Disaster Relief: Hurricanes Katrina, Rita & Wilma

Pandita, San Antonio

I have learned a lesson on how all things work together for good. We had been disheartened when we had to move out of our house before being able to find a new one and had ended up staying at a pay-by-the-week motel. It was sufficient, but not really “home”. Then Katrina struck and we got really busy with the relief efforts, visiting the shelters. One goal of our work in the shelters was not to just have a one time impact on people by to continue with them, even as they moved out of the shelters and into other housing. We knew it would take time for them to heal and they needed to know they could count on us. Imagine my surprise when I went by to pay my weekly rent and the motel manager told me he had been looking everywhere for me and really wanted to talk with me. He said, Ï see by your badge that you are working with the Red Cross as a chaplain in the shelters and I really need your help. I am just swamped with evacuees moving in here and asking me all kinds of questions. Can I
send them to you?” The next morning he referred me to Wanda and her family of 18 who had recently moved in.

She explained that they had all been working together since the evacuation. First they had been in a relative’s small apartment, but then they had moved here temporarily. They were a large close-knit family who had a business in New Orleans. When the evacuation order came out, they got together and decided that the women and children would leave and the older teen boys and adult men would stay by the stuff, ride out the storm in the building and protect their business from looters. Wanda and the other women and children made it safely to Texas. They watched TV as the hurricane passed to the East of New Orleans, then they watched with horror as their neighborhood flooded when the levees broke. They wept and prayed for days fearing the worst for their husbands and fathers. Meanwhile, the men in New Orleans had bought an inflatable boat. With it they were able to work together, taking turns riding in the boat and swimming to safety. They spent a few days at the Superdome and then were transported to the Astrodome. You can only imagine Wanda’s great relief, hearing they all were safe. They spent a week in San Antonio recuperating and rejoicing that they were all alive. But the men still watched TV reports of looting and were very concerned about their business. Even though they knew they had lost everything, they wanted to return to New Orleans to rebuild. So yesterday morning the men left again for New Orleans. It was really too much for Wanda. All of the emotions of
the last weeks caught up with her and she was just inconsolable.

This is what I found when I walked into their room. I really had no words to offer, but when I prayed the Lord told me to be His arms and I just put my arms around her and held her like a child as she wept. This was just what she needed. We prayed together and she poured out her story, her worries and fears. Together we committed them to the Lord and she found peace. I will continue to check on Wanda and her family, giving them the Words of comfort and life that they need to get them through these troubled times.