Special Offering

Our church raised $1700 in a special offering last Sunday to support our mission in Pearlington. The church Session approved the group to take the money with them to support the PDA Village as needed. Hopefully, limited or no strings are attached to the money and the travelers can feel the call to do the right thing with the offering. The Summerville Presbyterian Church has budgeted (yes I said budgeted - like Dorchester Pres needs to be doing) money to take down to Pearlington. SPC has 4 people signed up, and DPC has 4 people signed up. 4 slots are still available. There is still time to sign up for the week of Oct 12th.

SPC will host a covered dish lunch in their gym from 12:30 - 2 PM on Sunday, Sept 28, to prepare for the trip. We will fill out the paperwork (Presbyterians always have to be decent and in order :) ) for the trip and set the logistics of when everyone is leaving and how many vehicles, etc.

We have cleanup work to finish from Katrina. Gustav and Ike have added to the damage in certain places (about 100 homes either west of Hwy 604 or south of US 90). Let's finish what we started and help get people back to normal even if it means helping them resettle. I think that it is time for discussion.

Special Offering this Sunday

Hopefully, the church Session approved a special offering for the special Mission Sunday service this weekend. This offering is planned to help our friends in Pearlington recover again from hurricanes, this time Gustav. Based on the coverage from Ike, I wouldn't be surprised if Pearlington had more flooding again from Ike. The PDA camp in Houma appears to be flooded again from the coverage on every news network.

One of the friends that we learned about this week are the Wades. They are the entrepreneurial type in town. They have opened the only new business in Pearlington after Katrina. Her husbands works at the Fire Dept and with her family, they were running the so-called by Jane Els "Corny Dog" stand.

When we were back there in April, we made a point of eating lunch there a couple of times. The food was home-cooked at the back of the pull-trailer by the family. Their home was flooded out again by Gustav. Based on information from Jane and Dallas, they really need help. Hopefully, we can provide some help, especially with the special offering.

In other sad news for me: I do not think that I will be able to go on the Oct 12 trip. I have a business trip to Australia around that week, and I do not think that I can pull off both trips back-to-back. Unfortunately, I had to make that decision to delay a trip to Japan because I didn't want to leave when Hanna was coming close and Ike's direction wasn't clear. Somehow, I will find a way to get there. My labor wouldn't really help too much, but I was always helpful getting people and things to the right places...

Smaller Group to Pearlington

Originally, we had split into 2 groups because I figured that we could start expanding the size of our groups to go. But, that expansion didn't happen. Only my name was listed on the week of October 5th. Therefore, I cancelled that week and was able to get Penny Noel to add a couple of spots for us on the week of October 12th.

I am excited to go, even if only to visit with the families and friends that we have met previously. They kept in touch before and after Gustav and expressed concern for us with Hanna. I am conflicted about what our role as volunteers should be going forward. The elevated houses did fine, but what about the ground level that were flooded again. I think that we work to move them to higher ground, either by elevating their house or moving to a different place.

In the articles with residents, I sensed a bit of fatalism after Gustav because they have been flooded out 2 times in almost exactly three years. The PDA staff is working very hard to get things back together for all of the volunteers. As tired as they must be, they are keeping their individual blogs updated and sending out emails to the volunteer groups.

Keep everyone in your prayers down there. We will be back soon. If interested in going during the week of Oct 12th, please let me know.

Back to Pearlington

We are still planning to go to Pearlington for the weeks of 10/5 and 10/12. If you would like to go, then let me know. We have 15 spaces for the week of 10/5 and I think that I am the only person currently signed up for that date. The 10 spaces for the week of 10/12 are full with 4 from Dorchester Presbyterian Church, and 6 from Summerville Presbyterian Church.

The pods that we sleep in stayed tied down to the pallet floor and floated off into the woods. According to Jane's blog (http://janeels.blogspot.com), the pods are salvageable. If they can recover the pods from the woods next door, then they can get the camp back together for us volunteers to make the trip.

Houma doesn't appear to be in as good of shape. They are just now being allowed there today to evaluate the impact and possible recovery of the PDA camp there.

Now Ike

Just when everyone is getting back settled after mostly evacuating for Gustav, now Ike appears to be heading into the Gulf. I think that if I was flooded by Gustav, then I might already be packing my things. The tense energy to have to watch and worry and make a decision to stay or leave has to be causing problems. I kept in touch with Dallas and the Lee's and they described a near panic to get out in front of Gustav. Don Lee stayed at the house that was under water with Katrina and he was able to keep the water out of their repaired house. Dallas's house is up high enough to be spared any flooding.

But, Pearlington saw a 19 ft surge in places, particularly south of US 90 and west of Hwy 604. Why is the surge occurring with storms that earlier were never a problem? Has the marsh disappearing along the MS coast like LA coast caused the issue?

Like Katrina, NOLA captured the media's attention during Gustav waiting to see the national tragedy unfold when the levees failed. The articles coming out of Pearlington are trickling out now. The NY Times has covered articles fairly consistently from there. The tone from residents is quite a bit different. After the first flooding, the talk is of rebuilding. I think after Gustav, that some residents are weary to go through the process again or to see what was lost after rebuilding. I think that the question of moving people should be discussed. After floods in the mid West along the Mississippi, the govt offers a buyout to help people relocate away from the flood plain. What about the same type of help for the families flooded again? I know, Mississippi doesn't have that type of program and Mississippi is not Iowa with a lot more black, lower income people. But, maybe that type of support is what we should be providing rather than helping rebuild houses that will flood again.

The comments from several of the residents interviewed in the different stories are as if they would leave if they thought they could. Maybe, we should help them relocate rather than rebuild. Maybe it is time for the discussion that has been avoided by everyone because it is not a politically correct discussion.

Ike looks like it will pass south into the Gulf. By the middle of the week, evacuations could be needed again. Ike is already a Cat 3/4 and maybe it won't be able to hold the energy into the Gulf. But, it looks like a buzzsaw right now.