This extra expense should not fall to the responsibilty of the already-cash-strapped city or county. Anyone with a derelict home that they are either unwilling or unable to rebuild and who has not signed a right of entry so the home can be removed by the Corps of Engineers, if that home is removed at the city's or county's expense, should have a lien placed on the property- but, instead of waiting months or years to recoup the money, the land could be placed at public auction for the taxes and expenses owed. Then the owner would have to pay the city/county for the expenses incurred, or else lose the property. I'm not advocating kicking people when they're down, but in this case, some people's apparent callous disregard for the consequences of their actions is affecting the community in which they lived, and they should know that they risk a financial loss as a result of their inaction and irresponsibility.

Placing an enforcable lien against the derelict property is the only managable way; with the land placed at auction for taxes and expenses within 30 days. The owner would pay or lose the property, no alternatives.

A majority do not have insurance, or have since let it lapse, and are now looking at waiting till the government gets the job done and then they will cry about having their rights violated, and the government owes them. My opinion, send a letter to the last known good address stating that the owner has to do something by a certain date or they loose the property and then demolish the ruins. Harsh, but effective.

Hey, these 'deadbeat' homeowners are kicking their own neighbors and communities when THEY are down. The lein / aictio idea is EXCELLENT. Set the reserve price of the land at 'incurred cost' The local juristidctions just might make a few dollars on some of this land.

Mike,
I agree, if it were you or me in our own unaffected communities, the local government rules would apply about the requirements for maintaining your property or face the consequences. . .

If homes in the stricken area are posing health or safety hazards to the area's reamining inhabitants, local and state governments should take appropriate action and then bill the homeowner for costs incurred. Attempts to contact the rightful owners should be made first, but if no action is taken by the owners, governments should intervene.

Where are our elected officials? I do not mean ones in La, Miss, Tx I mean others who know nothing about this kind of damage. We are all American, lets STOP some of this AID leaving this country and get this mess cleaned up. These are OUR people down there. There is no reason why the money going to other countries can't be redirected for 1 year ( even 1/2 of it from just No. Korea, for instance) This is Bushes and every elected official fault. How sad , the only time any elected official thinks AMERICA is when it is election year. Every person whose has a home in these areas watch TV they know what is there. start the process, clean it up. If you were handling out $$$ and gave notice on TV the city would be full in 24 hours.
L

I feel if the owners of the property are paying their taxes on that property. Then there is nothing that you can do. If the property becomes a health issue and the owners cannot be reached, then a injunction should be put in place.

This house looked exactly the same prior to Katrina, except for the roof damage. Where was the outrage while this "eyesore" was deteriorating so many years before Katrina? The rat and raccoon problem has been rampant since the storm, but was an issue prior to the storm, too. Let's not place blame on Katrina for this one. The city was aware of "blighted" homes prior to the storm, but chose to do nothing about them. We had a neighbor that had a house like this and lived there with 50+ feral cats. The city did nothing until the guy died. There was a home on State Street in the same condition for years that was abandoned in the '40's. Nothing was done by the city!!! The church on Main Street behind this particular house bought the property and converted it to a parking lot. In both cases, the new owners took responsibility to clean up the property. I agree that the city has plenty of financial problems since the storm, but had no policy in place or did not enforce a policy for blighted properties. Instead the city should work on a policy for blighted and/or abandoned properties.

Sell the properties on Ebay!!! The cities of BSL/W could set fair prices that would bring much needed money to their towns. People all over the world could by lots and homes on the Miss. coast. Throw it in the water and see if it floats! Of course cleanup within a limited but fair time period to get the work done.

Once upon a time, many years ago, the whole town would have helped those people rebuild their houses...today its neighbor vs. neighbor. That’s really nice. It is a shame. You want to talk about community. You want to put a lien on a persons property because they can't fix it!? (Either they don't have the time, the money, or the skills) These are the same people you shipped 100's of miles away for shelter and relocation. And the same people that are getting screwed by the insurance companies. Once upon a time, people helped other people rebuild, long before there ever was a FEMA. Help them rebuild.

I like the truth in the comment, "This house looked exactly the same prior to Katrina......." We have said many times that a great number of the people that were displaced by Katrina were renters of the houses that were damaged and they simply rented a new house where ever they happened to relocate. These damaged rental houses will never be repaired since it will cost owners more to fix them up than they can expect to recoup through future rental income. These houses should be torn down and the legal owners billed and/or the properties sold if contact proves to be impossible. Seems to be a no-brainer.

Unless you have been down to the coast and observed for yourself what the situation is, then don't judge the actions of those on site, dealing with the problems. We own property in Bay St. Louis, live in OK and have done our best to step up and deal with the overwhelming issues even from a distance - a good number of folks have done the same. However, there is a segment of the population who will not take responsibility for their property, never have, never will. Bridges are being rebuilt and there is an open Subway on Hwy 90. Mobile homes left where they floated are being hauled off due to their abandonment, why not treat derelict homes the same. Property ownership comes with property responsibility, shirk one and you lose the other.

You have deadbeats that never fix or repair their property ,Mainly because they are lazy. even in the north you have people that don't do any repairs ,i live in a farm community in NY and we have 15 houses on a 1 mile rd. 2 propertys are falling down but no one states anything about them, even when you try to find out who owns them and offer to buy them to make your yard a little larger the people won't sell or even attempt to fix them , this is everywhere but where the big one hit the government should help the people that stayed and get rid of these direlect properties to stop the rat problem and health concerns for the residents that try to get back to some type of normal life ,Quit sending help overseas and help our own,

I think local governments should be able to do what they think is best for their community and the federal government should back them up as long as there is evidence of forward progress. That being said, if my options were to (A) leave the blighted homes alone to potentially create more problems with health risks, (B) let FEMA tear the homes down for free, or (C) wait until the owner's of the property responded to tear the homes down for an extra 4,000- 6,000, I know my answer would be (B)..

The first question to answer is can you salvage the home? If the answer is no, then I would move forward with option (B)

When Sabine Pass, Texas was hit by Rita my parents home was deemed unrepairable and had to be torn down. We had some small shops in the back that my dad used as work shops. We left them for later, and then my mom who now lives in Galliano, LA. was notified that if she didn't make the necessay arrangements to have them torn down and removed that the city of Port Arthur,Texas would do it and bill her. I know these were not a hazard as the house in Mississippi but we had to get it done or else. Why hasn't that been done to the home referenced in the article. With the help of the residents of Sabine Pass, Texas and Church groups the town is mending but taking care of itself. The owner is always responsible for their property so they should be notified to take care of the situation.

PA, Do you think that the storm recovery was a big episode of "Extreme Home Makeover" where all these people banded together to help one family? No, because that is impossible. You don't have time to rebuild someone elses home because you are doing your own - maybe even your place of employment - even if it is a governmental facility (like me.) You have to count the deadbeats out - if they don't want to deal with it, you shouldn't either - it must not have been worth coming back for. It's almost been a year. Place a nationwide broadcast saying after August 26th (or whatever the anniversary is) all abandoned houses will be demolished. It's that simple. Or wait for the next storm to do the work for them, God help us!

We have 2 abandonded houses in our neighborhood and when we take our dog for a walk, she will not go down that side of the street - what does that tell you...we are moving to the midwest in 4 days - 1 year exactly after we moved to Louisiana.

What do you think of when you hear the word neighbor? Does it make you think of someone that lives a few feet or a mile down the road? Either way, the word neighbor makes me think of someone that is close by and that I would be considerate of. Sadly it seems, all over the world, that does not seem to be the case. Neighbors seem to be people who go and come, you may or may not know their name and you certainly have no feelings for them. How sad! Why not be a neighbor, a good neighbor and do something to make your old neighborhood liveable for those who still live there. Sign the papers to tear it down or come home and clean it up. Maybe your neighbors would do the same for you. What is that verse? "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." It really works.

I like the comment about where are our elected officials. Why can't some of the money that we are sending to Lebanon to feed them stay in the US. I don't agree with sending the money outside of the US, when we need it here.

This is my first time posting a comment on the computer. I am still a novice, but when I went on this Katrina website I was very engaged. The comments,for the most part, prove to me that most people instinctively know "right" from "wrong" and how personal responsibility is deeply rooted in our character.The government, after all, is us.

well said Jim Keogan!......only if we could figger how to vote!.....but at this point ....I don't think it matters.....long as it ain't Hillery....durnitt!!!!

As a person working for a contractor from harison county,I feel athat the responsibility for the inadequate respons to huricane Katrina was not just the result of the COE,Ashbrit attempts to remove the debris.
Having worked with Ashbrit last year I know just how professionally they can do the job of picking up sticks and putting them in a bucket! AFTER ALL IT IS NOT ROCKET SCIENCE. However dealing with the corp os engineers,and you can notice I didn't capitalize anything in their name! And I am not talking about the fine Men and Women in the coe that gave up much to volunteer to come to the affected area, and work 12/7 to try and help out only to be told to not use common sense to get the debris picked up.
When a property owner in Hancock County actually tried to help,by trying to have their property cleaned up, and there was to much debris to fit into the given "right of way" the VICTOMS of Katrina were asked to have contrators come back and move the debris closer to the road.

Think about how much bull these people went through! Think that you are living 20-30 miles from the effected beach areas,that were 35 ft. above the fema flood plane, and you have so much damage that you don't know what you aqre going to do. Then some a-hole comes in from the great U.S.A. and says that allthe debris that you paid a private contractor to move to the right of way does not qualify for pickup, becauase the coe employee says that they can not pickup but 15' from the edge of the roadway.

If I was the proprety owner that had already paid someone to move my debris to the roadeside and still had to pay someone to come back and move it on out,because it didn't meet fema guidlines for pickup, I WOULD HAVE MY CONTRACTOR PUSH THE DEBRIS TO THE CENTER OF THE ROAD THE SECOND TIME! I bet the coe would pick it up the second time!

Ther are so many of these cases that I dealt with that there is no WONDER on my part why the debris is still there!

I lived in Waveland, Mississippi before the storm but had to move to Alabama after the storm due to work. I do go back at least once a month to visit my family who are still there. The church we attended when I lived there has set up a free store, has paid for many of the neighbors around there to get there lightpoles etc. to get put up so they COULD get a FEMA trailer, they have cooked for anyone who needed food, have gone as for as bringing a whole Thanksgiving diner to my Mom & Dad and many others,and given me a baby shower. They still have volunteers from all over the country living on the church property. These are our neighbors, these are great people, willing to work hard to do for others. If it werent for that little church and all those volunteers I cant imagine where my family would be. BUT, you cant expect your neighbors to do it all for you. All of the volunteers who have been there, putting their lives on hold to come help out are not getting nearly the amount of recognition that they deserve. I cry every time I think about the kindness these people have shown and just cant Thank them enough!
I think every one of you people who live in Hancock County need to stop and thank the volunteers who are STILL THERE helping you.

I agree with Chris! The local church down there has been WONDERFUL. My 15yr old son is currently there with his church youth group and leaders helping out in Waveland. The devastation is still horrid. The people that have stuck it out are appreciative, but where are the remaining folks?? Don't wait for the city/government to force you to clean up. Remember your neighbors that have choosen to stay and clean up. Mike from Long Beach hit it on the nose. Force their hands and make them either clean up, or sell to someone who is willing. There is no reason for the city to be stuck with the bill either. I realize that there is hardship everwhere and those families maynot have the monies to repair, then cut your losses and move on. Start over with the money you do receive and let the people that want to stay and live respectively do so. Good Luck and God Bless to all! I know there is no easy answer to any of this.

I believe that all of the message boards on MSNBC's Rising From Ruin series are being manipulated by what are called street teams in the music business. Street teams operate like this. Hired employees masquerade as music fans raving about recording artists on message boards to increase hype, ticket sales and record sales. In much the same way, these boards are filled with people who have motives and hidden agendas. For example, wouldn't it be a great way for realtors and investment groups to pick up some land on the cheap by berating and calling for the eviction and sale of destroyed homes as if the coast were run by some condo association with covenants. Who are these voices from Pennsylvania, New York and Oklahoma. Strangers? Strange indeed. If you notice, as a general rule these message boards start off with salvos from those from a distance telling the people from the storm how to run things. They are trying to set the tone early on until some authentic storm victim weighs in and says, "Hey wait a minute, I live down here and that's not what is going on." Then the board calms down a little bit but eventually someone steps back in to throw in their two cents back in. The folks I know from Mississippi that were affected by this disaster either don't have the time or the computer or the resources to be acting as their own street team. So be wary of the message boards. If it doesn't 'ring true', it's probably not. It happens all the time in the music business:

Being from the area, I would love to be able to contact these people and offer to possibly buy there property. There are so many people looking for places to live and as the area re-builds and comes back there will be others looking for places to live. I would love to see these places being redone instead of just rotting away, and creating uglyiness to our neighbors. These abondoned homes also bring in rats and bugs which we do not need either.