Hurricane recovery can take months or years after major storms

MOBILE, Ala. (WALA) - When it’s safe to start cleanup, recovering from wind and water damage can take months and even years. Gulf Coast residents have learned these lessons the hard way with storms like Katrina and Ivan. Hurricanes that bring the biggest storm surge can cause the most destruction.

Gulf Coast residents have had a lot of first hand experience dealing with the aftermath of major hurricanes. Areas that flood from storm surge can have the longest recovery times.

Cleanup went beyond debris removal

Greg Marshall with Marshall’s Marine in Bayou La Batre said the storm clean up after Hurricane Katrina went way beyond picking up limbs and debris.

“I mean, you had whole houses that were condemned. You had whole houses that were that floated through the water. You had a lot of of burnt oil that came from the boats that had turned over on their sides from the fuel docks and stuff where the water came in and inundated them,” Marshall said.

As the water receded, there was a layer of dirt, grime, and oil that coated everything. Marshall says it took a lot of hard labor with brushes and dawn soap in order to get his business back up and running.

Federal funds and volunteers aided recovery

It takes a coordinated effort to get recovery resources in place. FEMA and HUD money can be helpful for businesses and home owners. There are always going to be gaps that are not covered by government funds. That’s when neighbors and volunteer groups come in.

Stan Wright, former mayor of Bayou La Batre, said volunteers traveled from across the country.

“The Amish people brought down 18 Wheeler loaves of homemade quilt and they also brought in 18 Wheeler loads of canned Turkey, dog meat, Turkey thigh and legs. And they come down to meet with me and, and Randy Owens with the Alabama group, he come down and he come back with a truckload. He drove the big truck himself for nothing,” Wright said.

Wright says it took special grants from Federal funds like the Bush Clinton Katrina fund to get boats off the beach. State funds helped the shrimpers to refuel their boats and get back to work. Many Bayou residents were displaced from their homes.

“In the meantime, we working with HUD and with FEMA and, and a lot of people that did have flood insurance, they had to bring their money back to the table and, and, and, and tie that in with HUD money. And that’s how we was able to build 50 homes in this area for the people,” Wright said.

Getting back to normal is a long process after a major hurricane. Residents have to find temporary housing and then get back to work. These are difficult tasks when people lose everything and communities are struggling to restore critical infrastructure.