‘We never expected to see the mass of total destruction’

It’s one thing to see the devastation in pictures, but to actually be there – to be surrounded by miles and miles of sheer destruction in every direction — is nothing short of "gut-wrenching," said Deacon Dwaine Lampe, who, with his wife Louise, stopped in Biloxi, Miss. July 22 while driving to a workshop in Jacksonville, Fla.

"We expected to see a lot of damaged houses and buildings, but we never expected to see the mass of total destruction," Deacon Lampe said. "In some areas, the water must have washed in a lot more; it looked like the buildings had been blown up, buildings against buildings, all washed together.

"I think the most sickening thing was to drive through areas where there were blocks and blocks of houses marked with spray paint that were to be destroyed. Not only were these houses destroyed, but the families who lived there were separated and moved apart."

Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans in the early morning of Aug. 29, 2005. A reported 1,300 people lost their lives. Nearly one year later, the damage is still unimaginable, as is any notion that the region will be repaired in anything less than several years, Deacon Lampe said.

"When we were at the workshop in Jacksonville," Deacon Lampe explained, "there was a priest from New Orleans who was a presenter. He said his first three weeks after the hurricane were spent trying to locate priests. It was three weeks before they located all the priests, expect for one, who was never found."

The priest/presenter said that of the 5,000 households in his parish, approximately 2,500 families have so far returned. While collections once averaged $30,000, they are now down to $5,000, he said.

"He showed a slideshow, and I told him that it looked bad, but not as bad as when I was down there," Deacon Lampe. "He explained that it was because the pictures are just one angle; when you’re down there it is 360 degrees. It’s all around you."

The hardest thing, the priest told Deacon Lampe, was seeing all the broken families, all the families who grew up together, lived together, now spread out who-knows-where. One-fourth of the people from his parish have never been located.

"What bothered me the most," Deacon Lampe said, "were the areas where no one could live any more. There was no life. People couldn’t live out there. What palm trees were alive were just hanging and covered in mud. Everything looked dead.

"It was just something that I didn’t want to see too long," Deacon Lampe added. "It was very depressing."

Reconstruction has begun, but with no place to stay amid the devastation, workers must commute north 50 to 75 miles. When considering the sheer number of workers needed, Deacon Lampe said the commute has created serious transportation problems, more serious even than the sewage disposal problems, or the lack of available drinking water.

"We were told to stay off the interstate from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m., because of all the people going back up north," he said.