Today we went to the house of Chris LaGarde, the aide to Congressman Gene Taylor in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi. This area was hit really hard by the hurricane, except the difference here versus New Orleans was that the water didn’t stand, it receded. So the homes were damaged, but I think it was probably easier to fix these homes. All of the houses along the beach were completely gone and only the cement bases were left. I could see plastic bags hanging from the tree branches, indicating how high the water rose! Chris LaGarde talked with us about the destruction and rebuilding efforts in his neighborhood. Many of the historic buildings and houses were destroyed. When we went to his home, we got to meet his family and then we began working on his house. He had been lucky because his house did not get destroyed by the hurricane.
Since Katrina, he has been helping the other residents and he has not had a chance to fix his own home up, so we volunteered for the day to help him out. The house did not even have hot water yet, and the kitchen was set up outside! I decorated my very first Christmas tree today! I also worked with some others on the garden, to pull out all the weeds so the family could plant again. Others in the group split logs, took the blue tarp off the roof and scraped paint off the side of his house. We were also treated to some homemade Southern food, and it was absolutely delicious! We got to walk to the beach and enjoy the view at sunset, which was really nice. The weather was so warm; I kept forgetting it was the middle of December! It was great to meet and spend the day with Chris LaGarde and his family and be able to get a feel for how they lived; it was a lot different than being in New Orleans. I liked being able to help out and experience a small town that was affected by the hurricane. I really enjoyed the atmosphere and despite the destruction by the hurricane, I thought it was really charming and scenic. It’s a lot different than the town I grew up in, in New York!
