U.S.

REBUILDING

Katrina Volunteers Beg FEMA Not to Shut Down Camps

By Mark Martin
CBN News Reporter

CBN.com – ST. BERNARD PARISH, New Orleans - Carolyn Pitre is grateful to find her Bible among her belongings, piled up in the street in front of her home in St. Bernard Parish.

Carolyn says, “I'm drawn to try and find something of value because we have nothing left... (cries)… Because we have nothing left... Everything was gone. Everything.”

All along Carolyn's street, and in the entire area, it is the same: Destruction everywhere you look. Piles and piles of trash and debris. Gutted homes.

Lt. Colonel David Dysart is the director of recovery for St. Bernard Parish, which is near New Orleans. Dysart stated, “I have no residents living here right now, and I have had absolutely no businesses which have been able to return.”

The Marine reservist also had a part in the rebuilding of Fallujah, Iraq. He says there are several similarities. Both were completely evacuated, and both had their infrastructures completely wiped out.

The Lt. Colonel says it is going to take another six months to finish gutting thousands of homes to remove health and safety hazards. And that's where volunteers come in.

Dysart says it takes 10 to 12 volunteers a day to a day-and-a-half to gut just one house.

Asked if he needed volunteers right now, Dysart replied, “Absolutely. It's critical that we keep this up. We have approximately 800 homes to date that we've managed to move these items, out of the approximately 5,000 that applied.”

Volunteers need a place to stay. Right now, they live in base camps set up by fema. The problem is, local relief coordinators say, fema wants to close them soon -- in just a few weeks.

FEMA told Dysart that it wants to close these base camps because, Dysart said, “It is not FEMA's responsibility to provide support to volunteer agencies.”

Operation Blessing Disaster Relief Manager Jody Herrington says that not being able to provide a home means turning away a volunteer.

“Each volunteer that we turn away is another home that's not gutted, another resident that's not helped,” Jody declared. “It's another neighborhood that's not coming back. It's another city that's not restored. The reality is the volunteer help is crucial and critical to the success of recovery out in these parishes.”

Brenda Puckett is a missionary to nearby Plaquemines Parish. “There's so much to do,” Brenda stressed. “There's so much devastation. The need for volunteers is tremendous.”

She, too, says the camps need to stay.

Around 500 people live in one camp alone. A FEMA representative says it one houses contractors, people who are here to clean up and rebuild. I asked him where they would stay if these tents were not here. He said in their vehicles, wherever they could find.

Brenda said, “It just breaks my heart. We need the contractors here, we need the volunteers here in order to build our Parish back.”

Pastor Randy Millet helps run a disaster relief center in St. Bernard Parish. He says the volunteers are vital in making sure that residents get the food and clothing they need to survive.

“Please don't close the base camps,” Randy urged. “Allow us to house our volunteers. They're not looking for a Holiday Inn. They're looking for a cot with a pillow and a meal.”

In addition, Randy says that without warning, fema stopped providing ice and filling up their generators with fuel.

“What we’ve got to do in order to get diesel fuel right now -- we have to go across the street to fill up our buckets,” Randy explained, “and bring them back to fill up our generators... three or four... and that takes four or five trips.

Obstacles, these workers say, that are making it tough to serve others.

“The sheer economic recovery of this parish is dependent upon the volunteer effort,” Dysart commented.

Herrington said, “Our plea would be to please consider extending the closing of the base camps so that would give us time for transition and preparation to come up with some other accommodations.”

Carolyn Pitre does not want to see volunteers turned away. She's grateful for those who helped remove her belongings from her home.

“We need all the help we can get. It's not over... not by a long shot,” Carolyn stated.

CBN News tried to contact a fema representative to ask about the base camp closings and other issues facing volunteers, but no representative was available.

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