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"All I'm doing is crying and wondering how do I start to come back
to life," she wrote through e-mail. "I almost wish I had stayed in
NOLA and had gone with my home. My whole life has been washed away."
The human toll of this disaster has only just started.
Another auxiliarist wrote: "My wife and I safely evacuated our
home in Waveland, Miss. This is where the hurricane made landfall,
and since my house is about a block off the beach the outlook is not
good at all."
His outlook goes beyond his current situation, to the well-being
of his town, state and the Coast Guard Auxiliary. He reported: "Gov.
Barbaer of Mississippi said that the emergency management center in
Bay Saint Louis collapsed. That is where Flotilla 33 had its monthly
meetings. Our call-out authority, Station Gulfport, was completely
destroyed, nothing but piling left. That was a solid concrete
building 12 feet off the ground."
But the personal pain is there. "I have not heard anything from
the flotilla to the west in Slidell, La., or to the east in Pass
Christian, Miss. The major bridges are destroyed. All I have right
now, which is little, is this information."
These are just two stories in a cacophony of tales we will all
hear about in the coming days, weeks and months. These stories
concern members of the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary, but it could just
be John or Jane Doe, citizen of a Gulf city of Alabama, Mississippi
or Louisiana.
The auxiliary’s 8th Coast Guard District Coastal Region
commanders still have not heard from members in many parts of the
affected areas. They have spent the last two days tracking down and
assisting members personally affected by the storm.
Four Coast Guard personnel from Coast Guard Sector Mobile have
not been accounted for. Coast Guard facilities have experienced
varying degrees of damage. Early reports indicate Coast Guard
Station Gulfport, Miss., was destroyed. Station Venice, La., is
partially submerged. Station Grand Isle, Ala., sustained slight
damage to the group building and Coast Guard housing. Station New
Orleans appears to have sustained little damage but remains
inaccessible by car.
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 "As part of a committed team, we have been working tirelessly to
help those in need and to begin work on the ports and waterways,"
said Rear Adm. Robert Duncan, the Coast Guard incident commander.
"Some of our own people are missing. Many of the Coast Guard
personnel responding to this disaster have likely lost their
properties. We will be here helping these communities as long as it
takes."
Being a member of the Coast Guard family, whether active duty,
reserve, auxiliary or civilian is more than about service to the
country; it's about joining a family, where family members look
after their own.
Members of the Coast Guard family are able to take advantage of
financial help offered by Coast Guard Mutual Assistance, a nonprofit
organization providing financial assistance to the Coast Guard
community.
The U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary is composed of uniformed,
nonmilitary volunteers who assist the Coast Guard in all of its
varied missions, except for military and direct law enforcement.
These men and women can be found on the nation's waterways, in the
air, in classrooms and on the dock, performing maritime domain
awareness patrols, safety patrols, vessel safety checks and public
education.
The U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary was founded in 1939 by an act of
Congress as the U.S. Coast Guard Reserve and re-designated as the
auxiliary in 1941. Its 31,000 members donate millions of hours
annually in support of Coast Guard missions.
[U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary
news release]
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