HURRICANE...

TONITE.... so much on my mind, it is just swirling and swirling.... and with all that swirling, all i could do was compare it to a true swirling.... a hurricane.... one that i took part in, actually 2 that i took part in.  Why i felt compelled or brought this to the front of my heart i'm not sure... except God is full of "AMAZING GRACE"...... i have shared this with some, not many, but tonite i will do my best to capture and re-live and let you take part in some of the memories and lives of some amazing heroic people.....

HURRICANE KATRINA was the deadliest and most destructive Atlantic hurricane of the 2005 hurricane season. It is the costliest natural disaster as well as one of the five deadliest hurricanes, in the history of the United States. It was the 6th strongest overall.  at least 1,836 people died in the actual hurricane and in the subsequent floods. property damage was estimated at 81 billion.   this hurricaine formed over the Bahamas on August 23rd, 2005...on August 29th it hit southeast Louisiana, the levee in New Orleans, catastrophically failed, 80% of the city and neighboring parishes became flooded, and the flood water lingered for weeks.

The mind is an interesting thing.... the memories, the endless task, the entire enivornment and most importantly the people, will forever be etched in my mind, as long as i live.  This whole adventure as was an enlightening, awesome experience.  Very difficult to verbally explain, therefore, I will try to share this experience with you on my blog.  I will do my best to make it as real for you as it was for me.

First of all, I still thank my family and friends for supporting me in this decision I made.  I know it wasnt the best timing with gregs eye surgeries and lack of sight, yethe was full love and support.  i appreciated the phone messages from mike, his voice and encouranging words, Renee as my sounding board several times, she let me know it was ok to cry.  Being my dad was insulin dependent, RedCross wouldn't let him go as a volenteer, so instead he came to my home and help out there while i was gone. My mom and mother in law for being prayer warriors.  The doctors and staff at Valley Oak Dental, they were great, from allowing me to take my vacation time, to survial kits, to mosquito repellent!  and to my church family for holding me up in prayer for 3 solid weeks.

God shows up... All the time...In fact He never leaves.  During my 21 days there, He was there, sometimes He showed up in small ways and some times in BIG ways.

I left September 18th, 2005...I discovered an automatic Red Cross trust, i never knew existed.  From the first few hours to this day!  I found myself in Lafette LA. in a taxi cab with 3 strange men taking a taxi to the Cajun Dome...(just the beginning of God protecting me)  Not realizing what the Cajun Dome was, the best i can describe it is... flying into Sacramento and taking a taxi to the Arco Arena.  Yet instead of a basketball game with thousands of fans, I found 1000's of people alright, but all evacuees.  Extremely high security by the National Guards.  I was shocked to see what this area looked like.  There were beds, cots and people sleeping everywhere!In the snack areas where hot dogs, nachos and beers normally would of been sold, baby supplies, formula, diapers and misc other needs were being distributed. People playing cards, dominoes and just plain visiting were going on in every corner and door way. We were shown to the Red Cross area, offered a few snacks, water, ect.  After a bit we were shown to the area where we would sleep, a room full of volenteers, some were already sleeping, lots of snoring and giggling going on, glad I had earplugs, numerous pairs actually, so i could share with others.  My first night on the floor.  Next morning, packed things up early, met out front and caught a bus to BATON ROUGE.  There were abot 40 of us on the bus wondering what was going to take place next.  We were dropped off at the vacant WalMart, the headquarters for Red Cross.  Our bags were all placed in one spot and again just hoped they would be ok, because we went inside and waited in many more lines to process in and get registered. We had an orietnation by some local folks to acquaint us with the Lousiana way, traditions, ect.  Wasnt long, and i met someone who to this day am still in contact with. Since then, I have watched Yee Fang get married to his soul mate and have 2 beatuiful children, resides in the state of Washington and we share with each other on facebook, once again we shared a humanitarian bond, and the love and AMAZING GRACE of our God. Within a short time, Yee, Gary (a politcal analist from Sacramento) and myself were given our first task/mission. A car was rented for us, maps of the entire state were given to us and we were to travel the entire state.. stopping at all shelters, seeing what the condtions were, what their needs were and faxing back to headquarters, and those needs were gonna be met within 24 hours. a 2nd team was formed and the state was split into East and West.  Our 2 teams were given maps, cell phones and whatever else we may of needed. The 6 of us all had dinner together and got our plans layed out.  We then spent the night in a staff shelter at a local boys and girls club.  Talk about hot and humid! the EXTREME!! We were able to snag a few hours of sleep and in the morning we were off and running.  It wasnt long before we figured out our roles.  Yee, 27 years old, from Seattle Washingotn, a wonderful christian, a stockbroker and a major in Phycology, looking to work with inner-city kids became our driver. Gary Deitrich from Sacramento, a political analist and news/radio reporter was our map/navigator, and i was the backseat driver, keeping all necessary files and notes to fax back every evening.  Very interesting, traveling hours upon hours with 2 people I had just met the day before. it wasnt long and we knew just about everything there was to know about one another.  

Trying not to leave too much out.....yet, the details is what makes this experience so real... so with God's AMAZING GRACE....I will continue tomorow with Day One of our travels... Once again, God was there.....