Memories From Long Beach, Mississippi
Team #3, Katrina Recovery-Assistance Trip
A Truly All-American, Multi-Local Government Disaster Response
What started all of this? Why Long Beach, Mississippi? William Whitson, Assistant City Manager of Port Orange, used to live in Long Beach, MS. After Hurricane Katrina tore through Louisiana and Mississippi, he contacted someone there and heard of the devastation. He then called the City Managers of New Smyrna Beach and Palm Bay asking if they would help with a clandestine trip to Long Beach to see what the needs were. Team #1 was a fact finding trip, bringing some supplies and trying to determine the needs. Long Beach had no computers, no way to process payroll, handle purchasing, nor any way to respond to the many demands of recovery from a devastating disaster and was weeks from going broke, due to losing all records, etc. Whitson and these proactive City Managers responded with Team #2, formed primarily of IT personnel, taking several computers, networking, telecommunications equipment and a complete telephone system (which is ending up in the hands of a child advocacy operation who had nothing like it before). Team #2 brought digital cameras, GPS technology, IT knowledge and a lot of “get it done with whatever you have” savvy. They set up a computer operation in the Long Beach Fire Station, which is still serving as City Hall (in one room) and is still very much a functioning Fire Station. And, for the past three weeks, has also been home to this incredible multi-governmental recovery effort. Within that first week, Team #2 located and purchased a payroll and purchasing system from a vendor in Maine, downloaded it, got it up and running, began training the local staff in operating it and had the City of Long Beach ready to pay their people and began handling the many and varied purchasing challenges of the coming months; an incredible task under very difficult circumstances. In a cash crisis, the City asked for help with Damage Assessment because financial assistance from FEMA is dependent on completion of this activity on both the infrastructure (water lines and systems, bridges, manhole covers and sewer lines, storm water drainage , with none of their 70 lift stations working). FEMA pays 100% of the amount of infrastructure damage. Team #2 went to the hardest hit area of Long Beach, south of the railroad tracks, and took GPS Lat/Lon readings and pictures, each time rotating in a 360 degree circle. My memory is that they did this at each intersection, documenting hundreds of pictures with precise locations. They found, from the regional planning council, a GIS map, got a parcel layer from somewhere, brought in CAD data on the utilities, and created an incredible mix-mash of high-tech programs and gadgetry that worked! They then incorporated an Access data base so that each digital camera had a name and each picture a number. They then created centroid lat/lon numbers for each parcel, linking the pictures to the Access data base where one could type in name, address, parcel number and see a picture of their property, the value, the amount of damage, the available utilities, etc., as the data was input and available. People in City Hall were able, for the first time, to see what had happened in the area of their homes. All of this was set up by Team #2 in one week.
The call came back for Team #3 to come help with Damage Assessment. I found out about it around 10am on Tuesday, September 20, 2005. It was 1:30 before I confirmed our logistics status (the next time I do that will be the second time) and put out an “allstaff” email to my people asking for volunteers. I knew I would get the best of the best…, and they were. “The best” always stand up without questioning “why” or “what-if” They always say, “Put me in, Coach, put me in, let me play, I can do it.” Team #3 (Volusia County’s first participation in this effort) was born. I was proud of my volunteers.
The trip to Long Beach was really a “trip.” I called it “freed for speed.” We left New Smyrna Beach with 12 vehicles, including four police and/or fire vehicles with lights. Two of them in front and two in rear to keep the “convoy” together. We met up with the Kissimmee and Punta Gorda group in Tallahassee. Once we were out of the metro areas, our police escort bought us up to “sufficient speed” (can’t remember exactly how much) and we boogied up I-95 and west on I-10. The Kissimmee Police Van blew tires on two separate occasions, stopping us for about 45 min each. We joked about government purchases (i.e. “…the lowest bid on the new trailer with the cheapest tires…”). Other than that, the trip was about 595 miles and uneventful. The views as we came into Mississippi, Biloxi and westward were incredible and only a hint of what we would be seeing in Long Beach.
When we arrive, we are speechless at the devastation. No one has ever seen anything like it. Our accommodations are a large tent which is air-conditioned with huge fans circulating the air (it was actually cold at night). The cool night conditions kept the mosquito’s out and the ant problems we heard about were taken care of before we got here. The firefighters and local people are so very kind and generous, given what has happened to them. I don’t think anyone escaped damage to something they own or to property of a relative or friend. There is about ¼ mile of total destruction along the entire gulf coast of Long Beach. Highway 90, the coast highway through town, is washed out in many places and there are no buildings standing within 3 to 4 blocks. The Team Leaders meet with the Long Beach Mayor, Billy Skellie; the Building/Codes/Planning Department Director, Vick Lassabe; the Fire Chief, George Bass; and the City Engineer, John Campton. We are told that they just got their first debris removal bill and that without the system in place (not totally finalized at this point) they would have had trouble paying the bill. There is so great a demand for trucks, bulldozers, and demolition/removal equipment, that if one cannot pay, the equipment simply moves to the money.
Mayor, Billie Skellie - Billie was in the Fire Dept/City Hall every day. Billie seemed to always be encouraging everyone. He certainly made all of us feel welcome. He seemed more of a manager than a mayor (that’s a compliment). He was always huddling with someone or in meetings, a very engaged Mayor. The citizens of Long Beach are lucky he’s where he is because he is genuinely a working politician. A true gentleman.
Fire Chief, George Bass – Chief Bass is one of the most gentle, considerate men I’ve ever seen. His first comment was always, “I just want to thank ya’ll for being here, we really appreciate your sacrifice in coming down here to help us. Can we do anything for you?” A great leader whose men were still called to be away from families who had lost all that was dear, save their own lives; and men who still responded to the calls to help others who needed their services. Unflappable and caring, he quietly took care of almost anything we needed from passes to the “south side” to straightening out the [mostly] federal caretakers at the gas-pump-for-law enforcement and designated others. We never saw again the one who denied one of our team members gasoline at that pump. He may not be doing duty in Alaska by now, but he’ll probably have trouble pumping gas in Long Beach again. Chief Bass just has that look about him that says he cares, that he’s on top of the situation and that the situation is going to be ok. I really liked him.
Building Official, Vick Lassabe – Vick is looking at a mammoth task, given the total destruction to almost 25% of the property in Long Beach and some level of damage to probably 75% of the properties in the City. He welcomed us like old friends and provided us with whatever we needed when we needed it. All this during probably the most trying and stressful time anyone could go ever go through, on both a personal and professional level. Vick was very helpful to me in viewing some critical aspects of the damage assessment process. I cannot imagine the challenges he will be facing as people begin to obtain permits to renovate and rebuild. I know one thing. Like Billie, George and all the other city officials we met, Vick truly cares about this town and the people in it. And, one day as our conversation went to lighter topics, I found a fellow woodsman and hunter.
City Engineer, John Campton – In the midst of trying to get potable water back to their citizens and deal with every City Engineer’s worst nightmare, John had the foresight and took the time to design forms for each type of infrastructure we would need to assess when we arrive. His forms, at first, seem needlessly complicated to us appraiser-types. On the ground later, we found them exactly what someone who didn’t know anything needed to find and record descriptive information about something totally foreign to them. We had different forms allowing us to describe damage on water wells (they have 10), water mains and fire hydrants, manholes and sewage systems, pump stations, traffic signals and bridges. John is, this week, working with a Team #4 Volusia County Engineer, Jim Pekala, to put realistic values on all of the items we recorded for him. Again, the citizens of Long Beach have excellent people working for them.
Harrison County Tax Assessor, Tal Flurry – Tal’s office was in contact with Team #2 the week before we arrived. His responsibilities far exceed the boundaries of Long Beach, but he was definitely interested in what we were doing and in whether or not it could be used by other cities or counties in the area. He set up a meeting with other Harrison County municipalities that was the action of a thoughtful public servant, seeking ways to help others. Tal was encouraging and literally saved our bacon on Monday of this week with my 11th hour request and his hastily prepared and timely delivered data CD. His cooperative spirit and desire to help his municipalities brought Gulfport, D’Iberville and Biloxi to the table in what I suspect will be the first of a number of cooperative, informative sessions regarding recovery issues.
Next we have Mark, “maker of breakfast-extraordinaire.” Mayor Billie told me that Mark was the greatest linebacker Long Beach High has had over the past 40 years. Now Mark could pass for a brother to our Greg Epps, who is often mistaken for a professional football player. Both could probably still be if they wanted. Mark makes the best, meanest, breakfast I’ve ever had. His specialty is grits, filled with Velveeta cheese, pepper, salt and some cayenne pepper and I know some other type of cook-magic. It is a stand-alone meal by itself, but of course he fries the perfect over-light egg and uses the best bacon I’ve ever tasted, not to mention those biscuits. When Mark is on duty, the breakfast line begins at 5am and they keep on coming in until about 7am. About all you hear from Mark is “You got enough? Need more biscuits? How is it?” I hope Mark takes me up on a visit to Central Florida. A relaxing ride on the St. John’s River won’t ever repay the purring my stomach did to his breakfast, but it’s been offered.
Accommodations… We spent our first 2 nights in the “Fire-Tent,” as we called it. It was a huge tent located right next to the Long Beach Fire Station, probably sleeping close to a hundred people if needed. It had AC, a huge fan and 4’X8’ sheets of plywood for a floor. It actually got cold in there at night. At first we thought the conditions a tad primitive, but we met more-primitive later. There was the “shower-semi truck and trailer.” The “semi” had stainless steel stairs and walkway with ten or so stainless steel shower stalls. It also had an equal number of sinks and mirrors on the ground in front hooked up to a potable running water supply where one could shave, brush teeth, etc. We thought this was convenient and cool, but maybe a tad of trouble. The porti-potties were about 70 yards feet from the tent, a long walk in the rain in the middle of the night. As a friend once stated, “What you need is an attitude adjustment.” We were too fresh out of all the comforts of home…
Then, Hurricane Rita came threatening, with winds gusting 20-30mph with forecasts of tropical levels. The “powers that be” felt we were not safe in our “tent.” So, some time after dark-thirty we packed up and moved to an Elementary School where we were told the water was contaminated, not to even wash our hands, much less bathe in it. So we slept there, then came back to the Fire Station to shave, shower, etc. This was W. J. Quarles Elementary School. It was actually very nice to see the things the kids had drawn and their names and such all over the room I stayed in. We all signed a thank-you letter for their hospitality in letting us stay there. Throughout the trip, any small inconvenience we may have felt was nothing compared to that suffered by the residents of Long Beach. We only stayed at W. J. Quarles for 2 nights. It seemed longer, but it was home while we were there. There were fewer bugs in the tent than in the school (used as a shelter, but without normal daily school quality TLC since the storm). There was one monster Palmetto Bug we couldn’t return to his maker. Relativity is a wonderful perspective builder. We came to think of the Fire Tent as the Waldorf. Then, all of a sudden, the shower-semi guy apparently didn’t get paid promptly enough by FEMA (we were told he got a “cash-in-advance” offer from Texas) and he cranks up his semi and our showers drive off. Ever seen a grown man cry?
Time and conditions are wonderful vehicles for bringing perspectives into line with the realities of one’s circumstances. When we arrived, we thought living in a tent, with men and women, walking 100 feet to a porti-potty and ¾ that distance to the shower-semi with the outdoor sinks was roughing it. After two days in the school, we were delighted to be returning to this now-convenient circumstance. As the shower-semi drove away, it dawned on us that we had actually been living in the lap of luxury. Our remaining days involved showering where you could, hot water or not (any shower was wonderful), and use a lot of “liquid sanitizer.” Convenience and luxury are, we found, totally relative and instantly changeable.
We are told to disinfect our shoes after we’ve been “south of the railroad tracks” where the worst damage occurred. There is everything from possible human and certainly animal DNA to sewage to chemicals to “no one knows what” soaked into the soil there. One of the disaster people suggested that we throw our shoes away rather than take them home. I’m taking mine home…
I’ve got to say again that the Long Beach fire fighters really tried to make us feel at home. They had to be terribly inconvenienced by all our vehicles; our drinking their coffee, eating (when we could) their food, and generally just “being in their space.” They were, to a man, gentlemen of the highest order. We were honored to get to know some of them.
Tom Fitzgerald was a great Leader of Team #2 and Warren was impressive for the few hours I saw him as Leader of Team #4. It took leadership to get this entire effort underway, so I guess good leaders (like the City Managers who initiated this effort) got where they are by surrounding themselves with good people. The Leadership was impressive.
IT/GIS “Techno-Geek” Team… I’ve already talked about the incredible technical group that made up Team #2. Well, they were so dedicated that they had to be sent home two days into our week, all dead tired and ragged from not taking care of themselves. I mentioned Tom Fitzgerald, IT Director from Port Orange. Tom is a guy who can walk into a room in data-chaos (which he did) and sort through it, coming out with a cohesive plan for progressively bringing a common sense hi-tech solution. He is a rare talent and I am proud to have gotten to know him. Two young men, very much younger versions of a Tom Fitzgerald were spewing intellectual hi-tech solutions faster than most could keep up with. They were David Wagner, Network PC Support Technician from Palm Bay (an Air Force Reservist and as “can-do” a person as I’ve ever met). I doubt David has ever knowingly “flinched” at a problem. The other of the hi-tech wonder-duo was Surat Dontula, Web/Data Base Administrator, City of Port Orange. Surat left on Friday, but was on the phone and on his computer two nights ago (Thursday night of our week) at 11:30 helping with solutions to overcome challenges presented by the Damage Assessment data and what we were trying to accomplish with the Access data base program. The dedication of the IT/GIS men and women was incredible. The rest of us worked pretty much from day light to dark. These folks did the same and then worked every night until as late as 2am. I don’t think they ever quit before 11:30 at night. Team #3’s Techno-Geeks were Kevin, Angie, Mike, Tony Curtis, all great attitudes, none seemingly desiring sleep (hope I didn’t miss anyone). My guy Chris Cromer was right in there with them. I ordered Chris to stop working and get some sleep two or three nights, fearing a burn out. I might as well have been swimming upstream in a tsunami. Every time I asked any of them to try or do anything, I got two or three ways of looking at the data back. We had the best of the best on this team. Incidentally, two years ago, Chris was awarded “ Florida Cadastralist of The Year” by the Florida Association of Cadastral Mappers. They only give one award. He’s a gem. They all were.
“We” did the leg work in the field, bringing in thousands of data pieces for Long Beach. Not a single bit of our work would have ever seen the light of the day of understanding without the efforts of our techno-geeks. We love ‘em.
What Did We Actually Do? First, we had Hurricane Rita, the follow-on to Katrina, feigning a visit with us, to the point of raining and blowing enough to keep us from going into the field for a full day. When we did begin, the storm’s course wasn’t final and it hadn’t quit raining, but the team was biting at the bit and we went out anyway to begin the infrastructure damage assessment. We thought we were there to do Real Estate Damage Assessment, but the City of Long Beach wanted us to do Infrastructure Damage Assessment first because FEMA pays 100% of that as soon as your documentation is in. The City Engineer had designed forms. We reviewed them, had a training/discussion session and all the Teams went out on different assignments. My staff’s next time performing infrastructure damage assessment will be our second time. My two field teams were involved in several aspects. In addition to the field teams, Bonnie provided invaluable assistance to the IT/GIS team in interpreting our data and helping with data entry. Chris was, of course, doing the “techno-thing” all day and all night. As Field Team #3, Susie Bolen and I became “experts” in finding and documenting the status of first, man-hole covers and sewer lines; then we inspected (over, under, on both sides, complete with digital pictures) all seven bridges in Long Beach (including the one I couldn’t move with my head); and finally, all views of all the street lights in Long Beach. Most of the street lights were broken or gone, but all of the “controller-boxes” except one were intact. We pictorially captured wires, fixtures, support poles, electrical connections, you-name-it-about-traffic-lights and we got it down (on the form and in the picture). We actually found, called in and documented one bridge with a previously unknown problem which could have proven a real traffic problem (we found three, but they already knew about two of them). Lynn Coffin and Will Triplett, while down in the hardest hit area south of Railroad Road, smelled and called in a gas leak that no one knew was there. My people were, although no one ever mentioned or dwelled on it, potentially in harm’s way and they all performed flawlessly.
On Friday, when Susie and I finished our assignments, there were still a lot of other infrastructure assignments left, but the other teams had them in hand, estimated at a few more days until completion. I talked to Don Snell, our Team Leader, about “prototyping” the real estate damage assessment process, because we had people from different professional disciplines with none of us having dealt with this level of devastation before. He agreed so Susie and I (Damage Assessment Team #3) began taking out folders of parcel-level sheets. We immediately began finding symptomatic problems in the data. We analyzed each, agreeing on adjustments and went back out to refine the process. By early Monday morning, it became clear that the data initially loaded into the Access program was flawed, possibly old, and was going to be unusable. This was not good news. I called Tal Flurry, the Harrison County Tax Assessor, and asked if he could have his “data person” cut us a CD with updated parcel numbers, along with whatever detail totals he carried for other structures on the parcels, and to include his Replacement Cost New for each one. He said, “we’ll try to get it done.” I was asking him to do it “today” so we could get at least some of the real estate damage assessment done before “Team #4” came in on Wednesday night. Tal came through like the champ he is. We got the CD late in the afternoon, the IT/GIS members of Team#3 stayed up most of the night getting the data into the Access data base where all the “other stuff” was. Then, in the next two days (Tuesday and Wednesday), we had seven teams doing what we all thought we’d be doing all week, damage assessment on real estate. We “smoked it” for two days and finished over 3,200 properties, with pictures and descriptions of all damaged ones. We also surveyed the 1600 properties hit hardest on the south side of Railroad Road. Almost 1,000 of them were totally destroyed and we estimated an average of 60% damage on the remainder. Chris Cromer did an incredible job of incorporating these estimates into the GIS, analyzing it and reporting the totals and dollars back to me around 5pm last night. Chris may be allowed to sleep when he gets home, but he didn’t get much in Long Beach.
Response Team #3 did a lot more that this, I’m just reporting on the part I was close to.
Compassion is always present, and always touching… We ate our meals, for most of the week, at the Middle School, where church volunteers from Corinth, MS, cooked and served very good meals and all you wanted to eat. Somehow, a meal handed to me with a non-intrusive “God bless you for being here,” was a nice touch. On my second meal there, a gentleman about my age, stopped and held the door open for all five of my people. As I walked up, I said, “Now go eat in front of us, we may not leave you any food.” He laughed and asked where we were from. Then he asked why we were in Long Beach and I told him we were helping the city with damage assessment. He looked at me with that thousand mile stare I had seen 40 years ago in Vietnam and said, “How about writing me down, I lost three houses and 2 cars.” Michael Hester, a local attorney, having lost his office, several houses and all that he materially owned, held the lunch door open for five people he didn’t know. A gentleman to the core, it was very touching…, still is.
During one of our nights at the Elementary School, the EM Director for Palm Bay, Mary, went outside and saw a large dog attacking a very small dog. She broke up the fight and found an almost dead toy poodle and brought it inside. She couldn’t wash it off because we couldn’t use the water. It was filthy dirty, but she put it in her sleeping bag and loved it through the rest of the night. The next morning, Mary brought it along to breakfast (at the elementary school), I got it some water and cut off a coffee cup for it to drink out of. He didn’t want any water at first. The lady inside, when I asked her for some bread, handed me a loaf of beginning-to-mold bread which became the dogs first meal, probably in some days. I thought, “Cool, a shot of penicillin.” He liked the bread and then drank some water. Mary found a vet, took the dog over and the vet said he thought he’d treated the dog before and would try to find the owners. Three days later, an older lady and her grandson came by and the dog raced to the boy and leaped in his arms. Mary was prepared to take the dog home to Palm Bay, but was glad he found his real family. There have to be human versions of the same story all over the gulf coast. It was about caring and love and it touched me.
One of the building inspectors helped an older couple in the “south of the tracks” area move a refrigerator (although we had been instructed not to, for legal and insurance reasons), and gave them some angels and a crucifix they had brought with them. The couple cried as they thanked them.
We were visited by “Laundry Angels.” On Tuesday morning one of the ladies from the community came by with white plastic bags and said, “Give me your dirty clothes, I’ll clean them and bring them back tonight.” Just like that, not “How much do you have?” or “If I have time, I’ll try to finish them.” It was “I’ll have them back tonight.” And she did, or someone did. I think someone else came back, but I’m not sure. The amazing thing, which confirms that God was in the mix, was when a number of the Team #3 members were thanking the woman and man who brought the clothes back, the lady asked “How did ya’ll chose Long Beach to come help?” The Team member told them the story about William Whitson and the lady exclaimed, “Why William was our next door neighbor when he lived here.” Our whole visit was like that, almost spiritual.
As we sat at lunch one day at the Middle School, a lady at a table next to us reached in her purse and brought out a cup-cake which she set down in front of the lady seated next to her. She then put a candle in it and lit the candle and our table spontaneously broke out singing “Happy Birthday to you!” It brought tears to my eyes to see people who were wearing dirty clothes (the water wasn’t potable) sitting there with such caring for each other. Love knows no bounds and can be bound by no tragedy. I think the emptiness’ wrought by tragedies can only be filled with love. This whole relief effort for Long Beach was born out of the love William Whitson felt for his former home.
This is my personal perspective, my personal opinion of this “recovery effort.” “The media,” which I haven’t seen for 9 days, may be spending a lot of attention on this disaster, but I wonder if they are reporting on the “real” recovery effort. There are many, many groups of volunteers here, most I saw were Faith Based. These people are here because they want to help fellow humans who are suffering. They’ve all left family, normal routines and the comforts of home. The group from Corinth, MS, who fed so many people was typical. The Episcopal “supply depot,” as it looked to this recipient of two meals and one cold shower (it was great, I was filthy!) looked like an army supply center. I found out about it from an elderly couple one night who walked up to the Fire Station. The lights in the office were out as it was long after hours. I walked up and said, “I don’t work here, but can I help you?” The man said, “We’re trying to find the Episcopal Relief Center.” I told him I didn’t know where it was, but would get a firefighter to help him. Then I asked him where he was from and he said, “Charlotte, NC,” and I said that’s where I was born. I asked him about being an Episcopalian, since I’m one, and as we talked he smiled and said, “I guess I should tell you that I’m the Bishop of the Diocese in the Charlotte area.” As the Firefighter gave him directions, one of my group received a call from her husband telling her that her mother had made her flight and been driven home. Her mother is elderly and she was worrying all day about her not finding the flight. I told her the timing of the call, coupled with a visit by a Bishop, was God’s way of telling us, “Just wanted ya’ll to know I was around.” I told the Bishop and his wife it was inspiring that he was down here, on the night Hurricane Rita was knocking on our door with close to tropical-level winds, to be with his people. I heard many people in Long Beach talking about how God had saved them, how lucky they were, and how much they appreciated people helping them. I don’t remember hearing anyone complain about what had happened to them. Most people understand that calamities happen, it’s the character of our response to the calamity that is so defining of a culture. In my opinion, people’s belief in their God fuels their compassion for others, providing a true definitive meaning of the word, “Recovery.”
Mission was accomplished! We were leaving a very workable plan for Team #4, arriving about 7pm on Wednesday, September 28, 2005. They will be able to finish with ease. We left instructions, a detailed plan for completion, organization of the actual field work, the tracking methodology and expected hourly production levels for each team. It was a great week and you couldn’t wipe the smiles off each Team #3 member’s face as they went to bed Wednesday night, knowing that “tomorrow night I’ll be in my own bed!” And, knowing that they’ve done a good thing in bad conditions for some very good people who greatly appreciated it. It’s been a memorable week.
Had a management meeting (final hand-off to Team #4) at 8am. I then took the entire group for tour of ground-zero and the town so they would have at least a little “hands on the ground” before we left. Seeing the scope and level of the devastation first hand puts the whole week in proper perspective. It did for us a week ago. After the tour, right before we left, one of the Team #4 Code Enforcement Officers from Kissimmee said to me, “thanks for taking us to see that, now I know why I’m here.”
I have to brag on my Volusia Team. They all volunteered with no idea of what they were getting into. They wanted to help others who needed help. They left family with only ½ day’s notice for 9 days, provisioned insufficiently by me in a number of ways, but they were supercharged with attitude, enthusiasm, willingness and team spirit. They all, without question, tackled and accomplished tasks they’d never done before. No one in a Property Appraiser’s operation has a job description covering the incredible conditions, working hours and accomplishment these five people completed over the past nine days. They did it selflessly. It’s the “Stuff of Hero’s.” They were, most days, in situations and places where “harm’s way” could actually come a’ visiting. It didn’t, but to me, these five men and women will always be my Hero’s.
We left the Fire Station around 10:30 in the four Volusia vehicles. We caught up with the New Smyrna convoy as we got onto I-10 and began “boogieing” with them, Police escort and all. Everyone on Team #3 had a smile on their face that wouldn’t be denied as we got up this morning. We know we were needed, we know that we did great work, we feel for the residents of Long Beach, we left their Recovery Effort in much better condition than when we arrived and we are all ready to sleep in our own beds tonight.
Morgan B. Gilreath, Jr.
Volusia County Property Appraiser
Written during the 10 hour return drive to Volusia County (Chris Cromer, my very own GIS-Techno-Geek-who-never-sleeps was my designated driver…)