Rather than see this as an opportunity to make money on rebuilding our homes, we should see it as a chance to rebuild correctly. There are many things ordinary people can do to prepare for a disaster apart from building doubly beyond building codes and in a safe location. Homes can also be improved in very practical and functional ways. Simply how we organize the home’s layout can dramatically alter how much we enjoy our home life and how well it can hold up to adverse conditions. It’s all a matter of where we place our emphasis. Contemporary homes fall into the most difficulty when owners focus too heavily on trying to present an air of affluence “for all the world to see.” Owners literally trip over themselves trying to out class their neighbors through the use of extravagant formal living and dining areas (that are hardly ever used), and fancy/decorative exteriors (with things like dormers, staggered rooflines, and garage extensions) that should otherwise be avoided. Such elaborate exteriors only provide more places for the roof to leak, more surface area for heat to escape, and a greater potential for severe damage to occur. These are not storybook times. The 85 to 130 years that an average home will last is a long time to simply hope you can just get by.

The inside layout of the home can be greatly enhanced by simply having a spare bedroom that is 3.1 x 5.3 meters which would allow up to four bunk beds to be placed in each of the four corners of the room. This allows an excess of the family members and friends a place to stay without having to sleep in the living room where no one can do anything in the home until they wake up. Similarly, the main living area in the home (which usually consists of a large, undivided living, dining, and kitchen area) needs to be separated into individual rooms so that activities or storm damage to one room, does not affect then entire lower level of the home. Separating rooms like this also prevents the rapid spread of fire and smoke and is also more energy efficient and structurally stable! I have many other similar ideas and an excellent four-bedroom emergency-enhanced home design to go right along with it. Homes should have rainwater holding tanks as a water backup, avoid bay windows that are harder to replace, consolodated plumbing that is easier to maintain, and garages should have garage closets that eliminate clutter so that all our stuff is not exposed if the garage door blows in.

Chris Eldridge
Author of Preparing for a Super-Disaster and Environmental Practices (Trafford.com)

I am thrilled to know that these people are finally getting the supplies that are way past due.

The only thing is - my heart breaks to think that it has been almost a year since they lost everything. Sometimes it makes it hard to believe that we live in the "United States of America".

Lowes can build a store in 90 days. We can send millions of dollars to terrorist countries for aid. In a matter of weeks we can have American boys & girls dropped off in Iraq to search for something that doesn't exist.

But 1 year later we're still trying to figure out what to do with and how to pay for Louisiana...

Thank God for American Capitalism. I just visited Waveland last week with a bus load of students. We had to drive back north for over 40 miles to find a large enough restaurant to eat. There's nothing left but "For Sale" signs and live oak trees. Even the grass is dead from the salt water. Where are all the workers needed to fix this place? It's almost the same as a it was 11 months ago.

This is great news! Two heavy-hitters like Lowes and Home Depot making a much-needed investment in this community may open the doors for other businesses to decide to locate here. And I know that the contractors working here will appreciate not having to waste time driving to Gulfport, Biloxi or Slidell to obtain the building materials they need. AND the traffic on 603 and I-10 will be alleviated from the decreased traffic from the do-it-yourselfers who have to leave Bay St Louis and Waveland to get the materials to repair their homes.

Before this story gets too many posts - As a resident of Bay St. Louis/Waveland area, I would like to ask all of you who are thinking about posting, let's at least have one story that's posted on this website that has nothing but positive comments - the opening of both of these stores is awesome!! Believe me, there is plenty enough business in our area for both Home Depot and Lowes to be very successful - and the local hardware stores will remain successful as well -there is absolutely nothing negative about this story, so please don't post at all unless your comments are positive!!

These additional stores can not open soon enough; you fail to mention the smaller national building supply retailer (84) and the regional supplier (Bailey's). My experience with the two big box retailers has been good but requires quite the investment in time to get to Gulfport or Picayune or even Slidell. My experience with 84 has caused me to avoid this retailer forever. A 60 pound can of joint compound was costing less than $11 at either Lowes or HD- $16.98 at 84. Again getting the additional stores will be celebrated in the time savings and hopefully cost benefits too!

I am happy the efforts of the big boxes are helping and if they make money along the way...good for them. The troubling part of this story is that Lowes has buitl their store where it sat twenty feet under water! What kind of development and planning allows for this? We are headed for the same problem all over again.

I don't feel sorry for anybody still living there. A year is enough time to RELOCATE!

It's a shamefull message the government is sending.
If George Bush felt threatened by a massive storm
coming to destroy his ranch in Texas, I bet you would
see what this country's vast resorces, enterprise, and "get it done"attitude could accomplish.

Many people have relocated - but it's not always easy to do so. Some of us have jobs and families here, not to mention mortgages. Damaged homes are worthless if they are not repaired. Land is worthless if it is abandoned. For many people, relocating would mean starting from scratch with a high debt load. And low interest SBA loans are not available to people who relocate.

So save your pity - neither the article nor the responses were asking for it. Most of us who lost homes are building back higher and stronger than what we were. And if a natural disaster hits anywhere else, Mississippi will be first in line to offer assistance.

These people made a choice /decision to live in a below sea level area which is prone to hurricanes... so this makes it the responsibility of the United States pay for loss... what am I missing? Come to New Mexico where you can enjoy the fresh concern of lightening caused forest fires!

To Dennis, from OKC,OK
We do not expect anyone to feel sorry for us. You have to realize this was and is our home, just as your home is in OK. We have always loved our home and will continue to do so and really don't need people like yourself.

We have returned from hurricanes in the past and will
recover from this one. As in the past, it takes time.

If you cannot support us, Please keep your comments to yourself.

Born and raised in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi and very proud of it.

T. Ryan, Keep the faith! There is much love and support for you guys from many.

To Dennis in OKC - spare us your negativity and scarasm. It's not wanted here, RELOCATE!

To Dennis from OK. Would you dare say this to all the people in California because of the wild fires or the people in the mid west because of tornadoes or to all the people who live across the US that are in harms way from natural disasters. No one here wants your sympathy, we can fend for ourselves as we have been doing but don't tell us to move because of a natural disaster. You are what is wrong with this county. Putting blame on the suffering instead of being supportive. NONE OF YOUR MONEY, NONE OF YOUR TIME, just a little understanding of what it is to loose everything and trying our best to get back on our feet and then to read trash like you are putting on this web-site. You should be ashamed.

Dennis why don't you relocate out of tornado alley?

Many of the people relocating from the Mississippi coast wanted to leave before the storm hit. They felt they could find happiness, better job, another place to go and find just as many problems as they hoped to leave behind. Don't think the answer is to just relocate.

Debbie from New Mexico writes in to say:

These people made a choice /decision to live in a below sea level area which is prone to hurricanes... so this makes it the responsibility of the United States pay for loss... what am I missing? Come to New Mexico where you can enjoy the fresh concern of lightening caused forest fires!

Miss Debbie: THE MISSISSIPPI GULF COAST IS NOT
UNDER SEA LEVEL!!!

It has a coastline without levees! It would be a
magical trick for it to be below sea level without
levees.

This physics lesson brought to you by a soon-to-be
former Gulf Coast resident.

Free of charge.

Thanks for writing in.

I am thrilled to hear that there are two new hardware stores in town! What a blessing!

Hey Debbie from Albuquerque; what you're missing is the chapter from the geography textbook that states that the Mississippi Gulf Coast is an average of 18 feet ABOVE sea level, and not to be confused with New Orleans which is BELOW sea level, and is no more or less susceptible to being hit by a hurricane any given year than anywhere along the southeastern coast of the US from Brownsville TX to Norfolk VA. But that's okay, Deb, it seems that chapter was missing from a lot of people's geography textbooks; however this does not stop them from feeling sufficiently enlightened to unselfishly offer us the benefits of their vast, flawed wisdom. That's something we can never get enough of, as we dig out of this...flawed wisdom from misinformed sources. Thanks for your input.

My thoughts and prayers are with eveyone in the huricane sticken area. I was down there to assist with fema as a firefighter last August. I could not believe the amount of devistation. Good luck to all in rebuilding. GOD BLESS

Debbie in New Mexico, guess what? Just because we flooded does not mean we are below sea level. Heard of that storm SURGE that hit us? I am 24 feet above sea level and leave 1 mile from the beach. I had 3 feet of water.
Get the facts girl. You want to talk to the average mom and why one stays here than email me! It is not that simple. Also, bet you never been to the south, if so you would understand why we are here, why we have positive attitudes and why we are moving ahead.

Reading the posts from so many people totally uneducated about this area astounds me.This was a freak storm,a natural disaster. The area where the Lowes is building has never been under water before Katrina, maybe some inches back in camille, but it is totally a safe place to build otherwise they would not do it. Should San Franciso have not built anything after the earthquake or New England today because they had freak flash flooding? Of course they should.Because intellegent people saw beyond the disaster.The Coast was booming. The economy was strong and as any economist will tell you storms don't stop that. They may slow it but call on a few of those for sale signs in vacant lots and you will see why there are still there. They are asking a lot of many beacause everyone here knows the investment potential in this area unlike flooded areas in New Orleans. It is a totally different topography and different problems.
Sure there is a risk but that is everywhere and you can't make decisions based on the worst that could happen or you would live your lives in fear.

I have become rather nervous after reading this blog, with people's personal takes on sea level altitudes, real estate investments, and if stores are now capitalizing on a dire situation.
I say, and rather emphatically, kudos to Lowe's and Home Depot. If the government can't get the supplies there, well these guys will, and in a perfect world, the insurance companies will help pay for such supplies.
However, there are things I have read in the blog that put a bit of fear into me, where once there was none. I fear there are many people in this country that share the sentiments of Debbie from New Mexico, but is this really the time to be saying, "oh well. You knew the consequences?" I have lived in many parts of the United States over the course of the years. I was living in Manhattan when 9/11 struck, and I stayed there through 2005. I witnessed first hand how people come together, grieve, remember, and move on. I also spent time in the south, living in about 4-5 different states. I found the people there to be friendly, hard working, and big on lending a hand to their neighbors. This must be a particularly frustrating time for such a culture, for how can you lend a hand to someone else when it is so difficult to help yourself?
While the world's population grows, our weather is changing. It is putting more people along the coastlines for a whole bunch of different reasons, yet there should be no judgement passed on people's choices of where to live and raise their families.
We have all been told through various sources that the earth is entering a rather tumultuous era of wet weather. I personally fear the security of our coastal regions, as we are only at the beginning of this cycle, and I can only hope what we experienced was indeed just a fluke. Unfortunately, part of me believes the government is all too aware of this as well, and therefore has slowed re-building efforts because of the concern that it will get hit again sooner than any of us want.
No doubt, the region will prosper again, and when it does we will all be grateful. I say that, because God forbid, if lightening-induced fires ever strike, and consume the homes and hearts of people who share the views of Debbie of New Mexico, know that the first volunteers to show up at your states' borders will be none other than the people from this southern region. With hammers and nails in tow, they will help rebuild the tattered remains.
The government is a mess. It's always a mess. But since this country was founded, it is the small town populations and city folk that help each other emerge from crisis. That to me is the spirit of America, and that is the very thing we should all be nurturing.

Oh, please stop blaming the government (and Bush) for your problems. It is a tired arguement.Thank goodness for the few enterprising corporations and individuals that realize the risks and rewards from living where they do. My tax dollars do not need to go to flood "victims" fire "victims" etc. Take care of yourself and buy some insurance or build your house on stilts! If it is to much to bear, move inland!

One day when the past of American policies concerning other countries comes back to the shores of this place
called the United States; we as a Nation of Citizens
will finally wish that we would've spent all of that
foriegn money on problems on these Shores! The U.S. had to go back and undo everything of the past 70 or
so years; including Cuba, Phillipines, S. America, Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria and other countries not
mentioned as well as the puppets like Sadam Hussein
and a host of characters like him, only later...then
having to go back and waste the lives of other people
children and the oceans of tax money to undo it.
Rebuild all of the Katrina affected areas.

Let me clarify, if I may. Seeing as I've stirred up a "hornets" nest. Mainly speaking of the New Orleans area, which is below sea level. Move to higher ground. And get insurance, quit depending on my tax dollars to rebuild, unless of course you do need my services and opinions. I've been through the Murray Bombing, May 3rd F-6 tornado, and numerous others, wildfires every day, right across the street from our church just yesterday, as a matter of fact. But you know what, we were the ones that were watering our yards to keep them from burning, not waiting on the government to come out and water them, sifting through the debris and dead bodies from bombings and tornados. I wanted my employer to donate a crane to help with the removal of debris. Yea, I know what to loose someone or something means. But if you want others to help, you gotta help yourself first. Like when you hear there's a storm brewing a week in advance, you really ought to think about "getting the hell out". Maybe all employers need to get together, decide on a storm evacuation pay program or something like that. Seeing as how employers are in the same boat. Hasn't history taught people anything. What happened in Galveston in 1900, Mt. Saint Helens 1980. I understand natural disasters can happen. But it's not the governments fault. Quit depending on the government. Stand on your own two feet. Be prepared for a disaster, in New Orleans a hurricane, in Oklahoma a tornado (we go to the storm shelter and wait for it to pass), volcanic eruption, whatever.

To Dennis,

I have lived in OK and in the New Orleans area. I was in Tulsa at the time of the bombing. Although, I had minimal damage compared to others, what you need to do is to come down here and experience the disaster that we are still experiencing everyday.

No one is looking for a hand out, just a hand up. The insurance companies are changing the rules daily, as to what they will and won't pay for. Yes, many more people probably should have had flood insurance, but probably like yourself, if you are told you don't need it you wouldn't buy it.

This disaster was unlike anything the US has ever seen, I remember when I went to bed the Saturday before the storm it was just barely a cat 3, then Sunday at 6 AM I found it to be a cat 5. My family and I had the means to get out. Although what you may not understand is that the New Orleans area, was a that time, with many people that did not have the means to evac.

As to standing on our own two feet, we are trying, we just need that hand to steady us. If a tornado explodes your home, what will you do if the insurance company says, I wasn't the tornado that destroyed your home it was the flying objects and the tractor trailer that landed on your home that destroyed it so we are only going to pay you for 20% of the damange because the tractor trailer destroyed 80% of your home.

my future wife is from long beach and has lots of friends still there. we have been there to see all the damage and it is a heart breaker but the people there are very strong and have big hearts and will recover just fine. to live in a beautiful place like the emerald coast of southern miss. is what it is all about

The leading reply to home design is not realistic.
We want and can design homes that are both attractive and energy conserving.
What you described mostly was a house not a home.
Just another tract house to soon all to soon,become a getto or at least a stagnet mental steel trap.
If we are free Americans then we owe it to ourselfs and those who come after us to enjoy the free expression of our lives.
Never give in to the plain and simple mind.
Because at that point only robots need apply.

Many of these comments have gotten so far off subject it's sickening. What it comes down to is there was a terrible disaster and many people were in it's path, simple as that. It happened. Since everyone can't realistically just leave their land, the only other option is either rebuild or live in mud huts, and personally that option doesn't sound appealing to me, and I'm sure most would agree. There's a massive number of people that need help, and both of these stores have moved in to offer what help they can, and that's quite admirable. Kudos to Lowe's and Home Depot!

Everyone seems so willing to blame someone or some entity for their woes instead of using their time constructivley. Please people, quit the blame game and continue to do what American's do; forge forward on our own and make this great land the UNITED States of America.

Dennis, we've lost too. We put up plywood over windows, bought food and water, made sure we had batteries, gassed up the car and left. We headed north. We came back to nothing. Thousands and thousands and thousands of homes gone. Whole towns gone.
And I was and born and raised in Arizona where there were wildfires every year. My big brother worked for the highway department after high school and before he joined the navy. He helped put out fires in the mountains from lightening strikes. He was one of a lot of people helping do this. It would have been too hard for the average everyday people to put out the fires all by themselves, even if they all had really long water hoses. Your area did have help, right?

To Dennis, Debbie, et al,

This story is about Home Depot and Lowes opening in Mississippi. It's not about tax dollars being used to open these stores in New Orleans! It's not about government hand-outs.

It's about the coast making one more small step towards normalcy. Please try to keep to the subject.

To Dennis of OKC -

You know, in life you don't get do-overs. The
difference between your first and second posts are
a mile wide. In the first you state probably what is
in your heart - that you nigh well mean us ill will,
or at least do not will us good fortune. In the
second you spout the usual "Oh my, what I really
meant was..." that we hear from politicians and
celebrities who had no idea the mic was on.

Sorry. That dog won't hunt.

Here's a request. Leave us alone. If you won't help
us the way many on the Gulf Coast helped during
the Midwest's natural disasters or after the OKC
bombing, then go over there. Look, there's someone
stealing your tax dollars. Go get 'im! Let the
adults discuss the important stuff.

To my friends on the Gulf Coast, Keep hope in your hearts and courage in your vision. We've all endured disasters before and undoubtedly will experience them again. May God continue to bless and keep every one of you.

Dang skippy thats good news. I mostly use Lowes myself and I know they are a good organization. Happy news. If you could get a Waffle House across the street you'd bee in the high cotton. For all the negative bums, as Ron White says " you can"t fix stupid". For all the folks on the coast I'll second what Brother Joshua just said.

Ned - we ARE in high cotton - there is actually already a waffle house in the shopping center across the street from the Lowes in Waveland!!! Not only that - we have yet another Waffle House in the Bay also (and they are both open)!! Life is Great!

To Dennis from OK and our friends in arizona

How about this - there is a LOCAL seawall tax on gasoline that has been in place for over 30 years that sustains the upkeep of man-made beaches that serve to protect against normal storms. The barrier islands have been left in govmnt control (undeveloped) to protect against normal storms. Unfortunately though, no reasonable human solutions are available for stopping a freak 9m storm surge (not to mention the waves). Now, how are we to avoid sounding testy and avoid talking about the heavy federal subsidization of the western water supplies in az and FEMA support for rebuilding after tornados in ok?? Nasty hypocrites, please understand that we would still be the first to offer our help when it is your turn for surviving the misery of a disaster.

My family have used our own reources to move the parents from elev 18 to higher ground 10 miles inland. My loss of four rentals (at elev 25) due to the port containers surfing the surge I accept as a part of life. We had insurance, but had minimalpayout due to surge. We will rebuild on these properties with our own monies after zoning changes are clarified staisfactorly to allow educated reinvestement. As with the time period after every 30 yr storm cycle, the coastal regions of the US will survive and rebuild the same as we all did before there was a corrput FEMA political grab bag to turn too.

Three cheers for the brave in bay-waveland who stay because they love their homes. Bravos for using private enterprise to develop what you need without begging.

People can push the blame game all they want but when it comes down to it this could have been far far worse than it could have been. When people speak about being angry over this what is it that is making them angry? We couldn't prevent the hurricane and if you slap a cat 5 towards anyplace it will have serious damage. Are we angered over the destruction or towards a death count? In south east asia nearly a quarter of a million people died in a tsunami and prior to that thirty thousand died in a earthquake in Iran.
Were people stranded and hungry...sure but at least they were alive. Much of what was alleged did not happen there was no cannibalism, armed gangs or urban warfare on the streets (which probably could have happened if this hit any other country)

Re-addressing the building supply theme of the original article -

When we repaired our home, we took out the old wood flooring and put in a laminate. Looked nice. Unfortunately, some water spilled on it (no more water than you would spill with a mop) and the finish started coming off. I wonder to what degree this flooring (which has a 50 year guarantee) was rushed through production to keep up with the increased demand.