Life After The Storm

By Jim Jerving, CorrespondentBILOXI, Miss.–When Hurricane Katrina hit the coast of Mississippi on August 29, 2005, the suffering and destruction that resulted had a life that endured long after the event. Daily life for the Gulf Coast residents was changed forever.“Normal as we knew it will never return; normal ceased to exist,” said Charles Elliott, president of the Mississippi Credit Union Association.The effects of tragedy on the human psyche fail to fit into tidy packages; they vary from person to person and echo long into the future. Many become understandably depressed; they withdraw from life and give up. Others grit their teeth and start to put their lives back together. The following account is of a young mother who followed the latter course with courage and determination. Elizabeth Kommersmith, her husband Mike, and two small children lost everything to Katrina—their best friend, home, possessions and a cat. It is also a story of the triumph of the human spirit in spite of unending losses and heartache. Elizabeth’s story is reminiscent of Anne Frank, the Dutch schoolgirl, who suffered and died in the Bergin-Belsen concentration camp in 1945, who wrote in her now famous Diary of Anne Frank: “I still believe, in spite of everything, that people are truly good at heart.” Before the DelugeElizabeth and Mike moved from Akron, Ohio to Biloxi, Mississippi in 1997. Mike took a job with CableOne Advertising and Elizabeth started working as a teller with Keesler Federal Credit Union, the state’s largest credit union. After about 18 months, she was promoted to auditor and worked in this position for the next five years. In 2005, she started working in the information technology department at the credit union. Like many young couples following the uneven path of the American dream, they scrimped and saved their money. They bought a house with an adjoining mother-in-law cottage—separate properties with two mortgages in the historic Edgewater Park district, built in the early 1920s. It was a costly venture, but they knew it would be a good place to raise a family.Modern weather technology has made it possible to predict storms and hurricanes with reasonable accuracy and provide time to prepare. This can help to organize efforts to fight a storm, but often confusion reigns. This was the case with Katrina and the citizens of Biloxi. Cars fleeing the city were running out of gas and breaking down on the highway. All of the gas stations for 200 miles from Biloxi were shut down because they also ran out of gas. There were no hotel rooms available for 400 miles.The Kommersmiths decided to stay in the city since their car had a small gas tank and they lacked an alternative destination. And most important, they didn’t want to travel with a new baby and take the chance of being stranded on the road.Many Gulf Coast residents based their emergency plans on Hurricane Camille, which in 1969 had sustained winds of 200 miles per hour for several hours. The residents also calculated their safety and insurance needs on the government’s 100-year flood plain. Only one credit union in Mississippi had flood insurance.“Insurance agents told people they were wasting their money by buying flood insurance,” said Charles Elliott. “Property outside the government’s flood plain that didn’t flood during Camille had water as high as 10 feet after Katrina.” The Kommersmith’s home and the adjoining cottage were 28 feet above sea level. Before the storm, Elizabeth took photos of “every single inch of the home.” They decided to wait out the storm at her mother-in-law’s house which was one block away and 35 feet above sea level.Katrina’s RageKatrina made Hurricane Camille look like a thunderstorm. Hurricane winds lasted for 17 hours and a 30-feet storm surge caused flooding for 6 to 12 miles inland. Few were prepared for the destruction and misery that followed. It was one of the most costly disasters in American history.Elizabeth and Mike watched as Katrina made landfall and surged through Biloxi. They viewed a muddy stew of debris floating down the street, which included everything from cars to computers. The water came up to the doorsteps of her father-in-law and mother-in-law’s home, but didn’t enter or cause serious damage.Mike and Elizabeth’s home and cottage didn’t fare as well. The front door of their home exploded from the storm surge and the house took in five feet of water. “We were in a state of shock. Our entire home was covered in black mud and sewer water; it was completely destroyed,” said Elizabeth. “We tried to salvage anything we possibly could out of the house.”There was little to salvage, though. They were forced to throw away most of their belongings—furniture, clothing, baby toys, books, tools and appliances. The cottage in their back yard also took in the same amount of water and the foundation was damaged beyond repair. The cottage brought in $600 a month to help pay the mortgage note, which was now lost.Many of her co-workers at Keesler Credit Union also experienced the same destruction. Out of a total of 350 employees, 100 lost their homes or their dwellings soon became inhabitable. Marshall Law was declared in Biloxi and other parts of Mississippi.Employees of Keesler came to work after the storm. Some of them were working in the only clothes they had; they too, had lost everything. They worked as many hours as they could. Elizabeth and Mike worked 12 to 18 hours every day. They both felt that their work was important to the people of Biloxi and offered a measure of sanity to the chaos that their lives had become. A Beautiful, Hidden PearlElizabeth tried to pack up all of her important possessions before the storm, and in the confusion two irreplaceable family heirlooms were left behind, but miraculously survived the storm. Her grandmother had crocheted a blanket for her newborn baby daughter. The blanket was one of the last hand-made items her Grandmother would make for the family.“As we surveyed our living room assessing the damage, I saw the blanket, perfectly folded and unharmed as it sat on the back of our couch just glowing like a beautiful pearl hidden inside of an oyster, the blanket was one of the few things that were unharmed,” said Elizabeth. “My 97-year-old great grandfather gave me a watch; it was the only piece of jewelry that survived,” said Elizabeth. “He had been my friend and my hero. The jewelry was ruined by the salt water. When I opened the drawer there sat my grandfather’s watch, unharmed among the ruined jewelry.” Reactions to stress and trauma, as previously noted, take many forms. Mike was already suffering from a poison ivy reaction that got worse and resulted in a staph infection. Overwhelmed and suffering from shock, he became withdrawn and his speech was soon limited to only a few words. “He would not discuss what we were seeing or how he felt about the situation, or offer suggestions as to what we should do next,” said Elizabeth. “He internalizes everything; he passed out at our house. It was a stressed induced attack, like a heat stroke, one side of his body was affected and his speech was slurred.”The elderly and young are especially vulnerable to disasters like Katrina. More than 100,000 children in Mississippi and Louisiana suffer from post traumatic stress after the hurricanes of Katrina and Rita, according to Charles Elliott. Picking up the Pieces of a LifeImmediately after the hurricane struck, the situation went from bad to desperate. There was a lack of hot water, electricity and fuel. The family had no means to sanitize milk bottles for the baby. Elizabeth’s mother, great aunt and uncle drove down from Ohio with a U-haul and supplies. Elizabeth’s mother worked for the State Health Department in Ohio. She obtained special permission from the Ohio Health Commissioner to make a rescue mission down to Biloxi to pick up the girls. The plan was to take them back to live with her until Mike and Elizabeth could stabilize a better living arrangement for their children. The mother’s offer of help was a godsend because the Kommersmiths found themselves isolated in their neighborhood by fallen trees and debris which left no possible way to get their children to a safer situation “Our youngest daughter, Olivia was only seven weeks old and was already struggling with allergies and difficulty breathing before the storm hit,” said Elizabeth. “Our oldest daughter, Madelyn, was only 17 months old and experienced symptoms of post traumatic stress. She stopped eating for almost a whole week after the storm hit.” After living with her mother-in-law in tight quarters for one week, the arrangement became strained. Elizabeth and Mike moved out and lived with friends from September to December 2005. The friends helped Elizabeth salvage some of the possessions that survived the storm. Later, one of the friends, Lyle Mallet, died of a heart attack. He was only 44-years-old. Both of Elizabeth’s cats were inadvertently left behind in the storm; one survived but the other cat died in a separate accident. As they drove to Lyle’s funeral with both children, their car broke down. They had to arrange a ride home and find the funds to fix the car.The First TrailerAfter the storm FEMA had difficulties getting trailers to people who were in need. It seemed like everyone was on a waiting list. Mike’s employer, CableONE Advertising, arranged for employees who lost their home to receive a trailer for temporary living quarters. The company purchased and delivered about 40 travel trailers to their employees.Their new home was a 17-feet travel trailer with one bedroom as big as the bed itself, a tiny bathroom, a small kitchen and dining room. The trailer was completely equipped with a little television, sheets, towels, dishes and other essentials. The trailer was delivered one month after the storm, but because of red tape from the city—power company regulations and permits—they were not able to use it for another whole month. During this time they continued to live with friends. The essentials were donated by the Mike’s fellow employees. Mike and Elizabeth continued to receive care packages from his co-workers that were filled with clothes, books and other personal items.“The trailer was not connected into our sewer line which meant we had to manually empty the tank once a week and wheel the contents to the sewer trap,” said Elizabeth. “That is one thing I learned how to do that I never in my life thought I would need to master.”After the trailer was hooked up, Elizabeth and Mike decided to bring their children back home. Elizabeth’s mother brought both children back to Biloxi during the last week in November “It took a while for Madelyn to even come to us; she almost acted like she was scared of us,” said Elizabeth. “After being separated from our babies for over two months we quickly realized we had made it through the hardest part of our recovery.”The trailer was placed on the Kommersmith’s property which was only one mile away from their jobs. Because of the close quarters, it was impossible to live in the trailer full time. They spent half of their time in the trailer and the other half with friends which would include a two to four hour round trip drive to work. Before the bridges were destroyed the same trip took only 20 minutes.Life in a FEMA TrailerThey applied for a FEMA trailer, but their application was originally denied because they were living with friends. They were finally approved for a 31-feet FEMA trailer and moved in on December 26, 2005. The original trailer was picked up by CableONE once their FEMA trailer was delivered.While they were grateful to have the privacy, there were constant hardships of living in the tight space. The debris-laden environment of Biloxi attracted swarms of gnats and other insects while both daughters suffered daily insect bites. Dust covered their yard and vehicles and crept inside the trailer like an unwelcome guest. The older nine-month old daughter suffered severe allergies and repeatedly visited the doctor’s office as a result of the dust. Daily life became cramped and uncomfortable.“The trailer had one small bedroom, another little room and bunk beds,” said Elizabeth. “Our baby slept in a drawer in the night stand, later in the play pen, which took up the entire living area. When you opened up the toilet seat, 30 or so moths would come up and fly around, it was horrible.”But the FEMA trailer was home, indeed ever so humble, and they made the best of what turned out to be a troubling situation. The hot water would run out in seven minutes and the air conditioning broke down repeatedly. The Kindness of Strangers“We were in a survival mode; we focused on the positive,” said Elizabeth. “Now I don’t know how we did it, then I was happy to be alive. I felt that we had our family, wonderful friends, generous employers, and a world full of kind-hearted strangers who still believed in the helping one another.”Relying on the kindness of strangers, as a son of the South, Tennessee Williams wrote, can be a dubious undertaking. But it gave Elizabeth sustenance, even in the face of continued family challenges. One night, their baby daughter Olivia stopped breathing. Elizabeth pounded on her chest until she started to breath. After they rushed to the emergency room, Olivia was hooked up to monitors for four days. Eventually she was diagnosed with acid reflux, which in children can mimic the symptoms of SIDS and cause them to stop breathing. Olivia was allowed to go home, but was still required to wear the monitor at night. If her heart rate would jump, or her breathing would stop, the monitor sounded an alarm. The machine would also sound an alarm if she pulled the wires off of her chest, or if power was lost, which happened multiple times every night. “We lived on very little sleep each night in fear that we would be making another trip to the emergency room,” said Elizabeth. “Olivia wore the monitor for two more months before she was officially past the reflux stage and made a full recovery.”The Second Storm: Insurance and Government AgentsAs was the case of many Mississippi residents, the Kommersmiths had standard homeowner’s as well as wind and hail insurance, but chose not to buy flood insurance, based on the advice of insurance agents. “We were not in a flood zone and our neighborhood was one of the highest elevations in the city,” said Elizabeth. “Even Hurricane Camille didn’t bring water anywhere near our home.”Even though their two properties were complete losses, because they lacked flood insurance, the insurance company refused to pay for their damages. They finally received a settlement of $9,000 to replace a privacy fence and some of the roof damage since the insurance company claimed that they were the only losses caused by wind. The Kommersmiths had refinanced both properties in 2005 to pay for medical bills. They had a 100% mortgage on both properties totaling $163,000.The experience with the conflicting claims of the insurance and mortgage companies, government organizations and city officials was akin to being “passed around like a hot potato for a very long time,” said Elizabeth. One adjuster said that the house was so badly damaged that he couldn’t see how it could be repaired. Another said that another said that the homes “did not sustain any significant damage” and there was no water damage.The first home inspection was done by their mortgage company, which later claimed that they were not in the area declared by their bank to be a disaster zone. The company stated that only New Orleans was approved for assistance with their mortgages. One inspector who visited noted that there was very little water damage. Two different contractors gave an estimate and said the buildings couldn’t be rebuilt. The structure was weak with serious settlement cracks, extensive mold and the roof on the main house was bowed. They were told that they could repair their roof in three months but would be put on a waiting list for two years if they wanted to repair the rest of the houses. An insurance adjuster and Small Business Administration adjuster came out and both agreed that it would be better to rebuild. The government declined to pay for the demolition as they did with other homes in Biloxi, because their home was more than 50 years old and the government didn’t want to promote the unnecessary demolition of historic homes. Their houses were located in a “Heritage Neighborhood.” The Kommersmiths paid $8,000 to have their main house torn down. The SBA approved a loan for $93,000 to buy a new home.This amount was not enough to buy a house, nor was it enough to repair their home. They spent months trying to explain the situation to SBA loan officers. "I spent an average of 40 hours a week on the phone, writing letters, and filling out applications for theeight months after the storm," said Elizabeth. “Every time we would find a loan officer that understood our situation and was willing to help us find a solution, they would quit,” said Elizabeth. “Our loan would then be in limbo until the SBA could send our application to a new loan officer. We went through four loan officers before we were finally approved for a much larger loan that would help us secure a house to live in.”On July 4, 2006, they bought a neighbor’s house. They now own three properties—their original home, cottage and the new home—with a mortgage of $420,000. Including the insurance and taxes, the monthly payment is about $2,300. House insurance is increasing dramatically for all Gulf state residents, so that monthly payment is slated to increase substantially.Before the home was torn down, neighbors looted their home of windows, fixtures and anything that could be carried away. Elizabeth bears no ill will toward her neighbors.“I knew some of the neighbors that looted our home,” said Elizabeth. “They were trying to salvage material for their family; they had to take care of themselves. I can’t blame them for wanting to take care of their families. ”Dealing with government programs was also an exercise in futility. The government, for example, offered citizens of Biloxi food stamps, $1,200 worth for three months, but the distribution site was undisclosed. The site was eventually located in Laurel, Mississippi—four hours north by car. Elizabeth was unable to take advantage of the food stamps, because she chose to work to help with the credit union’s recovery.“I couldn’t justify asking for time off during a period when I was needed more than ever just so I could stand in line all day to get free food from the government,” said Elizabeth. “This is a time when we all needed to work together to get our branches up and functioning.”The government also offered $200 a week for daycare assistance as well as free daycare, but Elizabeth’s application was rejected stating that she had to be displaced before she could qualify for this benefit. Elizabeth wrote a letter and explained their situation in detail. Finally, they were approved for one month, but couldn’t take advantage of it since her daughters were in Ohio with their grandmother during the approved time.Even though the experience with insurance and government agents was maddening, Elizabeth declines to fault either. “They are just people like you or me, trying to do a job in a very bad situation.” People Helping People When talking to Elizabeth, one is struck with an unbridled optimism in the face of unending misfortune, according to Charles Elliott. “So many people would have given up; Elizabeth had every reason to give up,” said Elliott. “But she always had a positive attitude, which proves that it’s not what happens to you, but how you deal with what happens to you.”Elizabeth’s story is a testament to the “people helping people” ethos of the national movement. More than 60 individuals, the National Credit Union Foundation, the Mississippi Credit Union Association and credit unions helped the Kommersmith with grants of about $30,000. The money was immediately put to good use to buy necessities as well as to pay off credit card debts and car loans. The national credit union system is unique in that it provides assistance efficiently and quickly for those in need. The National Credit Union Foundation served as a clearing house for assistance and raised $3.5 million for victims of Katrina. At the state level, the Mississippi Credit Union Association served as a coordinator of relief efforts. The Association provided Christmas gifts to 160 children of the 144 employees who lost their homes.During times of need, small gestures carry the most weight and become an emotional lifeboat to those in trouble. The Mississippi Credit Union Association, for instance, filled up a truck with bleach, baby diapers, feminine hygiene products and distributed them to people in need. Credit unions officials were so overwhelmed with the disaster; they often didn’t know what to request.“Anything a credit union wanted, we did,” said Elliott. “We would ask them: What are the five things you are working on? If you didn’t have these five things to contend with, what could your staff do? We would take care of these items and their staff could move on to helping their members.” The National Credit Union Foundation and the Mississippi Credit Union Association helped to identify people in need, such as the Kommersmith family. There were cards and letters from people that provided energy and faith in the system. When Elizabeth was qualified for a FEMA job as an auditor that paid twice as much as her much as her job at Keesler, she declined to pursue it. Strength from the Credit Union Family“I had the strength to go on because of the credit union family,” said Kommersmith. “They are family and I’ll stay with the credit union. I feel people are inspiring us and things will take care of themselves.”Leaf River Federal Credit Union in New Augusta, Mississippi provided both inspiration as well as a nod to the truism that those with the least to give often give the most. Jackie Hinton, CEO of the $1.7-million credit union with 525 members, received a list from the Mississippi Credit Union Association of people in need.As Christmas was nearing, Jackie Hinton understood how important holidays are for families facing tough times. Her husband has been fighting kidney cancer for the past five years. She asked, and her board agreed, to “adopt” the Kommersmith family. The credit union bought three bags of gifts including a “Dora the Explorer” doll, baby CDs and $375 in cash. Some 20 credit unions participated in the “adopt a credit union” program, whereby assistance was provided to those credit unions affected by Katrina.Jackie Hinton drove down to Keesler to deliver the gifts personally to Elizabeth. “From one mother to another, I knew how important Christmas was, and how important it is to reach out,” said Hinton. “They had lost everything, when you help someone else; it makes your life a little better.”The gifts and visit from Leaf River were unannounced and a surprise. “It was at this moment that something snapped inside of me and I felt the Christmas spirit,” said Elizabeth. “I didn’t know what to say, and I spent most of the visit just staring at her because I was in shock.” The help from Leaf River reaffirmed Elizabeth’s faith in people and the credit union philosophy of people helping people. “Before the storm I told people that credit unions were an extension of my family; Katrina showed that was true,” said Elizabeth. “I am thankful from the bottom of my heart. My family is thankful for all that was given to us. I’m so blessed to work within such a supportive network.’Help came from many quarters, for instance, the Jimmy Buffet “Parrot Head” clubs around the U.S. These clubs organize fund drives for organizations and individuals in need. It sponsors the “Paradise Charitable Foundation” that was instrumental in helping victims of Katrina. The Foundation awarded Elizabeth and her family a grant of $3,500. A friend also organized a shipment of clothes donated by GAP for her two daughters.Many other organizations awarded grants to help the Kommersmith family including CableONE Advertising, the National Association of Realtors, a private benefit arranged by Mike’s sister, Michelle Church, raised $2,000, and employees at a GAP store in Ohio organized three large shipments of donated clothing.Finding Happiness in Any SituationThe Biloxi beach was a scene out of Dante’s inferno—mattresses, dead birds and other debris littered the renowned white sand. Katrina had destroyed Tyson Foods Company containers resulting in a large quantity of rotting processed chickens floating in the water along with raw sewage. Helicopters with government and media observers were flying overhead. Elizabeth and Mike were simply content to find a place to wash off the mud. “We were dirty, hot and covered with sewage, but we were alive and we had our family.” said Elizabeth. “We could have said that everything was horrible, but if you can find happiness in a situation like this, you can find it anywhere.”Many of the citizens affected by Katrina have become part of a modern day Diaspora never to return to the Gulf coast. Elizabeth and Mike Kommersmith intend to stay in Biloxi. A casual walk down Main Street indicates buildings still damaged and awaiting repair, a sad reminder of the storm.“In the next five years, we’ll see it all come back,” said Elizabeth. “We will have the satisfaction of saying that we brought Biloxi back.”Elizabeth’s story is one of courage and grit in the face of unending tragedy. It is fitting to note the words of another son of the South and a Mississippi author, William Faulkner. In his acceptance speech for the Noble Prize ceremony in Stockholm, Sweden, December 10, 1950, Faulkner could have been talking about a young mother in Mississippi more than fifty years later. He spoke about the power of the human spirit to “endure and prevail” and that people have “a soul, a spirit capable of compassion and sacrifice and endurance.”