With much needed supplies in tow behind a brand new sport utility vehicle, Independence Township resident Doug Borchardt and five of his fellow church members from Calvary Church of Oakland County departed on Oct. 14 to bring much needed relief to victims of Hurricane Katrina in Biloxi, Miss.
The ‘band of brothers,? as they took to calling each other, returned a week later, physically and emotionally drained, wracked with emotion from what they had seen and with a story burning to be told.
‘I don’t know what they showed on the TV as far as Mississippi, everything was so focused on New Orleans. But the major devastation was in Mississippi,? said Borchardt. ‘The quadrant of the storm that we were in was the northeast quadrant, which was the worst. They had over 400 tornados in a matter of four or five hours.
‘The devastation was unbelievable. We were about a mile and half from the coast, the closer you got to the coast there were no houses left, it was literally a slab and the front steps, that was all you saw, and these were 6,7 and 8000-square-foot mansions.?
The group of six packed their donated Ford Excursion and a trailer chock full of donated items, such as: 55-gallon drums of water, 25 one-gallon containers of gasoline, antiseptic and antifungal cremes, and tarps capable of providing makeshift roofs.
In Borchardt, the band had an experienced carpenter and stone mason who worked on projects as large as Comerica Park and Ford Field as well as redoing his own roof and walk. While the rest of the party did not share Borchardt’s expertise, they were all able bodied and ready to clear fallen trees with chain saws and do whatever else they could.
‘We were a mixed bag. We were all God-fearing men and we all had a calling to go down and serve,? said Borchardt.
While they had more than enough will, and in their SUV a comfortable way down to Mississippi, the party lacked a place to stay as they departed on a 24-hour drive, lengthened by collapsed bridges and overpasses near the coast.
‘We weren’t sure where we were staying at. We were supposed to stay at a Baptist church, but by the time we were literally packing up at my church that was for some reason unavailable. So now we’re camping ? Then we found out we were going to be able to stay above a garage that was unfinished but it had a floor and electricity. Twenty minutes later someone called back and said that was unavailable,? Borchardt said.
While Borchardt and the others had not packed any camping gear to speak of, the question mark hanging over their lodging situation did not distract them from their mission. Good things happen to good people, and much like when a mechanic repaired a flat tire on their SUV for free on their trip south, Borchardt and his company’s selflessness was rewarded when they needed a place to lay their heads.
‘We still didn’t know where we were staying. As soon as we got there we were directed to this house (whose owner) had just been sent to the hospital. She found out we were coming to work at her house and clean her house and fix her roof and she said to stay at her house. It was a full three-bedroom house and everything. Here we are camping and now we’re Kool and the Gang,? Borchardt said.
The Calvary Chapel of Oakland County’s sister church, Gulf Coast Calvary Church, drew Borchardt and his band to Ocean Springs, 11 miles east of Biloxi.
When Borchardt reflects on what he and the others witnessed in the hurricane ravaged region his emotions nearly spill out.
Borchardt’s constant smile disappears, his voice wavers slightly when he talks about what he saw in Mississippi.
A man picking through the wreckage of his house desperately searching for a picture of his mother, who had died the year before, is just one of the images of hardship and suffering Borchardt brought back with him.
The instant emotional connection he had with the people he met is still strong. He lived through some people’s worst nightmares ? and yet among the debris and woe, Borchardt still found stories of perseverance and hope.
He heard about a man and his infant who were swept from their living room by the surge of water which charged through Biloxi’s streets when Hurricane Katrina hit in full force. The man placed his baby in a bucket which happened to be floating by, grabbed onto the roof of a building and pulled himself and the infant to safety as the 25-foot waters rapidly receded.
‘Here we are six guys ready to tackle the world and we were not getting direction on what to do. We had chain saws, we were cutting up 80 or 90-foot pine trees that just leveled people’s houses. Just giving water away, giving food away,? said Borchardt. ‘We thought we were going to bring all of this man power. It’s funny because we were getting frustrated, we were allowing our own selfishness to overcome us. We had to get over ourselves. God just had a plan for us, for us to go down there and I really think to bring this story back, to tell people about this.
‘You know you might be able to help one family and if that picks them up and helps them pick up that next person ? that’s what we did. That’s what we had to come to grips with. The little things just matter so much.?
Being able to witness the kindness of others also struck a deep chord in Borchardt. In one instance, he learned of a church parish in an especially impoverished section of Biloxi which prior to the hurricane fed the homeless, drug addicted and simply misfortunate alike on weekends. The church, with it’s members scattered and kitchens bare, was in no shape to offer any sort of meal. In a touching display, the people who had been fed on countless occasions by the church, brought collected food to share with the clergy and any other hungry people.
‘Here there are these people at their lowest point, regardless of what their addictions are, and they are coming to help where they can,? said Borchardt.
While seeing people band together as a community touched Borchardt, the absence of the federal government in the relief effort 10 days after Hurricane Katrina hit Biloxi still bothers him.
‘We wanted to see what was going on in downtown Biloxi because we had heard FEMA still wasn’t around in some areas, no one had seen them in some areas. The Red Cross was there and they were treating people. They had their big trucks and big tents and stuff was happening,? said Borchardt, who aside from carpentry dabbles in sales and finance.
‘The trip changed my life. One thing everybody teaches you in sales is the ‘Fear of Loss.? You understand the fear of loss when you see what we saw. We had to finally leave, we were emotionally withdrawn, just drained completely, drained and spent.?
Borchardt and those who went with him’s efforts in Ocean Springs and Biloxi rebuilt lives, both figuratively and literally, as they banged with their hammers, cut with chain saws and gave solace to many who needed a shoulder to cry on. He hopes the group’s story inspires others to help with the relief efforts in any way they can.
While the time Borchardt spent in Mississippi was hard on his wife Dina and his children: six-year-old Aria and two-year-old Zach, he was able to keep in contact via cell phone and at times was surprised with how talkative his youngest was.
The trip took an emotional toll on Borchardt, but that and the catch up work he found waiting for him when he returned have not dissuaded him from thinking about taking another trip down to Mississippi.
‘We just had to be there for whoever needed us at that time. We wanted to stay, we didn’t want to go because we were starting to do what we were supposed to do down there,? said Borchardt. ‘It was bittersweet coming back because of the feeling that I needed to help people.?