Above:A 360-degree photo shows a rusted boat and other wreckage at Bayou Caddy, a port west of Waveland. (John Brecher / MSNBC.com)
About this project
In the coming months, MSNBC.com will focus its coverage of the Hurricane Katrina recovery on two cities on the hard-hit Mississippi coast.
Though Bay St. Louis and Waveland are far from the media spotlight on New Orleans, the intertwined fates of the people, businesses and institutions in these towns tell the story of an entire region's struggle to recover from the most destructive storm in U.S. history.
OK, so it's no phone booth, but this Bell South phone board on Highway 90 in Waveland has been providing free local and long distance calls. Frank Morales, a resident of Waveland for the last five years, calls his doctor's office in New Orleans to see if he can get in for an appointment. On the other side of the board is a contractor who prefered not to be interviewed, saying his employer doesn't like media attention.
Morales has been relying on the phones since service and power to his home is still out. "Thank you, Bell South," Morales said, echoing what he and others had etched into the wood panel.
Just before jumping back into his car, Morales made one other call: telling his girlfriend that his photo was going to be on MSNBC.com.
The day after Thanksgiving is traditionally known as a day to shop.
We went to a free toy giveaway at Calvary Chapel, so I guess in a way we were shopping.
There were hundreds of people there. They had face painting for the kids, pictures with Santa, those blow up jumping things and a bike giveaway. I really wanted to win but I didn't.
Normally a call for artists means something different. Normally it’s an invitation to enter a show or exhibit. Needless to say, these are not normal times.
Hurricane Katrina has disrupted and dispersed our art community. Many artists fled and have yet to return. Others, returning to find their homes, businesses and studios devastated, have sought shelter with family or friends elsewhere. Those remaining here are caught up, like so many others, in the day-to-day struggle to survive.
Last week was Thanksgiving, and I thought it would be a tough holiday to go through. It was rather hard. The FEMA trailer ovens are real small. Not large enough to bake a turkey or much of anything. So I went to have Thanksgiving with friends of a friend in Diamondhead. There were probably 30 or 40 people there, with a big spread of all kinds of food. It was great. And those people were very nice to invite me. Most of them I had never even met before in my life. It was a great Thanksgiving meal and great fellowship. Of course, everyone tells their Katrina stories. That's the conversation here most of the time. How much water did you get? Where did you stay for the storm?
That's the typical refrain you hear down here from the mayor right down to the guy that who has nothing left of his house but a concrete slab. It's a plea that's about to be tested.
Plans are under way to employ prison labor to help speed the rebuilding process. Christopher Epps, commissioner of the Mississippi Department of Corrections, and Bennet Malone, chairman of the Corrections Committee in the Mississippi legislature, met with representatives of the Bay St. Louis Chamber of Commerce on Friday to discuss the possibility.
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