Dawn Gibbons describes hectic scene as volunteer in Houston

Benjamin Grove

Monday, Sept. 12, 2005 | 10:36 a.m.

WASHINGTON -- Likely congressional candidate Dawn Gibbons has swapped the topsy-turvy world of political campaigns for the maddening chaos of life after Hurricane Katrina.

The former Reno Assemblywoman arrived Thursday night at the Astrodome to volunteer. Her experience is a snapshot of life inside the sports arena where thousands of displaced victims are seeking to rebuild their lives, often one frustrating moment at a time.

"I just decided to do what I could do," Gibbons said. "They're just so overwhelmed here."

Gibbons, wife of Rep. Jim Gibbons, R-Nev., said her time in Houston had been a blur of hectic hours trying to help people navigate a maze of bureaucracy. She said she had been shuttling between the Astrodome and the nearby Reliant Center, where victims were lining up for aid. The two venues include lines for housing, for FEMA, the Red Cross, temporary shelter, unemployment, food stamps and post office box registration, Gibbons said.

Gibbons spent much of the day Friday trying to help register a 65-year-old named Frank and a 48-year-old woman from Westwego, La., Irma Gibbs, for $2,000 debit cards being issued late last week by FEMA. Frank's long trip to Houston came after he'd been up to his neck in water in his New Orleans home, Gibbons said.

"He's traumatized, I'll tell you that," she said. "He's completely homeless."

They spent part of the day standing in the wrong lines with thousands of frazzled people, Gibbons said. They used Gibbons' laptop computer in a fruitless effort to register them directly through the FEMA Web site. But with all the information filled in correctly, the Web site would not accept their application. At times the Web site said the server was down and unable to accept registrants.

"You wouldn't believe this if you were here, how hard this is," a distracted Gibbons said, speaking on her cell phone.

After six and a half hours of effort, they finally had registered Frank.

Gibbs never got registered for the debit card, which FEMA later announced it would stop issuing. At one point she stepped out of line for the debit card to take a break, overwhelmed and exhausted.

"This is just so nerve-wracking," she said. "It's so hectic."

But on Saturday she did get registered for a FEMA identification number, which will help her receive other aid, she said.

Gibbs' house is roughly a half hour's drive south of the Louisiana Superdome on the south side of the Mississippi River across from New Orleans. She had left on the day before Katrina hit, piling into a friend's car and hoping that this would amount to just another storm.

But she recognized that the warnings were dire.

"When they said it was going to be a category 4 or 5 storm, I got the hell out of there," Gibbs said. "I just brought two outfits, my grandchild and my dog."

Gibbs got some good news, however -- a woman from Missouri City, Texas, offered to open her home to Gibbs.

But first, Gibbs had to see her house. On Sunday she rode with friends back home to see what she could salvage. Not much, it turns out. Part of her roof was ripped off and it looks like the house sustained knee-high water damage, she said, speaking from her home today. The water has receded, leaving behind mud and an over-powering odor.

She secured a few valuables, including documents and photos. But everything else, including clothes, has been fouled by an over-powering stench, she said.

"I just wanted a few clothes, I'm so sick of wearing the same thing," Gibbs said. "But I don't think I can save much."