Progress and pain on hurricane alley

Progress and pain on hurricane alley: "Progress and pain on hurricane alley
One year after Katrina, a drive along U.S. 90 through the heart of the hurricane's destruction finds inspiring stories of hope and bitter scenes of loss
Sunday, August 27, 2006"

Just one more short post as I am all Katrina-ed out. Done in, tired, ready to drop. I am happy to say that today was a major turning point in our lives here. We are ready to go forward and rebuild our homes and town. Many things will be different but all the things that we knew will always be a part of Pascagoula's history.

At 6PM this evening we gathered at Beach Park to hear Governor Haley Barbour speak to us. His speech was very commendable. I took a picture as he arrived. Was a bad time of day to take pictures and most were blurry. I was on the side of the big guy you see taking a picture too... I think he was the press but that didn't bother me. The Governor was dressed casually as we all were. He is the man in red.



Patrice Clark from WLOX was there covering the occasion. It might be my imagination but I think I got a don't come any closer look from her.






Well that's about all I have to close the day except maybe something I thought amusing and endearing at the same time. The Red Cross was set up on the grounds and offering us ice cold water. And just one more thing, Dave and Anita received the packet from the grant system and now they can start repairing their home. It was a great ending to a wonderful day!!!

On August 28, 2005, in preparation for a hurricane that was in the Gulf, I left my home to go stay with a daughter and her family that lived about 1/2 mile from the beach in Pascagoula. I could have stayed at home but I chose to be with them rather than staying barricaded (plywood on windows ) in the house waiting to see what was going to happen. Well, most of you know what happened ..... we were to be participants in the fury of a storm named Katrina. The night before the storm none of us slept very well and were already exhausted the next morning when Katrina was going to pay us a very unexpected visit.

I am almost ashamed to say that we were heckling the hurricane and saying it probably was all a bunch of hype. My daughter and son in law were not born when Camille hit the Gulf Coast but I was. I resided in Gulfport at that time and had already experienced the unexpected and the unprecedented but somehow the old cliche "experience is the best teacher" didn't hold true for my not forcefully suggesting that we leave.

It was about 930AM when this fast moving water started rolling down the street, filling the yards very quickly and continued rising to frightening heights until it seems it was in the house in a matter of minutes. God was definitely with us as the plywood on the windows prevented glass breakage and the raging water from rushing inside and possibly collapsing the house. Had that happened, we have no doubt that we would have died that day. We huddled in an upstairs hallway at the top of the stairway with the four little children, a dog and five cats (four newborn kittens). We had seen the neighborhood houses, when looking out an upstairs window, with water reaching their roofs and their cars parked in driveways completely submerged as was the son in laws truck.

After no response from 911, we began praying without cessation. We learned later that what we each asked for was that the children's lives be spared. We remained in a state of terror until finally the water began to recede and we felt that we were going to survive. We didn't know then the extent of the widespread destruction all along our coastline and that the aftermath was going to take a lot more courage to survive than the actual storm.

So here we are one year later. We have cried, we have despaired, we have had many struggles but, you know what, we are going to make it!!

The Sun Herald | 08/29/2006 | Barbour proclaims mourning period through Sept. 1 Flags to be flown at half-staff

The Sun Herald | 08/29/2006 | Barbour proclaims mourning period through Sept. 1 Flags to be flown at half-staff: "WHEREAS, at landfall the brunt of the hurricane's destructive force was unleashed on the Mississippi Coast, wiping out more than 80 miles of coastline and leaving in its wake 70,000 uninhabitable, often obliterated homes and destroying thousands of small businesses, schools, public buildings and infrastructure such as highways, ports, railroads, and water and sewer systems; and

WHEREAS, the storm continued inland for more than 150 miles, changing forever the State's physical landscape; and

WHEREAS, the level of devastation to human life and property was unprecedented with more than 230 Mississippians losing their lives to the fury of the storm; and

WHEREAS, the anniversary of the first year since Katrina is an appropriate time to memorialize the lives lost; and

WHEREAS, the prayers of the people of the State are with the families and friends of the victims of Hurricane Katrina, NOW, THEREFORE, I, Haley Barbour, by the authority vested in me as Governor by the Constitution and laws of the State of Mississippi, do hereby proclaim a period of official mourning in the State of Mississippi and do hereby order all flags of the United States of America and the State of Mississippi be flown at half-staff on all buildings and grounds of the State of Mississippi and all areas under its jurisdiction beginning August 29, 2006, and ending September 1, 2006."

WLOX-TV - The News for South Mississippi: Katrina: One Year Later

WLOX-TV - The News for South Mississippi: Katrina: One Year Later: "Katrina killed 231 people in Mississippi and wiped away whole communities. Stately homes that once fronted the beach and apartments blocks inland were swept away by a wall of storm surge that gutted glitzy casinos and propelled several of the hulking barges ashore.

A year later, most of the debris is gone and humid air is filled with sounds of recovery.

On the town green in Biloxi about 500 yards from the shore, several hundred people gathered among live oak trees for a commemoration service.

'The sun is shining on us today and you know a year ago, we would've been treading water right here,'' said U.S. Sen. Trent Lott, R-Miss., who commended state and local officials for their part in the recovery efforts."

Katrina: First Anniversary

August 29, 2005

Monday

Mississippi Gulf Coast

The Sun Herald | 08/29/2006 | Sounds, sights of building, rebuilding refresh our spirit

The Sun Herald | 08/29/2006 | Sounds, sights of building, rebuilding refresh our spirit: "By the afternoon of Aug. 29, 2005, it was clear the Mississippi Coast had been obliterated. Thousands of structures had been washed away in the great surge that destroyed so many homes, businesses, landmarks, personal treasures and lives.

But Hurricane Katrina did not destroy the hopes, dreams, memories or the will to survive that has sustained coastal Mississippians through the centuries.

Despite total devastation - the worst natural disaster in American history - no one, at least no one who knew these Mississippians, doubted they would rebuild and in time triumph, even in the face of Katrina's terrible toll."

The Sun Herald | 08/28/2006 | THANKS, Y'ALL

The Sun Herald | 08/28/2006 | THANKS, Y'ALL: "Seemingly before the wind stopped, certainly before power was restored, they began arriving.

The initial wave brought the food, the drink, the clothing, the gasoline to get through those first desperate, chaotic days."

Yesterday got off to a rainy start but the weather cleared rather quickly giving way to blue skies and white puffy clouds. In retrospect, I was sorry that happened because it gave me an excuse to not go to the planned block party. We (the daughter and family) decided to ride around and see what was going on in Pascagoula. Beach Park was empty. We then rode to I. G. Levy Park where we had been just days earlier and we found no one there. Our next stop was to a park located in the Lake Avenue area ...




It was a melancholy ride as we drove into the various neighborhoods in Pascagoula and found no get-togethers .... our silence, of course, broken by the fussing of baby Emily. On returning home, we did not attend the block party. We ate boiled shrimp, talked awhile longer and I left to go back to my home where I closed the blinds, cranked down the a/c, went to bed early and hoped, like Dorothy, that I might wake up in the Land of Oz!

Today is to be a neighborhood block party in the previous area I lived in just a short time ago but after waking up to a downpour, I am not too hopeful that it will happen. Of course, we have our own plans should that not take place. "Yes", we do make plans and "Yes" we do have rooms booked should Ernesto come our way. If there is one thing we have learned, it is that hurricanes are no longer typical but have changed so much that they now defy physics. Meaning can't happen, shouldn't have happened ... but it did.

If we do have to leave, we object to being called evacuees, worse yet, refugees. We are people first and foremost. I won't tell you the price for our rooms but it is very steep. It can only be called price gouging after a disaster so the hotels and motels seemed to have wised up and raised the prices before the disaster occurs. At almost $3.00 a gallon for gasoline, we will be paying a high price to get to hopefully a safe haven.

If Ernesto makes Mississippi his target, my suspicions of what has happened down here and continues to happen, will only grow. How can they not with the threat of terrorism all around us?

GCN - General News Update

GCN - General News Update: "All eyes are on Tropical Storm Ernesto currently in the Caribbean. The storm is forecast to develop into a hurricane while on its track toward the Gulf of Mexico. Coast residents, already battle wary, are talking about the storm and emergency management officials are urging residents to consider their hurricane plans and note evacuation routes if it becomes necessary to leave. The Coast is clearly not able to handle even a minor hurricane and with the Highway 90 bridges out, any evacuation will be difficult. The thousands of residents in FEMA travel trailers are especially vulnerable. The trailers cannot be moved, says FEMA. The past year has been a nightmare for many Coast residents and fear over any tropical system is palpable in the region."

I drove down to the Beach Park in Pascagoula this past Wednesday to check on the progress in preparation for the upcoming anniversary of Katrina. It is very clean now but barren. There was a work crew putting together a playground for the children. Work on the pavilion has not begun but there are supplies that look like prefab and should go up quickly. A large crowd is expected on the 29th when a memorial will be unveiled in honor of those we lost. As the date draws nearer to mark the one year anniversay, maybe many of us can lay the horror of that day to rest and find a way to go on with our lives. As always the biggest problem is the great number of our citizens still living in Fema trailers. Until the housing and insurance problems are solved, they can't step forward. On August 29th, I ask that you take a moment to remember us in Mississippi.

WLOX-TV - The News for South Mississippi: WLOX's Doug Walker Talks With President Bush About Mississippi's Recovery

WLOX-TV - The News for South Mississippi: WLOX's Doug Walker Talks With President Bush About Mississippi's Recovery: "Doug Walker: There's a feeling, a growing feeling, of discontent in Mississippi that the lion's share of the attention has been going to New Orleans - As is evident today on the front page of USA Today with only one mention of Mississippi. Is Mississippi being forgotten by the government and the nation?

President Bush: I don't know, I can't speak for a factor of the nation, you know the people that print the news. But I can tell you about the government, and the answer is absolutely, 'No.' This government is focused equally on Mississippi as it is on Louisiana. And one reason why we, of course, have remained focused is you got a governor who's got a lot of influence up here, and senators who've got influence up here. And so our efforts are equal in trying to help people recover. And I've got to applaud Mississippi because they have developed a plan, which was approved quickly, that will enable money to get out the door to helping individual homeowners rebuild."

MISSISSIPPI BEYOND KATRINA

MISSISSIPPI BEYOND KATRINA

GCN - General News Update

GCN - General News Update: "As the anniversary date for Hurricane Katrina nears, news reports from around the nation are growing. Most of these stories reviewed by GCN are about the problems in New Orleans, however, there are some reports about the Mississippi Coast. Most reports are acknowledging that the Coast is far from recovery but progress is being made, although very slowly. GCN will continue to post some of these stories on its main page as we have done throughout the period. Local officials say they have been bombarded for weeks from reporters nationwide."

The Sun Herald | 08/21/2006 | Historian tells the stories of Gulf Coast hurricanes

The Sun Herald | 08/21/2006 | Historian tells the stories of Gulf Coast hurricanes: "Hurricane Katrina is one for the history books, but Mississippi Coast historian Charles L. Sullivan insists that each of the 32 storms that struck here with hurricane-force winds is for the books. Each has its own distinction and lesson to learn.

Sometimes, huge gaps lulled the citizenry between storms, with good examples being no hurricanes between 1860 and 1893, and none between 1916 and 1947. Those are more than 30-year gaps and between the two worst storms of the 20th century - Camille in 1969 and the '47 storm - there were two quiet decades."

SI.com - Writers - Peter King's MMQBTE: Readers e-mails on draft, the truth about New Orleans - Tuesday May 2, 2006 1:07PM

SI.com - Writers - Peter King's MMQBTE: Readers e-mails on draft, the truth about New Orleans - Tuesday May 2, 2006 1:07PM: "I know you come to this column to read about football, sports and other things. I'll get to the regular Tuesday fare, your e-mails, in a few paragraphs. First, there's something a little more significant to discuss.

I sense that we in this country have Katrina fatigue. The New York Times reported as much recently, saying that people in some of the areas that welcomed Katrina evacuees last September are sick of hearing about the hurricane, the flooding and the aftermath.

Well, my wife and I were in a car last Wednesday that toured the hardest-hit area of New Orleans, the Lower Ninth Ward. We worked a day at a nearby Habitat for Humanity site on Thursday, and we toured the Biloxi/Gulfport/Long Beach/Pass Christian gulf shore area last Friday. And let me just say this: I can absolutely guarantee you that if you'd been in the car with us, no matter how much you'd been hit over the head with the effects of this disaster, you would not have Katrina fatigue.

What I saw was a national disgrace. An inexcusable, irresponsible, borderline criminal national disgrace. I am ashamed of this country for the inaction I saw everywhere."

The Sun Herald | 08/18/2006 | FAITH, HOPE AND CHARITY Honoring the unknown

The Sun Herald | 08/18/2006 | FAITH, HOPE AND CHARITY Honoring the unknown: "GULFPORT - Hurricane Camille long stood as the benchmark of storms for South Mississippi. The benchmark changed with Hurricane Katrina last August.

On Thursday, the monster Camille was remembered, 37 years after it changed South Mississippi.

Those who lived through Camille have had to relive the experience through Katrina. Lives were forever altered and lives were lost during these two terrible hurricanes. Collectively, thousands died and were laid to rest."

I lived in Gulfport, MS when Hurricane Camille came ashore!

083005.pdf (application/pdf Object)

083005.pdf (application/pdf Object)

This is a full readable edition of The Mississippi Press dated August 30, 2005. To read the paper click on the above link and scroll to read. .

Looking Back......

Although I have entitled this post "Looking Back", the memory of what happened that fateful day in August will be with me for the rest of my life. That day and all the days, weeks and months that followed have now become two weeks short of a year later. It has been a very long year full of struggles and depression. At times we find humor in something and we laugh but there are, I think, more tears than laughter. All the landmarks or a favorite place to eat are no longer there. It has already become difficult to remember what once was on a certain property.

The debris removal was a tremendous job and has been cleared making the areas clean but barren. I wonder if anyone has thought of the debris as being more than just a mess to clear. It was a special debris as it contained people's homes, furniture, clothes, jewelry, photos of their familes, all of their kitchen appliances, washers and dryers, heirlooms, paintings, toys, treasured keepsakes handed down from their parents, high school and college diplomas. There was much more than I have listed. What about smaller items like measuring cups, utensils, pencils, pens, needles and thread. I think you see my point so if you should see a picture of "debris" from Katrina, I hope that you will see what I have spoken of and think of the heartache that still abounds.

I was with my daughter, her husband and their four children during the storm. For obvious reasons, we didn't take many pictures as the water rose quickly and was coming into the house. The last two pictures were taken from second floor.