Jim Koehl, DFPR, Springfield

When I heard that I could go to assist with the relief effort in Louisiana , I was humbled by the opportunity knowing not exactly were I was going but eager to assist with those in need in this devastated area of America .

Once the shots were administered for tetanus and hepatitis, the logistics of the trip were set, and the wait to depart was over. Group C, which became Team 1, set off for Bogalusa at 12:40 a.m. on Sunday morning, September 11 th in a school bus. The luggage was in tow on a U-Haul truck following right behind. The other two teams caravanned with us until we separated in lower Mississippi . One team went to Baton Rouge and the other team went to Lake Charles . We arrived in Bogalusa at 7:30 p.m. on Sunday evening to a town that was hit hard by winds from Katrina and from what the locals said were 30 tornadoes that accompanied Katrina.

The residents of this small community of 15,000, about an hour north of New Orleans, were friendly, caring and could not thank us enough for coming to help them. Bogalusa , I was told by the county sheriff, resides in the poorest parish or county in Louisiana .

We ate dinner one evening in a local church where the Red Cross had a kitchen set up for volunteers. It just so happened that those who worked the kitchen were from several churches in central Illinois . In the church parking lot there was also a trailer from Illinois for a chain saw crew who was clearing trees in town. An elderly lady from Lincoln was part of this crew and talked with us after dinner about our experiences since we had arrived.

Most of the damage in Bogalusa was from wind, which included countless numbers of trees being uprooted or broken in half. The result was a lot of structural damage to homes, businesses, power lines and poles, since the area is densely populated with Southern Yellow Pine and Oak trees.

Our team, from various state agencies, began the trip and continued to the last mile of the trip like we had known each other for years. Everyone worked together at the job site or at off-site locations for 12-13 hours per day, processing applications and interviewing those who needed our assistance with receipt of a debit card for food allocations.

When we received notice that we were departing on Sunday morning the team did not want to leave knowing that there were others that could use our help. Due to circumstances beyond our control, we had to go but the time I spent in Bogalusa helping people in desperate need from the aftermath of Katrina will always be remembered as an experience of a lifetime.