Hillsboro Katrina Report for December 16

I arrived in camp Thursday morning after a good flight from Portland. We were an hour late getting into Gulfport since we had to de-ice the plane in Atlanta. They were having cold, heavy rain with icicles hanging on the outside of the walkway as we got off the plane. Poor Wes had to wait for me. The airport is functioning even though it had major damage from Katrina, so there is much construction going on.

I am assigned to PDA Camp One at Gautier Presby Church but it is in the process of being moved, so we’re being housed at PDA Camp Two at D’Iberville, a few miles northwest. We live in plastic tents, placed right on the muddy ground so naturally they flooded Wednesday night when heavy rain came through the area. We are situated on a town baseball field, and the ground is muddy so we have pallets for our walkways. It was determined we need to consider putting the tents on a platform of pallets to help keep us dry. So, my first assignment Thursday night was to calculate how many pallets would be needed for the entire camp. I knew my numbers detail would still come in handy! A bigger problem is in finding a vehicle to haul the pallets. The local WalMart stores have lots of pallets available for our use. I didn’t know what a blessing stores like Lowes, Home Depot, WalMart and the like are when a community suffers a disaster like Katrina.

I met Steve, our Camp One Director, and hung around with him all day, picking up the details of my new job. He’s still a young kid – quit college for a semester in order to come out and serve here with a serving heart, and we’ll get along well together. I’m the “old sarge” with the young lieutenant. Wes from Salem First Pres (he’s retired Air Force) really likes my sergeant’s stripes which were a gift from friend Jonathan – Thanks!! I always kinda admired Radar from Mash!