HATTIESBURG, Miss. – I arrived with three of my senior staff to Hattiesburg, Mississippi around 8:30 p.m. and we drove the Hattiesburg Salvation Army Corps buildings where we met up with our National Reserve Staff and equipment.

Today was a day of mixed emotions as I received phone calls from pastors and friends as they evacuated New Orleans.  These calls were from very strong and resilient people, but you could hear the fear in their voices.  Many of them just completed restoring their homes from Katrina and, after 3 years, were beginning to experience “normalcy.”  Now, as they drove along interstates, their hearts were gripped with the flashback and memories of everything they have worked for being washed away.

My heart was full of both love and hurt.  Hurt for those having to face the possibility of reliving the horror of Katrina, but also the love of friendship and the incredibly rewarding feeling of being part of a team who was standing ready to help the friends, pastors and emergency officials we served in the trenches with for over two years as we helped them rebuild their lives.

I had a briefing to update my team on our plans for the next 24 hours, went over weather reports, explained contingency plans, and delegated responsibilities.  Our team is well equipped and ready to provide disaster relief in real time wherever the storm will strike!

This entry was posted on Monday, September 1st, 2008 at 7:19 am and is filed under Disaster, 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.