Thursday, August 31, 2006
weather.com - Hurricane Central
weather.com - Hurricane Central: "Bands of heavy rain have already inundated parts of southeastern North Carolina as Tropical Storm Ernesto nears the coast. Maximum sustained winds are just below hurricane force at 70 mph. Wilmington, N.C., has already picked up over five inches of rain and more heavy rain is on the way. Flash flood watches and warnings have been posted across the Carolinas up into the Mid-Atlantic. An additional 4 to 8 inches of rain is possible over parts of South and North Carolina overnight and into Friday. To the north, some river systems over New York and Pennsylvania will likely move above flood stage during the holiday weekend as heavy rain spreads to the north. "
Charlie Daniels Band coming to 'Goula
Charlie Daniels Band coming to 'Goula: "PASCAGOULA -- The Charlie Daniels Band will rock the Flagship City on Oct. 5, the night before the first Zonta Festival in Pascagoula in two years.
Northrop Grumman Ship Systems, Wal-Mart Supercenter in Pascagoula and other businesses, along with Clear Channel Radio, are helping bring the legendary Southern rock band to Pascagoula.
There will be no admission for residents, but there could be a new free toy requested at the door."
The Devil Went Down To Georgia
Northrop Grumman Ship Systems, Wal-Mart Supercenter in Pascagoula and other businesses, along with Clear Channel Radio, are helping bring the legendary Southern rock band to Pascagoula.
There will be no admission for residents, but there could be a new free toy requested at the door."
The Devil Went Down To Georgia
WLOX-TV - The News for South Mississippi: Chicago Group Promises Relief For Pass Christian Firefighters
WLOX-TV - The News for South Mississippi: Chicago Group Promises Relief For Pass Christian Firefighters: "Frank Slove has a better picture of what his relief group needs to do.
'What we want to do is come and help you guys rebuild your homes,' he told a group of Pass Christian firefighters.
If Slove can hook up Chicago area firefighters with the Pass Christian first responders, or Illinois teachers with Mississippi teachers, he thinks the United Relief Foundation can help coast hurricane victims.
'A brother firefighter hearing about this can relate to it, not only relate to it, but he's more apt to help,' Slove said."
'What we want to do is come and help you guys rebuild your homes,' he told a group of Pass Christian firefighters.
If Slove can hook up Chicago area firefighters with the Pass Christian first responders, or Illinois teachers with Mississippi teachers, he thinks the United Relief Foundation can help coast hurricane victims.
'A brother firefighter hearing about this can relate to it, not only relate to it, but he's more apt to help,' Slove said."
Wednesday, August 30, 2006
WLOX-TV - The News for South Mississippi: Mississippi Still Fattest State In Nation, New Study Says
WLOX-TV - The News for South Mississippi: Mississippi Still Fattest State In Nation, New Study Says: "Mississippians are still the most obese people in the nation and are more likely to develop health problems such as diabetes and hypertension, according to a new study released Tuesday."
I blogged this because I feel that we are not just fat people, we are survivors. Superficial never wins out over "true grit"!!
I blogged this because I feel that we are not just fat people, we are survivors. Superficial never wins out over "true grit"!!
FOXNews.com - Tropical Storm Ernesto Hits Florida Without Power Once Feared - Local News | News Articles | National News | US News
FOXNews.com - Tropical Storm Ernesto Hits Florida Without Power Once Feared - Local News | News Articles | National News | US News: "KEY LARGO, Fla. — South Florida residents breathed a sigh of relief early Wednesday after Tropical Storm Ernesto lumbered ashore well below hurricane strength and caused little damage."
Tuesday, August 29, 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!!!
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!!
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!!
WLOX-TV - The News for South Mississippi: Your Hometown News - Pascagoula
WLOX-TV - The News for South Mississippi: Your Hometown News - Pascagoula: "Katrina: One Year Later
Patrice Clark Reports On Pascagoula's Rebuilding & Recovery
Pascagoula is well on its way to recovery. Katrina hit the area hard 12 months ago, flooding more than 90 percent of the city. Now after a year, Pascagoula officials say they see a bright future. Patrice Clark talked with Mayor Matthew Avara and City Manger Kay Kell about Pascagoula's progress post-Katrina."
Patrice Clark Reports On Pascagoula's Rebuilding & Recovery
Pascagoula is well on its way to recovery. Katrina hit the area hard 12 months ago, flooding more than 90 percent of the city. Now after a year, Pascagoula officials say they see a bright future. Patrice Clark talked with Mayor Matthew Avara and City Manger Kay Kell about Pascagoula's progress post-Katrina."
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."
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."
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."
Monday, August 28, 2006
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."
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."
The initial wave brought the food, the drink, the clothing, the gasoline to get through those first desperate, chaotic days."
Sunday, August 27, 2006
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!
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!
Saturday, August 26, 2006
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?
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."
Friday, August 25, 2006
WLOX-TV - The News for South Mississippi: News & Video
WLOX-TV - The News for South Mississippi: News & Video: "ABC's Brian Ross Talks About State Farm Investigation"
Breaking news here folks! After clicking on above link, scroll through the videos to find appropiate video.
Breaking news here folks! After clicking on above link, scroll through the videos to find appropiate video.
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.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
