Hurricane Season Ends, Recovery Continues

Hurricane season ends, recovery continues (December, 2005) Though the 2005 hurricane season ended on November 30, increased levels of food distribution continue here at the Bay Area Food Bank. The people on the Mississippi and Alabama coasts are still struggling, and we are still working to help them with the food and supplies they need. Thankfully, immediate needs are being met now that the majority of communities have power and water services restored to all but the most severely damaged homes. Having just finished the most active hurricane season in history, it’s time to look back on the season. Last year, suffering the impact of Hurricane Ivan and seeing the other Hurricanes crisscross central Florida, Food Bank staff thought we had seen the worst. Not so, Hurricane Katrina was a worst-case scenario. But, many forget that by the time Katrina struck, a record breaking number of early storms had already been recorded. The Bay Area Food Bank staff was just completing support related to the July landfall of Hurricane Dennis which caused significant damage as it came across in Navarre Beach , and continued through portions of Santa Rosa and Escambia County , Florida . We distributed over 120,000 pounds of food through our Pace, Florida warehouse following Hurricane Dennis with the last community distribution occurring on August 20th. Then along came Katrina. Hurricane Katrina was a new challenge for the Food Bank, and the network. Coping with damage to both our facilities, the loss of use of the Gulfport Subsidiary, and the shear scope of the disaster caused the staff of 24 to take on a workload routinely handled by three times their number while also dealing with damaged homes on a personal level. Yet, the staff was able to distribute over 4 million pounds in the first 30 days following the storm, begin the rebuilding of their damaged homes and maintain a positive spirit. Hurricane season ended 90 days after Katrina’s Mississippi landfall. Weekly requirements have gradually declined from the 1 million plus pounds per week in disaster supplies to the 200,000 pounds per week range. While the 7 million pounds of food we’ve distributed has been invaluable to recovery, it remains difficult to gauge the next phase of Katrina recovery. We are still working through over 20 Mississippi organizations ensuring people have the food and supplies they need. But a new wrinkle as entered the picture. Katrina devastated the 13 Casinos on the Mississippi coast which employed members of 15 to 20% of the households in the area. Most Casinos were able to cover wages for 90 days after Katrina. And, while three Casinos will reopen before January 1st, the others will not be able to continue to pay employees and are months away from reopening. We will now see a surge in unemployment, causing additional people to need assistance in the coming months. This Christmas season is going to be very difficult for many families. Still, we consistently see evidence that America cares. Toy drives small and large, Holiday meal programs and a host of other creative efforts show America ’s concern every day. The New Year holds great promise for improvement with the arrival of building supplies, organization of volunteer construction teams, rebuilding and reopening of businesses and passage of Government recovery legislation to help with road and bridge repairs. Unlike New Orleans , the people of the Coast were able to stay close to their home, they’ve returned to whatever is left and are working hand in hand with their neighbors rebuilding communities. I am confident the support of America’s Second Harvest, The Nation’s Food Bank Network, as well as all the donations provided from across the America are going to help us maintain our support to the community until the task of rebuilding is done.For additional information contact:Shearie Archer or Anita Havel, Bay Area Food Bank – 251-653-1617 sarcher@bayareafoodbank.org or ahavel@bayareafoodbank.org