LV councilman, Nevada state senator aid hurricane victims on Gulf Coast

Dan Kulin

Thursday, Sept. 8, 2005 | 9:42 a.m.

Las Vegas Councilman Lawrence Weekly and state Sen. Steven Horsford spent the Labor Day weekend giving what help they could to the victims of Hurricane Katrina while volunteering along the Gulf Coast of Mississippi.

They handed out bottles of water and large doses of human comfort.

They manned missing persons hotlines and toured the devastated coast, spending one night in their rental cars.

They got a first hand view of devastation beyond their imaginations.

"It was the most devastating thing I've ever seen in my life," Weekly said. "Entire towns were wiped out."

Weekley said he is still traumatized and overwhelmed by what he saw.

Weekly, Horsford, D-North Las Vegas, and Horsford's wife, Sonya, flew to Jackson, Miss., Saturday and returned Tuesday night. The trip was prompted by Horsford, who said that after watching the coverage of the disaster he wanted to help.

He contacted the Nevada emergency management office, which directed them to Mississippi where, they were told, there was a need for volunteers with communications skills.

"It was a feeling of helplessness, and I wanted to help, but I didn't know how," Horsford said.

"I just felt like I needed to do something," Weekly said.

Horsford said the three of them helped out at emergency operations centers in southern Mississippi late Saturday and again on Sunday, spending part of that day driving along the Mississippi coast and helping coordinate press releases from gaming companies trying to find their displaced workers.

"I have never imagined, or experienced anything like that, all the destruction from the wind and the flooding," Horsford said. "What we saw in Biloxi was sheer devastation. Homes, businesses and public buildings crushed."

On Monday, their last full day in Mississippi, they returned to Jackson where they helped out at the city's coliseum.

"The majority of our time was spent with the people, providing comfort," Weekly said.

Horsford said one woman who arrived there from New Orleans broke down crying while telling him of her ordeal.

"We were just talking to people, they needed to explain what happened to them," Horsford said.