LDS wards in Katrina's wake face uncertainty

SLIDELL, La. -- In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, which devastated their homes, hometowns and places of worship, a great many members of the LDS Church with ties to Utah and elsewhere have packed up and headed north -- which, from New Orleans, is the only direction one now can travel.

At least two wards of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the New Orleans area may not rebound for some time. Others have been seriously impacted.

Members of the New Orleans (Spanish) 2nd Ward evacuated before the storm to Alexandria, La. Seeing the condition of their homes on television, they are planning to move elsewhere.

Another meetinghouse, the Chalmette Ward of the Slidell Louisiana Stake, located in the St. Bernard Parish of greater New Orleans, is submerged and likely will take years to rebuild.

"We are a small stake, and to lose a ward is huge," said Charlene Kirby, Slidell Stake Relief Society president.

After the storm, "Chalmette was forgotten" by the officials, she said. "So many communities were not reported on, as the focus stayed on New Orleans."

She described the ward as having grown slowly over the past two decades, with a membership that did not change much. But it retained its members over time.

"It was a little bitty ward and close-knit," she said. At one time, the ward used a school for a meetinghouse. "We met in the hallways, and we loved it."

Another with links to the Chalmette Ward is David Navo, now bishop of the Picayune Ward, who also lamented Chalmette's losses.

Bishop Navo said even those maintaining the local hospital armed themselves for protection in the looting that followed the storm.

But the horrific experiences of those who opted to weather the storm and faced the trauma of the subsequent flooding and unrest, coupled with the water ruining property and becoming toxic, make it likely that the area's old neighborhoods won't reconstitute quite the same.

Still, much of the LDS stake is composed of people who have been here for generations, and many of them will likely return if given the option, their local leaders say.

Farther down the coast, residents of beach cities contemplate the unbelievably extensive wreckage where they once lived and worked -- most of the damage caused by a 28-foot surge of ocean water driven by Katrina's 190-mph gusts.

Robert Garrett, bishop of a ward in Waveland, Miss., said that within the ward, only 11 habitable homes remain where once 380 families lived. He said the heat and the stench of the mud fuel feelings of hopelessness, but "We're going to give it a grand try."

He said some of his people have stopped by with everything they have left loaded in the car trunk to say goodbye.

"We won't be a ward. We'll be a branch," he said. His ward members are leaving daily.

Some will eventually return, he believes.

Bishop Jay Taylor of Pascagoula, Miss., said the ocean surge washed over substantial, well-built homes, leaving them standing with an appearance of solidity, but with buckled walls. Whole neighborhoods will be have to be rebuilt, and residents are leaving.

"We lost several families -- they are all relocating," he said, as he helped neighbors with commodities that were stacked up in his meetinghouse. Three families stopped by in one afternoon to say farewell forever, he said.

In their wake, however, others who were non-participants for many years are returning.

While those who lived close to the ocean are leaving, those who lived farther inland beyond the ocean's surge are already cleaning up. Life for them is gradually returning to normal.

"The majority will stay," said Bishop David Collins of the Covington LDS Ward, which took heavy winds that toppled thousands of trees but which lies beyond the reach of the ocean.

Whether the out-migration is permanent remains to be seen. The 80- foot pines and broad, mossy oaks that spread an enchanting canopy over this region, the spell of Cajun culture and sultry winters may draw others to replace those who have left or are leaving.

E-mail: jhart@desnews.com

Copyright C 2005 Deseret News Publishing Co.
Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved.