Katrina Kountry

February 23

It only rained 2 inches yesterday afternoon and early evening. There was little wind and no lightening. That brought the total up to 10 inches of rain in the two days. As we broke camp we walked through standing water. The roads were dry and the sun was shining the entire two hundred miles to an RV camp sight in Ocean Springs, Mississippi. Ocean Springs lies just outside of Biloxi and is home of Camp Victor. Ocean Springs has some hills and a higher elevation than Biloxi. Thus it was spared the extensive damage that surrounding communities suffered 2 ½ years ago. Since it was relatively intact, it became the headquarters for many relief programs. Within days of the hurricane, Christus Victor Lutheran Church established a Distribution Center (Camp Victor) to hand out food, water, and other necessities. The work continues today. 41% of all homes in the Biloxi were damaged to the point that they were inhabitable. Now, in addition being a distribution center, the center receives, trains, and assigns volunteers from all over the world to work on reconstruction projects in the area. Barb and I will be here for a week.

Most volunteers stay in the center. Breakfast and supper (yes, we are in the south) are served and lunches are prepared. The dormitory has 160 beds in 2 rooms, male and female. Project opportunities are numerous and the camp staff oversees and organizes the recovery efforts. However, there is no room to park our RV at the center so Barb and I will stay in the nearby RV camp. Shoot, I was really looking forward to sleeping in a bunk bed in a dorm. Not.