Marvin Peterson spends 16 days in bullseye of Hurricane Katrina years ago
By ROWENA PLETT
Staff writer
When Hurricane Katrina made landfall on Aug. 29, it came on shore along the coastline of Mississippi. Along with high winds, it created a 25 to 30-foot-high surge of water which pushed everything in its path one-half mile or more inland into one huge, 100-mile-long, washline of debris.
That is the area where Marvin Peterson of Lincolnville spent 16 days in November, assisting with cleanup efforts between Beloxi, Gulfport, Long Beach, and Pass Christian.
Peterson went as a Kansas Wildlife and Parks volunteer. Most of his time was spent at a large two-story apartment complex in Long Beach, where many of the 500 units were destroyed and the remainder received extensive damage.
Although the hurricane had struck two months earlier, this was the first time cleanup crews had come to this area.
Peterson worked with five other volunteers from KW&P along with firemen and police officers from various Kansas locales.
Working for the Harrison County coroner's office, Peterson's job was to watch for bodies as well as firearms, valuables, and American flags as demolition crews scooped up bucketsful of debris with large track hoes.
When something was spotted, Peterson halted the work and made a recovery.
"We were always on edge, not knowing what we would find," he said.
During his time there, two bodies, many firearms and flags, and some valuables like safes and jewelry boxes were found. Unwrapped wedding gifts were found in one apartment.
Peterson's biggest recovery was a satchel containing $356,000 in government savings bonds. He turned it in to the Long Beach Police Department.
Once he saw what looked like a huge skull sticking out of the debris. Upon examination, it turned out to be half of a wooden Mardi Gras mask.
The volunteers endured terrible smells that permeated the entire area, including those from raw sewage and rotten meat.
"They told us when we arrived if we had soft stomachs, we had better go home," Peterson said. "The smells were incredible."
At low tide, 18-wheelers could be seen sticking out of the bay. Huge casino barges had been washed up and over Interstate 90, which follows the coastline.
Peterson saw some people living out of their cars, many of them former casino employees.
"There were jobs available everywhere," he noted. "Stores, contractors, fast food places, and restaurants that were open were looking for workers."
The volunteers stayed in the Harrison County Courthouse, a staging area where they signed out and in every day. They went through several checkpoints before being allowed into the devastated area.
They worked 12 hours a day, seven days a week in temperatures averaging 80 degrees and 90 percent humidity.
"The people were very nice," Peterson said. "They asked where we were from and when we said 'Kansas,' they said Kansas was a front-runner state in the recovery effort."
They told him they had not known much about Kansas before, but now they knew about the generosity of its people.
Area residents praised church groups and other religious organizations as being the quickest and most effective in responding to the disaster.
One religious group from Indiana still was providing three hot meals a day for residents and volunteers.
Though many residents had lost almost everything, Peterson said, they ultimately realized the most important thing was that they had survived.
After his firsthand view of the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina, Peterson said, "I don't see any way you could prepare for something like this."
His experience will never be forgotten.
"I went on a voluntary basis, and I'm glad I went," he said. "It was a humbling experience."
