"We're coming back!"
“We are staying!”
Those are the slogans that seem to be plastered everywhere in Bay St. Louis and Waveland these days. They can be found on signs planted in the yards of houses that still lie in ruin; and they’re heard on everyone’s lips. And yet, the need to say these words implies that not everyone here -- or every resident scattered around the South -- believes it. These two towns now are very much teetering on the half-way point between renewal and ruin.
Nine months after Hurricane Katrina struck and ruined so much down here -- in Waveland, 95 percent of homes were damaged -- there are plenty of signs that the towns are stirring. Restaurants are serving meals. At night, old watering holes offer live blues bands on weekends, and there are even a few new bars.
During the day, the sound of hammers and electric saws is everywhere. Hardware stores are opening to compete with Wal-Mart. And, finally, a small local grocery store and meat market named CJ's is open for business, across from the Old Town train depot. Fresh vegetables and meat are back in Bay St. Louis.
"I can walk over here and get fresh produce now," said Loretta Flood, picking through onions and heads of lettuce. "They just opened the last time I was here -- they've stocked the shelves a little bit more and I'm just excited I can get my groceries and they'll be fresh."
There are even some signs of optimism in the real estate market. Until recently, Flood lived in Jackson, Fla. But she bought a house in Bay St. Louis in February -- even before it was renovated -- and plans to move full-time to the town soon.
Sellers are hoping for many more Floods -- not floods -- perhaps even a housing boom, as some volunteers who flocked to the quaint beach town after the storm decide to stay. Longtime locals tell us that happened after Hurricane Camille in 1969. Real estate Agent Camille Tate said many sellers are even listing their homes for more than they would have pre-Katrina.
'They're asking for it'
"They're not getting it, but they're asking for it," she said. "A lot of the inventory is half-constructed, but they are selling it that way."
With Army Corp of Engineer contractors making significant headway clearing the stray debris from the city, signs of rebirth are everywhere.
About two-thirds of the debris has been removed, representing almost 5 million cubic yards. Statewide, 40 million cubic yards of debris has been picked up. According to FEMA, that's enough to fill all 280 football stadiums in the entire state -- with debris piled eight stories high.
Still, with over 2 million cubic yards to go in Hancock County, the job is hardly finished. Nor is the job of rebuilding all these neighborhoods, or convincing everyone there is something to come home to.
In fact, the pictures we might show you of this area could easily be misleading. There are plenty of adorable colonial homes with perfect lemonade porches that seem undisturbed by any hurricane. Some sit right next to piles of rubble, completely destroyed homes that appear untouched since September.
With selective pictures, we could just as easily convince you that either one of these towns is either a coastal paradise or a living hell.
A critical juncture
Gulf Coast towns like Bay St. Louis and Waveland are at a critical juncture now, as school ends for the year. Both towns are still missing about half their residents, which means the cities are missing half their tax base. The return of sales tax receipts and property tax values is essential -- both towns are nearing the end of their ability to borrow to pay for salaries and basic city services.
The end of the school year will probably be a turning point. Optimists say many have stayed away because their children started school elsewhere last September. As school finishes for the year, these expatriate families will come back to the coast, the thinking goes.
But pessimists see the glass half-empty. Families of graduating seniors struggled so their children could graduate from Bay High School this month. But as school ends, many may decide it's a good time to start a life somewhere else. We talked to one teacher who said the housing shortage in the area has made life nearly impossible, and she planned to leave as soon as school let out.
While residents make up their minds, and finally get past the initial barrier of clearing up debris, second-tier challenges crop up. Here’s one: Some areas are so disturbed that land surveyors must be hired to come out and re-establish property boundaries before reconstruction can begin. Surveyors are now overwhelmed with work, and there's a huge waiting list. As a result, many residents told us they face a wait of four to six months just to figure out where their property begins and ends.
Still, it's hard denying a sense of optimism has crept back into the town.
Only 9 months ago, Ethel Favre -- mother of Bay St. Louis Mayor Eddie Favre -- was jammed into an attic with 11 other family members on Bay St. Louis' Main Street. As water rose, the family faced a terrible choice of either punching a hole in the roof and inviting death by tornado, or sitting tight and inviting death by drowning. They eventually escaped when the waters receded enough to allow them to go downstairs and wade to safety.
On their way
Fast-forward nine months, and Ethel is sitting on a neighbor’s front porch waiting for a delivery truck to bring new windows – she’s less than 100 feet from the home that for a while last August might have been her tomb.
"Things are getting better," she said. And she’s not saying that just because she's the mayor's mother. As she watches family and friends help each other reconstruct, she's seeing families and neighborhoods spring to life again. There are so many residents cleaning and readying so much of the town, in hopes that the rest of the community -- and the tourists -- will soon arrive.
Still more sci-fi similarities
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if you can't convince someone to come home ...they were'nt "home" in the 1st place!....Mississippians Will survive!....for the most part...we're pretty tough....dangitt!
andy,ms (Sent May 28, 2006 9:27:20 PM)
Has anyone looked into the dome homes to rebuild with in this area? They are good in the wind and storms. Just a suggestion. I pray for all the people. Dosen't look like the gov. is going to do anything else.
K.Kilby,Winston Salem,N.C. (Sent May 29, 2006 2:30:32 AM)
I'm sure that President Bush and the Republican congress are working very hard to get the help where it's needed. We must stand by our President as we have our young heroes deployed in harms way. I'm sure that our President cares for all those affected by the devastation last season and is moving the money where it's needed. From his State of the Union Speech, it sounded like he has got FEMA back on track with proper planning to get the communities and families back in their homes. He won't let the insurance companies get away with not helping these people. Please just stand by our President. I'm sure that he goes to bed every night praying for those in need and is trying to help the needy not just the really big contributors.
Peter Dickson (Sent May 29, 2006 12:31:18 PM)
Sadly, the President (whether he/she is Republican or Democratic) has little to do with the planning and design of a government organization such as FEMA. The President more or less sets a vision and everyone else makes it happen. I would agree, that our collective government (not just Republican) is trying to make the proper steps to repair its emergency response departments, but Katrina caught everyone off guard. Lessons are being learned. I think that people should stand behind their beliefs, neighbors and friends who are more instrumental in the rebuilding process rather than the acting President. Because truly, they are the people that count. Oh yes, and I think we should support our troops as well (even those not in harms way) but that has little to do with a discussion on rebuilding after a natural disaster...
Darrin, Grand Rapids, MI (Sent May 29, 2006 5:01:29 PM)
Amen! I think you just hit the nail on the head. I wish you could see the way people back home are supporting each other.
Irene R. Mason, Waveland, MS (Kings Point, NY) (Sent May 30, 2006 12:52:36 AM)
Living through Katrina 1 mile off the beach was an experience I wouldn't care to repeat too often, Nothing was moving, the heat was horrible. Fema arrived making promises it couldn't keep. The magnitude was unbelieveable. However on the brighter side the power companies were here in a flash trying to rebuild the grids. Fema needs to look no further than Southern Company for an example of pre-planning and staging for a potential disaster. Hats off to all of the out of state high voltage workers how came to the rescue. Only the military has the experience and the means to provide relief on this grand of scale. Clear the red tape to get the military here immediately, Fema can take over once it is stable and the essentials have been met, (food, water & shelter), letting massive Fema contracts out of state doesn't help the local economies, where the tax money is needed. Once the total bill is added up it would have been cheaper to put $50,000 into the hands of every resident down here than their efforts. People will spend the money immediately to get what they need. Hind sight is always 20/20. However this could have been handled better.
Ron Jamieson , Gulfport, MS (Sent May 30, 2006 7:03:26 AM)
We just came back from a work weekend in Waveland - the town will survive and its residents will once again enjoy life in this great town! My family is in for the long haul! God Bless You Waveland!
Linda - Plano TX (Sent May 30, 2006 7:09:44 AM)
I pray for the Katrina victims, but what about the Rita victims that have been forgotten. I have a friend who finally got her FEMA trailer LAST WEEK. Try living in a house with no roof and broken windows for 7 months. I just got my roof and ceilings fixed last week. It took 6 months to get a window replaced.
Things here in southeast Texas aren't much better than in New Orleans. And the new season begins shortly.
Donna Wagner, Vidor TX (Sent May 30, 2006 2:29:48 PM)
Maybe what we need is fewer people trying to live where pople do not belong. There are just some places human infrastructure does not belong. I certainly don't like paying for your stupidity not to carry flood insurance. ALl these cries of ignorance are such baloney. You took a gamble - you LOST - now get over it. No one is going to fix my house if it burns down and I start wailing "I didn't think it would be such a bad fire. My house hasn't caught fire in 28 years..." What a crock....MOVE.....
Jimmy Crackhorn (Sent May 30, 2006 5:17:00 PM)
Is Peter Dickson being ironic? Or is Peter Dickson Barbara Bush's code name?
Melissa, Oxford, MS (Sent May 30, 2006 6:13:36 PM)
apparently jimmy crackhorn does not live in ms. try buying flood insurance if you do not live in a flood zone! I know I tried to get flood ins just to be on the "safe"side and could not get it. I sold my house in MS, moved to FL & was hit by Katrina before she reached MS, oh, I had flood Ins, you can buy it in Fl with or with a flood zone!
Pat, homestead, fl (Sent May 30, 2006 9:53:20 PM)
To Jimmy Crackcorn:
Using your approach, we should close San Francisco because of the earthquake potential, we should close Kansas because of tornadoes, and we should close New York City because of its concentration of people and businesses make it susceptible to terrorists. By the way, the federal government bailed out New York City during the 70s because they were on the brink of bankruptcy and again following 911. Blizzards in the north and fires and mudslides in the west, you may even see a powerful hurricane hitting the northeast coast as it did in the past. God help you if it happens to you or one of your family members. The one thing I learned going through this is that the poor and the rich were all on the same level and as apposed to what you see on the news, many of us came together with desperation as our common ground. We were hit hard and many of us are still hurting. Oh, and just for your information, I have flood, homeowners and every other type insurance coverage possible but I am still on the hook for over 50K. I consider myself lucky because I still have my family and my job. You obviously don’t have a clue about what’s going on here.
Bill S.
Metairie, LA
William Sheffield, Metairie, LA (Sent May 30, 2006 11:00:27 PM)
Jimmy Crackhorn opines that we on the MS Gulf Coast
should just move, because we are once again stealing
money from his pockets.
Please.
I wouild ask Mr. Jimmy to respond if he thinks that
the people of Florida should move as well. Or
North Carolina. Or Virginia. etc. All three states
have been hit by major hurricanes (Florida got hit
4 times in 2004, recall). Or do just us backwoods
Mississippians need to move, after the FIRST
significant storm in 35 years? This is the attitude
that your post (and other similar posts in other
stories) reeks of.
Note again, Mr. Jimmy, that many people in this area
did have flood insurance - a lot of it is mandatory,
but others like myself bought it anyway. Insurance
companies, who I have neither a great love nor total
disdain for, have ruled many homes destroyed only
by water, and have denied wind insurance claims, even
though there are eyewitness accounts and sufficient
forensic evidence to back up a wind damage claim.
(Read some of the other stories on this site).
As for flood insurance - I was lucky in that my
insurance company noted that my flood insurance
coverage wasn't expanded to cover my recent
renovation to my home and suggested that I increase
it. They didn't have to - they don't make anything
on it since I pay the premium to the NFIP - but I
gladly did and appreciated their noticing that. Other
folks I've talked to were actively _dis_couraged
by their insurance companies from buying flood
insurance if they didn't have to have it. And now
they need it. Ain't it a wonderful world?
There have been some stories on the news where
insurance companies have been accused of strongarming
forensic engineers and adjustors into noting
flood damage rather than wind damage. This is like
saying that your house was not destroyed by fire,
but was destroyed by squirrels. What, you didn't
see there was a squirrel-exclusion clause in your
contract?
I guess what bugs me about this is that you think
it's easy to just move, ONLY because you think we
the good people of Mississippi are ripping you
(Jimmy Crackhorn) off. Of course, I doubt that
your outrage would extend to grabbing your
car keys and a box of tools and coming down to
help out, or finding a good soul down here who
would love to move and helping him/her find a
job in your neck of the woods, etc.
Nope. You're only outraged for the length of time
you can post your bile. That's the weakest form
of outrage.
J., BSL (Sent May 31, 2006 6:16:32 AM)
This is for.."Jimmy Crack-Corn and I don't care!".. Did you feel the same about the hundred of thousands of people who lost their lives and homes during the Tsunami? Its not THAT easy for ANYONE to just MOVE... You take a gamble living anywhere in the world because ANYTHING can happen ANYWHERE.. HOWEVER, these insurance companies are refusing to pay "insured" homes that were destroyed DURING the hurricane.. To me, that's Folly! In regards to your comment, "NO one is going to fix my house if it burns down and I start wailing I DIDN'T think it would be such a bad fire".... Well, if your house was INSURED but yet, your insurance company REFUSED to PAY b/c the "WIND" caused the FLAMES grow larger thereby, engulfing your home? Hence classifying it as "wind damage"? YOU WILL BE WAILING TO THE TOP OF YOUR LUNGS!......PLEASE...know the FULL story before you make rhetoric comments, such as that...
Valerie Martin, Jackson Miss (Sent May 31, 2006 10:59:59 AM)
I agree that we are overloading fragile areas with buldings that should not be there and with more population than the areas can ecologically support. I do not know how to fairly prevent overpopulation of those areas.
I do agree that the FEMA response was very poor. I think that the head of FEMA should be an experienced person in diaster relief and NOT a political appointment.
Mary Wright, Russellville, Ar. (Sent May 31, 2006 11:15:36 AM)
Jimmy is exactly right. It is one thing to be caught by surprise the first time, but when you have no transportation or reliable shelter why are you tempting fate again by defiantly refusing to live somewhere else, and why am I going to have to pay for it WHEN it happens?
Kara, Indianapolis (Sent May 31, 2006 11:25:13 AM)
While a bit abrasive, Mr. Crackhorn has the right idea. Why does the rest of the nation have to pay for someone elses lack of foresight? Why is it "politically incorrect" to state facts that point out that living close to a shore means you are at risk for major disaster? The mid-twentieth century saw a lull in these large storms, but they were more common 100 years ago. It's just that then you didn't have millions of people living so close to harms way.
Dick Eggleston (Sent May 31, 2006 11:56:38 AM)
I swear...Again, we have "ignorant" people posting that know nothing about nothing. Dick, have you sent me a check??? Kara, have I recieved any cash from you??? And as far as Mr. Crack...name says it all. I don't recall asking you for anything but I do expect my government, whom I have paid since I was 16 years old, to step in and help. The negative ones are the ones that Kharma is definately gonna kick in the A**. When that happens, do you think we back wood mississippians will turn our back on you?? No, we will not. I expect my tax dollars to help anyone and everyone in AMERICA, not everywhere else. If you have a problem with that then you need to move out of OUR Country!!!!!
KK, Bay St Louis MS and STAYING!!! (Sent May 31, 2006 4:14:28 PM)
THATS CRACKHEAD!!!! DANNGITT!!!.i think ya'll misunderstood him WHEN HE WUZ TRING TO LIGHT HIS PIPE
andy,booneville ms. (Sent May 31, 2006 6:46:49 PM)
"DICK"....your right but 100 years ago there were less people....ya ont me fer a naboir????....leave us alone if you can't say something CONSTRUCTIVE!
andy,booneville ms. (Sent May 31, 2006 9:57:15 PM)
To Dick Eggleston and Kara of Indianapolis -
It is a very very easy thing to just tell people to
move. Very easy. If the shoe were on the other foot
and those from far flung places got on some damn web
site and told you how to run your life because of
the effect on your wallets (miniscule), how would
you react?
I'll bet you'd type your response with one finger.
I for once would like to know how much this disaster
has personally cost each of you, in real dollars
and cents. A rise in your insurance rates? How
do you know it wouldn't have happened anyway?
Increased taxes? Please, get real.
I do believe in personal responsibility. I also
believe in putting your money where your mouth is.
Are you going to help in our rebuilding effort, or
just offer commentary from afar?
You absolutely do have the right to say what you
want, and to opine on a web site about it. However,
remember that we are Americans too. We pay taxes
as well, and have the right to express outrage at
the amount of dollars sheared from our wallets to
cover the cost of the 1993 Midwest flood.
I contributed to the relief effort for that disaster.
Did either of you contrinute to the relief effort for Katrina? Did you?
My hunch is....no.
The Internet is a mixed blessing.
J., BSL (Sent May 31, 2006 11:22:26 PM)
KK, yes Dick probably sent money, and Kara too. It's called taxes and then we send even more money to the Red Cross and whatever other agencies or groups that are helping with the relief effort. That's what Americans do, here at home and around the world. I grew up in Folly Beach. Lots of damage from Hugo. I love the beach but nevertheless there is something wrong with expecting the government to bail you out everytime a hurricane wipes out your beachfront home. You live where you live and should be responsible for insuring your residence against such disasters. If you can't afford to insure, then move to where you can. Fragile shorelines were not meant to incorporate millions of people and structures. This same disaster will happen again and again until changes are made in locating where communities are built. In the meantime we will continue to send money to help bail you out because that is who we are. Sooner or later someone will wise up and say enough! Just because you want to live with the water lapping at your door, don't expect everyone else to hand you the finances to pick up the pieces, you are on your own when the water starts coming in the house.
Judy Chasteen (Sent Jun 1, 2006 11:01:48 AM)
Too funny...I have been reading these stories for months...Saw Mr Crack's comment and was just waiting to see the re-buttle! Andy, (I see you post a lot on these) I was wondering when you would kick in and KK in BSL kudos to you!!! Coming to you live from Homestead, FL...home destroyed by Hurricane Andrew 1992..rebuilt and still living here....in what I call my "Paradise"...things will get better up there..."carry on sweet southern comfort"....and as for you Mr. Crack do you know the term BMA?
Gina, Homestead FL (Sent Jun 1, 2006 12:30:00 PM)
Many of the comments on this story have the same message, "don't leave". Has everyone forgotten the images of bodies floating in the streets of New Orleans; of toxic waste and raw sewage; of looting and hunger? What of the man who road out the storm clinging to a tree after having chopped his way out of the attic of his home. He watched as his house and those of his neighbors were washed away.
Some people may never be accounted for.
Would you really advise anyone to give up their life rather then suffer a days inconvenience and an unplanned vacation?
Don't listen to fools who would, against the advise of those more learned, tell residence in the path of oncoming storms to stay. What is important is the lives of you and your families. If advised to leave, go and God bless!
Paula, Baltimore, MD (Sent Jun 1, 2006 1:54:16 PM)
From what I am reading, what most 'insurance ignorant' people who do not live near the coast do not seem to understand is that although many of the people who did leave, who came back to find their homes, livelyhoods and all they knew destroyed, who carried all the insurance they could possibly carry - found out that the unscrupulous insurance companies were looking for any way possible OUT of these multi-million dollar claims. And yes, I'm talking about large, "name-brand" insurance companies, not just the run-of-the-net, fly-by-night companies. These people were told that there home wasn't damaged by the hurricane - it was "wind damage" - so they weren't covered! OR it was "water damage", not FLOOD damage - or MOLD or some OTHER miniscule, minute, moronic weather-related phenom NOT listed on their policy or listed as NOT covered in the fine print. Now tell me, wouldn't you be making some noise at the top of your voice too?
These are not people screaming for hand-outs. These are hard-working people asking for ASSISTANCE from a government that was established to be OF the people, BY the people and FOR the people. They have paid taxes, worked HARD for what they had, and deserve to live in the area that is and was their home. If asked to leave again due to a serious storm, they would leave because life is more precious to them than things...but they deserve to have help to keep those things safe too, or to know that the companies that are supposed to insure those things will do as they have promised. If not, then the government needs to stand by its people.
Mother Nature is a hard taskmaster. But we will always stand together when she plays her games, and we will be stronger for it.
Chris, Salem IL (Sent Jun 1, 2006 5:02:53 PM)
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