Terry Ackley, Executive Director        terry@campsealeharris.org

Southeastern Diabetes Education Services, Inc.   

Office: 2804 West Mall Drive, Florence, AL 35630   www.campsealeharris.org

Mail to: PO Box 1179, Killen AL 35645

Phone: 256-765-2431     Fax: 256-765-2432

 Hurricane Damage

Bayou La Batre and the surrounding communities experienced an 18-20 foot storm surge which put 90% of the community under water not flooded but literally under water.  There are somewhere between 6,000 and 8,000 families (not individuals) which have been displaced.  The houses built after 2003 withstood the storm surge but were damaged.  The homes and business at ground level were either totally destroyed or were severely damaged.

It is estimated that there are five to six thousand displaced families in this area.  There are also evacuees who left Mississippi and Louisiana because they had family in the area and thought they were going far enough East to be safe from the storm.  That number has not yet been determined.

The Corp of Engineers and FEMA are in the process of evaluating each structure.  Condemned homes are either yellow tagged which means they can be entered and anything that can be salvaged removed or red tagged homes which are unsafe to reenter for any reason.  They are expecting to lose approximately 1,000.00 plus homes in the process.

The economy consisted of shrimping, crabbing, and oysters and the processing plants associated with this industry.  All twelve of the processing plants were severely damaged and it is estimated they will not be operational for six months.  They lost two shipbuilding and repair facilities and while some of the large shrimp boats survived, the majority of the fishing fleets were destroyed.  The citys main source of income was a small ship port and warehousing area which was totally destroyed.

80% of the job force is without employment.

Their school system is partially intact with the high school and grammar school going back into session within two weeks.  The middle school was damaged and may need to be rebuilt rather than repaired so those children will be bused and share half day schedules with another middle school in the area.

It is estimated that it will take up to three years to get the community back to where they were before the storm, remembering that this was a very poor community and in need of assistance before Hurricane Katrina.

POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS

The Lions of Alabama along with some assistance from Lions International are trying to assistance families in this hard hit area.  We have had warehouse space donated to us for warehousing and distribution of much needed supplies.  If anyone in your organization could or would like to help we are accepting donations but are asking that they be pre-sorted as follows.  With 90% of the homes unlivable and the rest in need of repair all contents were destroyed by flood waters most of the community will be going into temporary housing provided by FEMA but will need everything anyone would need to set up housekeeping.  Suggestions are:

Bedrooms:  A box with pillows, pillow cases, sheets, bedding, etc marked bedroom.

Kitchen:      A box with dishes, silverware, pots/pans dishtowels, dish soap, small kitchen appliances (can openers, toasters, mixers etc.) and marked kitchen

Bathroom:  A box with towels, hand towels, face clothes, cleaning supplies, personal hygiene (toothpaste, shampoo, etc.) and marked bathroom.

Clothes:  Sorted and Boxed by male/female/boy/girl and size

Toys:  Sorted and Boxed by recommended ages

Also school supplies are needed.

Food:   Non Perishable pantry items such as sugar, flour, cooking oil, can goods etc.

The sorting will allow for a much easier distribution to those families who need it the most.

For drop off points please contact Diane Stewart 442-0015, Mary Turner 452-0339

ALSCA and Partners Deliver Mobile Screening Unit to South Mississippi

Alabama Lions Sight Manager, Lion Julie Beckham, and newly hired Mobile Screening Unit driver, Lion J.C. Elsberry, recently caravaned with UAB and Vision Service Plan personnel to deliver the ALSCA Mobile Screening Unit trailer to Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, which was completely ravaged by Hurricane Katrina.

Vision Service Plan (VSP) is a multi-million dollar national eye care nonprofit organization that has a special team dedicated to disaster relief. After Hurricane Katrina hit, VSP approached Lions International to help in the relief effort in badly hit areas. Past International Director Lion Lowell Bonds coordinated efforts with the board and staff of Alabama Lions Sight as well as the UAB Vision Research Department to send the mobile screening unit to Bay St. Louis to serve as a temporary replacement office for eye doctors in the area. The staff of UAB, which was headed by Dr. Mary Jean Sanspree, was responsible for acquiring equipment and supplies for the temporary office as well as setting up the unit for screenings.

On Thursday, October 6^th, the team departed from Birmingham, and arrived in Bay St. Louis late Thursday evening. After dropping off the unit at Hancock Medical Center, the crew drove back to Mobile to spend the night, and then back to Bay St. Louis early the following morning to begin set-up.

In the daylight, the surroundings were very sobering. "The entire town is completely destroyed," said Lion Julie Beckham. "Most of the residents seemed to have left, but the ones that stayed were just walking around, still in shock."

Friday morning, Dr. Stan Newman, a local optometrist, came to see the unit. Both his practice in Bay St. Louis and his home in Hattiesburg were destroyed by the hurricane. Dr. Newman and others will be using the unit as an office to treat patients while their offices are being rebuilt.

Although it has been almost two months since the hurricane, there is still much work to be done and many services to be provided. "We knew very little about this area," said Kim Crimmins, a disaster relief employee of Sacramento-based VSP. "We told ourselves, we want to help, now where can we go?"

"To date the effort has gone really well," said fellow VSP employee, Doug Ljung, two weeks after the unit was placed in Bay St. Louis. "We have seen over 200 patients and we now have another mobile unit in New Orleans.  Thanks to the partnership of the Lions to get us started, we are now locating other sites to provide services throughout Mississippi and Louisiana including a 1,200 person cruise ship that is housing evacuees.  We are working 16 hour days as we plan for each day which is busier than the previous one. We are hoping to see a couple of thousand people, or more, before we are through."