After spending two weeks on the storm-ravaged Gulf Coast, ISU Police Capt. Gene Deisinger, returned to Iowa, reflecting on the grief he witnessed firsthand.

Accepting a call from the Red Cross, Deisinger, a psychologist, traveled to Louisiana to assist in coordinating mental health services for displaced storm victims and relief workers. Before leaving the region, he was invited to tour New Orleans to see the destruction.

“The extent of the devastation is incredible,” he said. “The individual photos and news coverage hadn’t prepared me for mile after mile after mile of destruction.”

Even though cleanup operations have begun, there is still garbage and debris everywhere, he said.

“I got an incredible sense of what it must have been like. I’d been talking to people at the shelters, and seeing the devastation connected me with what they had experienced,” he said. “What stuck with me the strongest was the eeriness of how empty the city was. We would go block after block after block in residential areas with no sign of life whatsoever.”

One law enforcement officer with whom Deisinger helped build shelters lost his home to Hurricane Rita, and several of the survivors still did not know the extent of the damage to their homes. A majority of the survivors he spoke with wanted to rebuild, Deisinger said.

“They’re very strong in spirit but they’re struggling with financial, physical and emotional losses. Others are taking it in stride,” he said. “Those I interacted with have a deep connection to their home, their land and the Bayou, and it made me understand why they didn’t want to leave that.”

Deisinger said he was impressed by the volunteers who came from around the country and other parts of the world to help. His group helped set up long-term shelters for evacuees from New Orleans and the Jefferson Parish area displaced by Hurricane Katrina, and short-term shelters for victims from the southern Bayou region.

“Workers are handling it very well; there’s a deep desire to help,” he said. “By working one-to-one and with families, people are doing phenomenal things. They’re a truly gracious people. They were frustrated with what they believed was a delay in getting resources, but on a personal level, they were grateful.”

Deisinger said he received a lot of hugs and kisses from residents and a standing invitation to attend Mardi Gras.

“I’m glad to be home; I missed my family, and I think it was difficult for our young children,” he said. “I thought it was a precious gift given to me to be there for those people. I left feeling I had done a lot and worked hard, but it was hard leaving knowing the job wasn’t done.”

Deisinger said anyone who can help in any way should.