by Nicole Brown

Weeks of preparation and conversations with Lions in the Hurricane Katrina-affected areas could not prepare me for what I would experience during a four-day trip in December to the Alabama and Mississippi coasts while on assignment for THE LION Magazine. Despite the fact that it had been four months since the hurricane swept through the area, destroying all in its path both in terms of structures and lives, I saw many areas that looked as if the hurricane had struck just days ago.

I made plans to fly into Mobile, Alabama, and base myself there, as I was told there were no hotels in operation closer to ground zero, nor regular flights, rental cars, many restaurants or other necessities and luxuries. Hearing this over the phone, I was skeptical that after four months this could still be the case, yet I’m glad I heeded the advice of local Lions. No pictures or newscasts could paint a truly accurate picture of the massive scale of destruction; seeing it in person was the only way to grasp the magnitude of devastation.

Stepping off the plane in Mobile, everything looked normal. Hotels were fully operational, all restaurants were open and people were in good spirits. It wasn’t until the next day when I made a two-hour drive west across the border and into Mississippi that I began to see signs of destruction. Trees along the highway were down with clothes suspended in branches, interstate billboards were mashed beyond recognition and lay on the ground, houses had been lifted off their base and dropped on top of anything in their path and boats could be seen miles from the water.

Houses south of Interstate 10 fared far worse than those on the northern side. If the houses weathered the storm and still stood, they were uninhabitable, missing a roof, and furniture that once decorated the inside of the home was now strewn across several neighboring yards. The outside had been spray-painted by rescuers to denote if anyone had been found in the home during searches and also with the name of the insurance company responsible for sorting out payment. Situated in the grass near these homes was either a small, one room FEMA trailer, or if the family was not eligible for a trailer, a pop-up tent.

As I pulled up to the D’Lpée Deaf Center in Biloxi, Mississippi, where Lion Greg Crapo, PDG, works, I could see a blue tarp covering the roof, similar to so many other buildings in the area. Through Crapo’s affiliation, the center has become the distribution and sorting area for all of the shipments received from Lions across the country. Lions clubs in several states have driven trucks full of relief supplies to this location, one of these clubs being the Mount Prospect Lions Club in Illinois. The Mount Prospect club had arranged to rendezvous at the center with Lions from three clubs in Mississippi-Biloxi, Mississippi City and St. Martin. Lions from Mount Prospect drove down the supplies and met with Lions from the Mississippi clubs to unload the supplies at the center, where they would be sorted, boxed and quickly delivered to families in the surrounding communities. While New Orleans, Louisiana, has received more news coverage and as a result more worldwide attention, Lions are making sure that those affected in Alabama and Mississippi are not overlooked. To read more about the Mt. Prospect, Illinois, Lions Club OperationROAR project, click here.

Lions unloaded supply after supply from the truck, and afterward Mount Prospect Lions presented each of the three local clubs with a check for $1,500 to be used to continue to meet pressing local needs. Judy Gavin, District Governor of 30-N, Mississippi, expressed appreciation on behalf of the clubs to Mount Prospect Lions and other groups who have played a pivotal role in helping people in these communities rebuild lives and homes after losing everything.

Biloxi Lions volunteered to show me around the area so I could get a true sense of the destruction. Just a few blocks from the Deaf Center were raised railroad tracks with barbed wire stretched across them, acting as a makeshift fence in order to limit entrance to the beach area and keep out looters.

As I neared the gulf, the destruction grew greater. It was here that I saw miles and miles of stone slabs. These slabs had been the bases of the houses, but the houses were now gone and all that remained were the foundations. I was informed these houses were hundreds of years old and were formerly gorgeous antebellum mansions. Cars looked like they had been put through a metal crusher and lay haphazardly in the middle of houses and on sidewalks. At one former Waffle House restaurant, all that remained was the letter ‘E’ on its large sign—there was nothing else left and it was hard to imagine a building had once sat here.

That afternoon I traveled two hours southeast to the small fishing town of Bayou La Batre, Alabama, situated near the Mississippi border. Nearly 75% of people here were living below the poverty line before the hurricane, and since, their daily struggles to make ends meet have only intensified. Lions spent a full day serving the community, preparing care packages and handing them out to locals in the morning and working on the inside of a family’s home in the afternoon. Lions realize the work will be slow as they rip out mold infested floorboards and walls, put up new dry wall and paint the interior one house at a time, but they believe this is the way they can best serve the community. The home they were working on while I was there was that of a grandmother and grandfather who are raising their grandson and disabled granddaughter.

The following day was spent in Diamondhead, Mississippi, the area where the hurricane came ashore, leaving the most widespread damage. No businesses in this area are in operation and driving anywhere takes longer than it used to because the bridge connecting the two sides of the city no longer exists. Mount Prospect Lions delivered the remaining ¼ of the goods to the Diamondhead Lions Club and again presented Lions with a $1,500 check. Upon receiving the check, Diamondhead Lions Club President Ted McCabe cried tears of joy.

Lions in Diamondhead have focused much of their relief efforts on aiding the Bay North Waveland Elementary School. School began in November after FEMA delivered trailer classrooms to take the place of the ruble that once was the school. When I pulled up to the school, my eyes filled with tears. The school has no running water, telephones or computers, but the children don’t seem to notice. Formerly 350 children attended school here, but many families have moved away to start anew and only 150 children have returned. Teachers realize the importance of their jobs and do not let on to their emotions, despite the difficult circumstances and the fact that they have two months of school to make up.

Lions are working to restock the shelves of the school library, as every book was lost in the floodwaters. Lions around the country have been sending books to the Diamondhead Lions who are delivering them to the school and spending time reading with the children.

The next several days were more of the same: generous Lions coming to the aid of their community when they had lost just as much. People in the towns where I traveled were still in shock, with glazed over looks in their eyes. In addition to losing their homes and places of business, hurricane victims have no cars, no grocery or other stores, and no idea how long it will be until their lives are normal again. I was the lucky one; after four days, I flew north away from the bleakness to my comfortable, warm home, where I drove to my job the next day and walked down the street to the grocery store. I did this with a renewed appreciation for what I have.

Traveling over 500 miles in four days, Lions and faith-based groups were the only relief teams I saw. These Lions in action exemplify the “We Serve” spirit of helping others and show that Lions are very much needed and their work is not going unnoticed in these areas.