This is great! I'm glad to see a lot of biulding movement. I'm happy to say that I will be down there helping in July. I'm looking forward to it a lot more now

I should hope there would be a housing boom. I also hope their will be a gas station boom, a grocery store boom, a drugstore boom, a restaurant boom, a bank boom, a school boom, etc. There has to be. Everything's gone. You can count on one hand, the houses being rebuilt on the coast.

Way to go Waveland!

Mary, your help there will be greatly appreciated. Hopefully there are others willing to give up a little of themselves to come down and roll up their sleeves too!

Our family will be there again in 2 weeks!

In the suburbs and in thecities and towns of mississippi and louisiana, those individuals with pride and ambition are rebuilding without complaining about whatthe "government" has failed to do for them.
I've been injackson, harrison and hancock counties decontaminating mold from structures so real people can get back to their lives.

news media should be focusing on the real people of the gulf coast not the whining politicians and slum lords of new orleans.

While it is good that new construction of homes is picking up it is clear from photographs that some of the same construction mistakes are being repeated. The principal mistake being wood frame construction.

Using wood as the main building material while being cheaper is only setting the area back up for major hurricane damage again. This region should have changed the building codes like South Florida did to build stronger homes by using cement instead of wood.

Poured cement walls are far more resistant to hurricane force winds then wood frame. In fact there is no way a wood frame home could ever withstand catagory 4 and 5 winds. So the question is why use wood ?

Mark Duncan

And, the liberal news media and press have been praying for and predicting, for at least two or three years now, a housing bubble bust...and what we are getting is a housing boom! It must depressed them so!

Our house was not only under 12 ft. water but hit by tornado (took the top floor) before the wind driven water. This past month we have started to rebuild and all of our neighbors except two (elderly and decided to move a bit further north)are working on houses now. One of the two houses put on the market has already sold and work has been going on there the last two weeks. The sound of construction is music to our ears.

I hope that this hard hit area would consider building back with concrete block. Florida is the hot-spot for hurricanes and 90% of all residential construction is with concrete block. They need to consider rebuilding with materials that have been proven to withstand the storms.

Mark Duncan asks why use wood?

Wood is ductile. Settlement of the soil
under load is a big problem, and the groundwater
table is shallow so deep foundations are a
challenge, not to mention the lack of bedrock.
Concrete would probably crack.

I hope and pray that MS has stiffened its coastal building codes so the next Katrina (and there will be one) has to work harder to tear everything down. The AL gulf coast revised its building codes several hurricanes back and it's pretty obvious which buildings are "new" code and which ones are old. The new code buildings are there. I'm glad our friends West of here are making progress.

My wife Lynn and I just came back 5/1/06 from volunteering for two weeks in Past Christian and Waveland under the non-profit CITIMPACT. Among all the devastation and trailers, we saw new houses and existing homes being rebuilt. I went down as a handyman and RV technician to help the people waiting for their homes to be rebuilt / built maintain their existing dwelling. Thanks John and J.D. for being you. God Bless Mississippi

I like the concrete/wood debate. It is not so much as to whether to use wood or concrete. It is very relative to the substrate in the area, the foundation styles, etc. But the wood framing must be correctly designed with the proper spacing between framing members, the correct size of studs, structural members, etc, and most importantly, the extensive use of metal tie downs, clips, plates and bolts, and planned double shear walls in special areas. In the mountains in California, we have to build homes to withstand a level 8 earthquake with 12 ft. of snow on the roof. These homes would easily withstand most hurricanes, but would drive the costs substantially.

Rebuilding in an area frought with disastors is, well, disastorous. At some point people need to understand that homes built in areas that have a large potential for destruction should NOT be built, let alone RE-BUILT!

Insurance companies are responsible if they accept the liability... I'm guessing they will screw over people if they can get away with it (or long delays for $). Then, TAH-DAH, the Feds are expected to bail em' out. With OUR $. Saving insurance companies big time...

Let them rebuild on their own dime with out insurance if they want to live there again. I don't enjoy sounding heartless, but building in places like this, is more than moronic.

I find it interesting that areas in Mississippi are being re-built, when areas in New Orleans still have dead bodies on the ground. What gives? And I must say I agree with Sean from VA, in terms of rebuilding in disaster areas. Unless the gov't is going to rebuild the levees properly, which it won't b/c it's too expensive, it's seems almost idiotic to rebuild in the middle of a hurricane zone.

and yet they are still building them out of wood, genius

Sean from the rainy flood prone areas of WA writes:

Rebuilding in an area frought with disastors is, well, disastorous. At some point people need to understand that homes built in areas that have a large potential for destruction should NOT be built, let alone RE-BUILT!

Hey man. How about some perspective?

Katrina was the first hurricane in 30+ years to
give the MS Gulf Coast grief. Did you vent with
spittle when FL got hit 4 times in 2004 and
3 times last year? How about when Hurricanes Fran,
Floyd and Bonnie hit NC? Probably not. Why? Because
they weren't Mississippi. But all of a sudden
MS gets hit and you get all uptight
about things that really don't matter to you.

Do you ever hit the "How you can help" button on
this page? Ever think about volunteering? I've seen
fols from Seattle and Tacome in So. Miss., helping
out. I've spoken to them about what the perception of
us is elsewhere, and they detest (DETEST!) attitudes
like yours.

There but for the grace of God go you, into the
rain, Sean from WA.

While it is good that new construction of homes is picking up it is clear from photographs that some of the same construction mistakes are being repeated. The principal mistake being wood frame construction.

Using wood as the main building material while being cheaper is only setting the area back up for major hurricane damage again. This region should have changed the building codes like South Florida did to build stronger homes by using cement instead of wood.

Poured cement walls are far more resistant to hurricane force winds then wood frame. In fact there is no way a wood frame home could ever withstand catagory 4 and 5 winds. So the question is why use wood ?

After reading this comment I needed to repeat it as it was the only sensible thing I had read! Not to mention,living in the state of Oregon with more and more bald mountains from the deforestation. Please re-build with cement and save all of our lives!!!

In response to the post by Sean H.

The people along the coast have usually lived there for generations. These people know the risks but most of them are very attached to the area. If an earthquake destroyed someone's house on the west coast I'm sure that person would rebuild. A tornado destroyed part of several neighborhoods a couple miles from where I live a few years back and all of those houses have been rebuilt. The government and insurance companies help rebuild houses all over the country and the coast just happens to be one of those areas right now. I hope everyone will continue to support the efforts to rebuild the coast.

i am tired of the taxpayers paying time and again for this disaster releif no matter where it is.I would like to see legislation requireing flood and disaster insurance or you will not be eligible the second time around.these are at risk comunities and states and the taxpayers should only be expected to help those who help themselves.I would also like to see all insurance companys who write these policys be held in strict accountability,with the elimination of the small talk and the insurance companys 100 yard dash to rip people off.These companys withold payment long enough to cause these people severe anxiety and desperation a time limit of 60 days to settle a claim is fair for both sides,these settlements would step up the pace of reconstruction and releive the fed of some of its cost as people would have the funds to become self reliant

Q., i agree to disagree...if concrete is done RIGHT...it will be there forever...in leiu of an earthquake...or a person with a bulldozer and a bad attitude....but it MUST be done right

I wanted eveyone of you to know that my family and I pray for you everynight.

Good to see that things are starting to move along. I sure hope that the new structures are being built to revised codes to better withstand storms. Building the same strength of house in the same location would seen like inviting future issues in a storm-prone area.

I'd like to explain to Mr. Millwood of WA state that when LA, TX, MS, & AL supply the nation with virtually all of its energy obtained from off our U.S. shores, it's a necessity, not an option, for the workers who serve that protion of the energy industry to live where they do. It would be difficult for them to live in other states or even farther north in those states and get to work every day. In addition, a fair amount of the seafood the rest of the country enjoys is caught off the shores of these states. It's also necessary these individuals live where they can get to their boats every morning to go out and make their catches.

This isn't about wanting to own beach front property. In that respect your point is well taken, but it's about people's livelihoods and their need to earn a living and support their families

Safest thing to do is move. It's a pond with inadequate walls to gaurantee that water will stay out. why expect any assistance from anyone when you are deciding to stay in an area that will surely get hit again.

I grew up in central Florisa in the 1950's & 6o's and ALL HOMES were built one level with concrete block (CB) with poured concrete corners and tie beams over windows and doors reinforced with steel. The only wood structure was the roof trusses and interior walls. I experienced several major hurricanes back then, and the only damage sustained to most houses was water damage. Back then everyone had terrazzo floors..no big deal. In the 1970's I was a laborer/carpenters helper building houses and apartments in central and south Florida, and noticed that wood frame structures had taken over. I was on the third floor of a newly framed apartment building, and noticed how the entire structure swayed back and forth just shifting my weight. I can remember saying to my friends, "The next time a major hurricane like Donna comes up the Florida peninsula, it is going to be the biggest natural disaster this country has ever seen." Then along came Andrew. Need I say more. I hope the Gulf coast builders are reading this.
Ted Parrish, Warsaw, Missouri

New Orleans and surrounding areas are poised to have one of the greatest housing booms in America this year. I'm so happy. I'm going to be a part of its rise. Black people from all over the USA should take note and join in. Do it now before its too late.

From the pictures above it is clear that the same mistakes are being made in the rebuild effort.

Conventional frame construction, no reinforced roof trusses, sparse use of concrete block and stucco - are there no building codes or is that too much big government?

i can't believe that they're not using concrete block to build these new houses with! almost all of our houses in SW florida are CBS (concrete block stucco) for the very reason of wind and water damage.

John from Denver opines

Safest thing to do is move. It's a pond with inadequate walls to gaurantee that water will stay out. why expect any assistance from anyone when you are deciding to stay in an area that will surely get hit again.

Mr JOHN.....Coastal MS IS NOT BELOW SEA LEVEL.
IT IS ABOVE SEA LEVEL. IT IS NOT A BOWL TO BE
FILLED. IT HAS A COASTLINE SO IT WOULD BE A NEAT
TRICK FOR IT TO BE BELOW SEA LEVEL.

Physics 101. Check it out.

It`s foolish to think a hurricane won`t happen again, sooner or later it will. Just like the storms in California that were supposed to happen every 100 years, well we have had two 100 year storms in the last 20 years. So much for prediction. You can`t stop Mother Nature, but you can build and maintain a better leeve system therefore cutting in half the potential for destruction and deal only with a hurricane. Concrete done right will hold-up under a hurricane and reduce the amount of loss and the money needed to re-build.

I think it's obvious the potential for damage that the homeowners on the coast have, to all that criticize the efforts to rebuild. If you do not support the rebuilding effort than don't participate and don't donate. That is a right that you have, but please let the individuals that are doing all they can to get back to their feet, do exactly that without the criticizm from you.

I guess it's coming through loud and clear - all of us stupid people living in hurricane country have been welcomed to relocate to CALIFORNIA and COLORADO. Would the people telling us that we should not stay here please send information about housing, jobs etc. Of course you need to move over and make room for all the people that will be coming your way. And since we are so stupid then we're gonna be hell to have to live near. We'll be bringing pollution and crime with us also. Now who sounds more stupid - me for being born and raised here and doing the best I can to raise a family or you for making comments that are worthless!!!

LOL!...frank, i think you made your point...i mean who are these people advising Mississippians to move...like they would really like ME as a neighbor cause they could be redneckized!!!

OK - the ground is too soggy and unstable to support concrete construction, and wood will not withstand hurricane force winds...Let's build it anyway! Then we can go through all this again! Brilliant.

Jack Jones, Plano TX, writes:

OK - the ground is too soggy and unstable to support concrete construction, and wood will not withstand hurricane force winds...Let's build it anyway! Then we can go through all this again! Brilliant.

It's not axiomatic that wood cannot withstand hurricane force winds. Many homes, including mine, withstood Katrina with little damage save for what was done by flood. If you do it right, absolutely right, wood can work. The contractor who renovated my house also built many homes in Pass Christian and elsewhere, and his homes are, in many places, the only ones standing in the neighborhood.

To Frank from Gulfport: What people from other states are saying is, that if you continue to rebuild in hurricane alley, without using stronger materials, i.e., concrete instead of wood, and if GW and his cronies on Capitol Hill don't give the states enough money to rebuild the levees properly, then rebuilding is a dangerous thing. As a tax payer, energy and gasoline consumer, the economist in me doesn't feel like our expenses should go up when hurricane ravaged areas get obliterated, b/c people aren't rebuilding properly. The human being in me, doesn't want to see more people die in those areas either. And please believe, us Californians have the same reaction to people in this state, who live in flood and mountain-slide zones, who are on TV crying every year, when their house slides down a mountain, and then continue to proclaim they are going to rebuild.

I am staying at the Isle of Capri casino hotel in Biloxi,Mississippi. This is my first trip to the Gulf Coast since Katrina. I am from Florida and have watched all the attention that New Orleans has been getting by the media. I wish they would focus on the Biloxi/Gulfport and other areas of the Gulf Coast. These people are rebuilding without all the whining and constant griping about the GOVERNMENT. This hotel is a beehive of rebuilding effort, and I understand that the Beau Rivage will open in August. I would like to see that reopening covered by MSNBC reporters.

i may have been misunderstood....i wasn't talking about concrete blocks....instead i was speaking of poured concrete outside walls reinforced with steel...A FORT....there forever...then put ya stucco on and make it look pretty!...it's expensive...but ain't no damn hurricane gonna move it

Well, sounds good all except for the stucco. My house has a stucco exterior finish, but I live in Arizona where it only rains 2 inches a year if we're lucky. It's made for desert climate, not humid gulf coast climate. But your on concept is sound. The latest trend I'm aware of is interconnecting commercial grade styrofoam cinder blocks. They go together like a huge puzzle to form the exterior walls, get reinforced with steel re-bar which attach to the foundation, then the foam blocks get filled with concrete. Supposedly, these buildings are inexpensive, very efficient, can take the force of a car slamming into them at speed and still hold strong. I'm surprised Hurricane proof technologies like this are not saturating the latest cable DIY shows "Yet". I want royalties if anyone decides to make a tv show out of that idea.

O.K. john denver{don't you sang rocky mountion hi?}...we'll pick up the truck ...and be ya new neighbors...bring da coon dog..my son is as big as Jethro, wife's pretty as Ellie May...i wear a hat...kinda looks like Jed's...shoot i'll bring my mom....she's crankier than granny...and pretty damn good with a shotgun....see ya soon!!!

andy, ms. been reading your posts for months and sure got the biggest laugh about moving out to CO. Wouldn't they all be shocked if the rednecks decended upon them. Keep it up and put 'um in their place..God Bless you...

Well, well ,its wonderful to sit their in your Ca.,Ny.,Co. Homes and potificate on the building structures down here in the N.O.La. and Gulfcoast area.Did we not rebuild Chicago;after the fire,San Francisco;after the quacks,homes along the Mississippi river in the Heartland:a couple of times: that I can remember....
This is not just about homes or businesses , its about rebuilding lives , keeping families together and being part of something.(Like a city that you were born and raised in ! ) To all you fine American's that love to come down to the Gulfcoast and New Orleans to eat and party .......... in this Bowl,"WHY DON'T YOU TAKE SOME OF THOSE SICK DAYS OR YOUR VACATION DAYS AND COME DOWN HERE AND SHOW US HOW TO REBUILD YOURWAY!!!!!!!!!!!
YAUL' HAVE A MIGHTY FINE DAY AND THANKS FOR THE ADVICE" D.J. Landry From N.O. La.
P.S. These cities have been in tack for hundreds of years.....

Can someone explain that if concrete is so durable then why do the highways and bridges look like dominoes, and even the casinos made of steel structures are totally gone?

Just a couple of question to all of the people who think the Gulf Coast should not be rebuilt: Do you like to be able to heat your house in Washington State in the winter? Or drive your car to work in California. Oil from the gulf of Mexico is necessary to keep this country running. As are the deep water ports and refineries along the coast that bring you oil and other imported goods and food. And while these jobs may not be glamorous they are necessary and the Coast is where they live! Of course rebuild the magnifican Coast. Will there be another Katrina? Maybe, but there will be more tornadoes in Utica, Illinois, and mud slides and earthquakes in northern California. At least the Mississippi Coast gives us good seafood, great people and a unique culture!

How can I purchase a Katrina Cottage for waveland, MS?

Andy, The west is always open to good folks! The population here is booming, but the water isn't. Denver is a huge water hog and is a sprawling traffic mess. I'd pick a lovely town in the mountains, if I were you. The whole family would fit right in.

I was building a home on Whispering Pines Drive in Waveland. We poured our slab in early August; had the first load of framing lumber delivered on Friday; Katrina hit on Monday.

We are not returning.

The lot is 109 feet wide, 114 feet deep, and was surveyed to be 15.7 feet above mean sea level. We brought in fill and elevated the slab another 2 feet. A contractor hired by the Corps of Engineers cleared the lot. The slab is intact.

At the corner of Whispering Pines and Aiken Road is an empty lot. My lot is next to this empty lot as you go toward the beach.

You can have our plans and build to those plans. Or -- the slab was poured with a continuous footer around the perimeter and with four footers running under the slab where the main walls of the house would have been. You can drill into the slab above the footers, anchor rebar vertically, build piers around the rebar, and build a house on piers using the slab for parking and storage under the house.

Anyone interested in buying this lot -- leave a message here with contact information.

Just so all of you know, the concrete house across the street as well as our brick houses and the solid "hurricane proof" houses all went down as easy as the frame houses. To Sean in Wa., maybe you shouldn't be allowed to have insurance because of a volcano, or an earthquake. We should in that case close down all coastal areas as well as California, and the midwest because of natural disasters. There is no safe place. This earth we live on is very uncertain. Remember the ice age? This is where we are from, our heritage our ancestory. We don't tell you where to live. If everyone lived in total fear of all natural disasters where would we all go that is totally safe? And PLEASE TO NOT REFER TO US AS MORONS!!! And to Mariah in California, we in Mississippi have nothing to do with the levees in Louisiana. FYI

To Mariah from california: How much since does your comment make that our coast should not be rebuilt in Mississippi? When yal'LL rebuilt on a fault? I don't appreciate my tax dollars being used for that stupidity either. Get a life. Ron M. Brandon,Ms.

Peggy....rednecks is a kind word....We in N.E. Mississippi....are really Hillbilly's....don't no one want us ta move in next door!!!....except MAYBE Larry the Cable Guy!...."Gitter Done"...I kill skunks ...out of my bathroom window ....with a shotgun....sometimes a fox...turkey...deer....on and on......

Kimberly, Richland.....archetects and engineers made those structures....the common workin' man can build better and MUCH cheaper....concrete Will work.....you just gotta do it RIGHT!....what do you think the bunkers of our enemys in many wars were built of?....many of those survived....HellFire Missals.....CONCRETE is the answer

Frank, Gulfport. You are welcome in Texas! However, we are coming to Gulfport to rebuild in your area for you.Ashcreek Babtist Church, Azle, Texas. Our Juniors Minister is bringing the teenagers with him as he grew up in Gulfport.Some people cannot tell the difference between Gulfport and New Orleans. Maybe you should continue to rebuild and be happy.

Looks like we need to move away from hurricanes and blizzards on the East Coast, tsunamis and earthquakes on the West Coast and of course floods and tornadoes in the Central Plains! It's too cold in Canada and Mexico has hurricanes and earthquakes too. Maybe we should find a new planet where there is no weather or geological events, and of course where Andy and his friendly band of Rednecks will be able to have a washer in the yard without anyone whining! Fact is anyone anywhere can be next, we need to stick together as a nation and send help where it's needed. Someday we will all get ours and need help with no questions asked.

I have volunteered in Bay St. Louis, and I see the people who are trying to get back to living, and I giv you all a big hand!!! I come from California, and have lived thru the big earthquakes, I moved from there to Las Vegas and had the 100 year flood. There is not a place on this planet that you could live without somekind of disater. So if we as a country could just quit talking about what everybody should do, and do something of real value to help these people, who just want to go back to living their lives
like the rest of us do. We need some real answers to these people problems, as they are our problems also. God told us to love our neighbors as ourselves. So if we could just get on to doing the helping as if this was your family & loved ones, and if you were there to see the damage & just how hard it is to even get a meal or gas for your car without going a day for it, or standing in long lines. Then please America get behind these proud people, see what you can do to help. Pat, Murfreesboro, TN

I am so proud of all you people in our southern states rebuilding and staying where you are. We moved to Mo. from Mn. and I love the casual living in Mo. Everyone does their own thing and it is just the way God wants it to be. Stay where you are,rebuild and I pray all go9es well. God Bless!!!!!!!

I too am one of the volunteers coming to help! At least I will if I can come up with the $$ to get there!! I am trying!
A couple of our local churches have put out a call for people to come down to MS to help in the cleanup in any way we can. They have already been down a number of times, apparently, and know there is still MUCH work to be done.
Seeing people rant and rave about how the Gulf Coast residents should have been prepared, should take care of themselves, etc. etc. gets me so upset! I did not know how I could be of help to ANYONE, with me being in Michigan and the hurricane victims in LA, MS, AR, and TX. Now I know! I will be coming down mid-June (God willing) to put my back into helping out any way I can! For those of you harping on how the Gulf Coast residents should be getting back to the business of living, come on down!!! Put a little back work into your mouth work!!! Many hands make light work of heavy jobs!!! God bless the volunteers!

Has God warned Pat Robertson of a Tsunami?...I don't think so{maybe i need some of that stuff he's takin'}...but i don't want that to happen to anyone....always thought good of Pat...till he got MUMBO JUMBO

A few notes on reconstruction: A number of small details adding perhaps 5-7 percent to the cost of light construction (wood frame or low rise concrete block) can easily double the resistance to horizontal and uplift forces from wind. This is the difference from surviving perhaps 85 mph to 125 mph or more. Note that these forces increase as the square of wind velocity. Pictures on this site of new homes being built on tall concrete block piers for flood survival concern me as these, unless carefully designed for shear and bending, may fail laterally under wind load and drop the structure.
Wind aside, the real problem is flooding. Several writers correctly note that many workers in essential coastal industries are forced economically to live near their jobs. Here government at all levels, via building requirements and flood protection, bears most responsibility to limit damage. Citizens must keep this issue "hot" before government. We all might have to pay a tad more in taxes and consumer prices to finance this.
Throughout history flooding has caused more loss of life and property than all other natural disasters combined. This has been true even in the short 60 year history of my own community, which averages about 4 inches of rain a year!
I have grown up in construction, designed and built my own homes, and presently work with Habitat For Humanity (a wonderful organization) building homes here. Habitat homes go well beyond current code requirements but are very economical; in parts of Florida after hurricane Andrew, Habitat homes were the only ones standing. Safe homes don't have to be unduly expensive!

YA'LL ARE SO FUNNY,ANDY DUDE KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK.LOL
WELL, IM FROM HATTIESBURG,MS WENT TO SCHOOL IN BOTH DIXIE AND PETAL AND MY FAMILY LIVES IN BOTH AS WELL.AND NO MATTER WHAT ILL ALWAYS CALL IT HOME.AND WAY TO GO "JOHN WAYNE" I BELIVE IT WAS THE POLICE CHIEF OR GOV. NOT SURE, THAT GOT THE ICE TRUCKS WHO THAT STOOD UP FOR WHAT WAS RIGHT. LOVE AND KISSES TO EVERYONE

Since the occurence of Katrina, I've had much reason to be proud of being a Mississipian. While New Orleans recieved so much attention, those of our coastal areas were overlooked and forgotten. They immediately rallied together, neighbor to neighbor, stranger to stranger, in a common goal of protecting the communities to which they belonged. While they did wonder where the aid was and when or if it might arrive, they initiated the recovery of their wounded and dead, intiated the restoration. They didn't wait for a handout but did desire a helping hand and have received much assistance from the citizens of our country and those benefactors both local and national as well as international. I admire their strength, perseverence, and dedication to their area. Many will choose to leave the area but it will most likely be those who were transplanted from elsewhere to begin with. Not only is there an economic reason for their staying, there is a connection to the land that anyone should be able to understand. It's home and home is not just a constructed building where you lay your head at night; it's so much more.

hey man, seen where ol' Pat lifted a ton leg lift....football players can't do that...does that add to his creatibity?....and i used to think da dude wuz cool

Maybe he doesn't know his numbers.

I've been a builder in Bay ST Louis for over 20 years. My parents home was completely destroyed by hurricane katrina,gone,vacant lot. That same home made it through hurricane camille. I just finished a new home, 200 yards up the street,north, from my parents home, just before katrina hit and all out of wood, it had 8' feet of water in it, and was built by the same Dade county code that Flordia adobted and stood.
It's not about Wood, concrete block ,steel,concrete ,modular homes, etc. If you were on the beach and did'nt have a 2 story parking garage underneath, it was coming down.Granted , a couple of homes made it, one being that of an architect, (concrete foundatin and wood), go figure,and some older homes at higher elevations.
The Ms Gulf Coast will come back.Let them put the 2 story garages under plush condos on the beach, they can take a katrina, 90% of residental construrction can't take it.( period )... Thanks for all the voulonteers that help us in Bay St Louis , Waveland and the entire coast. It's all about giving, thanks again

While I agree that more construction in Mississippi should be in concrete, the forces experienced during hurricane Katrina far exceeded the structural limits of all building materials.
Although there are many frame homes here, and the building code is severely lacking, concrete would not have saved many homes in this area. In fact, several elevated frame homes survived where concrete structures failed.
As a structural engineer that personally witnessed the hurricane and storm surge first hand, I can assure you that only a government engineered and funded structure could withstand the force of water in this type of situation because the common person could not financially afford the mass required to withstand such forces. And sorry, an explanation of mass and density is not appropriate or necessary here.
Every student engineer should be visiting this area to experience the results of such forces of nature. For example, many commercial elevated reinforced poured concrete decks/slabs-both tendon and rebar type failed severely. Some elevated decks/slabs that did not fail because of negative dynamic loads were beat so severely by waves that only rebar and tendons remained. Entire four lane concrete bridges-girders, beams and decks, were washed away - 3 bridges over a 50 linear mile area... ICF and CBS constructed homes-gone. The only homes that were not destroyed were elevated above the surge water.
In closing, I believe this storm was an anomaly-I hope..., but regardless, ground structures of any type of construction would not have survived. Also of important note is the fact that this storm surge traveled 15 miles inland, across land, and exceeded elevations of 30+ feet. There are no levees in Coastal Mississippi-thankfully!! Beware all of you that live in coastal regions subject to hurricanes. You can cast all the stones you want at MS, but as a prior resident and Construction Engineer of South Florida-Miami and the Keys, you are not as immune as you may think. Check your elevation... As for the rest of the country, pick your natural disaster because they happen everywhere-wildfires, mudslides, earthquakes, ice storms, volcanoes, drought, flooding, tsunamis and hurricanes. It's a wonderful world!!!

The constrcution should be in Steel. Steel is the only building product impervious to mold and fungi, they are engineered to withstand upto 210mph winds and the cost of insurance is almost 1/2 of wood and concrete.