Hurricane Helpers

By the time National Guard Pfc. Kyle Simmons arrived at an 86-year-old woman's house in New Orleans, he found her splitting her last can of peas with her dog.

Her ankle was infected with gangrene, and she had been sitting on the floor, which was soaked in water, for two to three days because she couldn't stand up.

Simmons of Winston encouraged her to seek medical care, but she refused, saying she didn't want to be separated from her dog.

Eventually, he and his fellow soldiers persuaded her to go to the hospital, and she was taken away by paramedics.

If she hadn't agreed, "she wouldn't have made it," Simmons said.

Simmons, 20, said he was glad to assist those affected by Hurricane Katrina, which surged through the Gulf Coast about three weeks ago. He was on duty with Roseburg's 1st Battalion 186th Infantry in New Orleans from Sept. 7 to 19.

He's among many Douglas County residents representing various organizations who left their families and jobs to help.

They've traveled to places like New Orleans; Biloxi, Miss.; Jackson, Va.; Alexandria, La.; and Houston. Some are still serving the people of that area and others have already returned home.

The National Guard sent about 75 soldiers from Douglas County and about 20 returned early because they had to attend school or run a small business. Roseburg Veterans Affairs Medical Center sent 15 volunteers to help out at VA medical centers in the region. Eleven employees have returned.

"We're very thankful to have a staff full of individuals willing to volunteer," said George Marnell, Roseburg VA Medical Center director.



<b>NATIONAL GUARD RESPONDS</b>

During Simmons' trip, his job was to check on those residents still living in their homes after the storm. Most people had already evacuated. He was supposed to encourage those who remained to do the same.

By staying, they risked their lives.

The floodwater surrounding their homes is contaminated from gasoline and industrial spills. It carries diseases such as typhoid, Hepatitis C, E. coli and tetanus, Simmons said.

A fellow soldier, Pvt. Justin Baughman, said the water is so bad he saw a man with sores on his body from walking in it. The man was picking up trash around his and his neighbor's homes in water 4 feet deep. When Baughman met him, the man was about to leave with a search and rescue team to receive medical attention.

Baughman, 21, of Roseburg was in the same Charlie Company as Simmons in New Orleans and did the same duty. They stayed overnight together with two other companies at a community college. He too was patrolling the neighborhoods by foot and boat.

They were given a map, and didn't have much trouble getting around, but some of the signs were missing or turned the wrong way from the hurricane winds. As they traveled, they breathed in air filled with the stench of sewer, trash and dead fish.

"It's all the bad smells you could think of at once," Simmons said.

In some parts of the city, homes were under 12 feet of water. But no matter what the conditions, there were people unwilling to leave.

Staff Sgt. Michael Blanchard of Roseburg, who was in the same company as Simmons and Baughman, met a man living on the second floor of his two-story house because the bottom floor was submerged in water. The man had two dogs, a cat and a bird with him and was using a boat to check on neighbors' pets, Blanchard said.

When Simmons and Blanchard asked the man to leave his home, he refused.

"He was like, 'This ain't nothing,'" Blanchard, 28, said. "'There ain't nothing wrong with New Orleans.'"

There were many pets that were abandoned by their owners, Blanchard said. He and the other National Guard soldiers helped animal control take them to shelters.

Blanchard said he found the people living there were resilient. He saw contractors from water and power companies coming in to make repairs.

"They're ready to rebuild and get back on track," he said.

Blanchard, Simmons and Baughman came back early to attend Umpqua Community College classes starting Monday.

"We're all pretty proud we got to help our own people," Baughman said. "Americans helping Americans."



<b>ROSEBURG VA HELPS</b>

Starting three days after the hurricane struck, the Roseburg VA employees began heading to the Gulf Coast.

Their mission was to fill in for Gulf Coast VA employees who hadn't shown up for work, and to relieve those employees who did come but had no belongings except for the clothes they wore. It was to provide help wherever needed.

The Roseburg VA has a list of 60 employees willing to volunteer in crisis situations, but this is the first time any were called to service, said Marnell, the Roseburg VA director.

One employee, Tim Land, went to Alexandria to send medicine to displaced veterans and another, Marjorie Cummings, to Houston to work with mentally ill patients from New Orleans who were agitated by the hurricane, new environment and people. They were there from Sept. 5-18.

Five employees, Stewart Anderson, Linda Witbeck, Jackie Barnett, Becki Cyphert and Bill Smith, went to Biloxi, Miss., and found much of the city reduced to rubble.

There were shrimp boat trolleys a mile inland lying on their sides, Cyphert described. All that remained of some homes were the cement foundations. People had spray painted their addresses on them to claim ownership, she said. There were no working traffic lights or street lamps, and civilians weren't allowed to drive after dark, Smith said.

"Most buildings were pretty much gutted out if they were still standing," Smith said.

The Biloxi VA Medical Center fared the storm well, however. There were a few broken windows and fallen trees on the property. While other places in town had no electricity, the VA had power from a generator.

When they first arrived, about half of the Biloxi VA's 1,500 employees hadn't been accounted for, Anderson said. By the time they left, about 85 percent had been found. They were there from Sept. 2-15.

Right now, 190 of the 3,400 employees at VA medical centers and outpatient clinics in the Gulf Coast region are unaccounted for. The highest number is from the New Orleans VA Medical Center, said Sharon Carlson, Roseburg VA community and public relations coordinator.

To help out, the Roseburg VA employees did different jobs. They cared for the center's increased patient load. Gulfport VA Medical Center's patients were being housed there because the center was demolished in Katrina's path, Anderson said.

Smith did his part by transporting people from the emergency room to shelters.

"I had to zigzag around trees and power lines ... I had no access to maps, and there were no street signs. It was a little challenging for an out-of-towner," Smith said.

One shelter was a local high school, and people were sleeping on the gym floor, he said. In town, other people could be seen living on the sidewalks outside of their destroyed homes, Anderson said. All they had was bottled water and military rations.

"They just looked shell-shocked," he said.

Many of the employees and their families were living at the Biloxi VA in spare patient rooms because they had nowhere else to go, Cyphert said. The VA was alive with the sounds of babies crying, children's laughter, dogs barking and birds chirping, she said. Gulf Coast VA employees were paid even if they weren't able to come to work.

"I was very impressed with the VA for helping its staff like that," Cyphert said.

Witbeck helped the employees further as a crisis counselor.

"There was a lot of trauma. A lot of denial from the loss, and there was disbelief," Witbeck said.

Federal Emergency Management Agency representatives came in for an hour each day and talked to them about their options, she said.

Cyphert and Smith said they thought the people had a positive attitude, despite their losses. Many of the people who'd lost all their belongings said they were grateful to at least have their loved ones, Cyphert said.

"They might be down, but by no means out," Smith said.



* You can reach reporter Danielle Gillespie at 957-4202 or by e-mail at dgillespie@newsreview.info.