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New Orleans still a disaster area
Fifty-four Hokies sacrifice their Thanksgiving breaks to aid a
hurricane-ravaged city
Scott Smith, Associate News Editor
Nearly three months after Hurricane Katrina ravaged New Orleans, 54 members of
Virginia Tech's student body and staff embarked upon a journey over Thanksgiving
break to give their efforts to help clean up.While most students of the
university headed home, these students packed up and prepared to aid those who
have no homes. They prepared mentally and physically for what they were about to
go through. No amount of preparation would be enough.Being a member of the group
of students that went on this alternative break trip sponsored by the YMCA was
something that will be indelibly etched in each and every student's memory. The
15-hour ride on a charter bus ended in silence as the group pulled into an area
of New Orleans where trees were all over the side of the road and billboards
were completely destroyed and laying on the ground. Every day, the students were
split into three groups, each of which worked on completely gutting out a house
for nine hours before returning. One group, group two, as it was called, was
assigned to a house on the first day, that, at first glance, appeared decent
from the outside, but like so many of these homes, it was a whole different
story after stepping through the front door. Furniture was scattered throughout
the house and the smell seemed like a mixture of dead bodies and fecal matter.
Unfortunately, that is exactly what it was, with a little bit of mildew smell
mixed in to spice things up. The groups worked on getting the mold- and
maggot-infested furniture out of the house and then proceeded to take up floors
and knock down walls, completely removing the drywall and sheetrock that was
left mildewed from flood damage. The owner of the house told his story and, like
many, explained how the day after Katrina hit, the weather was gorgeous, but his
family decided to leave due to the mayor's push to do so.Not knowing that the
levees were going to break, they left, thinking that they would be able to
return in a couple of days. "I am completely starting over," he said. "Lord
saved me and now that I have my life, my possessions can be replaced." The rest
of the week was similar to that day, though each student's story differed and
each house had a uniqueness that showed the personality of its owners. "More
than anything, what we did was to lift people's spirits and to help them start
over," said Ashley Dooley, junior computer science major. Nov. 22, the second
day of the students' trip, saw the teams beginning work on a house with less
damage than the day before and group two never thought anything smelled as bad
as what they smelled in the first house. Fortunately, the smell was greatly
improved, but similarly, mold and mildew covered the walls of the house, so the
sheetrock came down and the walls will have to be replaced in order to make the
house habitable. On the second day, the group found out what different numbers
and symbols on the outside of houses meant. The students were told that the X's
spray-painted on the front of homes were meant to mark houses previously
inspected by FEMA and a date corresponding to the inspection was marked above
the X. Below the X's were numbers counting how many dead bodies were found in
the house and to the left of the X, the number of pets were numbered with the
amount of dead pets inside as well. Fortunately, the students in group two
didn't work in any homes that had dead bodies marked on the outside, though
there was a dead dog in the backyard of the house on the first day. On the
second day, one girl in another group fell ill and had to go to the hospital,
but it was from a lack of oxygen - her mask wasn't letting her breathe properly.
After only two days, the feeling of the trip had changed to surprise and shock
as no one had any idea what it would look like in New Orleans, and even though
the devastation was still apparent, it was an experience that the students would
like to relive. "No words can even begin to describe this experience, and if
they could you'd need an entire book," said Lisa Rubin, sophomore psychology
major. "Everyone should go through something like this at least one time in
their life; it will affect you in ways you'll never know."
To Contact Us:
YMCA Student Programs
Virginia Tech
312 Squires Student Center
Blacksburg, Virginia 24061-0546
Phone: 540-231-3734
Fax: 540-231-9625
E-mail: ymcasp.vt.edu
Questions or comments about the website? Email Amber Franklin
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