Posted at 4:31 PM
Pascagoula, MS—Ken Pullen and his girlfriend Ann are past the point where they can’t talk about their loss. Sunday, they filled us in on seven months of hell, heaven and everything in between. The hell, of course, was Hurricane Katrina, which brought 140 mph winds, 15-18 ft of water along the coastline and flooded 95 percent of town. Ken’s belongings floated in about 4 feet of water, laden with sewage, oil and snakes. Heaven has come in the form of closeness with his neighbors like none he’s never known. It’s come from the stream of volunteers who have helped him clean and now rebuild his house. It’s come from the blessing of not having lost any family members to the catastrophe. He said that in spite of it all, he is blessed.
Since the hurricane struck Ken and Ann worked to rebuild Ken’s house but also have done their share of volunteering. Ken said it’s easier to work on someone else’s house than his own. As we haphazardly slapped dry wall mud on his walls, we realized just what he meant. For us, we were just doing a job; making sure to get the sheet rock up straight, hit the studs with the drywall screws and not knock out any of the windows as we went. For Ken, 31 years of memories were held in by those walls, and he stayed there through the storm for as long as he could. He watched the rising waters float his living room furniture and other belongings. He himself floated through the bathroom window when he finally decided it was time to flee. He clarified his own story by relating another’s: He and Ann had helped clean the home of a man disable with Alzheimer’s. As the group cleaned, the man would clean a little, find something that would bring up a memory, then he’d cry a little. Clean a little, cry a little. Clean a little. Cry a little. The memories slow down the cleaning process.
So when we arrived Ken and Ann were happy to turn the inside work over to us while they took advantage of their last weekend day to work in the yard—also work that needed to be done but they’ve had little time to do it. Each large dead spot on his land marks the spot where a vehicle came to rest once the waters receded. Or a where a tree once stood. But today he looked past those spots and concentrated on where the new rose bushes would be planted. It’s a slow process, but life is going on down here in Mississippi.
C.O.R.E was formed specifically to handle the Hurrican Katrina crisis. Since its formation in September 2005:
• 4700 volunteers have been through
• 300-400 volunteers a day the past three weeks
• 398 homes cleaned and sanitized
• 15 homes completed for rebuild
• 30 home rebuilds in progress
• 600 on the rebuild list