Diamond Towing owner shuts down business to help victims (from 2005)

[Tow411]

Diamond Towing owner shuts down business to help victims

By Todd G. Higdon / Daily News Staff Writer
JOPLIN - After the destruction left by Hurricane Katrina on the Gulf Coast, Louis Pike and three of his employees decided to act. And act they did.

“We saw the destruction on the television and the people begging and pleading for help and we decided to help,” said Pike, who owns Diamond Towing and Recovery company in Joplin. So he shut down his business for the time that they were gone and paid his employees. Prior to leaving, the samaritans purchased canned food, bottled water, put together all the equipment (such as shovels, rakes, chainsaws) and an RV.

“We went on eBay and purchased a 1971 Winnebago, so that we could camp in it for two and a half months,” Pike said. “We paid everything out of our pockets.”

The group left and took their supplies and two tow trucks. They later had to have a third truck sent down. On the way down, Pike said that they started seeing destruction in the middle of Mississippi and then later on, saw billboards trashed. They camped in Baton Rouge, La., and worked in the New Orleans area and also in the Mississippi area.

In order to get the emergency vehicles through the roads, the local group helped in the cause, running two people on a 24-hour shift, seven days a week.

“We would clear the roadways of cars, boats, yachts, trees and other debris,” said Pike. “We even pulled cars off of a three-story building.”

This was the first time that Pike had been in the New Orleans area.

It was one thing to clear the debris from the area, but it was a memory that will stick in the local group's mind.

“The hardest thing was handing out supplies and seeing the children in such a need,” Pike said. “Overall, the average citizen there was very appreciative.”

Traffic was horrible and in order to get around, the group used a GPS with a laptop computer to navigate their way through the area. Pike said there was no power in the area and no signs.

According to Pike, his group was not the only one who had responded to the cause. He saw people from not only the United States, but from Canada, Germany and London.

“I encourage adults to go down and help out,” Pike said.

Helping in one hurricane is one thing, but being in the middle of another is something else.

“My wife called me and told me that a hurricane (Hurricane Rita) was coming our way,” said Pike. “It had high winds and rain similar to winds in Kansas.”

When they decided to leave, they sold the RV and headed back home.

“It's good to be back in the area,” stated Pike.

There were numerous replies of congrats which have not been transferred here