Posted: 11/16/05
County jailer volunteers for Katrina
by David Heiller
Argus News Editor
Mark Hiser will remember ìDeputy Nelsonî for a long time.
Nelson was a 10-year-old boy with Downís Syndrome that Hiser met while doing volunteer work with the Red Cross from October 5-26.
Hiser, who lives in Houston, is a jailer with the Houston County Sheriffís Office. Heís good with people, and Nelson must have sensed that, because they hit it right off. Hiser gave the boy a stick-on badge to make his Deputy Nelson rank official.
Deputy Nelson followed Hiser around while he did security work at the River Center in Baton Rouge. He even went to meetings with Hiser. ìIf the mayor shook my hand, he had to shake Nelsonís hand,î Hiser recalled on November 9. ìHe was quite a little guy.î
Deputy Nelson even gave Hiser a gift of a beaded bookmark before he got on a bus to move to a new home.
Hiser received another special gift too: a jacket from the Kentucky National Guard, with whom Hiser worked.
ìThe Kentucky National Guard was a class outfit,î Hiser said. ìWe worked really well together.î
Those feelings were mutual. Commander Dougherty wrote on the sleeve of the jacket: ìThe Old Sarge. You are an army of one. The job you did for us during Katrina and Rita was outstanding and greatly contributed to the overall mission. Your sense of humor was the bright spot of our day.î
Hiser said he made the trip because he had some vacation time to burn and he wanted to go down and give a hand. ìAnd they still need help,î Hiser said. He figures it will take a year or more to get things in decent shape.
Hiser worked with local police and national guard members to set up security for shelters for victims of Hurricane Katrina. Much of his time was at the River Center in Baton Rouge. About 1,000 people were housed there. They came from the Superdome in New Orleans, where security was lacking. That was not the case where Hiser worked.
ìThey thought I was the perfect guy for that job,î Hiser said. That was because he works in law enforcement, and he is retired as a paratrooper in the Army 82nd Airborne Division from 1970-1987.
The many photographs that Hiser took show an interesting cross-section of what Hurricane Katrina did.
Unbelievable destruction
They show buildings with water lines higher than Hiser can reach. Theyíll all have to be torn down, he said.
Pictures of T-shirts say a lot. One read ìFEMA: Federal Employees Missing Again.î Another said, ìForget Iraq, Rebuild at Home.î
But Hiser doesnít think putting the blame on FEMA is fair. ìThey either refused to go or they didnít listen,î he said. He also doesnít think some neighborhoods in the low-lying neighborhoods of New Orleans will be rebuilt. ìThatís why Iím not in politics,î he said with a laugh.
Hiser didnít hear a lot of anger, but he said people were mad because they wanted checks and FEMA trailers.
Of course there were pictures of devastation too. One showed a neighborhood in which drywall was blown off walls and into the street. ìAnd they plowed it onto the boulevard with graders,î Hiser said.
The storm destroyed poor, black neighborhoods. ìThey didnít really have a lot to lose, but what they did have, they lost,î Hiser said.
It destroyed affluent areas too, like one along Lake PontchartrainÝ that was totally flattened. ìIt just completely destroyed the whole area,î Hiser said. ìItís just unbelievable the destruction theyíve got there.î
Hiser heard of many health problems too, some of which came in unusual ways. For example, when cars that were submerged in water dried out, the scum on them dried also and then blew off, causing respiratory problems for Red Cross workers.
The hardest part for Hiser was watching people who had lost their families. Some people didnít know where their family members were. One guy watched his wife and daughter float by, dead, in the water.
Hiser was impressed with the job that the Red Cross did. They found him food and a place to stay. He slept in a church with about 215 other volunteers. His days started at 5 a.m. and ended at about 10:30 or 11 p.m.
Most of his co-workers were retired law enforcement workers, from groups like the secret service, IRS, state patrol, and sheriffís office.
It was a positive experience for Hiser. ìItís a trip Iíll never forget,î he said.
Hiser thanked his co-workers at the county, sheriffís office, and jail for helping him get the time off and for covering his shift. ìEverybody chipped in. I think that says a lot for them guys too,î he said.
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