This is another perspective on Katrina that I feel a need to talk about. As I have said in earlier posts I have now been through 3 major hurricanes and the years those storms occurred will give you an idea of how old I must be. I have put energy into caring not only about my family but also people I have reached out to since Katrina. I agonize over their problems, wondering how they are going to overcome all that has happened to them. It will be a monumental task! It will take courage!

In August 1969 when Camille struck the Coast, I lived in Gulfport, Mississippi with my husband and three small daughters. The devastation was great but we were young and returned to a semblance of normalcy and continued our life. The years passed and there were still slabs on the beach front where homes had once stood. Progress was very slow. There were no grand buildings being erected anywhere along the coast. That includes from Waveland to Pascagoula.

Downtown Gulfport used buildings there that were pre Camille to conduct business. A little nip here and a tuck there. Nothing fancy! Nothing beautiful! Our coastal cities were for years in a downward spiral toward bankruptcy following Camille. So our officials permitted Casinos to come in to give us the revenue we needed to survive. The majority of people didn't want this because of the vice that would arise from their presence. It was sending a mixed message to our children especially when churches were torn down and a casino parking lot took their places. My point is that over 20 years later we were not progressing, we were failing. Biloxi, Mississippi opened the first casino , Isle of Capri, on August 1, 1992. Eleven more were eventually opened. The 13th, Hard Rock, never had its grand opening because of Katrina. Unlucky 13!

So now there is Katrina's aftermath to contend with. It is 4 1/2 months later and we are still without our two main bridges that connected us to one another. Construction has not even begun. We have to travel interstate 10 to get to the other cities. At times the traffic is so heavy that it isn't worth the effort. We still have mounds of unsightly debris in different areas, flooded cars that still sit in driveways, trees that are bent and broken, traffic signals that are still not working. The landscape along the interstate is dotted with scattered papers. The only bustle of activity that I see is on the main highways.

My daughter and I actually spoke with a family that have to use two tents as the Fema trailers are too small for several people. The mother of one of them sleeps in the trailer. At night the husband and wife share a tent and their three small children sleep in the other. They have their tents snuggled between the trailer and their flooded home. They are not camping folks, they are trying to live. I ask Why? We are in America but the way most are living it seems more Third World.

I would like to see the Coast revive and come back beautiful this time, not nipped and tucked, but I am not a young woman as in 1969. Twenty or more years says in all probability I won't be here. The younger men and women living in this era may have more initiative than we had and will rebuild the Coast to it's full potential as it should have been after Camille. I Pray So!

More to come ...