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Our own Chip Hayden and Ken Saxe just returned from a week-long mission trip to Biloxi, Mississippi. The mission team was comprised of 25 members of Assemblies of God and various churches in York County. The goal of the team was to assist those that were affected by Hurricane Katrina.
Chip serves as Director of Information Technology Consulting Services, and Ken is a Senior Technical Consultant, both with Stambaugh Ness Business Solutions.
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| Much debris remains to be clean up in the area hit by Hurricane Katrina. | After arriving in Biloxi, their mission team joined other groups from Beaverton Four Square (Beaverton, OR) and Living Word (York, PA) for service opportunities. Chip, Chip's wife, Ramona, Ken and the rest of the team dug trenches, installed new windows, installed appliances, painted, prepared rebar for cement supports, prepared a newly rebuilt church for their first service, installed siding, installed flooring, built wheel chair ramps into new homes, and much more.
They had several opportunities to meet and talk with Biloxi residents and homeowners that were directly affected by Hurricane Katrina. One elderly man and his wife swam from their home's second floor window to a nearby oak tree where they held on for nine hours until they were rescued. They watched as their home of many years was completely destroyed by the wind and washed away by raging waters.
The Biloxi/Gulfport area has only returned to 40% of its original population and there is much more work to be done in the area. However, most service organizations, such as the Salvation Army, Beaverton Four Square and others will be leaving the area by May of this year.
According to reports, Hurricane Katrina was the costliest and one of the five deadliest hurricanes in the history of the United States. It was the sixth-strongest Atlantic hurricane ever recorded and the third-strongest hurricane on record that made landfall in the United States. Katrina formed on August 23 during the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season and caused devastation along much of the north-central Gulf Coast.
The hurricane caused severe destruction across the entire Mississippi coast. The storm surge caused severe damage along the Gulf Coast, devastating the Mississippi cities of Waveland, Bay St. Louis, Pass Christian, Long Beach, Gulfport, Biloxi, Ocean Springs, and Pascagoula.
At least 1,836 people lost their lives in Hurricane Katrina and in the subsequent floods, making it the deadliest U.S. hurricane since the 1928 Okeechobee Hurricane. The storm is estimated to have been responsible for $81.2 billion in damage, making it the costliest natural disaster in U.S. history.
| Lewis "Chip" Hayden, MCPS, MCNPS, Director of Information Technology Consulting Services, and Kenneth Saxe, MCSE, MCSA, MCPS, MCNPS, CNE, Senior Consultant, provide Stambaugh Ness Business Solutions clients solutions to their IT and software challenges. You can reach them at 717-757-6999 or 800-745-8233 or send them an email by using the form below. |
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