Employees find encouragement after the storm

Hurricane Katrina left physical scars across the states of Louisiana and Mississippi, but emotionally and spiritually, residents seem to have learned a few lessons from the storm.  Here, a few employees share their stories of damage, faith and hope.

“We live day to day, thinking we are living a normal life in an unshakable reality.  If I can learn anything from Katrina, it is that reality is entirely subjective and can and does change in the blink of an eye. If seeing the victims of this devastating storm walking like ghosts has taught me anything, I hope it is to treasure and savor every moment with those I care about and to let them know that I can about them through words and deeds. We've lost something we can never, ever replace.  I am going to try desperately to hang on to all the good from now on and treasure it as I should have all along.”

Leeann Rasmussen
Social Studies Instructor, Jefferson Davis Campus

“My values have changed drastically post Katrina. I did have such a nice home, beautiful furniture, gorgeous yard.  Now those things do not matter in the least.  All I want is my family to be together again in some sort of little trailer in our front yard.  That would make me so very happy.  I’m sure, a few years down the road, I will once again want a nice home, but for now ‘nice’ things seem to have little to no meaning to me. When I do get back up on my feet, I’m going to do all that l can to help other people. 

“When we came home after the storm and found we had lost everything, I thought, ‘This is what it feels like to stand before the Lord.’ You have no earthly possessions, only what you have ever done for the Lord.  Then when we started pulling out everything and throwing it all out to the street, I started to feel depressed.  Not about the furniture, but about the loss of personal things. I don’t even have one picture of my deceased mother, my antique book collection, Great-Grandmother's china…things like that. It hurt to see all of your life sitting out by the roadside. 

“We had such large oaks and magnolias…every one of them went down. David's chainsaw had saltwater in it, so it wouldn’t start. People were passing every day asking for $1,000 to $1,000 to cut the trees for us.  One day, a caravan of young guys pulled up.  They were between the ages of 18-23 and had taken a semester out of school to come to Mississippi to cut people's trees for free.  All they wanted was to pray for us and give us a Bible. 

“All of our bibles had been destroyed. Everything was so wet.  We tried to dry a lot of it out in the sun, but the pages would tear or stick together. This group gave me the most beautiful leather-bound Bible you ever wanted to see. Each one of them signed his name in it and hugged us and promised to pray for us each day. When they handed us that Bible, I felt as though Jesus was standing right there comforting me. I don’t let that bible out of my sight now. I read it every night, and people are marking different scriptures they want me to read.

“Those young men and that bible restored my faith and renewed my spirits. They were from a group called Samaritan's Purse.  It was started by the son of Billy Graham.  They don’t take money for the help they give.  Truly, they were angels who came to my rescue.”   

Jackie Everett (pictured with daughter and JC Homecoming Queen Allison Everett)
Secretary to the Director of Admissions
Jackson County Campus

“My wife, Stella, my son Mark and I, like so many others, have been impacted by the wind and water associated with Hurricane Katrina. Monies saved for emergencies funded our Tallahassee, Fla., escape, allowing us to spend a few days with other Mississippians.

“During and after the hurricane, television images and commentary filled our channels, but the news reports centered almost exclusively on New Orleans, La. But in time, word arrived describing Katrina’s blow to the Mississippi Gulf Coast, and the mental imagery was depressing. Many homes, unaffected by the benchmark set by Hurricane Camille, were flooded, severely damaged or gone, and the owners faced the reality of not having flood insurance.

“My family moved the fourth day (post Katrina) to Pensacola, Fla., and lived with one of my wife’s nephews for the next 12 days. Two days later, my return to Mississippi was both uplifting and deflating – my older son was fine, but the front two-thirds of our Waveland home had floated, intact, over my picket fence and settled on both the street and neighbor’s lot. The other third was piled in another neighbor’s yard.

“Little was saved from the house, because when we arrived, the National Guard was chewing through the bedrooms and two of the bathrooms to open Market Street. There are no ill feelings for the National Guard members – they were simply doing their jobs. Unfortunately, we had stored most of our important belongings on closet shelves in those bedrooms; it is impossible to stuff 32 years into two cars.

“I commuted to the Perkinston Campus for the first post-Katrina faculty meeting to find a large group of people who were very happy to see me and learn my family was okay. Both administrators and other faculty offered money, clothing, housing and furniture.

“We accepted Al and Frankie Lee’s kind offer for us to live in their home until we could find one of our own. They also cooked some very good food and provided a car. Nothing can convey my family’s thanks to both Al and Frankie and to the many Perk family members who provided gifts, labor and other assistance both before and after our move into our new home in Wiggins.

“Yes, we did find and move into a new home. Also, the mortgage company we worked with made it possible for us to purchase without putting any cash into the deal and without the premium mortgage insurance (PMI) expense. Readily-available cash is important.

“Our move into the new house was greeted by many of the Perkinston Campus family cutting grass; cleaning walls, floors and appliances; and stacking storm debris at the curb. These hard-working individuals, and others, also brought furniture, new kitchen items and other important necessities. Life is good in Perkinston.

Ralph King
Networking Instructor
Perkinston Campus

Michelle Sekul with nephew Aiden

“The people with whom I work are wonderful.  My staff (Sharon White, Cindy Watts, Cassie Rogers, and LaShonna Ramey) has picked up any slack in a big way.  They are so understanding and kind.  One of my first days back at work, Kevin Brown (Louise and JB’s son) drove to my office with bags full of shoes.  He said, ‘I heard that you lost all of your shoes, so I went to Panhellenic at Southern, and I told the Tri-Delts that an old Tri-Delt lost all of her shoes, and they loaded me up.”  I just burst into tears.  I am wearing some of those shoes right now.

“Ladd Taylor, Melanie and Adam Stone, and Rachael Bolden spent hours at our house ripping out moldy, muddy sheet rock and insulation, moving broken appliances to the street, and making us laugh again, joking about eating MREs and entertaining us by singing silly songs that we would hear on the radio while we worked.  It was hot, and the smell was at times nauseating, but they didn’t complain.  They are wonderful people who truly care and who wanted to help. You just can’t have enough friends like that. 

“I could tell you story after story of how people have brought me pictures because they knew I lost a lot of mine and sent me flowers to brighten my day.  I have tried to personally thank everyone who has helped Jesse (my husband), my family and me, because their generosity and support means more than I could ever express. My thank-you list grows daily. 

“This whole experience has taught me what is truly important: family and friends.  You really don’t need all the stuff.  But it hurts to throw away your stuff, you know?  It’s hard to see thousands of dollars in furniture and appliances laying in your yard when you know that you don’t have flood insurance, and it will take you a long time to rebuild.  But then you think about those people who don’t know you and care about you enough to send you stuff and those people who do know you and break their back or go out of their way to help you.  It makes you feel like there is hope when you feel hopeless. And it makes you sad when you think, ‘Would I do this for someone if I were not affected?”    I know what the answer is now - I would, without question, because of what has happened to my family and me. And if I can make one person feel like those people I mentioned made me feel, like I have friends who care, it would be worth it.”

Michelle Sekul
Director, Admissions and Records
Perkinston Campus

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