BAY ST. LOUIS, Miss. -- It took Hurricane Katrina’s wicked winds and churning waters just an hour or two to pulverize hundreds of years of history and development in the neighboring Mississippi towns of Bay St. Louis and Waveland. But more than seven weeks after the most destructive storm in U.S. history, questions about the futures of the close-knit beachfront communities aren’t close to being answered.
While no one is suggesting that the picturesque towns in coastal Hancock County won’t be rebuilt, local officials acknowledge that it will take years to repair what Katrina ripped to shreds.
“I don’t know how to describe it,” Bay St. Louis Mayor Eddie Favre said of the devastation that in some places extends miles from the beach. “… It’s just nothing but piles of sticks and lumber and people’s entire lives in one pile of mess.”
It also will take time to regain the sense of community that residents of the towns treasured. “A lot of people have left for good,” said Camille Tate, a Bay St. Louis real estate agent. “A lot of people just couldn’t stand it, came back and looked at it and said, ‘I will not stay here.’”
The historic Old Town area of Bay St. Louis was virtually erased by Hurricane Katrina. (photo: James Cheng / MSNBC.com)
In a scene playing out in communities all along the Gulf Coast, local leaders are contemplating a massive rebuilding effort at the same time they are facing severe budget shortfalls because of damage inflicted by the storm.
“We’re being promised that there has never been a municipality that has gone bankrupt after a presidential disaster declaration, so … all we can hang our hat on is that it will be made better, we will be made whole again,” said Hancock County administrator Tim Kellar.
Kellar estimates that Katrina instantly erased more than half the county’s tax base, cut its population of 46,000 by nearly a quarter -- at least for the short term -- and left county staff with just one 1,200-square-foot office building that was safe for occupancy.
Already the federal government has poured more than $70 million in emergency aid for individual residents of Hancock County, and approved more than $10.5 million to meet the short-term needs of the governments of the county and its only two incorporated towns -- Bay St. Louis and Waveland. But all parties agree that this is merely a downpayment on a long-term reconstruction effort that will carry a price tag that no one can yet even estimate.
“(Recovery) will be measured in years, not months,” said Eric Gentry, administrator for the Federal Emergency Management Agency in Hancock County.
Residents who have either remained in or returned to their homes have more immediate concerns – such as searching for belongings in the massive debris piles or cleaning the toxic muck left in their houses by retreating floodwaters.
Many also are battling with insurance companies, which are classifying the storm surge as “flooding” rather than a hurricane-caused phenomenon.
“My homeowners (insurer) has offered me $10,000 … that’s only for the tree that fell out front and a few other little things,” said Tate, the Bay St. Louis real estate agent. “They say they don’t owe anything (on the damage to the house itself) because … it was rising water.”
Only about one-quarter of the 21,000 homeowners policies issued in Hancock County included flood insurance, according to FEMA’s Gentry.
Huge rebuilding task
When residents pause to contemplate the future, many express fears that the pressure on the economically devastated local governments will lead to approval of coastal developments that will destroy the charm of the towns and neighboring communities.
An aerial view of the damage in Bay St. Louis. (photo: James Cheng / MSNBC.com)
“The cities and the counties need the money more than ever now to rebuild … and it’s going to be very appealing to put high-density housing on the beach,” says Ellis Anderson, a Bay St. Louis resident who co-founded the Coastal Community Watch earlier this year to fight condominium developments proposed for the area before Katrina hit.
Anderson, who like many other Bay St. Louis and Waveland residents describes her hometown in terms usually reserved for Norman Rockwell paintings, said she intends to mount a grass-roots campaign to insist that officials make preserving the charm and small-town atmosphere of the arts colony a priority in considering redevelopment proposals.
Her efforts will be complicated by the extent of the damage inflicted by the storm.
Bay St. Louis, a town of 8,209 built on the bluffs where French explorer Jean Baptiste Le Moyne Bienveille hunted game in 1699, and Waveland, which had a pre-hurricane population of 6,674, were at the worst possible place at just the wrong moment when Katrina roared ashore early on Aug. 29. Her “eye” passed just to the west, putting the cities squarely in the northeast quadrant of the eye wall – the counterclockwise maelstrom where the winds are strongest and the storm surge most ferocious.
Though Katrina had weakened from a monstrous Category 5 storm before it made landfall on the Louisiana coast that morning, experts estimate that it was still packing winds of 125 mph or higher when it reached the Mississippi coast. But the big killer was a storm surge of at least 30 feet, with wind-whipped waves of seven feet on top of that.
Fortunately, most residents heeded authorities’ warnings and fled before Katrina crashed ashore. But some, believing they had survived the worst Mother Nature could throw at them when they rode out Hurricane Camille in 1969, stayed put and hoped for the best.
“We kept putting out a lot of warnings (but) people had ‘I Survived Camille Syndrome’ … and wouldn’t leave,” said Brian “Hootie” Adam, director of the Hancock County Emergency Management Agency.
It was a decision that virtually all of them would regret – if they survived. At least 50 people in Hancock County perished in the storm and many others – no one is certain just how many – are still missing.
Brian Mollere, a Waveland resident who fought for his life – and that of his mother’s Chihuahua, Rocky – after the torrent flattened the family-owned hardware store and her home above it, was one of the lucky ones.
“I was picked up by a 40-foot wave and pushed 800, 900 feet,” he recalled. “It just wasn’t my time to go.” His mother, who had left to ride out the storm in Bay St. Louis, didn’t survive.
Unspeakable devastation
When the waters receded several hours later, an unspeakable scene of devastation awaited local officials venturing out for their first look.
“We expected to see roof damage and parts of buildings maybe gone, but this was entire neighborhoods and entire blocks of streets … totally gone, nothing left,” said Favre, who is serving his fifth term as Bay St. Louis mayor and was among those left homeless by the storm.
The picture hasn’t brightened in subsequent weeks.
“As best we can tell right now, we’ve lost about half of our homes and businesses, maybe a little bit more … (and) probably 75 to 80 percent of the tax base,” said Favre, a distant cousin of Green Bay Packers quarterback Brett Favre. “… Casino Magic (the biggest single contributor to the city budget) is gone for at least a year, if not longer.”
Also devastated was the town’s core: three blocks of Main Street that were home to the city’s vibrant arts colony and the scene of the Second Saturday art walk, which drew visitors by the thousands every other weekend during spring and summer.
A cleanup crew removes debris along Main Street in Bay St. Louis. (photo: James Cheng / MSNBC.com)
The bad news doesn’t stop there: The Hancock Medical Center, the only hospital in the city, was badly damaged and is now offering limited services from a series of tents erected in its parking lot; the city’s schools, which sustained major damage, remain closed, with a target date for reopening of Nov. 1; the Highway 90 bridge that connected Bay St. Louis with Pass Christian was destroyed and will take many months and approximately $150 million to replace; a 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. curfew intended to discourage looters remains in place; and residents with utilities are still being advised to boil water as public works crews struggle to repair a host of leaks in the water system.
Waveland scene
The situation is as bad or worse a few miles to the southwest, where the government of Waveland almost ceased to exist when the floodwaters swamped neighborhoods that had never flooded before.
In this video that originally aired on “Dateline NBC,” on Sept. 9, correspondent John Larson tours the town of Waveland with Mayor Tommy Longo.“Our 130-year-old City Hall was gone, every public building was gone except for that fire station and the police station, but both of them had multiple feet of water in them and … were condemned,” said a visibly exhausted Mayor Tommy Longo, who is directing his city’s recovery effort from a makeshift encampment and command center atop a water treatment plant. “So we literally had lost every resource that we had – 91 city vehicles. We got an animal control truck working that we shared for about a week. I had people chasing me with dogs everywhere, flagging me down.”
The downtown area looks as if a bomb was dropped on it. All that remains of City Hall is a flag pole, a small piece of a mosaic mural depicting a Mardi Gras celebration and a plaque expressing gratitude to those who helped the city rebuild after Hurricane Camille.
While most of Longo’s attention in the weeks since has been devoted to clearing the streets using donated and leased heavy equipment, and restoring water, electricity and sewer service to as many residents as possible, he also has been able to get many city offices back up and running out of Quonset huts obtained from an Alaska company.
The mayor, who also lost his home and was forced to relocate his wife and five children to Maine, said the city is still assessing the extent of the damage, but that virtually every building gulf-side of the railroad tracks that bisect the city was destroyed, and many others on the other side were left uninhabitable.
The federal government is standing behind the embattled local governments so far. The initial $10.5 million allocated by FEMA went to cover payroll and overtime costs during the frenetic first weeks after Katrina hit. City and county officials are now preparing “project sheets” that, if they are approved, will enable them to permanently replace equipment and facilities destroyed by the storms, on the federal dime.
Gentry, the FEMA administrator, said that while the cost of the rebuilding will be steep, the agency is in Mississippi and other Katrina-ravaged areas for the long haul.
“We still have offices open in Florida from last year’s hurricanes and those will be open for years to come,” he said. “This will be a multiyear recovery and FEMA will be here throughout that process.”
Less clear is to what degree FEMA will cover the local governments’ ongoing expenses until they regain their financial footing.
“We’re not sure. We don’t have all the answers yet,” said Kellar, the county administrator, when asked how long the emergency federal funding was expected to continue. “This is our first time to ever go through this and I hope it’s our last.”
Optimistic outlook
Despite the financial uncertainties facing them in the coming months and years, city and county officials are uniformly upbeat in assessing their long-term prospects.
A historical marker thanking people for coming to aid of Waveland after Hurricane Camille in 1969 is one of few things still standing at the site of the old City Hall. (photo: James Cheng / MSNBC.com)
“We have an opportunity that not many people get… to build a model community from scratch,” said Longo. “… We have the history since 1887 to learn from and build from.”
Jeffrey Reed, a Bay St. Louis city council member and minister of the non-denominational Powerhouse of the Deliverance Ministries, said he believes the city will come roaring back as long as the city gives residents a reason to believe.
“By keeping in contact with the people, keeping their spirits up and keeping hope alive in them, just by the fact that they’re here, the city is going to come back,” he said. “… If they’ve done something before, they can do it again.”
Many of the citizens – at least those who never left or are returning to the cities – also remain optimistic despite the scenes of destruction that greet them each day.
“There’s going to be a change, but… I’m hoping that it’s going to be for the good, that it will be a small wonderful community with small shops and a lot of artists,” said Tate, the Bay St. Louis real estate agent.
“It’s like a cleansing,” said Mollere, the Waveland man who survived a close encounter with the storm surge, describing the post-apocalypse landscape he sees from his tent and trailer encampment across the street from the flattened City Hall.
“It’s like you look around, everything’s gone. It’s like you can paint a new picture now. The town can come back better than it ever was. ... It can be the perfect little city now.”
Planning to rebuild, one brick at a time
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Its easy to sit back and say what should have been.
I reside in Slidell, Louisiana. A small town like so many that have been impacted by the storm. I feel like one of the lucky ones. I can still live in my home. So many cannot. When you belong to the human race like we all do(maybe a few exceptions).....you feel the loss. So many people without a place to call home. Imagine if you were to loose everything you ever treasured? Ofcourse you didn't know how much you valued it, until it was no longer. Funny how things work that way. Sure, its easy to sit back and say what if! Let me share a few what "if's"!
What if the local,state and federal officials called an evacuation that much sooner? What if the levee's were built to withstand a catagory 5 storm as requested by the corp of engineers? I bet the federal govt wishes they would have listened....think of all the millions saved! What if the insurance companies would have shared the difference between flood/wind/rising water/tital surge insurance with its policy holders? JOKE! I live in a "no flood" zone. The water was knocking at my door. If it had entered,I would have been "SOL"!
Like so many people I have encountered. What if New Orleans never rebuilds? What if? I know... a fun place to visit but who wants to live there? Who? Why go back to a place that care forgot! Remember that SF when the big one hits and the ground finally stops moving. Miami....if the trend holds,could you be next? Houston....NY.....immune? Haven't we learned anything?
PS, FEMA...I don't blame you. It's obvious your "overwhelmed". God help us if we(as a country are truly in trouble)....were screwed!
PSS, RED CROSS, never another cent!
LAS (Sent Oct 19, 2005 9:24:23 PM)
I just returned from a week of volunteering at The Waveland Free Market and Cafe. I saw devastation beyond compare. You are all forgetting the human element. These people are faced with grim decisions of their future. For many this may take weeks or months to decide whether to stay or move. They are just now coming to the realization of what has happend and trying to get a grip on themselves and their futures. Imagine yourself trying to make this decision. There are immediate, mid term and long term needs for these people. Where's your heart America? I literally had to ask people if they wanted a shovel or a rake as there were not enough to go around. There are waiting list for tents, people are sleeping in their cars or under tarps. Where is you heart America? We need to bombard Tent Manufacturers, Shovel manufacturers, Toilet Paper Companies, etc and ask them to please donate some of their products. We were handing out 2 rolls of toilet paper per family, per day. Come on America, where is your Heart?
Karen McCormick, Tampa, Fl (Sent Oct 19, 2005 10:16:11 PM)
Good things are happening in Waveland and Bay St Louis, and the determination of a few amazing people are making them happen. Please check out www.foundationhope.net and read the news article, view the video, and take a little time to contemplate how you would feel if you returned to concrete pilings and a pile of rubble where your home once stood. Or a home that is still standing, but with 5 ft of black mold on the walls and your stove in your bedroom. And know that despite their hardships, the people here are so very polite, gracious, and beautifully happy to receive something as simple as a can opener. It's a little something to smile about.
Maggie Ryan - volunteer with FoundationHope (Sent Oct 20, 2005 12:57:46 AM)
To the major insurance company that relentlessly bombards the public through all media that its customers are in "Good Hands", I have this to say:
If you would spend a few million $$$ less on your nauseating TV ads, and use that money for actual pay-outs, or at the very least to brief your telephone operators & claim agents on the basic nature of a hurricane, then MAYBE, we (the customers) would not have to WAIT what seems to be an eternity for a pair of these "Good Hands" to actually pick up the phone!!!!
It is ridiculous, if not criminal, for these companies to play "corporate phone-tag" with policy-holding customers who have lost their homes & jobs and want to get on with their lives ASAP!!!
I'm sick & tired of talking to someone in Montana or Singapore.
Bernie Price, Long Beach, MS (Sent Oct 20, 2005 2:50:33 AM)
It seems that a lot of times, people forget that the South is part of the United States. People prefer to write us off as another third world country. But, in fact, we are a part of the States, and we deserve the money to rebuild. Didn't our taxpayers' dollars go into rebuilding every year the Mississippi floods its plains in the Midwest? Didn't they go to help out earthquake ravaged San Francisco? Is there talk after these natural disasters of letting them go back to nature? Fact of the matter is, that if you were to let these disaster-prone areas go back to nature, there would be no place in the US for anybody to go to be "safe". People in these areas took precautions. My mother's house was on stilts in Pass Christian, she had flood insurance. Her house was under 30 feet of water. This means that she will get about $30,000 for a home worth over $240,000. Flood insurance is for rennovation. How do you rennovate a home that the metal that holds it together is rusted from the seawater, a home that the beams are covered in a black, sludgy mold, a home that no longer has roads to it? That's one that has to be demolished. Will the insurance cover that??? She is choosing to rebuild. I chose to leave.
tp, gulfport, ms (Sent Oct 20, 2005 7:36:37 AM)
Ther are certain risks involved to live just about anywhere in the United Stated. Up north you have Blizzards; out west there are earthquakes; the mid-section there are tornado's; east coast there are hurricanes and of course now we know the gulf coast has its disasters too. So what do we do? Our country was founded on, and at one time owned up to its responsibilities and took care of its own problems. Now there is the blame game - its the cities fault, its the governers fault, Pres Bush caused all of this, FEMA didnt respond fast enough,its the white man keeping down the black folks, rich man keeping the poor, poor. Goodness sakes. Each person SHOULD be responsible for themselves and make decisions in their life to to be self sustaining to a certain extent. This is what you call "dealing with life on life's terms". Come on, lets us all take a real look at ourselves and learn to be accountable for our actions and decisions. If you break the law enough chances are you will go to jail, a consequence for you actions. If you build a $500,000 home on the beach chances are the beach will erode away or there will be a disaster. Never the less it was your own choice to build and live there. Responsilility is a tough word that most of americans do not or will not incorporate into there vocabulary. Being accountable is nearly non-existant in today's society. No, life is not fair and and there is good in humans and there is evil in them just as well. Blaming someone else for our decisions or our actions: "devil made me do it, Its Gods fault, its Pres Bush's fault, Gas is to high, economy sucks, Iraq war. What actions our decisions have you done that has contributed to lately. Filled up you suv LATELY, did you vote in the last election, do you buy all your goods from china, japan, Taiwan, do you invest in the lives of your children, Trust me i'm not preaching to the choir, I am including myself in this article too. How about we all take a step back, evaluate it and decide to be responsible, accountable and do not put ourselves in a position to cause " A SELF IMPOSED CRISES"
iF SOMEONE WANTS TO REBUILD ON THE EXACT POINT WHERE THEY JUST LOST EVERYTHING....FINE do it with your own money and dont ask for a handout or a bailout because it is going to happen again. And I will close with this. Insanity- doing the same thing over and over, expecting different results.
Tom Belin (Sent Oct 20, 2005 9:18:15 AM)
I have recently returned from Waveland and Bay St. Louis. I was located in that area for hurricane recovery. There are a few things that are escaping public knowledge. The largest of those items....no flood insurance. The majority of the homes in these areas wer not offered flood insurance due to not being in a flood plain. The flood plain is established in a 100 year flood event. Most of these homes were not in the 100 year flood plain. Due to that fact, the only homes that had flood insurance were for other reasons: poor drainage in their neighborhoods that caused floods during heavy rain, a minimal number had been flooded by local rivers in the area, etc. The insurance companies are literally coming into a home and looking to see what damage was caused by wind and what was caused by water. The damage caused by water, will not be covered unless you have flood insurance.
My heart broke for these people while I was there. Watching the events on TV is one thing, but you get a whole new prospective on the ground. One thing that I can say for the residents of this area is that their resolve to survive and overcome is tremendous. While there, I witnessed neighbors living and working together to salvage some part of normalcy. I saw a store open its doors to all its neighbors. Everything from their stock was up for the taking. No charge. This is the same store that opened its doors and now houses 14 people inside the house area of their store.
Neighbors taking care of neighbors. Strangers now fused as friends through crisis.
Pam Blackburn, McCionnelsville, Ohio (Sent Oct 20, 2005 9:57:00 AM)
Thank you to the American public who has reached out to help pick up my fallen towns of Bay St. Louis/Waveland. I know some say that the towns shouldn't be rebuilt, but I am here to say that tragedy can strike anywhere and to be apart from the place you call home creates a hole inside your soul. I am working away from the coast, my husband, my friends, and my beloved town. At 35 feet above sea level, my home was in the highest point in Old Town which had never seen water. This was a 400 year catastrophic event. I am grateful to the people who have come to our aid, especially those from New York and from Florida who said the Gulf Coast devastation was worse than 9-11 or the Florida Hurricanes. People from all over the world who didn't have to sacrifice their time, but chose to come our of love for our county and our coast are owed a debt of gratitude that we will only be able to repay by showing our resolve to survive and rebuild. It is difficult to put long term rebuild plans in place when you are living from day to day, but the Bay/Waveland city officials are working to create the ideas that will shape our future coast. The churches, the citizens, and the National Guard have taken the lead in taking care of our residents who cannot care for themself to help them find daily provisions, medical care, and emotional support that is so important at this time. I moved from Atlanta to the Bay to live in a beautiful place that many people from all over the country choose to be their vacation spot. I lived in the paradise of Bay St. Louis "a place apart". It still is and will always be a paradise is because our people make us an extrodinary community.
Michelle, Bay St. Louis, MS (Sent Oct 20, 2005 10:07:17 AM)
I would like to thank everyone for their prayers and much needed assistance that we have been provided with during this time. We absolutely could not get through this nightmare without the help of others. The outpouring of assistance that we have seen from all over the country if amazing. It saddens me to see the negative comments of some on this site. I'm sure (for those of you who have written in explaining to others how stupid people from Mississippi and Louisiana are for rebuilding their homes and lives in this devastated area) you have never lived through anything so horrific in your lives. I apologize for the fact that you feel like we are a waste of your tax dollars, but I'm sure if this directly affected you and your livelihood you would feel otherwise. I am also sure that you have never stood in a line with two small children for food and water. You also probably never listened to your two year old child cry himself to sleep because of hunger; because I have. I swam from my parent's home during the midst of Katrina with my 10 month old and two year old in life jackets. I swam from a home that was deemed NOT in a flood zone by our government, and was told that it was not necessary to have flood insurance. Upon returning to my home that my husband and I have WORKED (THAT'S RIGHT FOLKS. WE PAY TAXES.) to build for our family is destroyed. We had eight feet of water in our home. We returned to find everything we have ever had to be compeltely gone; covered in mud and muck, and now covered in mold. We are in a class C flood zone, which means no flood. Our elevation is 21 feet above sea level. I apologize that some feel that we are a tax on society, but I thought that we were all part of the United States of America, the greatest place on earth. The place where we have freedom to live where we want, believe what we want, and express ourselves. I only ask that you not judge us unless you have walked in our shoes. We don't tell you where to live or what to do; so show us the same respect. We pay taxes too. We have jobs, and families and lives just like every other hardworking American, and if we were in a foreign country and this happened our country would be the first to step up and send aid. Many people commented that tax dollars are being spent to rebuild these areas and that we should just relocate because we could be using this money to aid the homeless...............GUESS WHAT.....THAT'S US......WE ARE THE HOMELESS...........and I didn't see any offers to take us in...............
This community of ours is totally devastated. You don't even know where you are in your own hometown because every landmark is gone. It is not about picking up and moving because this will happen again, it's about leaving behind everything that we have ever known.........our childhood homes, our jobs, our families, our churches, and our dreams. To not see firsthand what we are living through and to cast judgement is not fair so please if you can't say anything nice, just don't say anything at all.
Lisa, Waveland, MS (Sent Oct 20, 2005 10:19:36 AM)
I sit in my very nice, comfortable home and look around at my "things", pictures, antiques which belonged to both my husband and my families, things which were birthday, anniversary, Christmas presents from loved ones, and try to imagine it all gone. I cannot imagine the trauma the people of Katrina are going through. True, things aren't as important as people, but things anchor your lives, and when they are gone, you have no anchor. I sent my checks to help out, and do not resent tax monies being used. I do resent insurance companies being allowed to say no to these people, they should be made to pay and if they go out of business, so be it - the creation of insurance companies was intended for catastrophic events that individuals could not pay for! I do resent tax monies being used for rebuilding for people who are wealthy enough or with enough insurance to take care of things, or to people who seem to think it is owed to them and do nothing to help themselves, but they all should be helped in some degree. As many others have said, there is no place on earth that is truly safe from nature and we all need to help out wherever people need it.
Andi Smith (Sent Oct 20, 2005 10:53:40 AM)
Rebuild? Of course. How selfish and narrow minded to consider otherwise. People lived and worked in these areas and others visited and enjoyed the areas before the storm and no one complained... until their wallets were affected. Now everyone has an opinion about what is best for everyone else. These people need our help, our understanding, our patience. They don't need criticism or censure. Open your eyes and hearts and minds. Forget the dirty politics and what this one is doing or what that one is saying. I'm from there and I know these people. They are generous, hard-working, tax-paying, loyal Americans. If your area was destroyed by some catastrophic event, they would very generously work hard and donate their time, goods, and money to help you and yours recover. These storms have impacted all of us. Therefore, we ALL need to help in the recovery.
RMartin, Jasper, GA (Sent Oct 20, 2005 10:54:07 AM)
I just returned home from Waveland Mississippi. I was there serving the people of Waveland through the efforts of my church. I think that those of you who have not seen Waveland do not have the right to judge those people. They are showing a strength that is second to none. They are hopefull and determained to make that place their "home" again. I feel a sense of guilt being home now with food, clothing and shelter, knowing how much they are suffering. It is the responsibility of all of us to help these people get their lives back. I applaud the efforts of Camp Katrina and the other organizations there who have given their time and hearts to help the people of Waveland and surrounding communities.
Janet Gianfrancesco (Sent Oct 20, 2005 12:30:08 PM)
I live in Pass Christian, Ms. It's a small town that lies right on the Gulf, between Long Beach and Bay St Louis. I was one of the few people that still has a home that did not flood. As crazy as it sounds people that live just a block away on both sides either lost their home through flood or wind. The moral is still high here. I've been working 7-7, seven days a week, trying to rebuild my home, my community. Many of the people that are here that lost their homes due to flooding didn't have flood insurance because they didn't live in a flood area and were told by their insurance companies that they didn't need it. Go figure. I'm sitting here reading what so many fellow taxpayers are saying and just wonder if the shoe was on the other foot, if their hand would be held out. Natural disasters can and will happen anywhere, it doesn't have to be a hurricane. Look at poor Florida, they get hit all the time, do they throw in the towel and run? No, because that is their home, it's the place that they love. I'm not holding my hand out because I still have a home, but what if it happened to you? My community, the places here that I love and the only places that I have ever known that are gone, will return, because here when things are bad, we stick together and do that we have to do to make it right. I pray to God that you are your families never have to go through what my family and friends are going through right now, everyday. To the rest of you that have a heart, thank you, your thoughts and prayers are highly appreciated. The south will return bigger and better and "ya'll" should come see it when we're through, it's going to be great.
Brandy, Pass Christian, Ms (Sent Oct 20, 2005 12:31:52 PM)
My sister (Baltimore MD) and I (Binghamton, NY) are working all of our resources to assist Hancock County MS.
I have secured the monies raised at a local college for the soon-to-be-dedicated fund through Habitat For Humanity. I am working on getting similar funds through a local university and then will be working on getting similar funds through my alma mater.
I am working with our local high school for the community service portion of the Sr's requirements to go toward making dry-erase boards for the Hancock County School District.
I have written a letter to a mail-order catalog president to allow people to purchase bedding and other linens for Hancock County at greatly reduced prices and no shipping.
I have gone to http://www.firstrespondersrelief.com/ and printed out the information and sent it to all emergency services organizations in my county.
All of this is taking less than an hour a day. Usually 45 minutes and 4 phone calls a day total.
If you would like to know my resources and how you might go about doing the same in your area, please email me.
But consider this - if it happened to you, wouldn't you want someone to take a stand for you? Most people I know want to help, but don't want it to be so anonymous through the Red Cross, Salvation Army, etc. They want to HELP. And send their own goods if they can't send $$$.
Give people the opportunity to say "no". Because if you don't, you never give them the chance to say "yes"!
Leslie
Leslie Holly Binghamton NY (Sent Oct 20, 2005 12:52:28 PM)
I just wanted to express my deepest sympathy to ALL of the people that have suffered in this catastrophe. I have extended family members that live(ed) in Bay St. Louis and I can tell you it was the most beautiful version of "small town America" I have ever seen. My heart is just broken for all of you that have to re-build your lives. Please know that not every American is heartless and cannot empathize with your situation--I live in the Tampa Bay Area, it can very well be us the next time....People need to remember that we have no control over Mother Nature. God Bless....
Stephanie, Tampa Bay (Sent Oct 20, 2005 2:10:31 PM)
My first 'real' post-college job was selling auto/home insurance for an extremely well-respected company. The funny thing about insurance is that almost every single policyholder in this country fails to read his or her insurance policy/ies to understand what is and what is not covered. When I would try to explain coverages and exclusions to people purchasing policies from me, as required by company policy, they would rush me along, saying they would either read the policy later or that they already understood.
Obviously, on the other end of the insurance transaction (the claim against the policy) people were VERY interested in what policies did or didn't cover, and the language used to convey the coverages and exclusions in the policy. Suddenly, the consumer's up-front ignorance and unwillingness to accept responsibility for understanding the coverages and contracts to which he was agreeing to be bound was not his or her fault, but the 'evil' insurance company's fault.
While I agree that it is extremely unfortunate that the NFIP got it wrong about the potential for flooding, the hurricane and the resulting damage was not the government's fault, and it was not the insurance companies' fault. It was an act of nature. The fact remains that every homeowners insurance policy written on a private residence in this country excludes flooding, regardless of whether or not the government has correctly evaluated the risk of a flood happening. To say that the government's ineptitude should force the insurance companies to compensate policyholders for things that their policies were neither written nor priced to cover is just not right, no matter how heartbreaking the individual cases. Did the individual homeowners truly believe living in a hurricane zone and so close to the gulf that there was no threat from flood? If so, why is the NFIP getting it wrong any worse than the homeowner making the same mistake?
Hurricanes, unlike other sudden and unpredictable disasters such as earthquakes, will never go away. Camille and Katrina have both leveled the gulf coast, now twice inside of 40 years. While I agree that it's inappropriate for anyone to tell people where they can and cannot live, I also feel that the assumption of responsibility for the risks associated with living in an area where disasters such as this are almost certain to continue should lie primarily with those individuals who choose to continue rebuilding.
Your insurance policies are contracts that bind both you and your insurers to various responsibilities, and they are priced according to the exposure to risk that the insurance company is underwriting on your behalf. You owe it to yourself to take an hour or so to read your policies, to ask questions if you don't understand them, and to honestly evaluate the risk that YOU still retain after a policy goes into effect, such as your deductibles, your exclusions and any other policy limitations.
I feel for those impacted by this because I've participated in catastrophic loss teams in my former career, but the fact that so much of this is either preventable or mitigated by a modicum of effort on behalf of the insurance-buying public continues to make me shake my head when the same exact insurance crises take place every single time a disaster like this strikes.
Michael Todd, Seattle, WA (Sent Oct 20, 2005 3:35:57 PM)
I am confused.Is the Mississippi Gulf Coast not a part of the United States of America anymore. Why would we even consider NOT rebuilding? This is where millions of AMERIANS call HOME. Who cares how much money it cost? Mississippi residents pay taxes to this country. I am a native of Waveland and my house is gone, all of my family things are gone, photos, memories all gone. How would the those opposed to rebuilding feel if this happened to them? Think of how you would feel if someone told you we don't want you to rebuild your home. We can blow up Iraq and rebuild it and that's ok? And we are even questioning rebuilding after Katrina. Thats amazing....
A. Ladner (Sent Oct 20, 2005 4:20:33 PM)
I will be heading to Bay St. Louis next month with a group of 35 people (all ages) to help out wherever we are needed. I am sure I will return with my own set of stories. I hope I will have some positive stories to bring home. Thank you MSNBC for this report and for keeping alive the tragedy and devastation of Katrina.
Leslie Rafaniello (Sent Oct 20, 2005 5:15:58 PM)
I will be heading to Bay St. Louis next month with a group of 35 people (all ages) to help out wherever we are needed. I am sure I will return with my own set of stories. I hope I will have some positive stories to bring home. Thank you MSNBC for this report and for keeping alive the tragedy and devastation of Katrina.
Leslie Rafaniello (Sent Oct 20, 2005 5:17:48 PM)
For most of us, what we know about the devastation of Katrina is from the news. Sound bites and a few thousand words cannot possibly give us the real picture. Based on the news, you would have thought that New Orleans was the only place devastated.
How do you plan for a disaster such as this? We seem to be spending more time pointing fingers at who didn't do what, instead of working on plans to rebuild these areas.
We need to remember that this is more than a few houses and businesses, in a small area, being destroyed. Some people just need to grow up.
Mary, Forest, VA (Sent Oct 20, 2005 7:30:30 PM)
We are all Americans...helping each other is our responsibility. Re-building is a must...but it must be done with proper planning. We must help our own...but we must keep in mind that coruption can KILL any sound project or effort. Re-build it the right way with proper planning and good respectable contractors who will do it that right way. We wasted enough money ....lets not waste anymore. Putting the blame on NO local government is justified...bring in new people to prevent the waste.
How much do we give other countries around the world and get nothing in return...not even a thank you. Lets reduce our foreign aid by 35% and re-build OUR COUNTRY.
We as citizens of this great nation (rich) have the right to determine where our money is spent...I must be dreaming again.
John B, Buffalo, NY (Sent Oct 20, 2005 8:42:47 PM)
I have read the comments and sit here crying that some would be so heartless and cold. I have 7 friend without homes and a few without jobs because their workplaces are destroyed. I have seen what is left around Highway 90... guess what? Nothing is left.
This is home. This is where people get along and help each out when in need. There are "tent" subdivisions all over. These people are sharing their food with complete strangers they are helping others even though they need help themselves. I invite all of you who think we are a waste of taxpayers money to come down and stay a week in a tent and eat food from the military (MRE's). Talk to a 93 year old lady who could do nothing but swim to a tree and strap herself there for 4 hours because she lived 25 ft about sea level and was told that it never flooded in her area.
Stay in a house and watch the wind blow it away from you while you and your children were in it. Explain to your children why his/her friends are dead. Find a two little girls dead holding hands because they were trying to save each other. Be a dispatcher and talk to someone on the phone during the hurricane who said they know they are fixing to die but need to talk to someone until they do so they don't die alone. Do and see all this and tell me we don't deserve your help.
We are regular people who are doctors, artist, casino workers and teachers. We are poor and rich people. But we have over 138,000 houses that are gone or damaged.
Don't judge... your name is not God or Zeus or Mother Nature. We only ask for your prayers and help.
Tammy Dillinger, Saucier, Mississippi (Sent Oct 20, 2005 8:54:45 PM)
To all the ppl that say they should have had flood insurance. "You can't afford it there" The insurance company's have got out of paying for anything because they say it was caused by flooding. Our Government has let them do this. My family is from Waveland Ms. My cousins house is 25 feet from where it sat before the storm. A flood doesn't do that. A major storm does. Pll with flood insurance are not getting any coverage any better. FEMA will not even help them because the insurance company's say they will sooner or later. I have drove down from York,Pa twice since the storm to help them out. Its easy to sit in a area that wasn't hit by the storm and say they should move. What about all the help that goes to OKLA when a tornado goes though or mud slides in Ca. or even a hard hit winter in the north east(snow removal). The government helps them ppl too. Should they move? They live there because its their home!! We all can't live in New York City. The problem now is FEMA gave all the contacts to clean up to outside company's. They brought in ppl from other states and counties to work. The ppl in Ms want to help and need the jobs. They want to rebuild. Its their homes. They will not let them. If you don't see it first hand you can't understand what its like. Just like 9-11. If you are not from NYC you just can't or don't understand!!!! God Bless and our preys are with all that have lost from this Storm. Thank You
Glen / York, PA (Sent Oct 20, 2005 10:11:36 PM)
No one really expected the kind of devastation Katrina brought to the Gulf Coast. We were all caught short. I feel for the homeowners who did not necessarily choose to locate themselves in harm's way. They moved to or grew up in a place that had never seen the magnitude of destruction left behind by Katrina. They should not be blamed for what they did or did not do to protect themselves financially. Sometimes people are not prepared for what happens. In such a case they have to deal with the fallout and do what is necessary to recover. I certainly hope the rest of us have enough compassion to help in whatever way we can without criticizing these victims for seeming to contribute to their own trials.
That being said, now that we know how vulnerable these areas are, maybe it's time to re-evaluate the locations of these towns. Wrenching as it is, could the townspeople consider relocating and preserving the former town land as a wild area? This would make them less vulnerable to a threat like Katrina, and provide a natural buffer in such a situation.
Surely, we could find a compassionate balance that would help rebuild these devastated lives and help prevent a similar occurrence in the future.
Lillian Cornell, Bradenton, FL (Sent Oct 20, 2005 11:26:35 PM)
I spent 3 weeks in Gulfport, Waveland and Bay St Louis with the Red Cross and if you met these people and talked to these people you would understand why and how they will rebuild. Although I would never wish a disaster on anyone - I felt honored to be in Mississippi. The people in MISSISSIPPI are handling it with such pride and grace. The least we can do as a government is help them until there is no need to help any more.
Karen Lytle, Muskegon, Michigan (Sent Oct 20, 2005 11:45:09 PM)
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