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John Daley ReportingFour months after Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast, one Utahn is making the trashed towns there his home away from home, joining in relief and recovery efforts. Conditions there have improved a bit, but enormous challenges remain.
"Hurricane Katrina Relief Volunteer," these days that's essentially Tom Price's job title.
Tom Price, Hurricane Katrine Relief Volunteer: "There was a time when you needed this [badge] to get past the MPs."
When the monster storm exploded on the Gulf Coast, Price was half way across country with tens of thousands at the "Burning Man" festival in Nevada, where every year they basically build and later dismantle a temporary city. A group of festival-goers thought the skills they'd developed using heavy machinery could be useful in the disaster zone, and in mid-September they convoyed down there to help.
Tom Price , Hurricane Katrina Relief Volunteer: "Right after the hurricane there was no food, there was no water, no diapers, no baby formula, no tents no cots, nothing."
Price, who lives in Sandy, set up shop in Biloxi, establishing a tent city for Vietnamese shrimp fisherman at the site of a Buddhist temple, where they handed out food, water and supplies.
Almost everyone had lost everything.
Tom Price: "I talked to many people who said, 'I was sitting in my house, the rain was falling, the wind was blowing, and suddenly in the space of five minutes the water went from nothing to the ceiling,' and hundreds of people drowned in their own houses because the water rose so fast they couldn't get out."
Those who stayed have basic supplies, but are fending off developers, waiting for insurance settlements, and can't put a FEMA trailer on their property until they've cleared a spot for it. It's no small task.
Tom Price: "They need the help badly and there's no one else helping them. The government isn't helping them. The Red Cross has stopped giving out free food in Biloxi."
A freelance journalist who has written for the New York Times and Outside magazine, Price says he's helping because his flexible career allows him to.
Tom Price: "Some stories you want to cover and some stories you want to be a part of. This one I wanted to be a part of."
He hopes it's one Americans won't forget.
Tom Price: "People need to remember it doesn't go away just because it's not on the newspaper or on TV. These people still need the help."
Some day he says he may write about it; meantime, he leaves today for another two-month stint in the recovery zone.
Price says he's spent about half of his time the last four months helping with relief efforts. He and others from his group are getting by with the help of donations.
