One year later, Father Paul Gros remembers the faces.
The faces of individuals and families struggling in the aftermath of Hurricane Ida, which slammed into the Louisiana coast on Aug. 29, 2001.
They began to show up at an impromptu distribution center St. Margaret Queen of Scotland Church in Albany, where Father Gros is parochial vicar, established. They were seeking food, water or perhaps just a word of comfort and a friendly shoulder to shed a few tears for lives that would forever be altered.
St. Margaret would serve more than 10,000 meals in the first 12 days of distribution and doled out such supplies as chain saws and cleaning and First Aid supplies.
“Many were extremely grateful,” Father Gros said. “We just need volunteers to set up and find out where the needs are.”
He said St. Margaret began fielding calls from church parishes and friends in the Baton Rouge area asking if they could help and what was needed. Father Gros said he and pastor Father Jamin David decided to open up the parish hall, since it had sustained minimal damage, as a distribution center.
Word quickly spread and before long truckloads of supplies and food were arriving often and immediately distributed.
C.J. Roy, disaster relief director for Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Baton Rouge, said he remembers finalizing relief efforts as the storm approached, unaware of the carnage he and his staff were about to encounter.
“Any potential storm that may affect us is closely monitored prior to landfall,” Roy said. “As an agency we implement plans with staff to prepare and protect their families and the clients that we serve.
“Catholic Charities is able to assemble teams of staff to go into the community and assess what the needs may be within 24 to 48 hours of the passing of the storm.”
St. Margaret and CCDBR were just small samples of the generosity of churches, agencies and individuals from throughout the diocese who provided assistance. Their efforts were far reaching, even down to Dulac, considered ground zero of Ida’s landfall, where Mike Fulmer, a parishioner at St. Joseph Church in Ponchatoula, played a major role in securing campers to residents who had lost their homes.
“In retrospect, you look for the silver lining in the midst of a disaster like that,” Father Gros said. “It truly showed that even a smaller community like St. Margaret can do a lot to help those in need.”
“I definitely think our parishioners were living out the Gospel,” Father Gros said. “I tried to help them see that ‘what you did for the least of your brothers and sisters’ you did it for Jesus himself.”
“To have ‘spiritual eyes’ to see beyond just the person in front of you, but to see ‘Jesus in need’ seeking your love through the service you show others,” he said. “This helps give meaning to our charity that goes far beyond just have a ‘good feeling inside.’ ”
The same holds true at St. Joseph Church in French Settlement where pastor Father Jason Palermo coordinated efforts with volunteers to serve hundreds of meals daily. As he did during the flood of 2016, Father Palermo donned his chef’s apron and toiled over a hot stove.
Although Catholic Charities is not a first responder Roy said the agency quickly set up points of distribution (PODs) in Convent and Greensburg to distribute food, water and other supplies.
The agency also visited Red Cross shelters to assist families getting home by providing transportation assistance, clothing and initial case work.
“From previous experience we are well aware of the immediate needs of survivors,” Roy said.
He said one of his main roles during a natural disaster is coordinating with other agencies and local and staff offices to address the emerging needs within the community, such as distributing clothing and personal care supplies to those who evacuated to shelters or assisting survivors in applying for disaster related assistance and initial disaster recovery case work.
Roy said recovery efforts were aided by establishing the Virtua Case Management service with the assistance of Catholic Charities USA. He said Catholic Charities affiliates in Missouri, Iowa, Kentucky, New York, Tennessee and Florida provided 16 staff members with disaster related experience to remotely assist survivors to locate and receive assistance to meet their disaster related needs, allowing CCDBR staff to secure assistance such as transportation, rent and utilities to survivors.
CCDBR has extensive experience in recovery efforts, responding to disasters that include Hurricanes Rita, Isaac, Laura, Delta and the 2016 flood.
CCDBR recently staffed a 10-day community outreach event in Hammond to identify Ida survivors still in need of recovery services. The staff enrolled 205 survivors in the disaster case management program.
CCDBR also recently purchased a refrigerated truck with the assistance of CCUSA that will help the agency to distribute supplies to survivors after an event.
For now, all eyes are focused on the Gulf of Mexico, hoping the crystal blue waters remain calm through the end of November.
“I pray to God we don’t have another one this year,” Father Gros said, hoping the only faces he sees this hurricane season are smiling.