Volunteer recounts Katrina aftermath

Nearly 10 years ago Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast. While it destroyed many lives, it also brought many together.

People from all over the country volunteered their time and skills to the people who lost everything.

Some of those volunteers came from the desert. Two RVs full of volunteers from Eisenhower Medical Center where among those helping in the aftermath.

Now 10 years later, those 10 days spent in the Gulf are 10 days Karen Stewart says she will never forget.

“I really wanted to go and help,” said Eisenhower Medical Center RN Karen Stewart.

Stewart, seven other nurses and two drivers drove across the country to help where they could.

“Nothing prepared us for what we actually saw,” said Stewart.

Originally from Mississippi, Stewart she said seeing the damage firsthand was hard to comprehend.

“Boats floated inside houses, matchsticks where houses had stood, it was unbelievable,” said Stewart.

As their RVs drove closer to the coast Stewart said the devastation got worse.

“The storm surge was about 30 feet. And when the surge came in, the wind and the salt from the sea burned the pine trees to their top. There is just nothing that really prepares you for that,” said Stewart.

Once in Waveland, Mississippi, the group’s main mission was to give tetanus and hepatitis shots.

“Most everybody needed a tetanus shot, they were trying to do cleanup and there was debris everywhere,” said Stewart.

Stewart said all these years later it’s the people she remembers most.

“You saw the very best in humanity. A man who drove a trailer filled with teddy bears and they directed him to our site because kids were getting shots and it’s no different than any place where kids are getting shots and kids could get a teddy bear,” said Stewart. “We didn’t know any of these folks. They couldn’t believe that a hospital in California would send someone to help them.”

Stewart said the experience was a wake-up call to get prepared.

“This was a natural disaster that people had warning for. We see the San Andreas fault. I think we all came home, I know I did and I got my earthquake preparedness kit together,” said Stewart.

Now that the area is bouncing back, Stewart and her family have made it a tradition to go back and vacation in Bay St. Louis, one of the hardest hit areas. They will also be there this weekend for the anniversary.