How To Survive Hurricane Katerina

If anyone read my other blog "Can senioritis be cured?" you know that I graduated high school in January this year. My school suggests that we do some community service or mission work; I wanted to do something, anything to help anyone.
A woman named Dory, who has some children at my school, grew up in Mississippi. She informed my class that her relatives who lived there were greatly affected by Hurricane Katerina and they were still living in a trailer. She was wondering if anyone would be interested in going. A small group of us decided to go down to Mississippi and help.
As we approached Mississippi, we looked down from the plane and saw that it was deserted. There was nothing built; only trees. Most of the trees were lying on the ground dead. We met Dory when we got off the plane and were driven to a Metholdist church, where we stayed in the visitor's center. Dory explained to us that her relatives lived in their trailer, but had a hosue built for them and that we would be working on their new house.
We pulled up the next day to this beautiful, but small house. There was clay on the ground and absolutely no grass to be seen. In the back of the house was another trailer and piles of wood. We met Dory's relatives on our first day of work; they were both disabled, which explained their situation. We were told that their son was the only one who was able to work on the hosue, but since he had a job and a family, it was difficult to do much. The whole week, we painted thirteen rooms in the house and we also did some landscaping at Dory's sister's house.
We heard many stories about how people survived the storm. One husband and wife had a small boat, which they tied onto a tree during the storm. The winds were so strong, it ripped their clothes off. They later fround some tableclothes to wrap themselves in. Another family said after the storm, they lived inside their van, which was in front of their house. Thank God the plumbing worked; but they had to stay at the house, since people went around trying to steal from the houses. One family we met lost everything: their house and their possessions. They were able to go through the reck and find a few things, but not much.
After 3 years, nothing is normal done there. People still feel the affect of the storm. The government had given these people trailers, which they are allowed to buy for a small price after a few years. Some people will remain in their trailers, because they can't build themselves a new house. A group called Habitat for Humanity is trying to help them out. It is truely an experience I will never forget.