ISP Trooper Dan Goris volunteers to help others
Wanda English Burnett - Editor

The image of a Biloxi City Police Officer sitting in front of his home - or where it once stood - is one that ISP Sgt. Dan Goris has etched in his permanent memory bank.

"It was something to witness first hand what these officers were going through and then see them pull away and go to work as usual. But, nothing will be 'as usual' for the people of the gulf states after not one but two hurricanes swept through them.

Goris was one of 60 Indiana State Troopers who volunteered to become part of Operation Hoosier Relief and travel to Mississippi. The caravan left September 4, where they were briefed by Indiana State Police Superintendent Dr. Paul Whitesell in Evansville, and then began the journey that would impact them for life.

Glad to be chosen from a pool of over 300 volunteers, Goris said the experience was one he will never forget. "The first night we stayed at a shelter for displaced people just south of Memphis, TN," he noted. There they learned where they would actually be heading and what some of their duties would be. Their destination was Biloxi and they would be doing whatever was needed.

Explaining that Operation Hoosier Relief was formed after a direct request from the governor of Mississippi, Goris noted that in their group there were not only police officers, but Indiana National Guard, members of the State Emergency Management Agency and a contingent of medical personnel.

The troopers stayed about 60 miles north of Biloxi for the first couple of days assisting the Mississippi Highway Patrol. This included patrolling a nine county area. "We would go through many small towns just asking people if they were o.k. and what they needed, it was more of a humanitarian effort than policing," Goris noted. He also said there was a lot of tornado damage in that area.

Finally, the group made their destination - Biloxi. There the parking lot of the Mississippi Coastal Coliseum would become Goris' new home for the duration of his two-week stay. "We literally slept on cots in the parking lot," he laughed, saying it was too hot in the tents.

Troopers divided into groups and teamed up with Biloxi City Police Officers and worked side-by-side to help them help the people they know and serve on a daily basis. The group worked in 12 hour shifts enforcing a strict curfew. The city was 85% without electricity when the group arrived and by the end of their stay it was about at 90% with power. "The line-men really deserve a lot of credit," noted Goris, who said they worked tirelessly to restore electricity to the ravaged area.

The devastation was real when Goris stood in front of what used to be neighborhoods that had been reduced to rubble. Gigantic fishing boats were washed up into people's yards and he took pictures of a casino barge that made its new home next to a high rise hotel.

"The historic district was just gone," he sadly noted. Those who know Goris know he has a deep love of history and particularly the Civil War era. "The home of Confederate Veteran Jefferson Davis was still standing," he noted, but literally everything around it was destroyed. The home was built in 1859.

One point of interest was a church that was destroyed. There had been a memorial erected on the grounds to the victims of Hurricane Camille, who made her appearance in 1969. Just beyond where that memorial was there was a flag pole. The flag pole had significance to the people there, since it too was the only thing that survived on the church's property back in 1969.

Of the 150 man Biloxi Police Department, at least 30 had lost their homes in the hurricane, according to Goris. He noted that they worked every day serving others with the knowledge they had no home to go to when their shift was over. "It was just amazing," he noted. Goris and the other troopers formed a bond with the officers in Biloxi and made friendships that will last a lifetime. "We were invited to come back when the city is rebuilt, and I intend to go," he noted.

Contrary to some reports on television about looting, where Goris was working he only encountered two incidents. He agreed it could have been due to the heavy police presence, but mostly due to the people who were simply appreciative of anything that was done for them when they had lost everything.

The second group of volunteers has already been sent down and Trooper Jason Hankins from Rising Sun, is among that group. Noel Houze Jr. will be leaving in the third group, according to Goris.

Goris noted that the comradrie was tremendous with a variety of agencies pulling together for one common goal - to help those who had been victims of Katrina. He said law enforcement was presented in many different faces - state, city, county - and from states as far away as Nevada and Missouri.

Noting that he saw a saturation of Red Cross, Salvation Army and a number of other worthwhile groups, including a host of churches reaching out to people in need, Goris noted that people should continue to give to the charity of their choice.

Sandy Vanderbur, director of the Ripley County Chapter of the American Red Cross, is still taking donations at her office. You can send a check to PO Box 221, Versailles, IN 47042 or call 812-689-6508. You can also call or make credit card donations to: 317-684-1441 or go online at: www.redcross.org. The toll-free number for The Salvation Army is 1-800-725-2769.

PHOTO SUBMITTED BY DAN GORIS

The force of the water from Hurricane Katrina was able to take these giant fishing boats and place them in strategic places, along roadways, in people's yards and through homes. This one was nestled close to the roadway. You can see the size of the boat in comparison to the pickup truck, also destroyed by the hurricane that swept through Biloxi, Miss.