Katrina Mississippi Voices from Ground Zero NancyKay Sullivan Wessman 9781936946501 Books
Download As PDF : Katrina Mississippi Voices from Ground Zero NancyKay Sullivan Wessman 9781936946501 Books
A work of creative nonfiction, Katrina, Mississippi Voices from Ground Zero showcases heroes and their work from the epicenter of preparedness, response, rescue, recovery, and rebuilding. This account weaves individual stories from first responders and critically important volunteers into a timeline that also reports events simultaneously occurring beyond – the accounts of state and federal governments’ activities and the response of people and organizations from Florida to Oregon, Washington, and Alaska. This book deals with the public health impact of both the natural disaster and the unnatural consequences that emerged through human efforts. The book reveals personal recollections of health and medical aspects, special needs victims and mass care through sheltering, pop-up medical clinics, and the sole hospital that withstood the storm and continued providing services. The book introduces characters who addressed issues related to food and water, sewers, volunteers, donations, and other emergency support functions. Readers learn of catastrophe and courage through the experiences of a public health physician, Robert Travnicek, MD, in upheaval not of his own making but caught in a quagmire of natural disaster, local and state politics, and moral determination. Harrison County EOC Commander General Joe Spraggins directs with able assistance from Rupert Lacy, a veteran law enforcement officer whose history, knowledge, and respect for the power of the storm enabled him to oversee operations for all emergency support functions and, later, succeed his boss as emergency management director. Paramedic-elected-multiple-terms as coroner Gary Hargrove set aside his own family’s predicament to lead search and rescue, then recovery, and, finally, identification of each person Katrina killed in his county. And Steve Delahousey, veteran EMS leader on local and national levels, made sure special needs people were moved from harm’s way before the storm and that adequate medical care was available after. On the western edge of ground zero and under the stubborn leadership of Hancock County Emergency Management Director Brian “Hooty” Adam, 35 stalwart citizens risked their lives to stay behind and keep emergency operations going during the storm’s assault on Bay Saint Louis and Waveland. They refused to evacuate, even though state and federal officials demanded they do so. WQRZ Radio operator and founder of the Hancock County Amateur Radio Association, Brice Phillips set up inside the EOC and remained on the air throughout Katrina’s monstrous assault on his community; after her catastrophic devastation, WQRZ staff communicated life-saving information about safety and health, points of distribution for ice, water, and other commodities, and answered questions from listeners. The station took many AMR calls, helped Hancock Countians contact family across the nation, and helped get parts shipped in to bring the Bay Saint Louis water system back up. This book documents the players’ personal and professional views as they reveal their alliances and actions, their concerns and issues, their truths and consequences. Theirs are stories about human suffering and survival – often not because of but in spite of assistance from government. The book does not distinguish right from wrong or comment on whether individuals or organizations succeeded or failed. Readers must draw their own conclusions. These stories – the characters’ perspective on the problems they encountered and what they themselves revealed to be their values through the storm of the centuries – can bridge to whatever becomes the United States’ and the Gulf Coast’s next Katrina.
Katrina Mississippi Voices from Ground Zero NancyKay Sullivan Wessman 9781936946501 Books
Although I watched this book being born, metaphorically, reading it in its completed, published form is a thrill. NancyKay Wessman puts the reader inside the Emergency Operations Center bunker in Gulfport, MIssissippi before, during and after Hurricane Katrina, giving a true insider's perspective of the killer storm. After reading the book, I feel as if I truly know the champions of the storm -- those first responders who diligently worked to save lives while putting their own lives at risk. This is a book that made my heart race, then melt and kept me on the edge of my seat, waiting to turn the next page. This is as true an account of human courage, determination and passion set within the tale of an epic hurricane as I believe has ever been written. NancyKay did her homework and it shows in the pages of this brilliant book. I highly recommend it to all!Product details
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Tags : Katrina, Mississippi: Voices from Ground Zero [NancyKay Sullivan Wessman] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. A work of creative nonfiction, Katrina, Mississippi: Voices from Ground Zero showcases heroes and their work from the epicenter of preparedness,NancyKay Sullivan Wessman,Katrina, Mississippi: Voices from Ground Zero,Triton,1936946505,POLITICAL SCIENCE Public Policy General,Politics Current Events,Public Policy - General
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Katrina Mississippi Voices from Ground Zero NancyKay Sullivan Wessman 9781936946501 Books Reviews
As I begin this review, a state of emergency has been declared for Florida as Hurricane Matthew approaches. Hopefully, lessons learned from the “mother of all monster storms,” Katrina, a history-altering disaster, which slammed into Mississippi’s Gulf Coast, and demolished throughout the entire state, will prove beneficial. NancyKay Sullivan Wessman’s "Katrina, Mississippi Voices from Ground Zero" provides a brilliant and historical insight from the perspective of those in the epicenter of preparedness, response, rescue, recovery and rebuilding. The author takes us into the events simultaneously occurring in the two Ground Zero counties, and beyond. Those who felt the storm’s brunt force the most simply strived to survive and in the devastation, chaos and confusion, “theirs became a hand-to-mouth existence.”
This account from first responders is haunting “People they encountered ‘looked worse than deer in headlights. Zombies—that look. It was just a total stare. People were in shock. If you saw it, you’ll never forget it. They were trying to talk, and we were trying to help them . . . We saw hundreds of what looked like zombies, like they were dead but not really. . . .They had nothing. And they were helpless.’”
I commend the author for the list of “Champions of the Storm” named in the book. This reflects the tremendous amount of research and time that went into the writing of this outstanding book, which adds significantly to the history of this devastating event. As indicated throughout the book, there were countless others who helped Mississippi in innumerable ways. Gulfport’s George Schloegel, president and CEO of Hancock Bank, stands near the summit among Katrina responders who became heroes for helping people restart their lives. Mr. Schloegel is quoted as believing, “The very best comes out in times of crisis—that’s when character really shows. And you could see that all over this area. . . . lessons of a calamity are part of what makes us what we are. There is more to be learned from the hard times than from the easy times.”
Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast of Mississippi head-on in August of 2005. While the media turned to New Orleans and the horrific man-made disaster of levees breaking and flooding the area, Mississippi struggled, after a direct hurricane hit, to dig out, assess and rebuild. If I remember correctly, we lost 238 lives and more than 70,000 homes due to Katrina. Mississippi held its head up and worked together to get back on it's feet...
With all the elements of a great NOVEL...heroes, adversaries, problems, conflict and resolutions, with vivid descriptions of the aftermath of the hurricane of the century... Katrina, Mississippi Voices from Ground Zero, it's characters and subject, is REAL... This book by NancyKay Sullivan Wessman is extraordinary in that it reads like a novel, intertwining the stories of the actual First Responders to Hurricane Katrina on the Mississippi Gulf Coast...intense stories from those in the thick of things that would have never been told without this book.
For those of us that lived through Katrina in Mississippi (albeit 3 hours north), we each have our own stories to tell. Reading this book brought back to life those dark days after our coast was destroyed. It was sometimes difficult to read because of that...but it needed to be said. And reading about these selfless people that stayed behind and helped throughout and after the storm in unimaginable conditions, added so much to the depth of this tragedy.. Some of them didn't know for many days if their families were safe or if their homes were destroyed, but they stayed and continued to do their jobs! It's the story of many people in the public health sector on the Mississippi Gulf Coast who worked together despite the limitations and the bureaucracy that tried to tie their hands.
Katrina, Mississippi Voices from Ground Zero should be required reading for schools and all would-be first responders. Ms. Wessman did a beautiful job sharing these heart-breaking and uplifting stories that had to be told! I highly recommend you read this!
Although I watched this book being born, metaphorically, reading it in its completed, published form is a thrill. NancyKay Wessman puts the reader inside the Emergency Operations Center bunker in Gulfport, MIssissippi before, during and after Hurricane Katrina, giving a true insider's perspective of the killer storm. After reading the book, I feel as if I truly know the champions of the storm -- those first responders who diligently worked to save lives while putting their own lives at risk. This is a book that made my heart race, then melt and kept me on the edge of my seat, waiting to turn the next page. This is as true an account of human courage, determination and passion set within the tale of an epic hurricane as I believe has ever been written. NancyKay did her homework and it shows in the pages of this brilliant book. I highly recommend it to all!
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