Smith answers call to help (9/23/05)

The answer to a local nurse’s prayers is helping to provide much-needed relief for residents of a Gulf Coast city devastated by Hurricane Katrina.

Jay County health nurse Linda Smith has been in Biloxi, Miss., for a week as part of Operation Hoosier Relief, which includes more than 50 Indiana doctors and nurses.

“Seeing what I’ve seen on TV ... my heart just went out to these people,” Smith said in a telephone interview Thursday afternoon. “I prayed about it ... and I just needed to come. If my county ... and my husband was OK with it, I was coming.”

The team of Indiana volunteers is living in a temporary tent city called “Camp Indiana” erected in the parking lot of the Biloxi Convention Center. Precautions such as placing sand bags on the sides of the tents were being taken Thursday as the outer bands of Hurricane Rita brought heavy rain and wind to Biloxi, which is located on a peninsula jutting into the Gulf of Mexico about 100 miles east-northeast of New Orleans.

Biloxi will get only a glancing blow from Hurricane Rita, but Smith said one resident she met was unselfishly hoping the storm would take the same track as Katrina.

Smith said, “I actually had one lady say to me, ‘This may sound bad, but I almost wish it would go ahead and hit (us) and then it wouldn’t have to hit anybody else’s town ... Just let it come in and wash it away.’”

Smith said that she believes that the reality of the devastation is just now beginning to sink in for residents of Biloxi and the entire Gulf Coast region. Mental health specialists have been making the rounds along with the regular medical teams, Smith said.

“At first, in my estimate, people were shell-shocked, and now it’s setting in. The mental health part ... will be needed, in my opinion,” Smith said.

But despite their trauma, the people of Biloxi have been welcoming to their Hoosier helpers.

“These people are so gracious. They’re so happy to have our help. They tell us, ‘We’re so glad you’ve come to help us,’ and ‘God Bless you,” Smith added. “They’re really God-loving people, and they have faith that it’s going to be all right ... They’re going to pull through it.”

Smith, who is scheduled to return home to Portland next weekend, said that one of the most common ailments she’s helping to treat is respiratory problems caused by contaminants that are being stirred up during clean-up efforts.

Biloxi, which is home to Kessler Air Force Base, took a 1-2-3 punch of 130 mph winds, storm surge and heavy rainfall from Katrina. “It’s flattened up by the bay. On the point, one house will be moved into the middle of the street, and the next one is flattened,” Smith said.

Despite dealing with less-than-palatial accommodations and stifling heat and humidity, Smith said she is glad she came.

“This was a very good experience for me. Very rewarding. I’ve really enjoyed it,” she said. “I’ve worked with a great bunch of people.”[[In-content Ad]]Almost exactly a year after helping in hurricane recovery efforts, rural Portland resident Jim Bruner is heading south once again.

Bruner, who has been a volunteer for the American Red Cross for more than 45 years, was scheduled to leave this afternoon for Dallas.

He and five other volunteers from the Hoosier Heartland Chapter of the American Red Cross are delivering vehicles and supplies to those displaced by Hurricane Katrina.

The two-week assignment could also evolve into a relief mission for the aftermath of Hurricane Rita, which is set to hit southeast Texas about the same time as Bruner and the local team of volunteers arrive in Dallas. That city could be hit by the remnants of Rita after it makes landfall.

Bruner, who spent two weeks in Florida last fall in the aftermath of Hurricane Ivan, said he enjoys helping.

“I’m capable. I’m healthy enough to do it, and it just makes me feel good. I don’t sit around much,” Bruner said this morning before driving to Muncie to receive instructions. “It’s rewarding, but stressful.”