workers moved in to provide spiritual and human aid to residents who in many cases witnessed death, looting, rape and killings as New Orleans turned into anarchy after America’s worst disaster in modern times.
"The suffering and destruction caused by Hurricane Katrina seems beyond measure. All indications point to an increasing death toll as search and rescue teams make their way through the flooding and debris," said Evangelist Pat Robertson, president of Christian aid group Operation Blessing in a statement to BosNewsLife Saturday, September 3.
However "Operation Blessing is on the scene. As I write this letter, we are already distributing food, water, cooking equipment, cleaning kits, and disaster supplies to key staging areas in Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana" he added.
"As the sea of refugees flood into surrounding states, we have given grants to help area organizations purchase food, cots, blankets, and other necessities to meet the enormous need. We are providing food and refrigeration for the mobile kitchens and canteens from our key partner, The Salvation Army. Together we will supply up to 310,000 meals each day," he said.
PASTORS ARRIVE
It was not immediately clear how much they and other Christian groups would be able to do in New Orleans, as up to 90 percent of homes were reportedly under water, although several pastors were in the city already.
For instance, "logistical challenges" continued to hamper efforts of more than 1,200 Southern Baptist Disaster Relief volunteers assisting people displaced by Hurricane Katrina, Baptist Press (BP) reported.
"Since Katrina’s devastation is so widespread and affects such a large area of Louisiana and Mississippi, disaster relief operations are being stretched to respond in the same fashion as in past disasters," BP said.
"We continue to face logistical challenges to operations in Louisiana and Mississippi and this is not uncommon at this stage of a disaster," BP quoted Jim Burton, director of volunteer mobilization at the North American Mission Board as saying. "We are working with the Red Cross and FEMA [Federal Emergency Management Association] to address these situations," he added.
HUMANITARIAN SUPPLIES
However Operation Blessing said it managed to provide truckloads of food, water and emergency supplies to The Salvation Army staging areas in nearby areas including Baton Rouge, Hattiesburg, Jackson and Pensacola to help refugees from New Orleans.
Robertson, who is also known as founder and chairman of the Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN) added he planned to visit the disaster area in the next few days, "working with area officials and partner agencies to help coordinate this massive-scale disaster relief operation."
In New Orleans Presbyterian Rev. Toby Nelson was among Christian aid workers traveling to the Superdome indoor stadium, where several thousand people were still waiting to be evacuated Saturday, September 3, after five day and nights of horror, with elderly people dying among them.
Nelson, who has a permanent residence in western Nevada County and also aided survivors,
of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in New York, described the Superdome as "a mass of suffering humanity." He said "tens of thousands have been inside since Sunday. Since Monday morning, there is no power and the building is very dark except for the sunlight which comes through one hole in the roof, and that only during the day."
DEAD BODY
The body of a dead woman with a blanket over her head could be seen leaning in a wheel chair. Bathrooms had no lights, making people afraid to enter, and the stench from backed-up toilets inside killed any inclination toward bravery.
"When we have to go to the bathroom we just get a box. That’s all you can do now," Sandra Jones of eastern New Orleans told AP. Her newborn baby was running a fever, and all the small children in her area had rashes, she said.
"This was the worst night of my life. We were really scared. We’re getting no help. I know the military police are trying. But they’re outnumbered," Jones added.
The Superdome, which lost part of its roof during the hurricane, eventually sheltered over 20,000 people, after which water supplies and toilets no longer worked. Christians and pastors among them tried to calm down the crowd, but till late Friday September 2, this was difficult as desperation grew amid wild fires, gun shots, and looting.
GROWING STRESS
"Medical personnel are doing all they can. Stress on the refugees and relief workers are extracting a terrible toll. The aged and infirm are desperate, their minds and bodies in debilitating shock," pastor Nelson said in published remarks earlier this week.
Among those staying briefly in the Superdome was rescued Rythm and Blues legend, and New Orleans, resident Fats Domino, who had been missing since Katrina struck the area Monday, August 29. He and his family were on their way to higher, and safer, ground, his friends said.
A news release monitored by BosNewsLife Saturday, September 3, quoted Domino as urging media to "tell the people of New Orleans that I’m safe. I wish I was able to still be there with them, but I hope to see them soon."
The monster storm left a trail of unprecedented destruction and human suffering with dead bodies lying in the streets where men were seen getting drunk on stolen liquor between naked babies crying for food and shelter.
LORD’S PRAYER
Residents, including Christians, found it hard to imagine that hope was on the way. An Associated Press (AP) reporter watched how a woman was screaming the Lord’s Prayer as if heaven could no longer hear silent pleas.
"And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil …" she reportedly cried. At least one police officer told the Cable News Network (CNN) said he was ashamed that many of his colleagues had not turned up for duty, while some reportedly took part in, or allowed looting, to take place. "How can you still wear your star and what were you thinking when raising your right hand?" he wondered.
More than half of police officers in some troubled districts of New Orleans had left their jobs to instead fight for their lives, after losing their homes and possessions in devastating floods.
President George W. Bush, who toured the region, including New Orleans, briefly Friday, September 2, has admitted the rescue and relief operations were in his words "not acceptable". But he added "we are going to make it right" and promised that New Orleans would be rebuilt.
"This will become an even better city," he said, as emotional officials applauded him in New Orleans. (Operation Blessing can be reached for donations and other information via website: http://www.operationblessing.org/ With reports from New Orleans).
