OAK ISLAND, Texas – We went to Oak Island on Saturday after hearing that there were several hundred familes in a Vietnamese fishing community that had not received hardly any help.

Oak Island is about an hour from Bridge City in the middle of nowhere. The community is a mix of Vietnamese, American and Hispanic, and the majority of the Vietnamese are hardworking shrimpers, oystermen and fishermen. They said about 500 families lost everything and after seeing the area, I totally believe that.

The area is incredibly devastated. In many places, nothing but the foundations of homes remained with American and Texas flags blowing in the breeze. It never ceases to amaze me to see the deep sense of resilence, patriotism and American pride that rises up in the hearts of these devastated residents in the face of such pain and loss.

We drove down “Main St.” and saw a home that was obliterated. Nailed to the side of what was left of the home was a piece of plywood with the homeowner’s name and address in red spray paint along with a message saying, “If your mom is not buried here, stay out!” What looks like rubble to others is everything to these residents. It is all they have left.

The trees were littered with clothes, closet doors, teddy bears and other personal belongings. Fishing boats were still in trees and beached in areas far from their natural habitat.

Oak Island Baptist Church received 8 feet of water in their church, so they took their pews out and set them on a slab of concerte outside where they have church services. A beverage company donated a tent that serves as their sanctuary and their new disaster store (point of distribution) for the residents.

As I talked with the pastor’s wife, Cindy, she pointed out a Vietanmese lady who appeared to be a volunteer busily sweeping the concrete floor. My heart broke as Cindy shared the lady’s story. The lady’s husband and son drowned while harvesting crabs one night in a storm. She owned her own nail shop and both her home and business were completely destroyed by Hurricane Ike. The lady told me with great pain that she does not know what to do except come to the church and help. She is a widow with no family, no home and now no work.

I talked to the pastors and asked what they needed and they said camping stoves, lanterns and tents. Many of the families do not want to leave the little that is left of their home because they are afraid they will not be allowed back or that someone will take it.

The water has not yet been cleared for them to return to work to fish, crab and shrimp.

We are sending them our shower trailer on Monday to use for several weeks.

Back in Bridge City, last week we had our first meeting with all disaster relief agencies working in Bridge City. It was a beautiful reflection of us coordinating, facilitating and creating synergy with other agencies. We handed out over 80 work orders and will meet with the agencies again next week to hear updates and hand out new work orders.

Tags: Disaster Relief, Hurricane Relief, Jody Herrington, North America, Oak Island, Oak Island Baptist Church, OBI, Operation Blessing, Texas

This entry was posted on Monday, October 6th, 2008 at 3:15 pm and is filed under Disaster, Hurricane Relief, Jody Herrington, North America. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.