By Daniel Hartill,Staff Writer
Lewiston native reconnects with her family after hurricane.

LEWISTON – Judith Beck vows never to return to Waveland.

There are too many bad memories in that Mississippi town, too many reminders of the possessions she lost and all she might have lost.

After Hurricane Katrina pounded the Gulf Coast, the Lewiston native worried that her oldest son, 22-year-old Daniel, might have died.

“I cried for hours not knowing if he got out or if he was alive,” Beck said. The fear lasted for three days, as she sought shelter with her mother, stepfather and her 13-year-old son, Billy.

Unlike many, they left before the storm hit, driving to Montgomery, Ala., and checking into a motel that Sunday.

When the storm blew through, communications collapsed. Beck lost touch with her family.

She figured her daughter, 20-year-old Crystal, was all right. She was with a friend in Pensacola, Fla., which was only grazed by the hurricane. Her son, however, was at his home in Poplarville, Miss., a few miles inland.

Beck later learned that her home, a rented apartment, was destroyed. In the wake of the storm, black mud covered still-standing buildings. One ghoulish description recalled body parts entangled in the trees.

Beck never saw the destruction. Instead of going back, she needed to move. The motel was expensive. A United Methodist Church in Meridian, Miss., gave the family shelter.

As she tried to connect with her son, Beck made do at the shelter. People from the community were generous, donating piles of clothes and supplies. Restaurants and other businesses donated food.

Amid the crowd, children ran undisciplined, she said. And some people were too eager for handouts.

In one case, one of the evacuees asked to use a cell phone then took off, Beck said. People were robbed of money and car keys.

Eventually, the Red Cross caught up with the thieves. They demanded that parents watch their kids more closely. Meanwhile, the charities began catching up on their survivor lists and contacts.

Though Beck didn’t know it, her son was looking for her too.

“He called every shelter in Meridian to find me,” Beck said. His call to the church shelter was posted on a bulletin board.

“The relief I felt at that call from him was the most wonderful in my life,” Beck said.

Everything else – the loss of her home and most of her possessions – are all circumstances that can be overcome, she said.

“I know I would have died if I had stayed,” she said. “I am thankful we got out and are still alive.”

On the way out of the home, Beck had managed to take some of her clothes, photos and some key records. Little else was saved.

However, her son, who has since visited her home, said some of her collection of porcelain statues survived.

Beck had collected about 200 angels.

“My angels made it,” she said.

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