Katrina devastation worse than TV showed

Last month I took a few days vacation to visit my brother, Norman Wright, and his wife Joyce in Bakersfield, Calif. A week after I left, Norm went to New Orleans and Baton Rouge to counsel and to train counselors helping Katrina victims cope with the losses and grief.

The assignment was nothing new for Norm. He made five trips to New York after 9/11 on the same type of mission.

But what he encountered in the aftermath of Katrina — the wide scope of the disaster — was hard to believe.

Here are some excerpts from his daily journal:

I wasn't prepared for what I encountered. What you and I heard in the media could never capture the reality of this event. There are no words to describe the devastation I saw in New Orleans. It's one thing to hear that 80 percent of the city was under water, but it's another to drive mile after mile, and to see nothing but crushed, shattered and empty homes.

From the poorest tiny structure to the expensive mansion, no house could withstand the force of Katrina. I stood on the levee that collapsed and what I saw reminded me of pictures of an atomic bomb explosion at ground zero. The news media reported two breaks in the levee, but we were told there were actually 17.

Whatever wasn't flattened was torn and twisted … And why shouldn't it look like this? A wall of water moving at 10 miles per hour is equivalent to the force of winds at over 270 miles an hour. This is why I saw large boats hundreds of yards inland, heavy pianos hanging out of windows, cars standing on end or on top of walls.

For most residents in the Ninth Ward (or the ghetto as it is often described) there is nothing to return to. The homes there and even miles away will need to be bulldozed … There was nothing to restore or rebuild …

The first afternoon I observed procedures at Dmort with the Family Assistance Center where phone calls are taken from those looking for the body of a missing loved one. At the time I was there, of the 1,100 bodies at the morgue facilities, only 100 had been identified. Even using DNA they are identifying an average of 12 bodies per day …

Our Victim Chaplain group is at the Family Assistance Center to provide support to families who come in to complete the identification process, to provide debriefing to the over 150 individuals working there and to talk with those who call trying to find their loved one.

I listened to a conversation in which a middle-aged man called wanting to find his nine-year-old daughter who he knew was dead. He was holding her hand as he climbed into the attic but she slipped from his grasp and he never saw her again. She was afflicted with cerebral palsy and was partially disabled. He shared that she had a hip transplant with a titanium part so that should speed up the identification process.

The number of families calling will increase which means we need more teams of chaplains to assist. We usually have six to eight on the premises. Part of our ministry is tending to the physical needs of the workers such as providing beverages, snacks and lunches. Availability for counseling is an important part of this ministry. I talked with several and assisted with a debriefing of one group of workers.

We drove to New Orleans that night since there were no hotel or motel rooms available in Baton Rouge. Homeland Security had secured a block of rooms at a Marriott and fortunately one was made available to me. Otherwise, I would have been sleeping on a bunk in a Coast Guard cutter.

Three Carnival line cruise ships have been leased for six months at the cost of $236 million. City employees including hundreds of police officers are housed here. Controversy continues over this expenditure and yet it is more economical than hotels if any were available …

One afternoon we drove for miles to get a firsthand view of a destroyed city. Much of the time we were escorted by a chaplain for the Home Protective Agency and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

An elderly woman, very upset and anxious over her losses, was invited to rest in our motor home and while there a worker went to where her home used to be and searched through the pile. All he could find of a personal nature was a picture frame, which she clutched in her arms after he gave it to her …

It's difficult to fathom the extent of the losses for hundreds of thousands. They didn't just lose a home. They lost their history, possessions and memories, family items to pass on to the next generation, neighbors, friends, a safe haven and familiar surroundings, church, pastor, security …

If a family member's body is found, the funeral rituals of their culture have been lost, because friends and other family members have been relocated. There will be no marching with musicians, no pastor, church or support for their grief. The service itself will represent yet another loss.

According to the U.S. Dept. of Education, 372,000 children from kindergarten through high school were displaced by Katrina. It is estimated that 30 percent are likely to develop post-traumatic stress disorder.

This Ninth Ward had been opened because homes had been searched and supposedly all bodies found. But many places had not been searched thoroughly since 10 or 12 bodies were discovered by family members upon returning. This is very traumatic for a family. So within a day the Ninth Ward was shut down again.

A company responsible for searching for bodies is The Kenyon Organization which, along with Homeland Security and Emergency, asked for chaplains to accompany them as they went into the Ninth Ward.

It appeared there might be a body at a location because of the response to cadaver dogs. We loaded into five white vans and were led into the area by armed Guardsmen. Eight team members suited up and searched three homes. They wore protective suits, boots, gloves, hats, goggles, and respirators. It doesn't take long for dehydration to occur because of the heat. Each member had their gloves taped to their suits with gray duct tape. This search team was thorough. It's dangerous because of mold, broken stairs, windows and parts of the houses ready to collapse at any time. The chaplains assisted by providing water and helping the team to shed their protective gear. We wore protective gloves as well.

Nothing was found … but we received a call from the fire chief that a body of an older man had been located in another parish … I asked my driver, James, which van would be transporting the body. He said "ours." Firemen and National Guardsmen were already on the scene. As the team went in and placed the body in a bag and brought it out, it seemed as though where was a solemn air over the group and a reverence for the body. One chaplain was asked to pray before the body was loaded in our van. We brought it back and returned to our location.

As we drove from New Orleans to Baton Rouge we passed a large cemetery filled with above-ground crypts … Other cemeteries were a problem since over 1,000 caskets emerged from the ground and were found floating …

What is needed for this city's restoration? Everything including patience on the part of the rest of the country. The cost will be enormous …

Volunteers have helped so much and especially the Christian community from across the nation. Our Victim Chaplain Ministry has 10 to 15 chaplains in place every week. They come at their own expense.

This past week we trained another 27 people for chaplaincy work and to be crisis responders. Five of them left the next day to assist at Baton Rouge and New Orleans. We need many more …

I ask you to pray for those impacted by this and other disasters and for additional workers.