MEDIA CONTEST: HURRICANE KATRINA: One year later Published Dec. 26, 2006 By 2006 Media Contest Feature Entry 6 ACC MEDIA CONTEST -- The eye of a storm is a quiet, calm place. Sunlight flickers in the rain drops collected on blades of grass. Branches gently sway in a light breeze. In an instant, chaos returns and the storm rages on again. The year since Hurricane Katrina hit has been a personal storm for thousands of people filled with times of peace and times of chaos. After the costliest natural disaster in U.S. history hit, most of the attention focused on victims in the New Orleans area. Victims in Gulfport Miss., including Airmen stationed at Keesler Air Force Base, Miss., were seemingly ignored. Two of those Airmen, now at Mountain Home Air Force Base, recount their experiences with the hurricane and their struggle to return to a normal life. Preparing for the worst "Our whole life disappeared in one day," said 1st Lt. Dawn Clifton as she recalled the destruction of her home in Ocean Springs, Miss., when the hurricane hit. A nurse with the 366th Medical Operations Squadron, Lieutenant Clifton and her family, including husband, Tracy, and sons Blake, 12, and Brock, 6, were displaced here from Keesler AFB last winter. "We've gone through every stage of grief you can go through. Everybody keeps telling us it's going to get better, but every day we face the loss," she said. Before Hurricane Katrina hit, the Cliftons didn't think much about the storm, initially predicted to head west toward Texas. But on Aug. 27, 2005, it suddenly changed course and headed toward the central Gulf Coast, causing a mandatory evacuation for the area. The Cliftons boarded up their three bedroom home and put valuables in rubber containers just in case there was a small flood when they returned. They evacuated to Tallahassee, Fla., where they watched news coverage of the unparalled events unfold. A few days later, a friend phoned them and told them the heart-breaking news that their home and everything they left behind were ruined. When they were finally allowed to return to the area three weeks later, the family wasn't prepared to witness the level of devastation the storm left behind. Picking up the pieces "We walked around in shock for about two weeks," Lieutenant Clifton said. "We were surrounded by debris and the smell of death. There were dead animals and garbage everywhere. Anything you can think of was probably lying outside. The air was of very poor quality for a long time." Lieutenant Clifton was called back to the 81st Medical Group hospital at Keesler AFB, where she worked as a labor and delivery nurse. The base suffered more than $950 million in damage, and the second largest hospital in the Air Force had to shut down most of its services, including its medical residency program for students. "Our job was to run three miles," the lieutenant said. "We still had to come in each day for accountability." Off base, the Cliftons were forced to live in one of more than 40,000 trailers the Federal Emergency Management Agency set up for families left homeless by the storm. "Initially, we thought everything would be okay because we knew our insurance company would pay for everything, and we could settle somewhere else," she said. But like thousands of other victims, their insurance company didn't pay, and their whole world collapsed," she said. Because the Cliftons lived off base, they weren't provided much aid. The base community was only able to provide the disadvantaged family with $500 through the Air Force Aid Society. "The $500 helped at first because we didn't have access to any banks. Luckily, we had savings and were able to provide for our children. Our children didn't have to go without anything; that was the biggest worry for us," she said wiping away tears. After three months of living in turmoil, Lieutenant Clifton was transferred to Mountain Home AFB as 90 percent of the Keesler hospital staff was dispersed to other installations to continue working. "I wanted to either stay behind and rebuild our lives at Keesler or go to Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., so my husband could keep his job as an air traffic controller," she said. Rebuilding their lives Currently, the family lives on base and attempts to reclaim their lives. Lieutenant Clifton said it's difficult to face the one-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina because it forces her to relive her family's loss. "I try not to talk about it in front of the children, but they know how hard it is for us. We have a financial burden that will take a long time to get rid of. To go from having perfect credit to having bill collectors call every day about payments is tough," she said. Blake and Brock suffered losses also. "I lost all of my best friends...," Blake said. A few seconds of silence go by as he tries to fight off tears in front of his mother. "It's okay to cry," she said to him, a moment ago crying herself but in an instant finds the strength only a mother can dig deep for to console her child. Brock lost the only house he's known. The Cliftons built their house a year before Brock was born. The family also went from a two-income household to one because Mr. Clifton hasn't been able to find a job in his career field here. "It's very frustrating for him because he wants to do more for the family," said Lieutenant Clifton about her husband. However, the Cliftons take comfort in the few silver linings that exist in their personal storm. "We're thankful everyone is alive," said Lieutenant Clifton. "If we didn't follow the evacuation order and stayed in our house, we wouldn't be alive today. There's no way." Some of the people living in the trailers with the Cliftons lost much more. Some lost their jobs, some lost their family members or friends. "At least we still had each other," she said. Today, the Cliftons continue their life as a renewed family who takes little value in material things and more in each other. They hang onto hope that a Mississippi grant will be approved to pay off the mortgage for their destroyed home. Lieutenant Clifton also hangs onto hope for the restoration of the area she grew to love. "I hope the Gulf Coast can one day spring back to what it was before. It was a great place to raise a family. It was a great place to live," she said. Storm teaches Airmen valuable lesson In July 2005, 2nd Lt. Samuel Jun, 366th Comptroller Squadron, drove from Idaho to Keesler Air Force Base for a three-month temporary duty assignment. Less than two months later, he returned to Idaho with nothing. As a newly commissioned officer, Lieutenant Jun was attending the finance technical school. While on leave in New Jersey visiting family, he never expected to get a phone call letting him know all of his belongings were gone after Hurricane Katrina slammed the Gulf Coast area, including the base. "Three months was a long time to be away from home, and I literally took everything with me," he said. "My flight commander called me and said, 'the hurricane had hit and not to come back'," said Lieutenant Jun, deputy financial services officer. "When I came back to Mountain Home, I had no clothes, no food in my fridge, no car ... I came back with nothing," he said. After the hurricane hit the Gulf Coast Aug. 29, 2005, the lieutenant had to extend his visit in New Jersey by a week. While he was safe from harm, he worried about his classmates back at Keesler. Since Keesler is a large training wing, more than 6,000 Airmen were forced to ride out the storm in hurricane shelters on base. "My buddies were barricaded on base for a week, so I was concerned about their well being," he said. Nearly a month after the hurricane hit, Lieutenant Jun ended up at Sheppard Air Force Base, Texas, to finish his last few weeks of tech school. Once again a major storm threatened to strike as Hurricane Rita barreled through the Gulf Coast toward the eastern edge of Texas. Thankfully, the storm didn't affect him, and he made it out safely, he said. After his bad break with nature, Lieutenant Jun said he suffered a financial burden. "I was in real bad shape financially for a while after the hurricane hit. I was a brand new lieutenant without any real money saved up. All I had in my checking account was $500, and I had to use a credit card to replace my things," he said. Among the first purchases that Lieutenant Jun had to make was replacing all of his military uniforms, spending nearly $1,000. Another item he needed to replace was his 1994 Acura, which sustained massive flood damage during the storm. Lieutenant Jun decided to replace his prized possession with a new Mustang. "I bought a decent car, but I liked my old car better," he said. "I put a lot of love and money into that car and planned on keeping it for a long time." Despite his tough times, the lieutenant's parents showed him tough love and encouraged him to persevere through his personal storm without help from them. "My parents told me, 'You're a military officer, and you better be stronger than a civilian. You have higher standards. Just deal with it and you'll be fine'," he said. Lieutenant Jun said he felt angry and alone while trying to cope. "When you're facing a difficult situation and you're by yourself with nobody backing you up or helping you, you have to figure out a way to survive," he said as he reflected on the past year. "I'm glad I can say I found a way to survive. A situation like that teaches you that lesson ... for real."