It's surreal:
- A McDonald's open for business like nothing is wrong, standing next to a Burger King which has been destroyed.
- Heavy traffic.
- RV and tent cities set up in the parking lots of K-Marts, Wal Marts and Save A Centers.
- Lines of cars to get free ice.
- Huge lines in the Wal Mart.
It's as if the destruction along Pass Road is "hit and miss." As if someone pointed at buildings one at a time and arbitrarily said "survive...survive...destroy...survive...destroy..."
Giant trees down everywhere.
The people are the most amazing though. The resiliancy awes me. The people at Bethel Lutheran are simply, quietly, going about the business of the Gospel. They are distributing food. They are distributing goods. 200-250 families a day. Amazing. They are not reflecting God's grace. They ARE God's grace.
The team gutting houses is working at a frantic pace. They are under a time limit before the mold becomes too significant. "Thank God for the Lutherans" a homeowner told me. "No one else is here in this neighborhood. Not FEMA, not the Red Cross, not even my own church...Thank God for the Lutherans."
The destruction along Hwy 90, the Beach highway, is a whole different story. I've never seen anything so complete. I've seen homes destroyed before, but they were always framed within the context of other homes that were fine, or several homes, but still within a neighborhood.
On 90, the destruction doesn't end. The only scene I can equate it to is the landscapes in the movie "Saving Private Ryan." The destruction, and rubble of burned out buildings goes on and on and on. But even the movie is in 2 dimensions. In 3 dimensions, Hwy 90 rocked my world. The power to destroy this way...I can't imagine it. And the people working in this area have a whole different demeanor. It's as if they are unaware of the rest of Biloxi...of the people in line in Wal Mart. These people are still, somehow, in rescue mode.
We will be back here in Mid October with a team. There is much to be done.
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