Reports from a disaster zone
After a month amid heat and destruction, a Galveston crew returns home
A group of disaster relief workers from Klickitat County returned home this week from Galveston, Tex., after spending nearly a month assisting in the aftermath of Hurricane Ike.
The workers were sent by Goldendale’s Bishop Services to the disaster zone, where Ike made U.S. landfall on Sept. 13, killing 177 people in the United States and Haiti, and leaving millions dislocated and homeless.
The company had a total of 58 workers on the scene, with 29 from Klickitat County, charged with the primary role of serving food in the dining tent.
According to Goldendale worker, Richard LeFever, the group managed to dish out 4,460 pounds of steak, 5,000 baked potatoes, and 1,800 gallons of coffee.
The Sentinel contacted several local workers while down south to get firsthand accounts of the disaster.
What follows are excerpts from the reports in their own words.
“It’s going to be another hot and humid day here in Texas. Have to admit that the heat and fatigue is finally getting to us, especially me. Numbers aren’t what they were at the start, but we are still feeding about 1,500 at each meal. This morning I went through 65 gallons of coffee and 40 gallons of milk. I also learned the difference between Iced Tea and “Sweet Tea. For me this has been an incredible experience and one I won’t soon forget.”
--John Lawrence of Goldendale.
“The magnitude of people coming together as a whole to help others in need is much greater than what I expected. The media doesn’t seem to capture that aspect. They seem to show only the destruction - not so much the relief efforts. It is wonderful to be able to be a part of such a remarkable achievement.”
-- Roy Lambert of Klickitat
“The power problems caused by Hurricane Ike are being referred to as the biggest power outage in US history. Two and a quarter million were without power following Ike.
The first night at Gulf Park there were no lights anywhere in Houston. It was an eerie feeling driving around in a deserted city. No street lights, no store lights, no cars, no people anywhere. Small strip malls were located on three sides of us, again all buildings were dark with the windows boarded up. By the third day lights started to come on. Many businesses were using generators. WalMart and Home Depot were the first major stores to open. The National Guard, carrying big guns, provided protection to the stores. All service stations were running on generator power. If you bought gas you had to pay for it with cash, no credit cards worked. With six or seven freezer-refrigerators running at any given time, plus our generators, diesel was a concern. Because we were a food contract, fuel was brought to us daily. Coffee in the morning is almost as important as the breakfast meal. It is now day 13, we still have not served a meal for less than 1,000 very hungry workers. This morning was 1,200 for breakfast.”
-- Richard LeFever of Goldendale
“Working on a disaster camp is a very unique experience that not many people get an opportunity to encounter. You get thrown into an area that has been ravaged by Mother Nature’s fury and expected to work in an extreme environment while keeping a straight head on your shoulders. I got the chance to drive right through downtown Houston and got a first-person look at what had happened to this city. I felt a chill run down my spine when I personally saw the towers that had all their windows blown out of them. When at home watching the news and following the storm, you look at it all in awe, but never see it for what it really is. Glass, trees, road signs, billboards, roofs and siding of peoples houses and businesses, roads floods as much as 10 feet deep of water (water up to the top of the stop signs). You see people’s clothes and personal belongings spread everywhere from the storm tearing apart people’s houses. It makes you think and notice that in our safe little communities we take it all for granted and ignore the true devastation that has and will again happen to people all around us. We could have been the family that comes home to an unlivable house with a tree sitting in the bed where you sleep.
We were in a situation unlike anything most of us have ever experienced. We Washingtonians were not prepared for the extremely high humidity. Where no matter what you do you are wet just from standing. Every time I feel I can’t make it and feel like dropping I think of this:
There are people in this city who are suffering from things they can’t control. They are stretching out their hands praying that someone will be there to help them recover. They are hungry and scared. When I look out and see these people getting that help from something I am doing, it feels like I’m doing my part as a person who cares to help the people who are trying to recover from this disaster.”
-- John Phillipsen of Goldendale.
“We brought together 32 individuals, many who hadn’t worked together before or even knew each other, stuck them together in a harsh, hot environment, gave them a difficult southern menu with lots of difficult barbeque and seafood entrees and they turned out absolutely awesome meals.”
-- Daniel LeFever of Goldendale
**Additional reporting by Daniel LeFever and Zach Siefring.
Ogden to play Klickitat church benefit in October
On Sunday, October 26, Goldendale musician, Dr. Jim Ogden, will be presenting a pipe organ concert of hymns at Grace Lutheran Church in Klickitat.
The program will begin at 3 p.m. and will last about an hour.
There is no admission charge, but a free will offering will be taken to benefit the organ maintenance fund at Grace Lutheran.
Refreshments and a time of fellowship will follow the concert.
The two manual, six rank organ was built by the Reuter Pipe Organ Company of Lawrence, Kansas and was installed in the church in 1954.
Free rides from Goldendale will be provided.
A van will leave the United Methodist Church parking lot (Broadway and Columbus) at 2:00 p.m. For more information, call 773-4114.
New coordinator at CASA
Ashley Whitmore joined the Klickitat County Juvenile Department as the new CASA Volunteer Coordinator in September of this year. Whitmore has four years experience working at the WSU Children’s Center, and a degree in Child Psychology.
Also sworn in as a CASA volunteer was Lorraine Klug. CASA is a program where Volunteers are trained to advocate for the best interest of abused and neglected children. Klickitat County CASA began in 1999 at the request of Judge. E. Thompson Reynolds. For information call Whitmore at 773-2473. |
