On September 12, 2008, just before 1:00 AM, Hurricane Ike made landfall as a Category 2 hurricane (1 mile per hour short of being a Cat 3). The impact was felt from southern Texas over to eastern Mississippi but fortunately the storm surge was much lower than predicted, ranging from 6'-12' versus the 12'-20' that was projected. Most of us are aware to some degree of the devastation that followed but many of us have no idea the extent of the destruction to property more importantly the impact on the individuals who lived through or returned home following the storm.

 

The pictures captured here are just a glimpse into what people came home to and had to go through to clean their homes, many while still living in them. Rebuilding couldn't begin until these homes were cleaned out, in the case of the drywall some removed up to 2'. Due to the lack of press coverage, groups who are set up and ready to receive volunteers have had much smaller numbers and thus are not making the impact to help clean-up or rebuild that was made following Katrina.

 

Many of you are familiar with my experiences in Mississippi following Katrina and how privileged I was to spend 10 months helping the people of Ocean Springs MS rebuild their homes and their lives. Those of you who are not familiar, please take a look at the Volunteering in MS tab on the company web site. Needless to say, due to my sensitivity to people who have experienced this type of disaster when CORE, http://www.core-alliance.org/index.htm, began operations in Clear Lake, TX, I was ready to go! However in God's timing, it worked out best that I make the trip 2 months after the storm to help the team of leaders there get set-up to start rebuilding. Begining in January, CORE-Alliance will begin rebuilding homes and they need your support. They need your tax deductible donations but more importantly they need your time. They need people who are willing to work for at least a few days; they need people with no construction experience all the way to people with professional construction or trade experience. They need you to come and give of your time. While in Texas, I heard the story of an older gentleman who was thanking some volunteers for working at his home and with tears in his eyes he said "Thank you for coming, it means more than you could ever know. You could have just sent money but I would have never known you. Now, long after you are gone, I will remember you and you will always be a part of this family."