Day Four Final 2 of 2

So after we did some interviews and checked out the ABC News logistics center at the Marriott, we headed to a shelter in Baton Rouge. This was another shelter housed in an AME church. While we were there we talk to various people about their experiences. The people at these shelters seemed to be the people from the lowest socio-economic classes and they seemed to be the people who were the most unstable before the hurricane/flooding, let alone now. We also had a long sit-down interview with the pastor of the church.

It was very interesting to see how he saw it and what he was thinking. The Allen Chapel AME Church shelter was opened on Aug 30th, the day after the main landfall of Katrina. Rev. Washington said many things, but two things really struck me. At one point he said, "The upper beaucratic [system] is not doing what they are supposed to be for Louisiana" and at another point he said, "They believe in New Orleans. They're not grasping the magnitude of this...some haven't accepted the fact that they aren't going back. There ain't nothing to go back to."

The first comment was interesting to me, because he wasn't really talking about the short term initial response to the tragedy. He was talking about the long term things. The logistical support required to relocate a large percentage of one of America's major cities. He was talking about jobs support, apartments, getting kids registered for school. These are all problems that he, as a pastor, just doesn't know how to deal with. He knows how to preach to people. He knows out to counsel people, but he does not know the best resources for relocating to another city and there is no reason for him to know that.

The second comment made me realize a major problem cities in the south are going to be seeing over the next few months. Baton Rouge has gone from a population of about 350,000 to about 850,000 in a matter of a week. The economic system of the city can't match that kind of growth fast enough, but people don't want to leave because they believe in the New Orleans...they don't want to leave their home. They are thinking they can live in Baton Rouge for a month or so and then move back home. This is just not going to happen.

The interview with Rev. Washington was very informative, interesting and will be a major part of my story on Faith in Times of Crisis.

We then went to another AME shelter were the church group I was with was able to find a family interested in coming back with us to Indiana. After talking for a while with people from our group and amongst themselves, they decided to come back with us and relocate to Richmond, Indiana. It was interesting to see a family decide to completely move their whole lives in a matter of twenty minutes. It was crazy. Either way, the whole family, with their two kids came back with us.

After that, at about 11:00pm, we decided to head back to Jackson, Mississippi. We got back to the shelter, in Jackson, at about 2:00am, had some cold pizza and corn bread, and decided we might as well just get on the road right then. We ended up leaving at about 3:30am. We drove for about two and a half and then had car problems. We ended up pulling into Muncie at 10:45pm. It was a long day.