Naperville Responds to hurricane crisis

When your family and close friends live in a storm-prone region, you likely behave as I do: When they're threatened, you call to be sure they're OK.

If you've lived or visited there, you can imagine the devastation and it calls you to be particularly concerned.

Since the devastation of Hurricane Katrina, the storm season that runs from June through November has been prominently fixed on my radar.

More than ever, terms such as "storm surge," "high wind velocity," "heavy rain," "flooding," "mudslides," and "tornadoes in the aftermath of a hurricane" have meaning.

After Katrina, our community launched a hurricane relief initiative called Naperville Responds and raised money to build 20 homes in the Gulf Coast city of Pass Christian, Miss. The city has seen considerable progress this past year as it hopes to again reach its pre-Katrina population of 6,500. The Naperville Responds partnership with the Rotary Club of Pass Christian and the Mennonites Disaster Relief has built hope and homes. Many folks from local church groups, down there on mission trips, have built strong relationships too.

From the moment I heard about Hurricane Gustav and saw the map of its path toward New Orleans and the Gulf Coast, I began paying attention.

In 2005, 80 percent of the homes in Pass Christian were destroyed or severely damaged. The business district and 50 of the upscale high-taxed homes were destroyed, creating significant economic loss.

Located on the Mississippi Sound almost equidistant between New Orleans and Mobile, Ala., Pass Christian is about a 90-minute car ride from either city. Two major highways, Interstate 10 and the older U.S. Highway 90, connect Pass Christian with these towns.

While I was glued to television - with my heart in my nervous stomach as I also witnessed the historic events from the Democratic and Republican conventions - I was struck by the whirlwind of breaking news on many fronts.

Before the hurricane, my acquaintance of nearly three years, Ron Daley, a photographer for Pass Christian's Gazebo Gazette, sent me a news item with predictions that Gustav was speeding up. Typically, every week, he sends updates about progress in Pass Christian, some of which are posted on the Naperville Responds Web site, napervilleresponds.org.

On Aug. 29, the third anniversary of Katrina hitting the Gulf Coast, he sent photos after folks in Pass Christian dedicated the Katrina Memorial in the War Memorial Park.

By contrast two days later, Daley wrote that the casinos along the Gulf Coast (none are located in Pass Christian) were officially closed and schools would be closed on Tuesday.

"Most churches are closed this morning but our church is not, so we'll be headed there for 10 a.m.," he said.

According to Daley, the National Guard went through town on Sunday to notify people in FEMA trailers and Mississippi cottages of the mandatory evacuation by 2 p.m.

As a news photographer who lives on the border of Pass Christian in Long Beach, a little to the east, Daley opted to ride the storm, literally, as he traveled the streets by car to check on the storm in progress as well as the safety of the Naperville Responds homes.

"As Gustav went along, we were watching its path as it held its course going west of New Orleans," Daley said. "I heard in one report that only emergency vehicles, the police and the news media were on the streets.

"The police stopped me, but I had my press pass. If the storm's path had been any different, I would have left."

Daley said the power had gone out in half of Pass Christian, likely the result of a downed tree, but most streets were clear Monday.

Daley said the gas station, yacht club and Shaggy's Harbor Bar and Grill seem OK.

"There are several shrimp boats beached near Highway 90, as well as at least one shipping container," he said. "The harbor is still mostly covered in water."

By Monday evening, Daley said it was overcast with a light drizzle. And though a number of streets were still impassable, to his knowledge, none of the homes had been flooded.

But Tuesday morning, heavy rain fell - harder than any time all weekend, and I realized it was not over yet.

"The harbor is in a lot worse shape than what I described," Daley reported Tuesday night. "Shaggy's looked like (there was) not very much damage from Scenic Drive, but (it was) much worse when (I was) up next to it today. Lots of Shaggy's equipment - freezers, coolers, stoves - are spread up and down Highway 90.

"Lots more pier damage than I saw yesterday. The temporary Yacht Club has been destroyed along with some temporary small buildings that were on their property."

So I continue to worry about our friends on the Gulf Coast.

"Pass Christian," Daley said, "is not a place for the faint of heart."