Making a difference: Former Marionite helps victims
Staff reporter
It's difficult to imagine being without common necessities — food, water, a bed, and a place to call home.
Former Marion resident and Marion High School graduate Gabe Higgins saw first-hand the devastation of Hurricane Katrina and the aftermath of thousands of people doing without.
Higgins, a resident of Winston-Salem, N.C., is an American Red Cross volunteer. He loaded his vehicle Sept. 2 and drove southwest as far as possible.
"I wanted to get down there and go as far as I could to the most devastated areas," Higgins said.
He left at 3:45 p.m. Sept. 2, and arrived at 3:45 a.m. at Slidell, La.
"I had to fill up five times along the way," Higgins said, because of the load of supplies and the urgency he felt to get to his destination.
The closer he got to the damaged area, the more he noticed the darkness of the night.
Darkness filled the sky where towns once were located. There were no lights from homes and businesses, and no activity in those communities.
"There weren't lights — nothing," Higgins said. He drove that way for a solid hour.
While at Slidell, La., darkness would be a constant reminder of the loss of everyday luxuries — electricity, water, sewer, and life.
When he arrived at Slidell, he was instructed to park his vehicle in a Wal-Mart parking lot.
Higgins slept in his vehicle until about 5 a.m. when he noticed people were lining up at the gas pumps.
"I was sixth out of probably 600 cars in line," Higgins said. The pumps opened at 9 a.m. and were out of fuel by 3 p.m.
The gas price wasn't any higher than some places at $2.45 per gallon for regular unleaded.
During the day, Higgins wore his Red Cross hat and helped serve food to people in shelters, and assisted military and police personnel as needed. But he felt he could do more.
In the evenings, he would load up his vehicle with supplies he purchased with his own money, and drove to more remote areas that weren't getting as much attention.
He took water, MREs (military ready-to-eat meals), gloves, and galoshes.
Every neighborhood looked the same, said Higgins, like a landfill. Houses were leveled. Pieces and parts of buildings, vehicles, and people's lives were scattered or piled everywhere.
"It was amazing, though. People were in the process of rebuilding by finding scrap, 4x8 boards and making A-frames to make do until the insurance adjuster arrived," Higgins said.
Higgins befriended Col. Glen Farrar, president of Slidell's emergency disaster response team. He traveled and worked side-by-side with the local leader. He even stayed one night with the colonel in his home.
Other nights, Higgins would sleep in his vehicle or the city building with the police officers.
Inmates incarcerated in the local jail was busy maintaining the facility by doing laundry, and other services around the clock for the police and military personnel.
One day, Higgins and the city engineer were given access to a Wal-Mart to purchase items for city workers.
Fifty shopping carts were loaded with boots, gloves, clothing, and other necessities for city workers.
Higgins' most memorable experience was that Saturday morning when he first arrived in Slidell. He went to a Red Cross facility to check in.
"A hundred yards from a check point not too far from the facility, I saw people standing outside a two-story house," Higgins said. There was a trash Dumpster precariously shoved against the side of the house. The people had made a make-shift camp site.
"I asked if they needed anything. They told me that no one had been there to check on them since the storm," Higgins said. He then realized these people didn't know there was an emergency facility so close to them.
"I could see the check point 100 feet away," Higgins said.
Boats had gone by the house before the waters subsided but no one had stopped to help. The people had been boiling water and eating whatever they could find during the past four days.
"I gave them water and gloves," Higgins said. His mother, Teresa Higgins, had sent religious books with inspirational messages. Higgins gave a woman one of those books.
Higgins asked if anyone else in the area needed assistance. He was told a woman pregnant with twins had stayed behind at her apartment nearby.
Later Higgins would be told 35 people had perished in the complex. He thought the death toll would be higher than reported because of all the bodies that won't be recovered.
"Not everybody was a registered citizen. True death toll numbers may never be known," Higgins said.
A lesson Higgins learned through this experience was to consider the smaller communities.
"I was headed for New Orleans," Higgins said. "It's not New Orleans and the major cities that need the most help."
He said many outlying areas still were not receiving assistance from the military and other emergency services.
Would he go again?
"You bet. I'd go in a heartbeat," said Higgins, only next time he would do more research and not necessarily follow the media.
"I would look for towns the size of Marion and try to help them," said Higgins.
