USC’s campus ministry spends fall break helping Louisiana hurricane survivors

The community of Jean Lafitte, in rural Louisiana south of New Orleans, was ground zero for the recent Hurricane Ida, receiving devastating wind and flood damage. To help the people there, the Methodist Student Network (Wesley Foundation) at University of South Carolina spent their October fall break mucking and cleaning out a fire station that had four feet of water and disabled the building.

With the help of the two firefighters at the fire station, in three days the building was brought to the point where it should be able to restore service to the areas in just a couple of weeks.

Three of the four fire stations serving the area were knocked out of commission by Ida. One of them is not salvageable. Therefore, fire and rescue service has been limited since the storm. Four firefighters reportedly quit their jobs and relocated after Ida, so the remaining firefighters have not even had time to tend to their own damaged homes.

While there, MSN also helped to rehabilitate one fireman’s home, which had been unlivable. Serving those who serve others was indeed a gratifying experience, MSN members said.