We returned to Kiln, Miss., knowing our home was gone and then were told our office was also gone. When we arrived, we found our offices weren’t gone, but after 4 feet of water, they might as well be-and we are in what was usually a NO flood area.
The rest of our family stayed just across the road and up the hill from our offices, and when we checked on them found they were OK.
My husband, Jerry and our son-in-law waded into our house. The water hadn’t gone all the way down in our area and several houses had floated across the road making it impassable. Water on the road went from waist to ankle deep. It had gone into the attic in our house and we couldn’t start cleaning it out. Stories we heard from families that stayed weren’t pretty.
We were overwhelmed by the destruction, prayed for our neighbors and hoped for the best. Since we no power and only cell phones, we were excited to get a generator and a saw. These were great tools to start a comeback. Our family came the next week and brought water and supplies from Texas and Tennessee.
We knew we needed to open the office, so we posted cell phone numbers on the windows and sat outside the office and took claims.
The stories we heard from our policyholders made us thankful for our blessings. The Big “I” and the Professional Insurance Agents brought tables and supplies. We were thankful and thrilled to see them. We spent the first week or two doing a reality check, since then our efforts have been aimed at trying to put our lives and business back together. We are still waiting to wake up from this nightmare.
People still need help. Many church groups came to help, I don’t know what we would have done without them.
The government tries to help, but the red tape keeps choking their intentions. We are lucky to be back in our offices now and we received the famous (everyone here wants one) FEMA trailer.
We are still thanking God for all the others who have come to help. We have been on the coast since 1964 and have seen all the hurricanes since Betsy. None of them are pretty and it takes time to recover. I think its nature’s way of letting us know who is really the boss and that she keeps us close to those who really count.
Lauly and Jerry Peterson
Statewide Insurance Services
Kiln, Miss. (Hancock County)
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