AFMC Command News

Airman embarks on new life after hurricane destroys home

  • Published
  • By Lois Walsh
  • 96th Air Base Wing Public Affairs
EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. --  In August 2005, Staff Sgt. Ravin McCray wasn't too concerned about the weather reports of another hurricane.

To the sergeant, who at the time was assigned to the 81st Mission Support Squadron at Keesler AFB, Miss., hurricanes were nothing new. She spent 15 years in Biloxi, Miss., as a dependent and as an Airman. Additionally, like many others a few weeks earlier, she had evacuated from Hurricane Dennis.

Now, Hurricane Katrina was on the horizon and heading toward the Mississippi gulf coast.

Sergeant McCray was happy to be at Keesler. She had family in the Biloxi area and had recently moved off base with her two children, Kiara and Kendall. She was home talking with friends about a baby shower for her third child, due in two months, when a call came from her supervisor to evacuate due to the latest storm.

"I thought, 'where do I go now,'" Sergeant McCray said. "It was scary, my pregnancy was high risk and I was worried about where to go."

Sergeant McCray headed to Atlanta with her mother, two sisters and four children. Her dad stayed behind and delivered the bad news after the storm passed. The few clothes that Sergeant McCray had packed for herself and her children were all that was left. Katrina tore through Biloxi, destroying her rental property and all its belongings.

"My mom answered the phone and I could see tears welling up in her eyes," Sergeant McCray said. "My dad, a retired master sergeant, normally doesn't cry but he was crying when he told me everything was gone. I kept telling him, 'It's okay, I'm tough, it's only stuff,' but then I sat on the bathroom floor by myself so no one could see me cry."

Sergeant McCray spent two months in Atlanta. She called Keesler every day, trying to find out where to go and if she could come back to the base. The stress of living in a hotel room and wondering when her money would run out sent her to the hospital twice. Finally, she got word that she was granted a humanitarian move to Eglin to become the noncommissioned officer in charge of evaluations and enlisted promotions in the 96th Mission Support Squadron. At Eglin she found safe refuge from the storm and a personal champion in Master Sgt. Patrick Long, 96th Mission Support Squadron NCOIC of the commander's support staff, who aided the family in their transition here.

"If you could have seen Sergeant McCray, she was just in a daze," Sergeant Long said. "I wanted to ease the transition."

Sergeant Long hooked the family up with the various helping agencies on base. Sergeant McCray was offered a house on base the day she arrived, but stayed in temporary housing until she could replace her furniture. Volunteers at the Airman's Attic searched through donated goods for baby items and clothes for her children. She is grateful the Air Force took care of her and her new daughter, Kayla Rayne, born Nov. 4, 2005.

The sergeant said in some ways it's hard to believe a year has passed since her life changed. She knows she'll never replace some precious belongings, her children still think they might have to move and she's terrified of storms. But because of the Air Force and people like Sergeant Long, her life is moving on.

"I don't know where I would be without my Air Force family," Sergeant McCray said. "I was able to get paid and the benefits helped a lot. I appreciate them. This is our new start and everything is going to be okay."