Aftermath of Hurricane Katrina--Pictures, Thoughts and Rants on a Deadly Killer!

New Pictures taken from the Imperial Palace Casino on Back Bay Biloxi

2006-02-25T11:16:00.000-06:00

My sister just sent me these photos in an e-mail. She said that a classmate of hers sent them to her. I haven't seen these photos yet, so I thought I'd add them to my blog. Please understand that I DID NOT TAKE THESE PHOTOS!!! Remember that you can DOUBLE CLICK on any photo to enlarge it for a closer look!!! Enjoy!!!

Fishing Pier (The Old Biloxi Bridge) – the water is usually about 20 feet below the pier.

These are homes across the street from the Imperial Palace…

More from across the street.

This was taken as the storm changed direction and the water tidal surge was starting to move out.

These are several hundred year old trees (Live Oaks), and the tops of a few Palm Trees that “adorn” the entrance to the Imperial Palace.

Just another one…Tidal Surge

A Couple New Pics

2006-02-03T21:48:00.000-06:00

My husband sent me these first two pictures. The others are pictures that I took on September 17th, but I thought they were worthy of repeating!

This is HWY 603 in Bay St. Louis, MS and as you can tell, it has what I would guess to be around 5 feet or more of water across the roadway. Look at the lightpoles and see how high up the poles the water is!

This photo is said to be taken from St. Stanislus High School. The boys from the International Dorm did not evacuate...and had at some point (it's said shortly after this photo was taken) to move to higher ground. The International Dorm faces the Beachfront. You can see the waves rolling in over the Beachfront drive...but more incrdibly...look further out into the Gulf at the height of the waves coming in behind! It's sort of hazy, but you can see a VERY high wall of water! I've heard that the Brothers and the boys moved up to the 2nd floor of the Dorm and waited it out there! Can you imagine the horror! There was a few angels watching over them I think!!

I took this picture on 9/17. It's a picture of the International Students Dorm that faces the Beachfront. Just to give you a perspective of where it's reported the above picture was taken from!

I also took this picture on 9/17. It's a picture that I call "Walk to Nowhere". The Walkway went from the St. Stanislaus Campus to the beach. But as you can see, Katrina took care in making sure that no one would be making that walk for a long while!

Another photo I took on 9/17. This is the Church that is next door to St. Stanislaus...Our Lady of the Gulf (OLG). It sits on the Beachfront. It's a beautiful Historic old Church. Though you can't tell in this photo, the entire roof is gone!

This is the rectory (the priest's house) for the church above! Not much left, eh? Sad, just really really sad! Photo taken by me on 9/17.

HAPPY NEW YEAR

2006-01-01T06:03:00.000-06:00

Well FINALLY 2006 has come. Today is day 126. Some progress is being made. It's slow but it is steady. I'm just damn glad 2005 is behind us, and I NEVER want to see another year like that.

This past Wednesday, I visted the Isle of Capri Casino. I went to check it out. The date was the 28th and it opened on the 26th. I'm happy to report that I had to wait in line forever to valet park my car. I would have self-parked, but that's a bitch of a hill to climb, and my back just won't let me do it. Anyway, I digress....the casino part is in the Hotel now...just as we knew it would be...in the old ballroom(s).

It's much larger than I expected it to be! I expected just a few slot machines and one or two table games. Oh noooo, not the case. The slots are all new (duh!) and are fun and exciting games. OF COURSE, I just donated my measley $30 bucks to the economy, but hey...what the heck right! It's a pretty place, and I hope to be taking my mom soon. I want to go and visit the New Palace, as it was set to open this past Friday. The Imperial Palace has been open for a few weeks, but my husband works near there, and says that parking is a premium. People are parking on the sides of the road and under the I-110 loop...Not for me. I guess FEMA is still in town and the parking garage is still full! My sister tells me that you can get a spot at 5am near the elevators though! :-)

I'm just glad to see Highway 90 back open. It's good to ride down the beach again...even in the state that it's in. What I DON'T look forward to in 2006 is what I know to be inevitible, and that's a complete REHAB of Highway 90. But I'm full aware that they only did a patch job so that they could get it back open to traffic. The Popps Ferry Bridge is now open again...so here again...a piece of progress!
Now will someone please tell the Mayor of OS to quit raising a ruckus about six laneing the new Biloxi/OS Bridge so we can get that project going!! :x

Seeing as how Black Eyed Peas are supposed to bring good luck...and I ate mine last year, I will be removing them from the menu this year! Who needs that kind of luck in 2006?? Down with Black Eyed Peas! I wish you all a Happy, Healty, Prosperous, Hurricane free 2006.

Ramblings of Guilt

2006-01-01T06:00:00.000-06:00

Ramblings of Guilt

As I look around, the sights are horrendous.
Lives are strewn to the curb in pandemonium.
Generations of belongings lain out like a yard sale gone very, very wrong!

One can glean everything about the inhabitants of this so-called dwelling,
if one is so bold as to look.
Their reading habits, their hobbies, their love of movies and music
are not a secret to anyone who wishes to peruse the piles
growing ever higher beside their tract of land.

One’s senses kick in to high gear.…
It’s the stench of rot, mud, slime, and mold.
The sight of wood swollen and warped by water to generations of furniture
that in your gut, you just know have been passed down.
It’s the taste of a meal that some kind person has handed to you,
and the feel of sheetrock and insulation laden with odious water.
It’s also the sound of the chainsaws during the day, and the generators that lull you to sleep at night.

These are the abominations and the legacy of Katrina.

Guilt over washes me, for I have lost little.
My home is fairly intact.
For what I have lost, compared to others, my family and I have suffered little.
I have a home, I have comforts….
And most thankfully, I have all my family members!

But I have lost peace of mind.

I’ve lain in bed, crying for the mere fact I have a bed to lie in.
I’ve cried when I’ve fed my pet, thankful that she’s still with me.
I’ve agonized over the haves and have nots.
I’ve hated the devastation I’ve seen.

I’ve detested the rivers of tears, and swollen, puffy eyes of the brave,
not wanting to burden others with their woes.
There is repugnance at what is left of this once beautiful area.
Will I ever get over it? Will I ever “deal”?
Though I haven’t suffered as much in an object-oriented way,
Perhaps, I too have suffered at the hands of Katrina?

© ~!~ Becky ~!~ 9/30/05

The Restaurants of Days Gone By!!!

2005-10-27T19:55:00.000-05:00

Since folks on the Discussion Board at the Sun Herald forums are talking about favorite restaurants, I thought I would post some pictures of some restaurants along Highway 90. Some of these names have come up in the discussion board, and some are just ones I thought I'd toss in to spark some memories.

Remember if you want to examine a photo more closely you can click on the photo to see it enlarged!!

Ahhhhhhhhhhh....where our "mystery" begins....how fitting to have it as the first photo. There were also some great restaurants at the Beau...but to me one of the best was their BUFFETT...my gracious it had EVERYTHING!!!

This was Landry's...a once great place to enjoy seafood!

CAN YOU BELIEVE that this is what The Roadhouse Grill was reduced to? It was across the street from the Emerald Beach Hotel that is in the photos on the blog below.

Obviously...as the sign says...it WAS The Olive Garden. A favorite place to run to for lunch, as it's just down the road from my job. This shot is the side facing DeBuys Road (pronounced da bees) NOT the side on Highway 90. Nevertheless, anything that close to the Beach didn't have a chance.

This area is where McElroy's Harbor House Restaurant was. This is the Biloxi Harbor area. This building is the only thing left, and the bottom of it is gutted. Someone mentioned the "boat to Ship Island" in one post...The Pan-American Clipper was the boat that took tourists to the island, would depart from this harbor. One day recently, I was driving around the Ocean Springs Harbor near my home, and to my surprise the Pan-Am Clipper was moored there! :-)

Ahhh....Remembering Our Youthful Days!

2005-10-27T06:57:00.000-05:00

Hello to my friends and fellow posters from the Sun Herald forums. I decided to post these pictures for you since it was brought up in one of the posts about the old Amusement Park, and what I refer to as the "Goofy Golf".
I have taken over 80 pictures down Highway 90 between the foot of the Biloxi/Ocean Springs Bridge and DeBuys Road (which is where the Olive Garden and Red Lobster were)! Make sure (that is of course if you want to), to read my story just below regarding my trip down Highway 90. Also of note, is my trip on 9/17 to Bay St. Louis and Waveland...it includes a "Minute by Minute" journal....you can do this by looking in the column to the left and clicking on the blog entries there that interest you!

NOTE: TO VIEW ANY PICTURE CLOSER...CLICK ON THE PICTURE TO ENLARGE!

This is what WAS the Emerald Beach hotel...It was just west of the "Hooters" and "Cucos" Restaurant and across the street from the LaLinda Hotel on the Corner of Veterans Blvd and Hwy 90.

Moving Eastward now...these were the businesses next to the Emerald Beach Hotel...The remenants of the "Cucos", the "Hooters" and you can see whats left of the Shell gas station at the corner of Veterans Blvd and 90. Across the street from that Shell would be that Souvenier Shop where you could buy Beach accessories....These photos are all on the South side of the Highway!

Remnants of the Shell Station at the Corner of Highway 90 and Veterans Blvd.

In this picture...still moving Eastward...you can see the outline of the "Wendy's" sign. Next to the Shell station, there was a KFC, and a Taco Bell, then a Wendys...But as you can tell...NOTHING is there!!

How do I say....Same song, different verse! Soooo SAD!!!

Well....here it is..., this is what I was leading up to. This is WHAT IS LEFT of the old Amusement Park and "Goofy Golf"....So many childhood dreams shattered like the twisted pieces of metal you see in the picture. Even the Dinosaur that was one of the holes at the goofy golf didn't make it....It withstood Camille's terrible winds, but was no match for Katrina.

FINALLY: A Ride Down Biloxi’s Hwy 90

2005-10-09T05:28:00.000-05:00

FINALLY: A Ride Down Biloxi’s Hwy 90

I have finally gotten a chance to do what I’ve wanted to do since the day after arriving home from Tallahassee, FL on Sept. 1st. I got to ride down Hwy 90. I was able to “sneak” onto Hwy 90 at Beauvoir Rd near the Biloxi Coliseum and drive all the way to the foot of what’s left of the Biloxi/Ocean Springs Bridge. I then turned back, made my way to Oak Street near the Grand Casino Bayview Hotel, up to Howard Avenue, to Irish Hill Drive, and back over to Pass Road. I repeated the trip on Friday, October 8th with camera in tow. This time, I had an “official” escort, and was a passenger so I was able to take photos. Our route was I-110 to Hwy. 90 West to Debuys Road, then back East to the Bridge and did a “U-ey” to I-110 for the return to Ocean Springs. I have to say this: the perspective is so much different than anything that an aerial photo or even just a photo can do. To see it for oneself is almost overwhelming.

I had this overwhelming need to see for myself what this monster “Katrina” had done. The area as I knew it growing up, and on my leisurely drive in to work every day is no longer there. To look at it is gut-wrenching. The Harbor in Biloxi where my Dad sold his seafood, gone….across the street…the hospital where I was born…gone. Next door to that…a very small hotel, where my sisters ALWAYS book a room for two nights to enjoy Mardi-Gras without the pain of having to worry about traffic….gone. The Biloxi Town Green where we always stood to watch the beloved floats carrying friends and their friends and children on colorful Mardi-Gras floats….gone!!! And that’s only one short block….it goes on and on like that for block after block after block up the entire Beach Drive.

Did I have any clue that when I left work on Friday, August 26th that would be my last drive home as I had known it? NO!! At the time I left work, Katrina was only a Tropical Storm, and was forecast to hit Florida. After all, what hurricane that has threatened, hasn’t hit Florida in the last three years?? Would I have EVER imagined that the devastation that befell the Coast could be this bad? …NO WAY….not EVEN after hearing the stories did I get it! I had to SEE IT! And SEE IT I did!!! Here are some photos for you. As I said…until you see it, you really don’t get it…but it’s just another take, another perspective, another personal tale of the devastation they have seen.
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NOTE: To see any picture up close double click on the picture!

The Biloxi Lighthouse still stands as a beacon of hope!!

This is what’s left of the church at the Seashore Methodist Assembly!

The children’s park at corner of Miramar (street/avenue??) and Hwy. 90 took a terrible hit!

This WAS the Roadhouse Grill on Hwy 90.

The “Other” Pink Souvenir Shop which is a sister shop to Sharkheads. This one was noted for the huge Gorilla that it had out front.

This is what’s left of Landry’s Seafood Restaurant—simply put---NOTHING!

Heading now back East down 90….I had not seen this view of Treasure Bay Casino.

Treasure Bay Casino’s Gift Shop and Restaurant “land” based area of the Casino.

The remains of SharkHeads Souvenir Shop

I’m not sure why, but I especially liked this picture. (Perhaps it’s the blue sky!) An interesting fact: The guitar was built to withstand winds of 200mph….at least that’s word on the street….and as you can see, it fared EXTREMELY well. The Hotel and Casino were scheduled to open one week after Katrina hit.

What’s left of the Biloxi Harbor. As a child, I would accompany my dad to the various restaurants in the area to sell his seafood, and the Harbor was a place always on list to stop. Not far from the harbor, (PRE-Hurricane Camille) was Baricev’s Restaurant….the Beau Rivage parking garage now stands in it’s place. I can remember friends of my dad’s buying Corn Dogs for me…even when it was near supper time, knowing that whatever Mom had cooked, I have to eat again!

St. Michael’s Catholic Church by the Sea As you can tell, you can see clear through the church. From the aerial photos, I thought the church had done fairly well….WRONG!!!

I’m assuming someone put the statue of St. Michael the Archangel in front of the church. But after seeing all of the holy statues around the coast that ended up untouched, I wouldn’t be surprised if this is where the statue found itself after the storm. A great example is the picture I took at St. Claire’s in Waveland of Our Blessed Virgin. Even though the church and school were wiped out, her grotto was nearly untouched. See photos in the blog below. If someone knows the story of this statue, please respond. Thanks.

The Tivoli Hotel. I can only assume the damage on the upper floors is where the Grand Casino Barge hit it before coming to rest in it’s spot on property next door.

What remains of Jerry O’Keefe’s house. He was a former mayor of Biloxi.

This is what I refer to as the “Mardi-Gras” hotel. My sisters would always get a room for two nights during Mardi-Gras at this hotel next to the Santa Maria Retirement Apartments and across the street from the Biloxi Harbor Park. Next door to the East was the Biloxi Specialty Hospital which was the old Biloxi Hospital where I was born. That hospital has recently been demolished. When I passed it the other day, it was nothing more than a pile of bricks waiting to be hauled to the closest dump! Yet another one of my ties to my heritage destroyed by Hurricane Katrina!

The Gulf Will Rise Again

2005-10-04T06:34:00.000-05:00

Our College President forwarded this to us via an e-mail. I was particarlary touched by this and wanted to share with you!

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The Gulf Will Rise Again

By JOHN GRISHAM

Biloxi, Miss.

ON Aug. 17, 1969, Hurricane Camille roared onto the Gulf Coast with winds of more than 200 miles an hour, only the second Category 5 storm to hit the mainland United States. It killed 143 people in Mississippi, and 201 more in flooding in central Virginia.

Over the years, Hurricane Camille's legend grew, and it was not uncommon when I was a child and student in Mississippi to hear horrific tales from coast residents who had survived it. I myself was sleeping in a Boy Scout pup tent 200 miles inland when the storm swept through. Our losses were minimal - the tents, sleeping bags, some food - but over time I managed to spice up the adventure and add a little danger to it.

For almost 40 years, it was a well-established belief that the Gulf Coast had taken nature's mightiest blow, picked itself up, learned some lessons and survived rather well. There could simply never be another storm like Hurricane Camille.

After walking the flattened streets of Biloxi, though, I
suspect that Hurricane Camille will soon be downgraded to an April shower. The devastation from Hurricane Katrina, a storm surge 80 miles wide and close to 30 feet high, is incomprehensible. North from the beach for a half a mile, virtually every house has been reduced to kindling and debris. At least 100,000 people in Jackson County - poor, middle-class, wealthy - are homeless.

I search for a friend's home, a grand old place with a long wide porch where we'd sit and gaze at the ocean, and find nothing but rubble. Mary Mahoney's, the venerable French restaurant and my favorite place to eat on the coast, is standing, but gutted. It's built of stone and survived many storms but had seen nothing like Hurricane Katrina.

Even without Hurricane Rita chewing its way across the region, the notion of starting again is nearly impossible to grasp. Some areas will have no electricity for months. The schools, churches, libraries and offices lucky enough to be standing can't open for weeks. Those not standing will be scooped up in the rubble, then rebuilt. But where, and at what cost?

So much has disappeared - highways, streets, bridges, treatment plants, docks, ports. The next seafood harvest is years away, and the shrimpers have lost their boats. The bustling casino business - 14,000 jobs and $500,000 a day in tax revenues - will be closed for months and may take years to recover. Lawyer friends of mine lost not only their homes and offices, but their records and their courthouses.

At least half of the homes and businesses destroyed were not insured against flood losses. For decades, developers, builders, real estate and insurance agents have been telling people: "Don't worry, Camille didn't touch this area. It'll never flood." This advice was not ill intentioned; it simply reflected what most people believed. Now, those who listened to it and built anyway are facing bankruptcy.

As dark as these days are, though, there is hope. It doesn't come from handouts or legislation, and it certainly doesn't come from speeches promising rosy days ahead. Folks dependent on donated groceries are completely unmoved by campaign-style predictions of a glorious future. It's much too early for such talk.

Hope here comes from the people and their remarkable belief that, if we all stick together, we'll survive. The residents of the Gulf Coast have an enormous pride in their ability to take a punch, even a knockout blow, and stagger gamely back into the center of the ring. Their parents survived Camille, and Betsy and Frederic, and they are determined to get the best of this latest legend.

Those who've lost everything have nothing to give but their courage and sweat, and there is an abundance of both along the coast these days. At a school in the small town of De Lisle, the superintendent, who's living in the parking lot, gives a quick tour of the gymnasium, which is now a makeshift food dispensary where everything is free and volunteers hurriedly unpack supplies. Two nearby schools have vanished, so in three weeks she plans to open doors to any student who can get to her school. Temporary trailers have been ordered and she hopes they're on the way. Ninety-five percent of her teachers are homeless but nonetheless eager to return to the classrooms.

Though she is uncertain where she'll find the money to pay the teachers, rent the trailers and buy gas for the buses, she and her staff are excited about reopening. It's important for her students to touch and feel something normal. She's lost her home, but her primary concern is for the children. "Could you send us some books?" she asks me. Choking back tears, my wife and I say, "Yes, we certainly could."

Normalcy is the key, and the people cling to anything that's familiar - the school, a church, a routine, but especially to one another. Flying low in a Black Hawk over the devastated beach towns, the National Guard general who is our host says, "What this place needs is a good football game." And he's right. It's Friday, and a few lucky schools are gearing up for the big games, all of which have been rescheduled out of town. Signs of normal life are slowly emerging.

The task of rebuilding is monumental and disheartening to the outsider. But to the battle-scarred survivors of the Gulf Coast, today is better than yesterday, and tomorrow something good will happen.

When William Faulkner accepted the Nobel Prize in 1950, he said, in part: "I believe that man will not merely endure: he will prevail. He is immortal, not because he alone among creatures has an inexhaustible voice, but because he has a soul, a spirit capable of compassion, sacrifice and endurance."

Today, Faulkner would find in his native state a resilient spirit that is amazing to behold. The people here will sacrifice and give and give until one day this storm will be behind them, and they will look back, like their parents and grandparents, and quietly say, "We prevailed."

John Grisham is the author, most recently, of "The Broker."

2005-10-01T06:54:00.000-05:00

I was particularly touched by this photo from 2nd St. in Bay St. Louis. The owners of this home wrote a message to let rescuers and family know that they were "alive and well
with family"!

2005-10-01T06:52:00.000-05:00

Cars amid the rubble in Old Town Bay St. Louis one block off of the beach.

2005-10-01T06:51:00.000-05:00

This row of homes is near the Bay St.
Louis Bridge on Highway 90...someone told me Pete Fountain owned the
property....but I don't know if that's true or not...you know how
rumors go!!!

2005-10-01T06:50:00.000-05:00

The Walkway at St. Stanislaus Catholic School in Bay St. Louis...It USED to connect to the beach...now it's a walkway to nowhere!

2005-10-01T06:48:00.000-05:00

A little humor at Our Lady of the Gulf Rectory....the sign on the trailer says "Fr. Tracey's Condo"

THE "NEW" NORMALCY...back to work

2005-10-01T06:14:00.000-05:00

Well, things are getting somewhat back to normal. We're back in school...and for anyone who doesn't know, I teach college at MS Gulf Coast Community College, Jefferson Davis Campus. We started classes back on Sept. 14th, and at first, I have to say I thought it was a bit premature...that folks were not going to be ready to go back, or even be able to focus on going back to school...We are a commuter campus that sits on the Biloxi/Gulfport line, and I had heard from many of my students that did not have homes left. When you stop and think about it, if you don't have a home to commute from, what's the point of continuing classes....well, that's what my first thoughts were when I heard we were starting back just two short weeks after the Hurricane..

However, that having been said, I'm happy to say that I couldn't have been MORE WRONG!!! My students were ANXIOUS to get back into class and get things going again. They NEEDED some structure in their crazy mixed up world. They expressed gratitude at having something "NORMAL" in their lives. Some "PRE-KATRINA". In one particular class that I teach, I was very humbled when NOT ONE STUDENT had a home, a car, clothes, NOTHING left, yet they came to class in borrowed cars. I was also amazed that none of my students had to have books replaced, even though the college offered the service of book replacement (at no fee to students) for those books lost due to storm damage. Most admitted that they took their books thinking they would study while under evacuation, never dreaming that along with the clothes on their backs, these books would be some of their only possessions left! Many didn't even take treasured photos, again, not imagining the terrible damage that Katrina would leave in her wake. One student, whose home was particularly hard hit in Waveland, lost a vast treasury of Sign Language Video tapes due to Katrina's miserable flood waters, but she has her books!!!

After initial meetings in my classes, and rounds of "how'd you come out?", "how's your home?" and "did you stay or did you leave?", and after a few tears were shed, classes are now back on track....YAY!!! Right now it's what is keeping the students sane, and what is keeping me sane (most days!) !!!!

I am very grateful to have a wonderful institution like MS Gulf Coast Community College in our Community, and better yet, to be part of the MGCCC family. The College has done so much for the employees, many of whom have lost their homes, and for the students as well. On our campus, counselors are available to discuss the stress of Katrina, funds have been set up for victims, (both student and employees) and our campus has even provided a shelter for employees.

Our College mission "We make a positive difference in people's lives everyday" continues to ring true even in the aftermath of such a horrible event!! And for that, I'm truely grateful to the leadership of the College President and the Board of Trustees to have the wherewithall to know that it WAS a smart and logical idea to get back to the business of NORMAL as soon as possible. THANK YOU!!!

2005-09-27T07:28:00.000-05:00

This Tour bus belonging to the Mega Band 3 Doors Down
was donated to the very hard hit Waveland Fire Departmant . The
firefighters and some family are living on the bus, since all have lost
their homes. 3 Doors Down hasalso donated a Fire Truck to the Waveland Fire Dept, as all of their Fire Trucks were lost to flood waters. The Band got its
beginnings in Moss Point, MS practicing in band members garages....many
of the band members lost those homes according to MTV.com. While
in Waveland that day (9/17) we were told by the Fire Dept.personnell "that there was no area of Waveland that did NOT go underwater!" WOW!!!!

2005-09-27T07:19:00.000-05:00

This is the emblem/logo on the side of
the bus donated to the Waveland Fire Dept. As I understand,
3Doors Down Bandmembers are doing a tour to raise money for Hurricane
Katrina victims....these guys all hail from the Moss Point area, and
most of the Band's family lost property according to MTV.com.
Please remember...I don't yet have TV or news...so I'm scouring the
internet for news, and getting some news via word of mouth.

2005-09-27T06:59:00.000-05:00

The altar at St. Claire's Catholic Church in Waveland on the
Beach. It appears that someone has salvaged these statues from
the ruins and placed them on what is left of the altar.

Touring the Coast: Minute by Minute September 17, 2005

2005-09-18T12:05:00.000-05:00

Hurricane Katrina Aftermath—Things I’ve Seen; Places I’ve Been

I spent an emotionally gruelling day over in Bay St. Louis and Waveland yesterday. I took over 250 photos. I rode along with an "offical" and was granted Beach access to areas that are not normally open....All I can say is HOLY COW!!!! What follows is my journal, with some of my favorite photos added. It's hard to pick from all the photos I took...there were so many.

Amazingly, I have ties to every one of these cities. I live in OS, my hubbs is from Long Beach and has family in Pass Christian. I have family in Waveland, and worked with folks who live in Bay St. Louis, and at one time served clients there as well. As a teen, I was on a Catholic Retreat Team (SEARCH), and had two team members from BSL and Waveland, and spent a lot time at their homes, which is why I have such ties to all the Catholic Churches on the Coast. I also served as the Catholic Youth Organization (CYO) Secretary for the Diocese of Biloxi which includes the entire Gulf Coast....As a VR counselor for the Deaf, I served the lower 6 counties of Mississippi, and while working at the Deaf Center we served something like 22 counties (man it's been a long time...Greg Crapo, the new Director would have to address that one!!! LOL!) Additionally, growing up, my dad provided many restuarants in the area with fresh seafood and stuffed crabs along the entire coast, and I can remember traveling to the different areas to deliver the seafood.

This storm has not only affected physical property that I own, it has also destroyed what I have left of memories of this Beautiful Gulf Coast....so instead of focusing on anger at what Katrina has done, I choose to focus on documenting....so that NO ONE FORGETS! It's the only way right now for me to stay sane. It's what I know and how I function.

NOTE: CLICK ON ANY PHOTO TO SEE AN ENLARGED PICTURE OF THE PHOTO IN ANY OF MY BLOGS!
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Touring the Coast: Minute by Minute September 17, 2005

6:56 am
I was fortunate enough to “bum” a ride with a state official because I was ready to see the devastation first hand. I had only seen the Ocean Springs area where I live and what lies between my house off of East Beach and my job at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College, Jefferson Davis Campus in Gulfport. We were headed off toward Bay St. Louis. Before today, I haven’t felt “ready” to look at the devastation first hand, but now in an attempt to “move on”, I need to see this beloved Coast I’ve known so well and see what remains. I need to be able to look, document, grieve, and get on with the business of putting things back in order. This would include not only the physical, but also the emotional. It will be 3 weeks ago tomorrow that we left our home to evacuate to Tallahassee, FL, 3 weeks ago Monday that the storm hit, Tuesday will mark 3 weeks since Recovery began.

7:23 am
I-10 traffic is good while making our way to the 603 exit in Bay St. Louis. I’m almost scared. We made a brief stop at the Woolmarket exit to fill up the State vehicle. Even though the truck’s gas gauge showed half full, no one is willing to risk venturing to “that” end of the coast without a full tank, I guess because of the scarcity of services. According to my chauffeur, “this end of the coast is basically 10-14 days behind in the recovery process due to being at lower elevation, and the difficulty of getting services back on line due to the sheer amount of devastation.”

7:31 am

Riding along I-10 at Menge Avenue, the damage doesn’t appear to look much different than anything I have seen thus far. The typical visuals—trees down, wind and salt whipped Loblolly Pines have needles that appear brown-the same as if a controlled burn has taken place. All of the billboards have taken a tremendous beating. There is virtually no advertising left standing on I-10 at all. I’m surprised to see the green Highway Dept. Of Transportation signs announcing the distance to various communities still intact. “Diamondhead Exit 16—1 mile” remains unscathed, yet in Ocean Springs barely any of those signs remain standing.

7:39 am

As we pass Diamondhead the tall signs announcing the gas stations and the Dairy Queen are all but gone. Could this be because of their high profile and the fact that they were made of glass?

Riding up Highway 603 this is one of the many sights we saw....and there were countless duplications like it...! So SAD!!!

When the flood waters receded, the remains of this house came to rest right along the shoulder of Highway 603.

8:34 am

We just left the Hancock County Wastewater District Treatment Plant. Oh my God!!!! The water was up to the rafters in that building. It was a total loss, yet they are still working out of it to get water and sewer on line to the people of Hancock County.
The Animal Shelter was set up behind it and I ventured off to visit the animals that have been rescued. I was told that most are being shipped to Hattiesburg. Yesterday, a pig was brought in. The Shelter is filled with food, water, cat litter, pet cages, and basically anything a family would need to adopt a new pet. While there, a special 18 wheeler drove in from the Humane Society to transport another load of animals to special shelters in safe locations farther north. It’s amazing what they are doing for these animals, and the love and care they are giving them.

The Makeshift Animal Shelter in Hancock County

This is the comfort trailer that the Missouri Humane Society brought in for transporting rescued animals to points farther inland...most are being sent to Hattiesburg, which is about 80 miles north, and from there, they are being transported to other areas of the country for adoption.

Hancock Water & Sewer District--With water up to the rafters--you can still see the remains of the debris still clinging to the rafters.

8:43 am

We arrived at Bay St. Louis Public Works Department to begin the task of locating and highlighting the water and sewer lines on a map for the City of BSL to indicate any systems that may not be functioning at its full capacity. I have the overwhelming feeling of being in a war torn country. Spirits of folks I run into are high and that is encouraging. I’m taking it very easy on the fluid intake, as restroom facilities are hard to come by. I don’t want to have to “squat in the woods”!

9:06 am

I just spoke to a relief worker from CANADA! He was deployed by their military. I’m in awe at the military presence all around. It’s incredible! I thanked him from the “bottom of my heart for all of us here on the MS Gulf Coast”. His reply was simply “No problem”.

9:21 am

The sound of Chinook choppers and Coast Guard Choppers fill the air in Bay St. Louis, MS. It seems that quiet is not something this once peace filled town has had since the recovery effort has begun. The city trucks all have logos that state “Bay St. Louis—A Place Apart”. For anyone who knows this quaint little town, this statement was true prior to Katrina—and now that she’s blown through, ironically, the statement still holds true, though with a different meaning!

City of Bay St. Louis vehicles all bear this logo....and never a truer statement there was!! Both before and after Katrina blew through this quaint town!

9:37 am

At this early hour, less than 3 hours after setting out on our journey, I have had to refill the ice chest with ice and bottled water. All of the ice is melted, and most of the water has been drunk by me and my host of the day. Sweat pours from my head, face and neck. How LOVELY!! I can’t imagine being a relief worker having to work in the triple digit heat index. It was supposed to rain today, but there’s not a cloud in the sky!

10:06 am

At the Public works compound, a variety of military vehicles and city vehicles travel in and out of the grounds moving toward their next mission of the moment. A thin layer of dust covers everything, including ME! The lack of rain since August 29th has left everything with a fine coating of grit. We passed cars and SUVs on I-10 today on the way that had “I survived Katrina” written in the settled dust. Clouds of dust are kicked up every time a vehicle leaves the compound leaving my nose, ears and eyes caked with fine gray sediment. I guess this is what the “dust bowl” area of Kansas was like during the drought in the 1930’s.

11:13 am

We toured the 2nd Street area, Our Lady of the Gulf Catholic Church, St. Stanislaus High School and Old Town Bay St. Louis area. We saw the Highway 90 Bay bridge up close and personal and the CSX Railroad bridge, or should I say, what’s left of them. We are now on our way to the City of Waveland Southern Regional Wastewater Management District (SRWMD). I’m still in shock over what I’ve seen in Bay St. Louis and keep saying over and over, “Oh my God!”

The remains of a Church in Old Town Bay St. Louis.

Hancock County Courthouse near OldTown Bay St. Louis

Bay St. Louis City Hall---The Crab Festival is held near this site--or should I say was--every year...The old oak tree seems to have fared well, but that was what I could tell from a distance.

Our Lady of the Gulf (OLG) Catholic Church fronts Bayfront Drive on the beach in Bay St. Louis. The roof is gone, and who knows how high the water came in the inside.

St. Stanislaus on the Beach in Bay St. Louis was heavily damaged.

This walkway now leads to nowhere...at one time students from St. Stanislaus could walk to the beach....

Though this 2nd Street home in BSL was totally demolished, the occupants leave a makeshift message ensuring loved ones that they were all alive. Click on the photo twice for a better read of the message.

11:41 am

Well, he had no luck in locating the person he was looking for at SRWMD, and was told he may be at Buccaneer State Park which is on beach in Waveland, so…..off we go!!!

12:30 pm

We pulled into Buccaneer State Park, and what a sight!!! FEMA trailers are coming in every minute. They have quite an operation going on out here. From talking to folks, these trailers are to be used for citizens who no longer have a place to live, which in Waveland is virtually everyone! It’s a nice sight to see. At first I thought these were being set up for city and county officials trying to get the infrastructure back up. While he conducted his business, I set out to tour the remains of the Wave Pool and the Water Slide area. It’s been cleaned up, but there’s not much left. I then went to the beach and amazingly the water looks great! The beach (sand area) is not bad either. Sadly, not one home stands.

FEMA Trailers at Bucanneer State Park--These will be used for the citizens without homes in Waveland area--which is almost everybody!

What's left of the Water Slide at Buccaneer State Park.

This is what remains of the Wave Pool at Bucanneer State Park.

The US Navy is "making" water using reverse osmosis at this site, just off of the beach in front of Bucanneer State Park. This water will serve the FEMA trailer sites at the Park. The Navy uses this same process to provide drinking/potable water on all of their ships while at sea. They take sea water, and purify it, and hold it in these huge rubber bladders.

1:24 pm

We left Buccaneer for a drive down the beach in Waveland so that I could take photos. I can’t believe what I am seeing. I am seeing lot after lot of NOTHING. Even the trees are gone for the most part. We came upon the area of what was once St. Claire’s Catholic Church and School, and the only thing standing on the ENTIRE lot was the brick grotto and the statue of the Virgin Mary. It brought tears to my eyes. I guess a good note was that lumber had already been delivered for what I assume to be used for construction of the new school. A sure sign that they WILL re-build!! This is more than I can handle, and more than I expected. Though I’ve heard stories, and seen aerial footage, the perspective is so different at ground
level.

AMAZING is the only word I can think of to describe what I saw---This grotto at St. Claire's Catholic Church is the only thing that survived Hurricane Katrina! I had tears in my eyes as I was taking the picture.

Holy Statues salvaged from the ruins and rubble have been placed on what was the Altar at St. Claire's Catholic Church in Waveland.

This is the typical visual as you drive down the beach in Waveland. Not a single house left. Flags fly on almost all of the lots, and many signs in the yards state "we WILL re-build"! It's overwhelmingly sad. The trees are even almost all but gone. The few that DO remain, are so wind and salt whipped, I wonder if they will recover!

Further inland from the beach (but not very far) off of South Central Avenue near Coleman...This picture reminds me of a scene from the movie "TWISTER". This house was picked up and deposited near the CSX Railroad tracks.

1:48 pm

We are now on our way back home, and I have to say I’m glad as hell. I’m emotionally drained. I don’t think I’ll ever forget the things I’ve seen. The rain has just started as promised in the forecast. As we travel back down Highway 603 headed toward 1-10, the rain dampened sludge that was caked and dried like a dried up river bed in a desert now fills the air with a putrid stench. While the rain is much needed, I feel so bad for the families with homes that have damaged roofs that have yet to begin their repairs. All I can think is God Bless our Beautiful Gulf Coast!

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NOTE: I could go on and on all day adding photos.....if anyone is interested in seeing an online photoablum of all the pictures I've taken, you can contact me at bgsigns9@bellsouth.net and I'll be happy to share the photos with you. However, they are not labeled, so if you're not familiar with the area, identifing what you are seeing is a challenge.

Clean-up & Recovery--A Personal Journal from a Friend

2005-09-11T08:07:00.000-05:00

I was finally able to speak to my Uncle and cousins in Waveland, MS. THAT town was VERY hard hit. They live off of Jeff Davis Avenue in Waveland. Our family has been crazy with worry over their fate and safety. I was also able to locate another Uncle who lived on Rossetti St. in the Biloxi Point. Imagine my incredible surprise when I ran into him at Rite Aide in Ocean Springs getting a prescription filled. YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!! He was in good spirits even though his house is uninhabitable.

I've been busy helping neighbors and trying to deal with insurance and the likes. I received a journal from one of my friends that her brother kept beginning just after the storm and through helping his parents clean out the remains of their St. Andrews home in Ocean Springs. The St. Andrews area was particullary hard hit. (Seems like I keep saying that a lot!) I got permission to include his journal, so you could get a personal perspective on what the clean-up has been like.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Tuesday August 30, 2005 Day +1 Have finally found time to watch CNN. In tears, devastated, unbelievable. From mild worry about parents and their hurricanes over the past thirty years, to near panic with plans and possible courses of action. Reserved a 15’ truck one way from Santa Fe to Mobile for the Friday before Labor Day weekend. Called airlines to find out about flights back the following Tuesday the 6th. Called 17 year old son Lyle to see if he’d been watching the news and could he commit to going. He was hesitant, school just starting, job just starting, soccer just starting, senior year. Said he wanted to, really. We’d keep in touch and watch the news. Called Dean, oldest friend with a schedule ready for whatever. And he has weapons. Talked to sister Cheryl. She’s on her way. Hope she can stay, she knows the area. We may need a back roads person with Dad and his retired military id. Will try to fill up rental truck with what people may need out there and drive straight through. Need to secure a temporary/ permanent storage for whatever we can salvage. Need to plan to remove wet, potentially moldy items and get to dumps. May need to help secure their St Andrews neighborhood from looters and get house ready for whatever it needs to be. As the first house entering the subdivision it may be needed as some sort of command post or something. Will find out within 48 hours whether plan is feasible and going forward. Will talk to Dad about financing expedition. It all depends on the water going down and access being allowed. When that happens all hell could break loose.

Wednesday, August 31, 2005 Day+2 E-mail to Monte Del Sol Charter School: “Carly, I would like to note that Lyle Shanahan will be out of school Friday the 2nd and Tuesday the 6th to be in Ocean Springs, Mississippi helping swamp out his grandparents house and reclaim whatever is salvageable. Many parts of their neighborhood have been leveled to the slabs, but Lyle's family's house only suffered six feet of nasty, muddy water, windows and doors still intact. The water receded relatively quickly and the one road into the subdivision is open through the bayou. The house is less than a mile from the Gulf Coast shoreline but in a relatively high spot amidst swamps and low land. Lyle and I will help sift through over thirty years of personal effects and then tear out wet carpet, drywall, insulation and anything else soft and wet. The humidity, heat, mold, and toxins will be unbelievable. Grandpa's '80 TR7 has somehow got to be saved. Family is fine and safe at an Aunt's house East of Mobile, Alabama with power and water. We fly in to Pensacola. Lyle will be taking camera gear, but lots of film would be very useful. I know it's short notice, but 35mm color and black & white film would be much appreciated. We will also both keep journals and hope to share the images and experiences with others. Thank you for your thoughts for the truly unfortunate and devastated families on the Gulf Coast.” Kim ********, Lyle's dad.

Thursday, September 1, 2005 Day+3 Scrambling around changing plans. Parents have seen the house and wanted to know how fast we could get there. Make reservations for Lyle and myself for round trip to Pensacola. Manage to reserve a rental pick-up truck. Trip to camera store for film for Lyle. Trip to Home Depot for tools and supplies. Pry bars, hammers, drywall saws, masks, gloves, flashlights, batteries, tarps, utility knives. Sister Cheryl is bringing rubber boots, hand sanitizer, heavy-duty trash bags, paper towels. Sister Kelli is on her way as well. Completely unable to concentrate on issues at work or to study Planning Commission packet for tonight’s scheduled meeting. Go to meeting and asked to be excused to pack and get ready for 6:00 am flight out of Albuquerque. Fellow commissioners understand and offer their best wishes and prayers for the family. I note that family is doing OK but that Gulf Coast could use all the prayers it can get.

Friday September 2, 2005 Day+4 Got a southern side window seat on leg from Dallas to Pensacola. Can recognize shoreline from Gulfport to Florida. See that bridge of U.S. Highway 90 connecting Biloxi to parent’s town of Ocean Springs is gone. Too high in the air to make out residential damage. Notice that barrier islands usually full of loblolly pine trees are scoured clean down to their white sandy essence. Visit 98 year-old uncle for a family reunion dinner at his convalescent home in Mobile. Things seem normal and undamaged. Winter home of Aunt in Foley Alabama is to be base camp. It is comfortable and available until she arrives in January. Golfers are getting in twilight rounds out the back door. Long lines for gasoline at stations that actually have some. Ironically, forty a cents a gallon cheaper than Santa Fe. Lyle and I sleep on the floor and get rested for the morning.

Saturday September 3, 2005 Day+5 Two hour drive to parent’s house. Get off Interstate 10 at Pascagoula and drive last 15 miles on U.S. 90. Beginning to see extent of damage. Uniformed troops in Wal-Mart parking lots. Armed soldiers keeping order in the gas lines at stations with gas. Traffic lights out. People making courteous attempts at ad hoc four way stops. Garbage and debris strewn everywhere. Arrive at house, which, except for the tree on the roof with a limb poked into the laundry room ceiling, seems intact and as I remember it from last year’s visit. It is already getting close to ninety degrees and the humidity is rising. First step into the house changes all perspective. The smell is horrible, the mold is everywhere. Black with white fuzziness. Rotting foodstuffs. A high water line has been drawn on every wall just under six feet off the slab. Everything floatable went up and then down and rearranged itself in random chaos. The refrigerator and freezer are filled with a rancid mess and are on their backs. Any container still upright is filled to the rim with bayou water and slime. The carpets are black mud, squishy and slippery. Two cars are dead and the Toyota has to be pulled out of the garage with the rented truck since it is locked in park and won’t go into neutral. The house is dark and fetid with no power or water. We open up all doors and windows and get to work. Dad has bought a two-wheeled hand truck dolly and we start dragging the big stuff out to the end of the driveway. Beds, furniture and appliances go out first. Drawers and closets full of clothes are dumped into garbage bags and are thrown onto the growing heap. Shelves full of soggy books are loaded into the wheelbarrow and added to the pile. Mom and sister Kay are tearing out pages of dozens of photo albums and laying them out into the grass to dry. Dad is rummaging through his desk for important papers and documents. He jokes about ignoring any future property tax bills, which to him borders on a sin. We break for a picnic lunch on a dry mattress laid out under a magnolia tree in the front yard. It is festooned with thirty years of collected cheap Mardi Gras beads that have inexplicably been saved in a box and now are finally ready for their last fling. Sister Cheryl hangs an American flag from the tree. Mom reminisces about how much she always enjoyed our family picnics. By days end we have cleared out two bedrooms and are half through the last one. Lyle and I make plans to pull the carpet the following day. We are stripped down to shorts and boots and are soaked to the bone with sweat. I feel the water filling up my facemask and have to tilt it back to drain the sweat. We head back to Alabama in the afternoon around three. Dad’s heart surgery last year leaves him a bit weak and dizzy after six hours of labor. The drive back on I-10 goes against the flow of traffic heading for New Orleans. Convoys of utility trucks with boom buckets are streaming in from all over the South. Lines of Humvees and military trucks have joined the parade. Flashing police escorts are leading in the semis with gas tanks. We are all glued to CNN and can’t stop watching. Talk of politics leads to disgust with the fact of the majority of the super-patriotic Mississippi National Guard being pinned down in Iraq spending precious resources on a doomed mission. It is something of a shock to hear a retired army colonel and life-long republican share in the Bush-hate of his more liberal wife and children. This event seems likely to shift the national paradigm.

Sunday September 4th, 2005 Day+6 Up early and on the road for 2 hours in the growing flow of people and goods heading west. We take a quick tour of the parent’s neighborhood before getting back to work. It was developed shortly after Hurricane Camille in1969 around a brand new golf course situated on relatively high ground. Between the development and the strip of coastal shoreline is a half-mile wide bayou of swamp grass and tributaries filled with alligators, snakes and all manner of wading birds. Four holes of the back nine front onto the bayou with homes on the other side of the fairways. Those homes are all gone and the cars left behind are strewn around the neighborhood. The three miles of homes built on stilts at the beachfront were pushed into the swamps by the 25-foot storm surge and obliterated to splinters. All had been built after Camille. A few neighbors were poking around in the debris but the area was eerily quiet. Most people had not yet made it back. Many of the homes still intact were shut tight, seemingly normal but obviously rotting from within, condensation beading up on the insides of windows. Everyday they are left unattended makes salvage less likely. Many of the residents are retired and unable to do the heavy work. And any employable workers were simply not available since it is every person for themselves with no extra hands to spare. In some ways, the people who lost everything may have it easier in the short run since there is literally nothing to haul out and sort through. Piles of garbage and household goods were showing up in the driveways of those able to get back and we joked about having a neighborhood contest to see who might make the biggest pile. Looking down my parent’s street was like seeing a massive yard sale from hell. We continued our excavation and got most of the precious family antiques into the garage to be brought back to a storage unit rented near the temporary house in Alabama. The antiques fared the best of all the furniture since they were built of solid wood with no particleboard or plywood. 20th century furniture simply fell apart and crumbled to pieces. Some of the antiques had been in the family since the 1700s and have been passed from one generation to the next. Lyle and I began cutting the soggy carpet into strips and hauling it out to the pile. Mom and sisters wrapped and boxed the good china and knick-knacks. Dad made on the spot decisions about what to keep and what to throw. Most of it was throw. The parents had been talking for a while about the need to downsize and consider a no-maintenance condo in the area. Katrina was making that an easy decision.

Monday September 5, 2005 Day+7 The rest of the rooms were finally emptied and all carpet pulled up. Lyle and I began removing the bottom four feet of the drywall on the exterior walls and pulling out the soggy insulation. More stuff for the pile. We seem to be in the running for the biggest mound of garbage contest. Bathtub tiled walls were removed as well as a wall of built-in bookcases in the living room to get to the wet insulation. Moldy sheets of paneling were ripped out of the family room. The house was drying up enough that masks didn’t seem quite as necessary any more. The idea was to try and remove as much wet material as possible so at least the structure could be salvageable and sold in an as-is condition for pennies on the dollar. Dad had hurricane insurance and household content insurance but no flood insurance, since in 30 years of seeing hurricanes come and go their house had never suffered any water damage. Complacency always has its price. No one was sure how the adjusters might rule on the water. Was it really a flood or was it storm surge caused by a hurricane? It is likely some of the homes still closed will be so full of toxic mold that it seems certain they will need to be burned and bulldozed down to vacant lots. We were trying to at least leave a structure that some younger family with energy or a speculating contractor might see some value. There will be plenty of homeless people looking for something. It is going to be a seller’s market if they can find people who still want to live in the area. We had done about as much as we could do and had to leave the next evening.

Tuesday September 6, 2005 Day+8 Lyle and I made one last run down the coast. I had promised him we would try to make it in to Biloxi to get some photos he could turn into a school project. We were running out of time and traffic was backed up while a causeway bridge was being repaired on I-10 across the Pascagoula River. We got around the jamb and made it into Biloxi and managed to get down to Coast where monstrous casinos had sprung up in the last decade. The gaming industry in Mississippi is wiped out, which many down there will undoubtedly chalk up to God’s righteous retribution to a sinful phenomenon. Biloxi looks bombed. We only had about a half an hour. The working class back bay neighborhoods where full of smashed houses, downed trees and power lines and filled with boom trucks cutting limbs and re-setting power poles. People sat on their front porches looking shell-shocked and sweaty in the heat. Rescue officials, police and military were in evidence but we drove around without question. We both wished we had days more to observe, document and help but we had to get back. One last load to the storage unit and we were on the road running late to the airport. We got behind a pick-up truck going 95 mph and followed him into Pensacola and turned the truck in on time. I was going to mention to Lyle how I had yet to see any traffic-patrolling police on the interstate since they had other obvious priorities elsewhere, but I didn’t for fear of jinxing the situation. The flight back was uneventful and we got back into Santa Fe around midnight. As we were heading down St Francis drive coming off 599 we were pulled over by Officer Kenneth Martinez at the bottom of the hill for being clocked going 65 in a 45 mph zone. We explained we had just got back from a long weekend on the Gulf Coast. He said he and 20 other Santa Fe Police were heading to New Orleans after fiestas. He let us off with a warning. We thanked him and wished him good luck. He will need it, more storms are brewing in the Atlantic and hurricane season has two months to go.
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NOTE: Just a reminder that this was not my journal/diary....it was from one of my best friend's brother (who I obtained permission from to post it). This personal account is of cleaning out a home in the St. Andrews area of Ocean Springs.

Let's Not Forget About the Pets--How to Help

2005-09-09T10:19:00.000-05:00

A friend of mine asked that I not forget the animals and gave me these links. Here's what she said: "Don't forget about all the animals that have been left stranded with no food or water or humans to give it to them! They can not help themselves!" Below are some links she provided. I'm sorry I can't seem to get the direct links to work. I'll keep trying.

http://www.bestfriends.org

http://www.hsus.org

http://www.aspca.org

I was told this organization had a huge hand in the rescue and sheltering of the animals that were affected by the loss of their loved ones in 9/11 tragedy. http://www.nsalamerica.org

On a personal note: Here's my little beauty "NALA". She evacuated with us to Tallahassee, FL. She's half pomeranian, half sheltie. The sweetest dog you'd ever want to know. Truely a part of the family!!

More Pictures of Ocean Springs

2005-09-09T10:12:00.000-05:00

What remains of two houses that used to sit on stilts on East Beach. These were beautiful creole style cottages. This is the corner of Ashley Place and East Beach. I was amazaed at the beach when I looked at the sand. It has an appearance of cleaniness. Almost as if having been raked. This is because the water/debris line was so many blocks north. Even the remnants of piers still stand because the water was so high, the wave action did not totally demolish them. Mind you, the piers are not functional...but remnants nonetheless...much more than what I was expecting to see.

Relief Agency INFO!!! Taken from the Sun Herald Newspaper.

2005-09-09T09:57:00.000-05:00

This was posted in the Sun Herald and I thought it would be good to get the info out there. Hope like heck I'm not breaking any rules by copying and pasting....That would be about my luck... :-)

Posted on Sat, Sep. 03, 2005

How to help

Knight Ridder Newspapers

Most charities are requesting financial donations rather than goods or clothing. This enables them to use the funds within the communities that are most affected.

American Kennel Association Canine Support and Relief Fund:
# Web: http://www.akc.org

American Red Cross:
# Web: http://www.redcross.org
# Phone: 1-800-435-7669 or 1-800-HELP-NOW

America's Second Harvest (hunger relief):
# Web: http://www.secondharvest.org/
# Phone: 1-800-344-8070

Catholic Charities:
# Web: http://www.catholiccharitiesusa.org/
# Phone: (800) 919-9338

Church World Services:
# Web: http://www.churchworldservice.org
# Phone: 1-800-297-1516

Convoy of Hope (general disaster relief):
# Web: http://www.convoyofhope.org/
# Phone: 417-823-8998

Direct Relief
# Web: http://www.directrelief.org/
# Phone: 1-800-676-1638

Feed the Children:
# Web: http://www.feedthechildren.org/
# Phone: 800-525-7575

Gulf Coast Endocrinology: Medtronic emergency insulin pump supplies available
# Web: http://www.lansden.com/">
# Phone: 228-872-6808

Heart to Heart International
# Web: http://www.hearttoheart.org

Mercy Corps
# Web: http://www.mercycorps.org/
# Phone: 1-888-256-1900

Mississippi Children's Home Services
# Web: http://www.mchscares.org/
# Phone: 1-800-388-6247

Network for Good:
provides easy access for donations to a number of charities including the Humane Society of America (for pets) and various chapters of the United Way in Florida and Louisiana.
# Web: http://www.networkforgood.org

Noah's Wish:
Rescue and shelter for animals during disasters.
# Web: http://www.noahswish.org/
# Phone: 530-622-9313
# Mailing Address: Send checks to Noah's Wish, P.O. Box 997, Placerville, Calif. 95667

Operation Blessing (or hunger relief):
# Web: http://www.operationblessing.org/
# Phone: 800-730-2537

Salvation Army:
# Web: http://www.salvationarmyusa.org/

Samaritan's Purse (general disaster relief):
# http://www.samaritanspurse.org/
# Phone: 800-567-8183

United Methodist Committee on Relief:
# Web:http://www.umcor.org/
# Phone: 800-554-8583

Volunteers of America:
# Web: http://www.VolunteersofAmerica.org/

How YOU can help!!

2005-09-09T09:25:00.000-05:00

If anyone in your area is collecting supplies to send for down to the Gulf Coast via a convoy or church group here are some things you can collect to help out. We have received so much in the way of aid...but sadly, I'm sure we will need aid for many months to come.

I'm one of the lucky FEW....I have power, and internet because I have local phone service and my internet is through Bellsouth. But we have no TV, and the only news I am getting is via the local on-line newspaper at http:www.sunherald.com and the local Television Station at http://www.wlox.com WLOX-TV13, which is an ABC affiliate.

My family did okay. My damage to my house will be covered by insurance because I had no flood damage. I am Blessed to still have a job, as is my husband and some money in the bank...Many (most notably the casino industry) have no jobs, AND no homes. Hancock and Harrison counties were hit VERY hard.

So what can you collect?? Here are things I've seen in "care packages" being handed out by different organizations:

Clothes--all sizes
Shoes--all sizes
Bottled water
Canned Goods
Soap
Toothbrushes/Toothpaste
Deodrant
Disposable Razors
Cleaning Supplies
Mops/Buckets
Femine Hygiene needs (Tampons, etc.)
Paper Plates
Paper Towels
Napkins
Plastic Forks/Knives/Spoons
Pop Up Hand cleaners--ESPECIALLY ANTIBACTERIAL
Sponges/Brillo Pads
Lysol
Bleach
Batteries--all sizes
Pet Food
Cat Litter

Again...thanks for anything you can or HAVE already done to help with this disaster!

NASA Hurricane Images From Space

2005-09-08T21:29:00.000-05:00

This slide shows different views of the Precipitation-Energy-Winds in Katrina. These satellite images are from the Tropical Rainfall Measuring mission (TRMM), Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer (AMSR-E) instrument from the Aqua satellite, and QuickSCAT respectively. Note the high energy content in the northern Gulf of Mexico (reds) prior to Katrina's arrival.
Credit: NASA

Sunday, August 28, 2005 8:42 a.m EDT

Pretty amazing to look at this monster. The formation of the eyewall is almost overwhelming. I woke my husband up before daybreak to show him that the storm had swelled in intensity from a Category 1 when he went to bed, to a Category 5. We had to wait until daybreak to board the house, move in the plants and "potential flying hazards" from the yard before we could leave. We waffled back and forth between leaving and staying, primarily because our families would not leave, and because we knew how hard it would be to return to the area AFTER the storm was over.
I didn't want to leave, yet I knew better than to stay. I was only 9 when Hurricane Camille hit basically the same area, yet it has left an indellible print in my memory that can never be erased. The "hurricane gauge" used to be Camille...the BIGGIE....but on August 29, 2005, a new gauge and standard was set....Her name...KATRINA.

More Scenes From East Beach--Ocean Springs

2005-09-08T20:16:00.000-05:00

With daylight fading, you can barely see the red coloring of a sports car lodged between two trees near the Gulf Coast Research Lab property. In the distance is the GCRL property and the sheer lack of trees on a once completely shaded property is sobering to say the least. In the foreground you can see a tree that has come to rest on power lines on Halstead Road when it uprooted.

The shell of a home....at least what's left of it...on East Beach. What was once a beautifully restored home now sits gutted. You can almost picture the grace that once enveloped this old home. For years the home sat on East Beach...well off the road, lying in disrepair. Someone lovingly undertook it as a project to restore it and even moved it one lot over to where it sits now. The project took A LONG TIME to complete, making the house one of the most majestic (IMHO) on East Beach. The owner's had only completed the restoration and been living in the home for approximately one year.

WHO AM I ???

2005-09-08T17:25:00.000-05:00

Ramblings and Contemplations of my Heritage

I was born and raised in a small town on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. That town is Ocean Springs. I still live there today. Life as we knew it changed drastically on August 29, 2005, no thanks to Hurricane Katrina.

I grew up in the Seafood Industry. When I was growing up, seafood restuarants and seafood processing plants dotted the Biloxi waterfront. Shrimpboats were considered one of the normal modes of transportation, as our families were out on them, just about as much as we were in cars, if not more. Until Monday, August 29, the waterfront could not even be seen in some places because the casino's were so thick. Now that the casino's have all been displaced and moved inland by a huge wall of water, I sit and wonder what will our coastline look like in 5 or 1o years. Personally I feel, and this is just me folks, that the casinos will become land based. Our economy has grown dependant on the resources they provide, yet, with the instability of all of these huge floating barges, most of which are now sitting on land, I think that the Gamining Industry will probably re-think "dockside" gaming. One casino ended up on a hotel..., one in the middle of Highway 90...and so on. But back to my original point....what will our coastline look like in 5 or 10 years....will we be able to see the islands from the East Biloxi Point area again???? Who knows!!! I guess only time will tell.

Though Ocean Springs has three beach areas, Front Beach, East Beach, and Belle Fountain off of St. Andrews area, none of these beaches look as they did the day before the storm, Sunday, August 28....All were hit extrememly hard by that huge wall of water. Some are calling it a Tidal wave, some calling it a Tsunami. I don't know what it was...I just know it was DESTRUCTIVE. I live 1/2 mile up Halstead Road from East Beach near the Gulf Coast Research Lab. Even homes on my street had between 3-5 feet of water. I was one of the lucky ones. My house was dry. I had trees on my house, but not the massive flooding that everyone else had. And of course, the closer you go South toward the beach, the higher the water level was.

I used to say "give me a Hurricane any day over a tornado"....but that saying was nixed with this monster of a storm. I guess at least with a tornado one house can be totally destroyed, and the one right next door can be fine. That's not the case here.

Please if you are a praying soul...pray for the Mississippi Gulf Coast area, Louisianna, and the other areas affected by Hurrican Katrina. I would like to personally thank anyone who has donated ANYTHING to any agency in the way of relief. I'm probably drinking bottle water because of you. Our drinking water has yet to be deemed safe. The outpouring of caring, and love has been tremendous, and means so much to us here. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. Hopefully, one day soon, life as we once knew it, nine short days ago will return to some sort of normalacy!

Hurricane Katrina Photos from Ocean Springs, MS

2005-09-08T14:20:00.000-05:00

What's left is not much....just a few trees.... on the front of the campus of the Gulf Coast Research Lab in Ocean Springs off of East Beach. The back of the Campus did a little better. The Caylor building still stands. My sister works in the Caylor building and has been there. All of the Research buildings are pretty much wiped out. I haven't heard the status of the Dormitories where the students from Ole Miss and USM would come to stay and do a semester of their studies in Marine Biology, Wildlife and Fishieries and the likes.

The remains of a home that sits right next to the USM's Gulf Coast Research Laboratory down on East Beach. I live about a half mile from this devestation. I cannot even BEGIN to describe to you the feelings that washed over me when I saw this amount of devastation. I had feelings of a perverted voyaeur for even capturing these images on my digital camera. Someone once lived in this place, called it home...perhaps even had plans to have a bar-b-que out by that pool for labor day weekend. Unfortunately, Katrina changed those plans and affected countless lives for many, many months and perhaps even years to come.

This is as far as I could make in my quest to get to the Front Beach area of Ocean Springs. The debris field was just to high. In the small clearing in the trees you can see what used to be the East Biloxi Casino Row Area....in the larger pictures you can actually see some of the details of the hotels that made it such as Casino Magic, and Isle of Capri.
Fort Mareupas (not sure of the spelling please forgive me I'm too tired to look it up), used to sit up on the hill in the "triangle area" of the Front Beach just to the left of the "hole/clearing" in the trees.

Another house on the South end of Dewey Avenue in Ocean Springs. I grew up on Dewey Avenue in OS, and this area was once my "playground".....I was trying to get to the Front Beach area after returning home from evacuating to Fla, to see how my prescious childhood "stomping grounds" had fared....but the sights were almost unbelievable.

This house is at the corner of Dewey Avenue and Helmers Lane in Ocean Springs. As you can see, the roof took quite a beating with the Southeast, and then Southwest winds....This area is not far from the "Front Beach" area of Ocean Springs.

Lovelace Drug Store at the corner of Washington Avenue and Government Streets. There is a yellow poster attached to barrels underneath the barely hanging sign. The poster speaks of the dangers of walking under the dangling sign that has been a cornerstone of the community for as long as I have lived in Ocean Springs (45 years).

Elizabeth Keys Vocational Center---Part of the OSH School System

This is what's left of the Dollar general off of Highway 90 in Ocean Springs in the old Delchamps Shoping Complex.