Now, really... what local from the Bay goes barefoot in the water...EVER? (Except for maybe while skiing/tubing!)

Wussification of America? And you think no one else in the world lives near the coast? People will live anywhere it's possible to live. Just look at the desert and the arctic. I don't think Americans are too dependent on comfort items, but we do need to work on being able to coexist with mother nature better.

One recurring theme in all of these messages is the simple fact that no one wants to take responsibility for this fragile planet. The buck keeps getting passed. Even those who live in environmentally sensitive places are at loggerheads on what to do. Quite frankly, standing in the middle of the road on the issue of retreating from locations subject to wild swings of mother nature will get everyone trashed again and again (beside getting run over by traffic from both directions). Someone has to take a stand whether it be the federal government or state government. Just do it!!!

We used to live in San Francisco, and now we live in "green" Switzerland, where unlike Americans, almost no one had A/C's running in summer. Artificial cooling systems were practically illegal...until the first bad heatwave hit (remember thousands of elderly dying in France from the heatwave?). Well, many green neighbors installed A/C systems and they're much more common now. So Europe is only so green. Besides Europe has gone through centuries of overcrowding, overhunting, deforestation, etc., to figure out they had to be green. So it's not stupidity per se, but our "young" vibrant nation still working things out, and unfortunately, also paying the price.

I would have never even considered these effects without reading this story. Which makes me wonder if these same things happened when that awful tsunami hit off the coast of Indonesia a few years ago?

Based on Dylan's chart, pollution causes worse weather. Maybe America should relieve it's dependence on oil and start looking for other cleaner ways to get energy. Many of the open fields in Kansas and other plain states could develop their land to wind mills creaating much power in the center of America.
Also many of the polluted, unused coastlines could be developed for wave power. Especially the coastlines of cities could use wave power to reduce emissions. Many people say that the new ethenol(corn) fuel uses too much fossil fuels to be developed to be worth it, but with this free, clean power we could make the ethenol fuel and make it worth it.
With much of the country supplied with free power, we could focus our extra money inward to helping the poor and the enviiroment. Once the economy was repaired we could then fix the other places of the world. One amazing fact is that one windmill costs $50,000, but in ten years it pays for itself and you get free energy.
I know, as a thirteen-year-old, that I don't want to deal with the problems your generation leaves behind. We could then focus on other problems around the world and make the world a better place for everyone NOT JUST YOURSELF. So instead of going to the dangerous beach, for a while you should organize green energy meetings and make your community better for the poor as well as the rest of the people. Thank you. :)

Homes can be built to withstand hurricanes but do people wish to spend that much money? My famialy and I love the beach but will I live there I do not think so. Will I live in California in an earthquake or volcanic zone probably not nope I retire soon and intend to move one more time and then come H**l or high water that is where I will die.

It is very refreshing to know that people out there see the problems with the way we live these days. I feel very badly for everyone who has lost their homes, and everyone who is now having to deal with the rebuild. I do however agree, that it is foolish to live in a way that is detrimental to the environment, which is how our culture has turned. I realize that 6 generations have lived on the coastlines, but the early generations had a cookstove and a wood cabin. They did NOT have TVs, AC, every cooking appliance known to man, computers, etc. Heck, early on they didn't even used nails, just fitted the logs together. Think about how much more damage all of the "stuff" Americans have today does to the earth when something like this does happen. The point isn't that "some people are idiots to live on the coast anyway" but that all of the buildup is truly detrimental, as evidenced by this hurricane. Let's take a lesson learned and live back or live simply and as harmlessly as possible with the earth that supports us.

Thank you, Laurie. You're apparently one of very few people posting from out-of-state with any respect and compassion for the people who live here. I'm constantly appalled at many of the comments that are posted on these stories. What's the point, in the wake of so MUCH tragedy, of calling those who are suffering "stupid"? You ought to be embarrassed.

As Laurie said, many of these homes had survived for a century, sometimes three. This storm was unprecedented locally and nationally. Apparently, some people in the rest of the country fail to realize we have been living the aftermath of this for the past nine months. It's not as if we haven't given it any thought. It's quite the opposite.

Thank you for those of who who have enough decency to refrain from making unhelpful, arrogant comments. And thank you to the people who came to help, some of whom are still here.

I just visited the beaches in North Florida. The beaches in Saint Augustine were great. I swam and didnt use any protective shoes or clothing. Progressive state laws need to be put in place to improve Gulf Coast beaches. Florida is the only state to really have a good handle on keeping their beaches clean. Personal attacks and silly name calling does not solve any problems. We need to use our words wisely and write our State and Fedral leaders and demand better leadership!

Long Beach...I been knowin' Laurie was one of us from da start....did you just now figger it out?...PEACE to all...BLESSINGS to Mississippians!...Laurie is an honary Mississippian by the way

I believe it is wrong to blame individuals who want to live near the ocean for what's going on now, environmentally that is. It is also sad to not be compassionate for those who have lost so much.
Given that I still think that you are missing the point of what Dan and others like him are getting at. I see 3 story houses 15 feet apart, only hundreds of feet from the waters edge and gasp at the selfishness of people who think that because they can afford to build like that they have the right to enjoy "their" ocean. City and state governments shouldn't issue any more permits for these persons $$$$ or not. We are really all to blame, If you drive a car, use a computer, enjoy air conditioning,refrigeration.....ect. plastics...blaa blaa blaa. ps we're all doomed.

I agree with Long Beach, MS why post a comment about an area you clearly have never been too. Why call the people who live their stupid, what is stupid is for you to judge so harshly the choices many residents made to live in Hancock county. This story was posted to explain yet another aspect of the recovery and events in our area. Not to have arrogant comments posted to be little our home town. If your tired of all the stories please stop coming to this site. Your comments do not help nor do they satisfy anyones need to read them.

Thank you.

I will add to Dan's and Sean's comments here. I am
also reasonably well traveled, but I wouldn't
advocate emulating all of Europe's environmental
practices, just as much as I wouldn't advocate taking
a swim in the canals of Venice, or taking a drink
from the River Volga. Also, you might ask a resident
of Bergen, Norway if thhere's a correlation between
increased acidity of rain and Britain's increased
industrial activity.

Perhaps we all need to be a bit more humble in the face of the forces of weather and geology. Enjoy the coast, but acknowledge that structures built on sand are fleeting and temporary. Make sure that this assumption is built into any plans: it WILL be destroyed some day, so make sure the impact on the environment and the economy is minimized. My heart goes out to those who live in these areas so that they may provide the services (at low wages) to folks who otherwise can retreat from the coast. Lest you wonder, I count myself in this second group. The hotel workers, wait staff, landscape and garden workers, these are the ones least able to get out of the way, and the ones who lost the most.

Wussification of America?

You are the ones whining about natural disasters, utterly terrified about global warming. I don't care about global warming.

Mankind lived through an ice age, black death, cholera, typhus, god smiting us, nile floods, tambora and crete and other super volcanos, and now, a hurricane has you down?

If you don't want to get flooded, don't live near the water, but, the water is beautiful, and its worth the risk. But I want to live on a lake, with a 400hp car, and, with cable TV, thank you very much.

Unbelievable..there must be several million stupid people in this country. Some in Martha's Vineyard, Myrtle Beach, Miami, Key West, Newport Beach, Laguna Beach, Marina del Rey, on the Oregon's coast, North Carolina coast, Georgia's coast and Long Island to name a few...there is only one smart one somewhere in Texas.. Instead of calling people stupid, read your history and get smart. People have been living within a mile of coastlines ever since the human race was created.

As said before, this storm's strength and destruction was unprecedented. So evacuate California, it may fall into the ocean. Possible earthquakes in Arkansas, flooding in the upper Mississippi states, evacuate St. Louis...let's all move to Texas..nothing happens there. Except ignorance...

I do not agree with people who are arrogant, but I'm sure the people who live in the Gulf area are smart enough to make sound decisions when it comes to their safety.

yep, i won't even go into the Tennessee River...without shoes....step on a rusty crank bait...you got trouble...locals know...tourists should be warned though

Give em Hell, Laurie - I haven't even visited this site for over a month, life's just been hectic! But I see we still have plenty of experts from all around the country telling us to all move inland and how e shouldn't go in our water.... and most have never even set foot in Bay St. Louis - but thankfully, I still see we have all those across the nation who are still pulling for us and praying for us. The volunteers are still pooring in, but a few are shutting down for hurricane season and getting the hell out of dodge! I can't say I blame them - last Sat. night was Terrible!!! High wind gusts and I bet every trailer in town was rocking!!! What I want to know is if Dan thinks Americans are so Stupid (and all those others who agree with him), why don't they move to another country??
Laurie, hope all is going well for you!
T.Ryan

I don't know all about this I am reading but let me tell you, the blue crabs from Rockefeller Park Refuge in Southwestern Louisiana where Rita hit are damned good this year. However, I try to avoid eating any that have gold teeth.

How sad that when the people of an area are hurt so badly, lost everything and many lives lost that there are those in other states that would say such hurtful things. Before the storm my house burned, that could have happened to any of you. We lived in an area of the Pass that had no water during hurricane Camille but Katrina put 15 feet in the neighborhood where we were rebuilding. Was any of this my fault? NO. We did the best we could, thought we were safe, had taken all steps necessary against fire and storm (at least the best you can). And we still lost everything again. Are we moving to earthquake country where we have family, how about one of the states in tornado alley where we have more family? We're staying right here in Pass Christian, Mississippi and don't call me stupid 'cause that is a word that none of us living here need to hear. Thank you to the people that have been so wonderful coming here and other hard hit areas and have done so much to repair and build.

Thanks, everybody. I do love Mississippi, and I didn't realize how much until the storm hit and endangered so many people and places I grew up with. Now I live in the very dry and naturally beige high plains desert with rabbits and quail and coyotes. My family's ancestral roots are in Colorado, and it's good to be here, but our hearts are in the Bay.

I really appreciate the thoughtful comments and find it ironic when survivors are being instructed about their lack of need for utilities, etc. They have survived for long periods of time without utilities at all, in the aftermath of the storm. How many of us could do the same? I assume those writing have electricity. I know friends who still do not have hot water, a land phone line and computer access...that type of thing doesn't often happen in a FEMA trailer. But thankfully, they have water and it doesn't have to be boiled any more. Not many of my friends growing up in the Bay used central air conditioning. Those homes were built so that you could open the screen doors in front and back and the windows on the sides, and the breeze would flow right through. At my house, we never used the a.c., not even if we were all fainting and dropping like flies, ask my momma. (Here, in CO, I open my windows at night, close them at 5:00 am and we're good for the day, during the summer.) I agree we all have to be smarter about how and what resources we use. The coast is taking the hit for all of our behaviour. Maybe we can each try to help on our homefronts, to slow this thing down. I really think, no matter where you live, you will be hit, somehow by the climate change.

Have any of you blaming the human race for hurricanes, etc. ever bothered to study your history better on a thing called weather cycles?

FYI, while you're evacuating the MS coast, you had better add ALL coastal cities in the USA to your list.

As for "ignorance" in TX, shame on you. Who was it that took in literally thousands of evacuees from MS and LA? I am personally from both MS and TX, and I can't tell you how kind and giving the Lone Star state has been to all of us who were wiped out. God bless Texas and everyone else across the globe that has helped us be it financially, sweat equity, hand-me-downs, a smile, hug, or prayer. I know I speak for many when I say thank you.

Never in my life have I understood why the ignorant always need to have a say in something!! The people that have gone thru this living h*** need all the support and prayers that can be given. Leave all the reasoning and conjecture and politicising to the men and women we elect to office. And then blame them when mother nature gets ticked off. There is a reason for these natural disasters. The earth is groaning in pain.