Peoples Relief Caravan Journal 1: Alabama and the Gulf Coast
Midwest activists deliver supplies and serve food for Katrina survivors in Alabama and Mississippi. Peoples Relief Caravan Journal 1: Alabama and the Gulf Coastby Wajid Jenkins
Tuesday, Sep. 20, 2005 at 9:54 PM
freewheel@mutualaid.org
608-217-5820
New Orleans Indymedia
Peoples Relief Caravan in the Gulf Coast
Monday September 20, 2005
Journal #1
Two busses from Madison and surrounding areas have delivered food and supplies to the region affected by hurricane Katrina. Our small group of farmers and activists from the Midwest brought close to 15,000 pounds of fresh produce, medical supplies, books, school materials, tools and moral support to people throughout the region. Over the weekend, we were in Epes, Alabama to drop relief materials with the Federation of Southern Cooperatives Last night we arrived on the Gulf Coast in what remains of the small town of Waveland, Mississippi. The devastation left by Katrina was visible from northern Alabama down to the Gulf coast.
EPES, ALABAMA
We worked with the support of Family Farm Defenders (http://www.familyfarmdefenders.org/Main/HomePage) and Farm Aid (http://www.farmaid.org/site/PageServer?pagename=disasterfund) to bring relief supplies directly to the awesome people of the Federation of Southern Cooperatives (http://www.federationsoutherncoop.com/index.html). The Federation of Southern Cooperatives/Land Assistance Fund promotes community based cooperative economic development efforts as a crucial part of rural revitalization in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina and Texas. They are directly involved in the distribution of relief to 5 counties hit hard by Katrina in Alabama and Mississippi.
Driving through the pine-covered ridges and rolling valleys of western Alabama, we saw that most towns and homes had obvious damage from the hurricane. Many people were out in their yards or on their roofs making repairs. The power was back on, but trees were down almost everywhere. Steel roofs were twisted and torn off. Shingles blown all over. Katrina was one of the strongest hurricanes to ever land on the continent, and it made it a long way north. Three elders I spoke with in Epes talked about how they never had to worry much about hurricanes when they were kids, but in the last few years, they've had to evacuate for at least three different powerful storms from the Gulf of Mexico. They seemed to agree that in the last 15 years the summers got hotter and the storms got stronger.
After unloading 10,000 pounds of potatoes in their storehouse on Friday, we watched the next day as trucks and cars from surrounding areas came and took it all away. The Federation was able to reach thousands of people that FEMA and the Red Cross didn't even know about yet. We made some very strong connections in Epes, and heard sincere gratitude from so many people. I had lovely conversations about the strength we all gain by taking action to support each other without waiting for government agencies to solve our problems. We spoke about racism in today's world and the dangers ahead for poor people of color. In rural Alabama, most people have stopped farming, but those I spoke with remember days when all they bought were stores of flour and sugar. I thought a lot about that as we sweated to load and unload such basics as onions and potatoes for whole communities of ex-farmers and children of farmers. In today's hyper-centralized Wal-Mart world, food and fuel supplies are in the hands of some dozen multinationl corporations. If those companies wanted to they could have fed and fueled the whole region affected by Katrina. Total economic breakdown is a harsh reminder of the importance of the basics, and our vulnerability if we give away the power to feed ourselves to the free-market.
Sunday night, after finishing some vehicle repairs and enjoying the sweet hospitality of our hosts at the Federation, 8 of us hopped in a small bus packed to the gills with more food, gear and supplies and headed for Waveland, Mississippi.
WAVELAND, MISSISSIPPI
We arrived in Waveland yesterday well after the 8pm curfew that is still in effect. Before the sun set, we drove south through Hattiesburg and hit the coast in Gulfport. Destruction visible on all sides. Three weeks after the storm, only the main roads are completely cleared, and highway signs along the interstate are still toppled and lying in tangled heaps. Most billboards were torn off or bent over, and almost every building was damaged. Huge trees snapped and thrown into houses and vehicles, and long stretches of forest along the road looked like the proverbial matchsticks. It was hard to imagine where a safe place to take shelter could have been found.
Dark overcame us as we turned west on I-10. Military vehicles and convoys of police cars passed our little bus racing into the night. We exited the freeway and drove south toward the coast. We took a wrong turn in the dark, and crossed a railroad track into the center of what many now call ground zero of Katrina's landfall. In the dim headlights, all we saw was wreckage...no structure standing. Police cars found us and told us to turn around, as the area was still closed, and as we navigated a u-turn, the smell of death poured in from the broken world around us. This area of the Mississippi coastline was where Katrina made landfall. As the hurricane hit, it brought a storm surge of seawater said to have been over 30 feet deep that pushed 5 miles inland with a 4 knot current. Cars were piled in heaps and whole houses picked up and smashed into bits. The railroad tracks we drove across were twisted like taffy in some places. In the middle of this were over 10,000 residents in half a dozen small towns. The storm surge caught people in the middle of the night and there are many terrifying stories the residents have told. Too many.
Back over the tracks we found the parking lot where various grassroots groups have set up kitchens and supply depots in the three weeks since the storm hit. We found it...filled with the harsh shadows and bright lights from generators. The parking lot is filled with debris and supplies, piled in jumbles from many days of activity. This place is the largest operation of its kind and untill very recently was staffed almost entirely by grassroots volunteers. Rainbow family busses, Seventh-Day Adventists, evangelical churches, and dozens of small groups from around the country have combined forces here to offer three hot meals a day and a football-field sized parking lot of free stuff. That seems to be changing now as FEMA enters the scene, but that story is too big to tell here, as it is still unfolding.
Apparently, three people from Bastrop, Texas drove here with a truckload of supplies a day after the storm and found a deserted town. As they unoaded their small load of food and clothing, people came out of the forest in a daze. The force of the storm surge ripped their clothes off and many were literally left wandering in the woods in a wasteland of floodwaters, wreckage, petroleum and sewage. A toxic nightmare similar to the scene in downtown New Orleans. The whole area is in need of a major waste-removal and clean-up effort. In a predictable twist, it seems this clean-up effort is a major job market for immigrant labor, as some latino workers from San Antonio told us in line for lunch today.
In the following days as the dedicated people from Bastrop struggled to ferry supplies in, other groups made their way here. Still no FEMA in sight. The Red Cross arrived and briefly set up a supply depot, but left soon after. In a few more days, The Rainbow family caravan arrived and they set up a big kitchen and tents in the parking lot of a strip mall. In short order, they were serving meals to over 2,000 people a day, and they have continued each day since, with the numbers growing to over 4,000 people as more workers and residents returned to the area. They have all done amazing work, and people from a huge area are now dependent on the resources gathered here for their daily needs. Organic Valley from LaFarge, Wi has been providing a lot of food and logistical support for these crucial kitchens. The Rainbow kitchen is even feeding the US military. Today we saw a group of Navy personnel taking a nice easy lunch here. Maybe the green bean salad from Tipi Produce in Madison, WI is tastier than the MREs? Check out the blog from what they call the New Waveland Cafe and Market (http://newwavelandcafe.blogspot.com). Also check out fotos from Viroqua-area activist at http://www.flickr.com/photos/new_waveland_photos/
Tonight, our situation is dominated by discussion of hurricane Rita. We will continue to post updates as our caravan navigates the complicated landscape of devastated communities, military occupation, the approching storm and ongoing relief work. We wish to thank all of the donors and supporters for your work. The situation here is not stabilized. Thousands of people are unaccounted for and thousands more have no homes or access to food, water or transportation. FEMA and the Red Cross have no idea how to help all of these people and if the next storm makes landfall like Katrina did, we'll need a lot more help.
call us at 608-217-5820 to help or call Family Farm Defenders at 608-262-0900.