Extension aided state agencies in Katrina’s aftermath

STARKVILLE, Miss. -- Extension Services exist not only to share research-based information with the clients they serve, but to be there for people when they need it the most.

Perhaps never in Mississippi was this responsibility more crucial than 20 years ago on Aug. 29, 2005, and the months and years to follow. On that day, Hurricane Katrina devastated the state, its 120-mile-per-hour winds claiming more than 200 lives and an immeasurable number of livelihoods and property. Its trek rendered 81 of the state’s 82 counties federal disaster areas.

First responders and state agencies alike sprang into action as soon as the catastrophic storm cleared, marking the beginning of an arduous journey of recovery, cleanup and rebuilding. Educators and agents with the Mississippi State University Extension Service were part of this effort, supporting state agencies and using their resources to meet a range of unprecedented needs.

Providing hope and stability

The experience also underscored the importance of working with non-governmental organizations, stakeholder organizations and volunteers. MSU mobilized support to restore childcare services, build playgrounds and create safe spaces for children and families along the Gulf Coast. These efforts were led by the late Louise Davis, who at the time was executive director of MSU Extension’s early childhood programs, and in partnership with Cathy Grace, then-director of the Early Childhood Institute in the MSU College of Education.

Davis’ successor, Jamila Taylor, said collaborations within MSU, such as the one between Davis and Grace, and public-private partnerships were critical in restoring childcare quality to that of pre-Katrina levels.

“Extension’s impact during Hurricane Katrina was immediate and life-changing,” Taylor said. “By working with philanthropic partners and corporations like Chevron and others, millions of dollars were secured to rebuild and support in-home providers and centers, giving parents the ability to recover while helping children return to a sense of normalcy. Extension’s response not only met urgent needs but also provided hope and stability in a time of devastation.”

Restoring services

Steve Renfroe, who during Katrina was manager of public and government affairs for Chevron’s refinery in Pascagoula, had previously teamed up with Grace to develop Excel by 5, an early childhood development certification program for educators of children up to 5 years old. After Katrina, the energy corporation provided crews to repair and rebuild childcare centers in Jackson County, where the refinery is based.

“I think it’s important to remind folks how vital childcare centers are and how much employers rely on centers for their workforce to function,” Renfroe said. “I talked to employees at the refinery who were mothers with young children who said they couldn’t come back to work because childcare wasn’t available, so we thought it was important to make a good faith effort into restoring those services.”

Nonprofit organization Save the Children took notice of Chevron’s effort and copied the model to rebuild centers in neighboring Harrison and Hancock counties. Near the end of the project, Chevron donated funding to build two completely new centers, one owned and operated by the Bay St. Louis-Waveland School District and the other by the Pass Christian Public School District.

“These were needed because in those areas, there were no damaged centers to rebuild,” Renfroe said. “Those centers were just swept away entirely.”

Grace said the work done was used at the federal level in developing standards for childcare after disasters.

“Dr. Davis worked with in-home childcare providers, and I was working with childcare centers, but we shared a lot of needs that we worked on together,” Grace said. “When Katrina hit, the response of so many with MSU showed what Extension should be about, and that was to utilize the networks they had in their counties to help others.”

Advance preparation

One of MSU Extension’s contributions took place well before Katrina made landfall. In the months and years leading up to Katrina, the unit had trained thousands of state and local officials in Incident Command System protocols, preparing communities to respond cohesively to disasters.

Once weather reports several days in advance of the hurricane pointed to its potential strength, Extension agents teamed with local emergency managers knocking on doors in the state’s southernmost six counties and urging residents to evacuate north to evade the storm’s path.

MSU Extension is one of many state agencies written into the state’s comprehensive emergency management plan, maintained by the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency, or MEMA, to respond to disasters. Emergency support functions with MSU Extension as a supporting agency include emergency management, mass care, public health and medical services, and animals, agriculture and natural resources.

Depending on the mission assignments they receive from MEMA or county emergency managers, those efforts can include performing needs assessments and supporting the Mississippi Board of Animal Health, or MBAH, as well as MEMA and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Farm Service Agency. Extension agents, specialists and staff assisted with a wide range of recovery efforts such as donations management, agricultural damage assessments, animal care and work relief.

A critical presence

Tom Ball, MSU Extension program coordinator for disaster response and recovery, said in the immediate aftermath, Extension agents were deployed in strike teams to the bottom six counties and other devastated areas. They staffed shelters and, in some cases, transported victims to shelters.

“One of our strike teams in Hancock County found 29 people in the Bienville National Forest huddled together living in tents,” Ball said.

Hancock County Emergency Management Agency director Hooty Adam said Extension was a major presence there throughout the process of recovery, whether it was fielding calls related to crops or livestock affected by the storm or delivering food to him and his staff as they worked around the clock.

“They’ve been a big help for us whether it’s storming or not storming,” Adam said. “Every time someone had an issue with livestock or crops, MSU Extension came in and did a great job of taking a lot of pressure off me and working with farmers.”

Extension also played a critical role in restoring communication. With support from Purdue University and the Extension Disaster Education Network, or EDEN, they deployed earth stations -- ground-based facilities that communicate with satellites -- to fire stations and libraries, allowing survivors to contact their loved ones. At the Starkville campus, MSU Extension staff coordinated donations from across the country, filling the lobby of the Bost Extension Center with supplies that were quickly distributed to food pantries and impacted counties.

The organization’s efforts weren’t limited to physical aid. Extension staff and faculty worked alongside MEMA, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and local leaders to assist communities processing trauma through well-being programs and long-term recovery committees.

From loading dog food to rebuilding fences

MSU Extension also collaborated with fellow units under the university’s Division of Agriculture, Forestry and Veterinary Medicine, including the Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station and the College of Veterinary Medicine, or CVM. Volunteers from CVM worked with Extension agents to identify needs related to livestock and domestic animals, pitching in at stockyards and feed stores and conducting damage assessments at farms and clinics.

“We would go out and do assessments of which veterinary clinics were operational and which ones needed help, because we wanted to support the infrastructure that was still there,” said MSU Extension veterinarian Dr. Carla Huston, who served as the Veterinary Services branch director under MBAH. “You had Extension agents doing everything from loading dog food into trucks to rebuilding fences on farms.”

Extension established a donations warehouse and pet shelter at the Forrest County Multipurpose Center, which supported community members, farmers and veterinarians throughout the coastal region and housed more than 2,500 displaced animals. MSU also teamed with MBAH and the Mississippi Veterinary Medical Association to establish the Mississippi Animal Disaster Relief Fund for veterinarians and animal owners, a resource that is still active today.

“Situations like this force state agencies and other responding organizations to rely on each other’s strengths,” Huston said. “I think the way that we all came together as agencies and departments to help our citizens made everybody proud, and our resolve and good attitude rubbed off on people in the communities that needed help.”

A strong framework

In the 20 years following Katrina’s impact, Ball said MSU Extension has become better equipped to respond and support other agencies after disasters than ever before, and that work paid off when Extension was called upon to assist after tornadoes and flooding that impacted communities across the state.

“There is a connectional linkage through Extension that is probably taken for granted on days when there’s blue sky,” Ball said. “In times of emergency and confusion, Extension historically has played an important part in bringing together all of the human, physical, and material resources of a county.”