Everyone from our district made it here fine. I flew down with a couple from our church and their neighbor - it was the first time I could recall flying in a private plane that wasn't owned by my parents. 5 hours of flying sure beat 12 driving. I think only 1 of the 56 didn't show up, but we found out he's over in D'Iberville where we were originally scheduled. He may stay there or join us tonight. Below is a group shot of almost everyone. The tent in the background will be the new mess hall, which will about triple the seating capacity of the current one.
We're staying in what used to be the elementary school complex. They decided to decommission it because there were only 130 students and some haven't returned. They were going to raze the entire thing but the town pleaded enough that they left the gym building and what I believe was also the library building. Those will be turned over to county parks dept once things get back to some semblance of normal.
Since we arrived early, I took our little group on a short tour of the area so they could see some of the real damage along the coast. We drove through Lakeshore, and I was quite saddened to see they had opened a casino out where one had once been and failed oddly enough long before Katrina. Waveland didn't really look much different from August. There were a few more houses but it's mostly desolate - I didn't even want to take any pictures. We learned later that many still have not gotten approval to build because codes aren't finalized or grants haven't come through yet. Some people build anyway it seems. The US 90 bridge at BSL is nearly complete. 2 more sections near the middle need to be put in place and 2 lanes are supposed to be open May 15.
There are a variety of jobs for us to do this week - painting, mudding drywall, finishing some plumbing jobs, HVAC, installing phone/cable lines, putting up decks, etc. My group was supposed to do a deck today but that homeowner wasn't quite ready yet so we got to help a contractor working on a new home that will be one of the nicest in town I think but it's quite tall. The first floor level is over 12 feet.
Katrina level was about 10-11 feet sustained here, but many new homes are not that high. The other 4 in my group got out of their comfort zone in various ways at this home, whether it be heights, ladders or learning how to use power tools. I worked on putting in the blocking for the second story deck joists.
We had lunch at the tiny Missionary Baptist Church in town. They've been feeding the residents and volunteers lunch for some time now and have fed up to 700 before. Fishes and loaves. I'm hoping to attend their Wed night service.
We had a lot of rain and it was low 60s today, but it should be near 80 tomorrow.
We're staying in what used to be the elementary school complex. They decided to decommission it because there were only 130 students and some haven't returned. They were going to raze the entire thing but the town pleaded enough that they left the gym building and what I believe was also the library building. Those will be turned over to county parks dept once things get back to some semblance of normal.
Since we arrived early, I took our little group on a short tour of the area so they could see some of the real damage along the coast. We drove through Lakeshore, and I was quite saddened to see they had opened a casino out where one had once been and failed oddly enough long before Katrina. Waveland didn't really look much different from August. There were a few more houses but it's mostly desolate - I didn't even want to take any pictures. We learned later that many still have not gotten approval to build because codes aren't finalized or grants haven't come through yet. Some people build anyway it seems. The US 90 bridge at BSL is nearly complete. 2 more sections near the middle need to be put in place and 2 lanes are supposed to be open May 15.
There are a variety of jobs for us to do this week - painting, mudding drywall, finishing some plumbing jobs, HVAC, installing phone/cable lines, putting up decks, etc. My group was supposed to do a deck today but that homeowner wasn't quite ready yet so we got to help a contractor working on a new home that will be one of the nicest in town I think but it's quite tall. The first floor level is over 12 feet.
Katrina level was about 10-11 feet sustained here, but many new homes are not that high. The other 4 in my group got out of their comfort zone in various ways at this home, whether it be heights, ladders or learning how to use power tools. I worked on putting in the blocking for the second story deck joists.
We had lunch at the tiny Missionary Baptist Church in town. They've been feeding the residents and volunteers lunch for some time now and have fed up to 700 before. Fishes and loaves. I'm hoping to attend their Wed night service.
We had a lot of rain and it was low 60s today, but it should be near 80 tomorrow.
posted by Michael Ray at 9:28 PM
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