Helping with Hurricane Katrina

An excerpt from the 2005 blog.

The Polk County Health Department had contacted GuideOne for four volunteers to help with an expected planeload of refugees from New Orleans. The TV had been showing pictures of the set-up in the Varied Industry building on the fairgrounds. There was provision for 1,000 people, including a few acres of cots.

Debbie and I arrived at the fairgrounds and checked in at the security area to get tagged. Then, we walked the few blocks to the Varied Industries building, the same building where I saw the President the day before the 2004 election.

We noticed many campers and RV’s in the parking lots around the building. What an amazing response: so many resources were put together in just a few days. Then we started noticing dogs around many of the RVs. If there wasn’t a dog there was an empty kennel. As we went in the southeast entrance of the building it was clear what was going on- a dog show was in full swing. The sea of cots had been replaced with thousands of dogs and their owners along with several show arenas. It was a surreal transformation of the space.

We spotted some state troopers and National Guard troops in the office area of the building and entered into a much different world from the dog show. Rooms were set up for FEMA, the Red Cross, and the Polk County Health Department. We checked in at Polk County and started to wait with about 75 other people for word on if Iowa was to receive another group. Earlier that day a small planeload of 20 had been processed through this system.

Time started to drag so Debbie and I went out to walk through the dog show. It was like being on the set of the movie “Best in Show”, a great spoof of this kind of spectacle. We learned to be very careful where we stepped as there was much liquid on the floor oozing from some cages. 

The juxtaposition of the purpose that brought us there (to help the refugees who were left with nothing) to the dogs (with the best in food, health care, and transportation) was enough to make me wonder incessantly about the inane priorities many people have in their lives.
It didn’t take long to walk the entire dog show. 

and we went back to the staging area to find a couple from New Orleans there. They had driven to Des Moines and had been directed to this processing center. They were a middle-aged couple that looked dirty, tired, and stunned. He had some blood stains on his shirt but we never did hear their story. After a few papers were filled out they were escorted to a hospital for evaluation and treatment. Eventually, they would be placed in a local hotel.
About 8:00 it was announced that no more people were coming to Iowa and we could go home. We were put on a call list in case they needed us over the next few weeks.