Subject: Hurricane Damage
Date: Fri, 9 Sep 2005 08:15:14 -0700 (PDT)
From: Bill Palmer

Hello Everyone.

Yesterday, Thursday the 9th of September, my brother and I drove from Birmingham down to the Mississippi Gulf Coast. As we traveled south along I-59, we began to notice damage before we even reached Meridian. It began to look really bad by the time we reached Wiggins, which is about halfway between Hattiesburg and the Coast on Hwy 49.

When we finally got to the Coast, the whole experience became surreal. It seemed more like a dream than reality. What we entered was a war zone, with military vehicles and troops everywhere we looked. Military helicopters flew overhead so often that it kept us feeling uneasy.

To get to my Mom's house, we had to stop at a police checkpoint, prove at least one person in the group to be a legitimate resident, surrender identification and receive a day pass in exchange. Then we drove through a military checkpoint, showing our day pass. As we drove into the area, we could begin to see the extent of complete devastation. (Long Beach is about 20 or 30 miles to the east of the path that Katrina's eye followed, and the eastern side is always the worst.)

We turned down the street, drove as far as we could, and stopped in front of the house just to the north of my Mom's house. The second story of a duplex that had been 1/3 of a block to the south is now sitting in the middle of the street close to the driveway of Mom's house. At least half the trees in the area were destroyed. The yard has more than fallen trees, however. Sitting just in front of the house is a garbage dumpster from some nearby apartment complex. There is also a boat in the yard, and a large gabled portion of our neighbor's roof in the front yard. The debris is three to four feet high throughout much of the yard. We had great difficulty even getting to the house.

From the water line outside the house, I believe the flood was as high as three feet. However, blowing water must have covered the doorknob because it had rusted so badly that my key simply broke off in the lock. I had to break a window to get into the house.

The flooding didn't get above two feet in the house, from what I could tell. The stench made it difficult to stay inside the house for very long. Not only had dry foods gotten wet and begun to spoil, but the flood waters were mixed with raw sewage. We had to work with surgical masks and heavy gloves to protect our health.

We retrieved some family heirlooms, which was hard work. Gagging on the foul odors while wrapping Mom's crystal, then negotiating our way through waist-high debris in oppressive heat doesn't make for the most enjoyable experience.

From there we worked our way through horrible traffic to get to my office about 10 miles to the east in Biloxi. We parked a few blocks away and walked toward the office, which is on the beach. I've never seen a building that looked like my office. There was still a roof held up by steel beams. Wires and cables hung from the suspended ceiling, which was still in place. But the walls, doors windows, and flooring were all missing, washed away. In fact, as we approached the building from the north, we could see the beach through it. There is nothing left of what I had in my office.

It took us well over an hour to get out of the congested traffic on the Coast so we could head back to Birmingham with some of my Mom's treasures. Curfews were in place much farther to the north than we anticipated. We tried to stop in Wiggins to eat dinner, but all restaurants were closed. When we stopped in Hattiesburg, we experienced the same results. Finally, we stopped at a Subway shop in Laurel. The poor girl working there was quite flustered, and the shop was nearly out of food.

I wanted to let you all know what I saw on my trip, but I don't want you to worry about me. My family, as always, is standing by to help. My brother and his wife have provided us a safe haven here in Birmingham and we will make it through this. I am grateful that no one of my family members was killed or injured by this Hurricane, and I hope the same is true for all of our Church family.

Bill Palmer