Biloxi, Ms. is my "home"...I'm like the other contributor, a Mississipian by choice. I came to the Glorious Gulf Coast when I was 8 years old. I graduated from Biloxi High, I went to college in Ms. I have family still in Biloxi, Ocean Springs, and Long Beach. I WANT TO BE THERE NOW!!! I was 19 and newly married on August 17, 1969, I know what the second worst storm felt like and I experienced first hand how the Coast rallied and built back. Maybe, just maybe, there is somebody that either experienced this storm or that learns about this storm and this person will work and think and dedicate themselves to figuring out how we can better survive such powerful storms. I moved away years ago, but my heart has never left the Mississippi Gulf Coast. I will continue to send all assistance I can and if I get the opportunity to physically assist y'all...I'll be there!! Blessings to all of you, those that stay, of course, and those that go...you're heart will stay.

I lived on the Beach in Gulfport. I knew Katrina was going to be bad, but nothing prepared me for her wrath. I lived on the second floor of a 24 unit apartment building and thought my elevation would get maybe a foot or two of water. Katrina took all three floors off at the slab! I was lucky; I work out of my home and didn't miss a day thanks to my brother in Jackson, MS. Two days after the storm I signed a lease in Ridgeland, MS. I have been back five times and am affected each time. The people that stayed have been hardened, no, tempered by their experience, but I have bad dreams each visit. I KNOW the Coast will come back, I'm just not sure when. I have never been prouder of a people than I was about my friends and neighbors on the Mississippi Coast. I will always be proud to call myself one of them. The difference between New Orleans and the Mississippi Coast can be summed up by the term 'self-reliance'. May God bless each of you.

After my daughter graduated from Pascagoula High School in May of this year, we had moved back to Pennsylvania to our hometown. We had lived in Pascagoula, MS. for 3 years. I could not believe the horrific devestation to my "Mississippi hometown", not long after we had moved away from it when "Katrina" had hit...(we had missed that storm by only about 80 days), from the time we moved until Katrina hit. I saw picture after picture of Pascagoula on my computer of the devastation, and was wondering WHY New Orleans, and a couple of "chosen" towns were mentioned, and not Pascagoula. I have friends that live there, and wonder everyday if they're ok. My prayers go out to the people of Pascagoula, in hopes that one day, that town will get back to the way it was. One day, we will be coming back to visit, and seeing the sprit of all the people who live there, rebuilding their town will be an inspiration to us all.

I'm a descendant of the original inhabitants of the coast from Biloxi to Clermont Harbor. If this storm hasn't proven anything (besides the fact that most news people can't even pronounce Biloxi... uhh.. Bill-Locks-EE?), it's the core philosophical difference between the region and the rest of the country. People along the coast (and I include New Orleans) grow up knowing that they and everything else in life are not permanent--that tomorrow everything you've built for years, including your family, can be changed unalterably or torn from its roots and dragged out to sea. It has a lot to do with the Catholicism of the first inhabitants (and many who followed) but more so, living life under the constant threat of Mother Nature. They also know, from experience, that the most brutal and devastating storms are always followed by an incredibly dazzling day, where all of nature is clean and sparkling and replenished and the sun shines, almost sympathetically, on the wreckage. These things make people strong and resilient and as someone else said, the ones who can take come back (or never left). That is an incredible legacy of strength for those of us who have been scattered to other areas. Take heart, coast dwellers. This, too, shall pass.

I grew up on the coast (in the Kiln) and my parents are still there. Their house, like all those around was underwater. The insurance says its fixable so they have no choice but to try. They are not in suitable condition to be trying at their age to rebuild. My dad is sick with diabetes and glucoma and a list of other ailments and all of this has taken its toll on him, like so many others. They have decided to try and fix it as best they can and sell; they are ready to just live a quiet life. If anyone knows someone interested in buying land in Kiln; it's for sale. Comes with a house (sort of).

I know everyone lost alot in Hurricane Katrina, but I am so tired of hearing about the gulf coast and New Orleans. I grew up in Slidell and alot of my family still lives there. I now live in Houston so the coverage on the news was primarily gulf coast or New Orleans devestation. A couple of weeks ago I went to Slidell to help my brother completely gut my mother house and I was shocked at the devestation in Slidell. The hardest hit areas in Slidell were every bit as bad as any place in Hancock County. Carr Drive, Highway 11, Rats Nest Road there was NOTHING LEFT. My mother still has not recieved her FEMA trailer, she has recieved all of $993 from Allstate, even though she has flood insurance and her adjuster has agreed that her house is a total loss. at least people in Hancock County have a FEMA trailer to call home. All my mother has is the hope of a FEMA trailer.

I cried as I read all of the comments. My home was hit by Rita which was not nearly as devastating as Katrina, I cannot imagine what the survivors of Katrina are going through. I travel all over this country for a living and have been offered jobs in all parts of the country but there is no place on earth like the deep south. I have met wonderful people and made lasting friendships in many places but never met people like there are in the south. They would give you the shirt off their back, never meet a stranger, hard working and god fearing. Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz summed it up "There's no place like home." We will rebuild from Florida all the way to Texas!

i pray for all of you and wish you the best !!

I admire all of your strength and determination.I look at all the pictures of destruction and despair and wonder how one survives all this. God gives strength and has good plans for all of you.. Keep moving foward and keeping the faith.. I will keep all you affected by the hurricanes in my prayers. God bless you all and your loved ones.....

I was born and raised in Biloxi and am now living in Memphis, Tn. I have all my family still there in Ocean Springs and Biloxi and a brother who is the fire chief of Diamondhead.
I lived in limbo until I finally heard from all of them and knew they were alive.
Two of them have only half of a house to live in, but, they are o.k.
I love Biloxi and had planned on moving back after my retiremet, but, now those plans have changed some.
I knew that the people of the coast would not wait around for all of that "government" money to start rebuilding, but, would help each other out. If one has something that will help others it is shared with them. If one is a carpenter or a brick layer, they will begin to help others. It is just a given fact of life down there.
To all of you down there, from this die hard Coast person...God Bless you and keep you.
It will return and be the most wonderful place to be again!

Deanna and Mary Beth, your stories brought tears to my eyes and H. Walser, your story brought a fond smile to my face as I remembered our time at Camp Coast Care. My daughter, a recent college grad who was unemployed, went to Camp Coast Care in Long Beach in early October to work for a few days - she stayed seven weeks. Our little country church, inspired by her description of what was happening (or not happening) in the area and her pleas for help started collecting food and supplies. Within a couple of weeks, two volunteers from the church traveled to Long Beach with a pickup truck loaded with supplies and to work for a long weekend. Two weeks after that, another couple took off with another truck loaded heavily. Two weeks later, others went down to work for a few days. The third week in November, yet another group, including my husband, my sister-in-law, and I, took a trailer full of supplies to Camp Coast Care. The experience was profound and overwhelming. First of all, the entire area looks like a bomb was dropped. It is difficult to express in words and pictures how extensive the damage is and how much work needs to be done in order for the area to recover. It is equally difficult to express how important it is for us all to continue to keep the relief, recovery, and rebuilding efforts along the Gulf Coast in our hearts and minds. To say that this is going to take a long time and a lot of patience is an understatement. The people who have chosen to remain are to be greatly admired. This is their HOME. It's not just a stopping point along the road of life. It's where they LIVE, just as you or I live on a farm in Oklahoma or on the East or West Coast. My family hasn't relocated even though we live in the Midwest where tornadoes abound every spring and fall. We stay. Why? Because it's where our family is. It's where we worship, play, work, shop and do all those mundane, everyday things that we all take for granted. This is not the time to play the blame game (although we all know we could). It is time for us to all realize that our entire nation needs to pitch in and help. We can ALL do SOMETHING productive to help. Donate money or gift cards to faith-based organizations whose entire purpose is to help and where a large portion of the funds are not spent on administration. Donate food, blankets, cleaning supplies to churches and private organizations that are collecting items for shipment to places like Camp Coast Care (www.campcoastcare.com). Donate time – hook up with organizations that are working hard in the region to help with “cleaning up the mess”, as my 6-year-old granddaughter says. And, most importantly, remember the victims of the hurricanes and those volunteering in the area in your prayers.

As I read this, the sound of Morgan Freeman echoed in my head, as if he were reading this. There is a certain poetry to the words you said, God Bless you and the Echo.

My name is Alex Leschhorn. I went to school in Bay Saint Louis in the 1980's. My grandmother retired to the Bay in the 1970's after living many years in Puerto Rico. She was born in New Orleans and spent part of her childhood in Bay Saint Louis in a home next to the bay tigers closed stadium on Blue Meadow Road. After graduating from high school I went back to the Dominican Republic and after many offerings of my grandmother so that I return to the bay I finally came back. We left everything and left to my high school year town. What a welcome, a cat. V hurricane. Ran away to Valdosta Georgia during the storm, went back to ground zero, and instantly headed out of there. Went to Cape Coral Florida for some time until Hurricane Wilma scared us out of Florida. Now we are staying in the most wonderful place we have been, Valdosta Georgia. For all of you in the Bay Saint Louis-Waveland area that don't know where to go. Come here to Valdosta, you will feel more than welcome. The weather is wonderful.

Mr. Ponder is not talking about New Orleans, he is talking about Hancock County, Mississippi. Louisiana has parishes, not counties. I wish the best for Mr. Ponder and everyone else down there the best.

My heart goes out to everyone who was affected by Katrina. My children even have shown a wonderful compassionate side to the victims. I am from Houston originally, moved to the Clearwater/St.Petersburg, Fl area 8 years ago. All my life I have had to deal with hurricane evacuations. I, however, have never been through anything so devastating as the Gulf Coast residents have just gone through. I fully understand and support any of the "Die-hard Southerners" that want to stay and rebuild. I also feel the same about the ones who can't do it anymore. Unless you have walked in thier shoes, this is not for you to judge. God Bless all!

Deb, I pray for Paul and all who are affected by Katrina. We miss him so. ricky prays for him in school everyday. we love yo all, Nancy