Local News

He saw New Orleans’ suffering for a week on the news. When an opportunity came to turn the former military police barracks at McClellan into a home for victims of the storm, he and his wife drove out to the “starships.”

“When we left, I didn’t think there would be many there,” Snider said. “But we got into a long line, and it took us awhile to get were we needed to be.”

The retired insurance salesman was one of some 2,000 people who showed up on Labor Day 2005 to clean out the boarded-up buildings, clear brush and cut grass.

Anniston wasn’t alone in revealing that the generosity that had long been held as an American trademark still came through in times of need.

The Retired Senior Volunteer Program in Jacksonville screened 200 to 300 people for 90 volunteer positions for a service center set up to help families affected by Katrina. When victims began moving into trailers in the state parks in September, the waiting list to help out grew so long that some organizations had to wait four months.

The ability of Alabamians to give to the less fortunate was the first lesson many officials say they drew from Hurricane Katrina. “That’s the kind of spirit you had in Alabama,” said Jim Walker, the director of the Alabama Department of Homeland Security. “That was so encouraging for us.”

Charity is the first thing and state and local officials remember from the Katrina experience. The outpouring of donations and labor almost overwhelmed local agencies, who now say they’re better prepared to steer – and therefore capitalize upon – the community offering its best.

“Knowing that is a great resource for me anyway,” said Dan Long, director of Calhoun County’s Emergency Management Agency. “Knowing if I asked for help from community that it’s there, it’s very positive.”

Long said the disaster created its own unique challenges. Even in the worst situations, people generally know where they’re going; Katrina victims did not know Anniston, and did not know where supermarkets and drug stores were located.

And faced with a long-term stay, many tried to find work. Long said social service agencies, which set up a joint disaster service center at McClellan, filled the bill.

Elaine Nelson, a Red Cross coordinator for Calhoun and Cleburne counties, said the community agencies were “well-networked” during the disaster and helped by the generosity of the community. The organization has developed a list of landlords to contact in case living space is needed during another disaster.

“We did not have a list of landlords available quickly (immediately after Katrina),” she said. “Eventually, all this came out about. It would have been helpful in hindsight, to have a list of landlords to call and say, ‘This is how many places I have vacant.’”

Paige Soehren, an AmeriCorps VISTA (Volunteer In Service of America), volunteered at the Jacksonville Retired Senior Volunteer Program, and quickly found herself in charge of screening volunteers to aid Katrina victims. The large amounts of money needed to run a charity, she said, surprised her.

“The amount of paperwork to be done, the amount of hours, the amount of clothing, the medication, oh my gosh,” she said. “Even in a fire, a regular house fire, one of the things people lose is their medication.

“And the Red Cross with the partnerships they have in the community gets people their medication, and it’s just thousands and thousands of dollars in medication that needed to be given.”

Soehren has since received a grant to study community preparedness in Calhoun County.

“Our county’s partnerships are absolutely amazing,” she said. “I think the biggest thing that’s improved in the last year is communication. Partnerships are there and they’re solid, but communications break down in a disaster. It’s getting out the who, what, when, where and why.”