“Disasters and recovery I think are going to be really big issues in the future, especially as the climate changes. We’re going to have more storms, more fires, more droughts. And if we don’t have people prepared and ready, we’re going to be in trouble.” – Jordan Braun, CMU student of Disaster Recovery and MDS volunteer
“I myself never had much of a disaster of any kind. My house never was destroyed by water or fire or anything. So I feel we as Christians should help people who are less fortunate.” – Alta Zimmerman, MDS volunteer serving in California
HURRICANES KATRINA AND RITA
August 29 and September 14, 2005 – With a scope and scale that was unprecedented, hurricanes Katrina and Rita reconfigured disaster response on many levels. MDS clocked a record 124,000 volunteer days over 5 years across Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Texas, helping more than 1,600 disaster survivors. Even while answering urgent need, MDS gave renewed attention to mitigation — raising homes and installing hurricane straps — so that residents would be safer during future storms. From rebuilding homes for indigenous communities in Grand Bayou, Louisiana — where supplies had to be brought in by boat — to helping Vietnamese communities in Bayou La Batre, Alabama, to partnering with residents of the Lower Ninth Ward of New Orleans, MDS brought people formerly on the margins into a renewed sense of hope. Response to hurricanes Katrina and Rita also sparked at least two “firsts” for MDS. One was the Partnership Home Program (PHP) that allowed church and community groups to construct a good portion of the house on their own turf, then deliver and complete it for the disaster survivor. The second was the creation of the RV Program that brought a new way for retired individuals to volunteer, utilizing their recreational vehicles on job sites.
Louisiana
Carmalita Sylve, Louisiana
Louisiana
Scaling up As disasters increased in size and strength, so did MDS. Volunteers began learning how to build homes that fared better in “the next disaster,” bringing mitigation into fine focus for MDS.
British Columbia
“Our community has been here for 300 years. I’m excited to come back home. We’re finally getting where we’re supposed to be.” – Carmalita Sylve, Grand Bayou, Louisiana
California
2000
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TERRORIST ATTACKS
September 11, 2001 – MDS’s response to the terrorist attacks led to an analysis of “best practice” that went on to help form the Strategies for Trauma Awareness and Resilience (STAR) training program. Understanding the emotional and physical impacts of traumatic events, the STAR program has since helped many responders from MDS and other organizations in incidents of public violence, such as the tragic Nickel Mines school shooting in Pennsylvania in 2006.
Montana
New York City
behind the hammer 13
Louisiana
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