Local people keep making a difference

Morrie Benson of DeKalb holds a collection bucket at the corner of Seventh Street and Lincoln Highway in DeKalb this morning for "Cash for Katrina," a countywide effort to raise money for Hurricane Katrina victims. Chronicle photo HOLLY LUNDH

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Locals have been doing as much as they can to help the Gulf Coast states. Here are a few updates from local groups: Paul Jerde and volunteers collected items last Thursday and Friday outside Wal-Mart Supercenter, 2300 Sycamore Road in DeKalb, for Christian Disaster Response International. He and Terry Newtson on Sunday drove 17 hours each way to take the items to D'Iberville Elementary School in D'Iberville, Miss. They returned to DeKalb on Tuesday. Jerde estimated they hauled 7,000 to 8,000 pounds of baby formula, food, water, medicine, cleaning supplies and clothing. The school had been turned into a holding place for goods and a soup kitchen. "It was highly organized," Jerde said of the operation. He said other volunteers had already cleared the school, had an area for boxes coming in, tables set up with items for hurricane victims, and carts for victims to use in gathering items. Jerde isn't involved with Christian Disaster Response International but began collecting for the organization because it was the first to respond to his offer of help. "People needed the help, and I have a truck and trailer I knew I could use to help them," he said. During the journey Jerde and Newtson saw homes that were under 6 feet of water and others that had dried out but had such severe damage that their owners were gutting them. "People were clearing everything out of their houses - drywall and furniture - and throwing it into a pile," Jerde said. --- Local animal rescue teams are working to help pets and animals displaced by Hurricane Katrina. On Wednesday morning, TAILS Executive Director Beth Drake and TAILS board President Kathy Stelford, along with other animal rescue workers, entered the highly restricted zone of St. Bernard Parish, which is east of New Orleans. The team members are on an RV and are part of the Disaster Animal Response Team of the Humane Society of the United States. "It was not open for animal rescue until today (Wednesday)," TAILS spokeswoman and board member Carolyn Law said. The two women left on Tuesday. A second group of TAILS volunteers and SAFARI, a local cat rescue group, traveled on Monday to Bauxite, Ark., which is about 700 miles from DeKalb, to bring back some animals from the Saline County Animal Shelter. The crowded shelter, just southeast of Little Rock, received many of the pets from the devastated areas of Louisiana and Mississippi. The volunteers returned on Wednesday with 22 dogs and four cats. These animals need foster homes, and most are available for immediate adoption, Law said. For information, call TAILS at (815) 758-2457. --- For almost a week DeKalb County firefighters have been driving into New Orleans using Interstate 10 and watching the progress. "There'd be 5-feet of standing water around the Superdome," DeKalb firefighter Tony Smith said. "Now they're getting to where the mud is dry." Interstate 10 wraps around the Superdome and is one of the few ways to get into the city. Cortland firefighter Nkrumah Morgan said water was everywhere when the group first arrived on Friday. "There was water as far as the eye could see," he said. "You have to give credit to the electrical services and utility services ... They're making awesome progress in getting the water out of the city. Every time we've gone across the bridge we see five or six blocks of where the water used to be." The two firefighters are among 15 DeKalb County firefighters part of the Illinois contingency of about 600 firefighters deployed on Sept. 5. The group was split up into eight task force teams once it arrived in Louisiana, and DeKalb Asst. Fire Chief Bruce Harrison is operations chief for Illinois Task Force 4. He has been helping lead the group in its different operations, which have included putting out fires, providing emergency help to other firefighters, working on helicopter water drops and providing water for fire fighting where there are no fire hydrants. In addition to helping fix the homes of firefighters and public safety workers, the group has been working to rehab hospitals and clinics and other service facilities that assist the public. On Wednesday, the group was working in a subdivision called Venetian Isles, a neighborhood where many firefighters and policemen live. The firefighters said they are helping the public safety personnel cleanup their homes to allow them to take care of other responsibilities. New Orleans firefighters and police officers have worked nonstop since the hurricane hit two weeks ago. They wear hipwaders, gloves and masks to protect them as they clean up mud piled up in homes. Morgan, 28, said the neighborhood was one of those hit hardest by the hurricane, which brought 17 feet of water. Prior to that there were tornadoes. Smith, 45, said someone described the tornadoes as "hornets running through the houses." "This area we're working in would be a very beautiful place to live," Morgan said. "There's lakes and channels going through the subdivisions. Their backyards are channels with shrimp boats and yachts." He said some of the firefighters have said this is peak shrimping and crabbing season, which provided a supplemental income for many of them. He said the area smells like fish and saltwater. "We had to go through downtown to get here, so it's kind of refreshing," Morgan said. "There you smelled the rot and sewage and stagnant water and it's really repulsive." Smith said a lot of the boats caused much of damage to the homes. He saw a 32-foot pontoon boat sitting on top of two houses. He also saw a home ripped off its foundation and is sitting in a cul-de-sac. Morgan said the experience has made him appreciate what they have. "It kind of humbles you," Morgan said. "In the road to life you take things for granted and you see something like this and it brings you back down to earth." Smith said he's learned more about the camaraderie among firefighters. "I know that if something happened in my community, they'd come to help," he said. Sycamore Fire Chief Bill Riddle said the men are expected to be home by Tuesday. A second group of firefighters is expected to be sent to Louisiana, but Riddle said a final decision on which fire departments are going has not been made. Staff Writer Renee Messacar contributed to this report.