We are back from our Katrina Relief Project. I am proud to report our trip was both safe and successful. Before we left we knew we were not going to be able to save the world, but wanted the opportunity to help as many as we could with our small crew and limited time.

I have had lots of people call and ask about our trip to Louisiana and the Katrina Relief Project. This is the way I saw it......enjoy.

After a couple weeks of gathering tools, first aide and safety products, food, drinks, and building materials and supplies, we were ready to pick up and load our truck last Sunday.

With all of our supplies and tools secured in the truck, our crew (Jim, Skip, Rex, and Joan) departed Flower Mound around 5:30 AM Monday morning.

The ten hour drive across I-20 and down I-55 was uneventful. We were about an hour south of Jackson Mississippi before we began to see wind damage with a few street signs down and a trees snapped off. By the time we arrived in Bogalusa, we were in awe at the number of trees down. 

Some of the areas must have had tornado activity because we saw property that had minimal damage (if any) and just a few feet away another property was demolished.

These two pieces of property sat side by side. It was unbelievable how one looked like there had never been a hurricane and the other lost about 80% of its trees. By the way I am standing in the same spot for both pictures.

We arrived at Joan's Mother, Floye's house just prior to dark, but immediately began our work. We surveyed the damage at her home and made a trip to Joan's Sister Arnell's home to evaluate the damage and make a plan.

Arnell lives in the country in a small home. She lost lots of trees and even more branches from trees. She was very fortunate that none of the tress landed on her house and her roof was not damaged.

Unfortunately, during the storm the wind blew so hard that the rain was driven into the attic soaking the insulation and sheetrock, resulting in the ceiling collapsing in her bedroom. The carpet, walls, furniture, and most of Arnell's clothes were soaked and after two weeks without electricity the wet carpet and mold had developed quite a smell. The overhead ceiling fan was also inoperative.

Although we originally went to Arnell's with the intent to make a "plan" for the next day, we decided we needed to remove the furniture and carpet from Arnell's home that evening. We decided to attack the sheetrock and insulation in the morning.

The next morning we were up before dawn and immediately began repairing the fence that separates Floye's home and pool from a school yard. By the time breakfast was ready, we had about half of the fence repaired. After breakfast we finished the majority of the fence, reloaded our tools in the truck and were headed to Arnell's home.

In addition to the water damage, Arnell had an electrical short that left a portion of her home without power.

Our team attacked several projects at the same time reminiscent of TV's "Monster House" program. Skip was our designated electrician and within a short time had isolated the short and had power on in the entire house. He also removed the old light/fan and had a plan to replace it.

While Skip tackled the electrical problems, Rex and I removed the sheetrock and insulation. Wow, what a nasty job.

You might note in our pictures that we wore helmets, masks, gloves, and eye protection during the entire project. Joan and her sister Jeanette were dispatched to purchase the supplies we would need to repair Arnell's home. 

By the time Joan and Jeanette returned with the materials, Rex and Jim had completed the demolition of the wet ceiling and begun cutting trees. Skip had also finished the electrical repairs and was busy scrapping up the wet carpet backing that had been glued to the floor.

By noon, the project was in full swing with Joan's family (three sisters and nephew) pitching in helping Arnell clean and sort through clothes, dragging off limbs and tree trunk parts, and putting the wet materials removed from the rain soaked bedroom in the trash piles on the roadside.

We were due a break but no one was willing to call for it when the Red Cross Disaster Relief truck came along and offered us COLD water and a plate of stew. It was not exactly the best meal any of us had eaten, but the break and water were needed.

We worked until well after dark but before stopping for the evening we had removed all of the downed trees and limbs from Arnell and her daughter Stacey's homes and had a mountain of trees stacked on the side of the road. We also had replaced the majority of Arnell's ceiling and had generally completed everything except replacing the carpet at Arnell's house. The 14 hour day ended with us really enjoying a couple beers and some of Floye's home made country cooking. 

Our third day started like the day prior with a coupleof hours work at Floye's before she called us in for a big breakfast. We repaired a hole in her metal roof, finished the fence project we started the day prior, and used Rex's Jeep to pull a downed tree back to the upright position.

After breakfast we were off to Mandeville and Joan's other sister, Jeanette's home. Jeanette was also very lucky. A HUGH pine tree snapped off and fell within inches of her house. Had the tree fallen on her home it would have cut it in half.

We saw several of Jeanette's neighbors who were NOT as fortunate.

Within a couple of hours we had cut and removed the huge tree from Jeanette's yard and trimmed unsafe branches from her neighbor's yard. After a great oyster Po-Boy lunch we were headed back to Arnell's to replace the ruined carpet, repair some attic damage, and replace her bedroom light fixture.

We finished around 8:30 after another 13 hour day and again returned to Floye's for another great home cooked meal.

Our last day was used to tie up a few odds and ends around Floye's and reload our truck for the 10 hour trip back to Texas and pose for a few pictures with our Stihl Power Equipment.

The local Texas STIHL representative donated chains and chain sharpeners to our cause. As it turns out, we had four Stihl Cain Saws, a Stihl Pole Chain Saw, two Stihl blowers, two Stihl Chain Saw Chaps (the one I wore saved my leg when a chain flew off the bar), two Stihl helmet/ear protection/face shield combination helmets, and a variety of other Stihl ear protection and safety glasses....this sounds like a Stihl commercial...it wasn't meant to be, but our Stihl equipment worked GREAT.

On our return drive, we met Mark and Cheryl Byrd for lunch in northern Louisiana. They were traveling to Mississippi to make plans for his Mother's funeral. Sadly she passed away while we were in Louisiana. Please keep Mark in your thoughts and prayers.

We originally said we would not save the world, but there are now four households that are much closer to recovery.

I also told you in the beginning I would be very judicious with your donations. I returned all of the materials that we did not use and have returned that money to our Katrina Fund.

I have been in touch with Kathy concerning her family in Mississippi who lost EVERYTHING and Gay Lynn who's family lives on the West Bank of New Orleans. Their ultimate needs are not known at this time, but the balance of the funds collected will be used to help them and other New Orleans friends and family.

If you or a close friend or family member has a need that we are unaware of, please let me know.

I want to thank all who loaned or offered to loan us tools, who donated products and materials, who ran errands to help us get ready, who have donated money, and any other way has helped us. You are a very generous group of friends.

I would be quite remise if I didn't thank Rex and Skip for their time and expertise. I could not have picked two more hard working and knowledgeable team members. I also want to thank Joan and Jeanette who worked like donkeys schlepping trees, carpet, and other water soaked items. When I asked for "Able Bodied Men", I was WRONG. These ladies worked harder than most men would have.

Thanks for everything.