information on other emergency services available in the area. Electricity was spotty and phone services were clogged, and it often felt as if those of us working in the Disaster Recovery Center were on a desert island, with no way of knowing exactly what was going on in the outside world.
Often, the biggest challenge I faced was finding temporary shelter for those left homeless by Katrina. Local shelters—usually converted churches or schools—were overwhelmed, as more and more houses were condemned. I sometimes met with families just hours after they had deserted their homes and were seeking assistance in finding shelter. As the days wore on, we faced a housing crisis. There simply wasn't enough shelter in the area and it was impossible at first to help people leave the area to find temporary shelter.
Eventually, more options became available for assisting hurricane victims in finding shelter, both temporary and permanent. For many, the best option was to leave the area for housing options outside of Mississippi, and it was part of my job to help match hurricane victims with housing throughout the country. For those who decided to move elsewhere after the disaster, making the choice to leave was difficult but practical, since recovery from hurricane Katrina would take years. The devastation caused by Katrina meant there was a long road ahead for those who were leaving Mississippi, but just as long a road ahead for those who stayed.
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