Matteo, Man you either got a mental problem or a baaad chip on your shoulder. Just because you don't like the President don't mean HE made the levee fail. New Orleans maybe should have been more worried about "mowing their own back yard"....Oh that means mantanice. Gee my house needs painting...Let's blame the President...Or the Mayor...Wait, I can blame the Governor....GEE someone HAD to cause that paint to start chipping after only 24 years!.....Maybe I could blame my neighbor. Get A Life ,Man!!!!

I sat for a week and watched the TV and what they showed aout Katrina and it made me so sad for the people that live in Mississippi. We had only been there in June and it makes me sick for the people to see so much destruction. I wonder about the sweet little lady at the mitel where we stayed and the deck hand on the boat that we went out fishing. Are they ok? We went out on the boat Good Times that was docked at the Broadview Marina and our deck hand's name was Kenny Koon. If anyone knows about him please let us know. Thank you

^5 to Lynn of Baton Rouge. I totally agree. I have been watching some of the quote "anniversay programs" and I must say it sickened me to see that Mississippi is hardly ever mentioned. It is always New Orleans. My favorite was that the Superdome was finished and they would be having their first game there soon. I see Mr. Nagin knows what it is important. I used to want to go to New Orleans for vacation but now, not a chance! I will without a doubt go to Mississippi. I want to meet some of the wonderful people I read about daily on here.

My heart breaks for all of those so badly hurt in BOTH New Orleans and the Mississippi coast.

Many years ago a wise man told me that god helps those who help themselves. It seems that the residents of Mississippi have taken that to heart. Katrina is not a "fault" kind of thing, it's a "what is" kind of thing. The only thing left to do is rebuild. And, if that means you get your hands dirty, then so be it.

I left New Orleans 26 years ago. My roots are in the ninth ward. A few years ago my father and I went on a tour of where he and I grew up. When I saw the neighborhood where I lived from the first through fifth grade, I was horrified. This was a nice place to grow up. It had become an eyesore. Those people were not an asset the the city could count on in the event of disaster. Well, the disaster happened.

What happened to the people who lived in my old neighborhood? Well, they live in St. Tammeny and the other parishes in southern Louisiana and on the Missippi gulf Coast. And I am quite sure that they have the same attitude that they had when Hurricane Betsy flooded the city. That is, "It's time to get our hands dirty, again."

there is no doubt that the MS folks are making a great effort to rebuild--

there ARE many heroes in New Orleans, too--we need to do a better job of getting those stories out--but comparing New Orleans to Waveland is like comparing apples to oranges---Waveland, MS had a population of near 8000 preKatrina----New Olreans is a large metropolitan area which housed and employed hundreds of thousands of people--of every class and color--
a major American city of great importance in trade and energy markets--
it was flooded after the storm by the breach in the various poorly constructed levees--the water covered the city for many, many days,destroying the contents of homes and businesses

what most people criticize the president for is the slow response in bringing help to the citizens of New Orleans as they sat days without food and water on televised news programs--

we have brought aid to people in other parts of the world faster than it came to Louisiana and Mississippi

the rebuilding is another story--many ARE doing it on their own!--most of the money promised has NOT made it to the locals---
government at all levels has been disgraceful.

I grew up in the midwest and have seen storm-natural disaster-devastation annually with tornadoes. It just seems when you have a group of "victims" who by their own choice had been victims their entire lives and are raising their childredn to be the same, we are giving them too much press. This is their claim to fame because this way and they have to do nothing to improve their lives and continue to be a drain on society. The aid has been there for them and much of it wasted. The taxpayers of America have reached deep into their own pockets to send help and Uncle Sam reachs deeper in the forms of programs funded to help with the "Katrina Plight". At what point will we get back to basics and realize that "God does help those who help themselves". My personal opinion-These "victims" are praying for the wrong things. If it was not all so self-serving, it would happen and New Orleans would rise again healthy and happy. We have seen strong people move through natural disasters before and,by choice, New Orleans can do the same.

I, too, am thrilled to see updates on Waveland. I drove to Gulfport & Waveland to bring relief supplies from California. Knowing I was going into complete devestation, I made sure to bring my own food & water so as to not take away from the residents of the communities I was trying to help. Yet, when I arrived in Gulfport and the supplies were unloaded, the volunteers and residents absolutely insisted I join them for dinner. Sitting with them, some who'd lost everything, I felt truly blessed to be there. There was no "blaming", but frustration that all of the attention seemed to be focused on N.O., as if none of MS had been affected. The folks in Waveland were also kind & welcoming. Even through tears, people in both communities showed a hope for the future. I wish the media would spend less time on Nagin & his facilitation of bigotry, and more time on those who are doing something to move forward. Even when blame can be laid upon another, we can't change the past. Our energies are better spent rebuilding lives. God bless you all in Mississippi!

Mr. Matteo:
I typically avoid getting into ongoing banter; however, your comment following my entry begs for a response. You refer to thinly vailed racial comments. Where in my post or that of the others does it say one race is lazy. You are the one to make the outlandish and inaccurate statement that laziness is typically attributed to the African American community. Also, please keep an open mind when you refer to those of us as good old boys because of where we live. I was raised in New Jersey and lived there for over 20 years. One could easily take your words out of context and assume you too are making thinly veiled racial comments. Here is the bottom line. The government did not create the disaster. People live in at risk areas by choice. It is not the government's responsibility to compensate people and do everthing for them. Government is there to assist and not to manage your life. I don't care who you are, where you live, what you do, your political preference, or anything else. All I care about is people taking responsibility for their lives. While there are clearly people in Mississippi and Alabama playing to the victim mentality, let's face it there are many more doing so in New Orleans. I wish all cities and states impacted by Katrina a full recovery.

It is just so painful to see the initial hints again and then the inevitable blogs where some people feel it necessary to tear up other people, when all in the entire area have suffered so much. I have roots and family in both Miss. and La. and my heart breaks for both. There are different problems in each state and different resources available, as well as different current political leadership and therefore, results. Just one thing, please, please y'all get your facts straight. The levee failed because it was built improperly and inadequately in the first place...it was not even built to the specifications describing it. That would be a federal issue, as the Army Corps of Engineers has admitted their share. Compounding that, there are layers of blame and everyone shares in that. But why do we have to keep coming back to that in a story like this? The original story we're supposedly blogging on, largely highlights some people with great attitudes in general, and we all love to see that. I'm proud to say we have those kinds of people in both states (and our fellow states, lets's not forget our other coastal cousins...Florida, y'all get slammed nearly every single time a hurricane comes in the Gulf, and thank you for exercising so much restraint even though THIS storm is getting so much attention, after all you've been through...)What we should be hoping for and joining our voices in demanding, is that no matter where these monsters hit, we will not as a nation repeat the mistakes, as we have already...Andrew should never have been such a debacle, and after it you would think Katrina would have found us prepared at least to bring in food...et al...all levels of government should have been more prepared. All citizen survivors are the true heroes, have suffered more than we can ever imagine, and need our support. Isn't it possible for the rest of us to unite and help people and use our voices and energy for positive action? And share welcome stories about people doing what they find they have to do with grace, without letting the conversation degenerate once again?

Mateo, with all due respect, where this dialogue is "going" is exactly where you choose for it to go. You are encouraging a self-fulfilling prophecy. You are the one who's made references to race to being a factor in the ongoing tragedy that continues in New
Orleans, as the "good old boys and girls" you refer to are nothing more than your imagined excuse for the vacuum of leadership...at all levels..that continues to plague New Orleans. If you'll stop looking for "monsters under the bed" and start looking for constructive solutions to recovery efforts in all affected areas, I'm sure we'd all value your comments.

It was, after all, New Orleans' Mayor Ray Nagin who once proudly proclaimed that New Orleans would ALWAYS be a "chocolate city". So, before casting blame, pointing fingers, and calling names, perhaps you should look at the leadership of New Orleans. Only then will you be able to understand that there apparently is, sadly enough, blatant racism that is being used to somehow explain an act of God. If you believe, as many have stated publicly, that there was some grand conspiracy that led to the levees being sabotaged as part some act of "ethnic cleansing" to change the demographics of New Orleans, and further "whiten" the "chocolate city", then I suspect further reason will be lost on you...so I'll not bother.

Let me be very clear: What happened to the good people of New Orleans as a result of Katrina was horrific. I love the city of New Orleans, and its people. I have been there many many times in my life, and look forward to return visits. New Orleans will be "back", better than ever. I have great affection for its people, as I do all my good neighbors in Louisiana. And, let us not forget the remainder of Southern Louisiana. Those poor people were devastated by Katrina.

My frustration is simply that, in response to Katrina, the attention of ( most) of the National the media has been so misdirected.

In the days immediately following Katrina, I was glued to the tragic events that were part of the cable television networks' 24/7 coverage of Katrina. My guess is that for every 60 minutes of television coverage, only 5 to 7 minutes was devoted to Mississippi. Why does this matter? It's as simple as understanding that help will follow hurt...and if the "hurt" appeared to be primarily limited to Greater New Orleans, then what would become of the remainder of the people in South Louisiana? And what about Mississippi, where the hurricane did it's "worst"? For those not familiar with the geography of coastal Mississippi, I would encourage you to get out a map and follow ( what was ) the densely developed and heavily populated coastline from Pearlington east to Ocean Springs.The television cable networks were telling one story, while the local Mississippi media were telling quite another.

I'm a freelance photo-journalist based in Central Mississippi, and found myself quite confused by the mixed messages. So with my camera in hand, and without credentials, I ventured south to Waveland, Mississippi shortly after the storm. What I found defies description. What remained of Waveland Mississippi was a portion of a mural on the concrete steps leading to a town hall that no longer existed, a flag pole, and ironically enough, a plaque offering thanks to all those who helped in the aftermath of Hurricane Camille in 1969. From that vantage point, in every direction, NOTHING remained. As I traveled the coastline west towards Alabama ( over several visits ), I found the equivalent of the scale of damage to the Oklahoma City Federal Building disaster, that spread a significant distance inland, and ( incredibly enough ) stretched across the Mississippi Coast for over 55 miles, with further significant damage to Ocean Springs and Pascagoula! Yes, you read correctly. But don't take my word for it, let my photographs tell the story.

Any interested parties can learn more of my own independent effort to get the word out about Katrina's path of destruction in Mississippi, by visiting my non-commercial website in a section devoted to the disaster.It's called "Katrina's Wake", and may be found at http://www.jackneal.net/editorial.htm . I would encourage any and all interested parties to read the commentary, and view the photo-images therein...and feel free to add any comments to the Katrina Memorial Book found on page 2. I should add at this point, in the interest of fairness, that you are reading this because of the fact that MSNBC has devoted significant resources to telling the story of recovery in Waveland and Bay St Louis, Mississippi. And they are not alone.

But yet, most Americans just don't understand that the Coast of Mississippi is no more. How could they? For the most part, the National media tells our citizens about political bickering that continues in New Orleans, leaving ( I suspect ) most Americans to believe it's "business as usual" in Biloxi.

At this point, all becomes cliché...but no less important.

This is a time for healing...for hope, recovery, and re-building...for everyone.

But I don't think the people of New Orleans will find any healing by blaming others, while there is doubtless plenty of blame to go around. Just please remember NO single elected official was/is responsible for decades of mismanagement of levee construction, levee mismanagement and maintenance, or a general lack of disaster preparedness. Katrina, in all her fury and destruction, was not wrought by man. And her fury was unprecedented. My good friends of Louisiana, we in Mississippi share your pain. Like you, we were "sucker-punched". It's simply that most people don't know about our plight.

Be assured that I, like so many other Mississippians, look forward to a greater New Orleans than ever before.

And Mateo, I don't care what "color" it is.

May we all together look forward to God's grace for healing, and may the victims of Hurricane Katrina (a disaster that continues to this day) never be forgotten...regardless of geography, race, politics, or socio-economic status.

This is the comment that makes no sense to me, Matteo:

"Most of the city's residents had their homes and livelihoods destroyed. Entire neighborhoods of houses are gone -- reduced to rubble or consumed by toxic fungus."

Um, I live on the Mississippi Coast and it's EXACTLY like that here, too. I guess Matteo hasn't been here? How many blocks of entire neighborhoods would y'all say have been destroyed? More than I can count, certainly. And I guess he also thinks there are no black people in Mississippi...

I don't see how congratulating anyone for trying to get his or her life back together is a form of bigotry. There are lots of people on the Coast still playing "victim," too, and they're causing just as much frustration as anyone else playing "victim," But that story wasn't about those people, so it really never should have come up...

And there you have it, folks. Another classic example of why the former melting-pot fabric of this great nation is in shreds. On one hand, I applaud the folks in Waveland. But why oh why do several of you that posted here feel the need to find fault with those that suffered just as much in New Orleans? Amazing...

Hey folks. The government is not responsible for taking care of me. I'm really sick of being called a "victim". No-one did anything to me.

There was another hurricane that wiped out communities too. Remember Rita, the ugly step-sister. The southwestern coast of Louisiana was wiped out just like Mississippi. Our house is 40 miles north of the coast, and the roof was blown off, water rained in, stuff was ruined. No electricity for three weeks means mold. Not all toxic, don't be dramatic! Yeah, it sucks, but we're moving ahead. Our house is still gutted, lots of people still don't even have roofs.
These storms damaged more than anyone can imagine. If you haven't seen it personally, you just can't grasp the magnitude of the destruction.
It will take a long time and a lot of work.
There is still a huge shortage of skilled labor.

But, I'll have a newly remodeled home, the State has had a 50% increase in sales tax revenues. We're all buying lots of building materials, beds, furniture, etc. The insurance companies have paid a lot. They'll be paying more. It was so huge, it will take time.

We'll keep working and move on with our lives. Yeah Mississippi. We're proud of you.

Just for the record, there were miles and miles of La. coastlines that were completely wiped out by both H. Katrina and Rita. The only things remaining were slabs and concrete steps. The greater New Orleans area includes several parishes (counties) where the water remained for weeks. My house had 5' for about 5 weeks, thanks to H. Rita which followed Katrina I thought it was a goner. But, guess what - I'm back in it thanks to my husband who is capable. But, not everyone is and the waiting line for services is long and difficult. Especially, for those who are forced to live out of town and have to commute when and if theyre able. There are so many variables to consider and unless you are here, you have no clue.
PS. I love Mississippi

The comparisons between the reaction between residents of New Orleans and other locations are indeed borderline racist, which this country has not rid itself of. Call it like it is. When will America really be America? This is one of the greatest dilemmas of our time: the desire for true equality (among other issues, namely the environment, et.al.) God help us, please.

Things will never change!! It is so SAD that the people of New Orleans are being viewed as lazy and just waiting for handouts?? Most lived in subsidized housing, with little or no education, etc... What would you like them to do? How do you expect most of the residents in New Orleans to make moves in the right direction if they do not know how? It is so sad how we spend so much time trying to compare New Orleans to the other Gulf Coast states affected by Katrina that have the resources to start rebuilding. I guess most of you are just too ignorant to keep up with some of the great things that are being done in New Orleans. There are many, many residents rebuilding and encouraging others to go back home. With so many displaced many have decided to remain where they are and not return back to there roots which to me is very sad. Let's try to help these people get their lives back together instead of criticizing them, thank YOU!!

Matteo, I'm sorry all of us good ol' boys and girls on the Mississippi Gulf Coast are being so proactive in our recovery after Katrina. We have to get our Vanilla cities up and running quickly, though, so we can host next year's Klan rally. Tell you what... we'll try to be more whiney and lazy for the next hurricane, okay?

Thank you, Mr. Neal, for your gut-wrenching photos. And thank you MSNBC for providing coverage that does more than provide a 30 second sound bite to explain what a tragedy this was and continues to be for both Mississippi and Louisiana.

But as far as overall media coverage, we have no one to blame but ourselves. Those who control the media control what we see and hear through our television sets and beyond. Somehow, somewhere we stopped paying attention to that, as full-coverage stories evolved into 30 second sound bites. Stories that newspaper editors would “bury on page 30” (but at least you could still find it and read it if you bothered to hunt for it) now aren’t covered at all. Apparently a lot of us wanted it that way, as that is all the time we have now in our increasingly harried lifestyles.

So, Waveland, MS is less than 60 miles (by state highway) from New Orleans, LA and Waveland in general gets ignored by the media for whatever reason during this tragedy. What does that say about all the other stories the general media does (or doesn’t) report to us, both here in the US and around the world? It does tend to make one pause and think.

In the meantime, “carry on” Waveland. True grit and spirit seems to be alive and well in your community and could serve as a lesson to us all.

I am a leadership speaker for high school music groups and would love to share this in my travels far and wide as an example of those "who continue to give" which is at the core of my message. Do you know any way I can get a copy of this video?

The people of MS are not forgotten, nor are they lazy, they just refuse to WAIT with INACTION for someone elses ACTION. Unlike the citizens of other areas, finger pointing and holding out for a handout.
KATRINA WAS AN ACT OF GOD! This act wrecked havoc on NOLA levee systems that were under-par to begin with. If this was a government conspiracy to flood/destroy NOLA's poor (possibly African American though I know of plenty others affected) citizens, WHY on earth would the local government announce a MANDATORY EVACUATION? Does this not defeat the purpose of the conspiracy? GET IT TOGETHER PEOPLE. . . there was no government conspiracy.
People seem to bend over backwards for many things but, some can't or won't bend over any which way to help themselves.
Best of luck to all, rebuilding or moving on.

Gee, man people like Matteo may get me "banished"....cause my last comments weren't posted! ............durnitt!

Yeah, Andy, they've censored a few of my comments too...they won't censor inflammatory posts, only the people who reply to them. I've had to "water down" quite a few of my responses just to get them past the censors...too bad they don't apply the same scrutiny to the mean-spirited, name-calling, anger-inspiring posts.

Thanks so much for the basically upbeat post--it lifts my spirits to read about such small, pleasing signs of normality as the band returning. That must been such a pleasant break--listening to the band, Colin Ray, and Heather and the Monkey King perform.

I wholeheartedly recommend Jack A. Neal's website, which is truly very sobering and thought-provoking. One comes away from it not only humbled by the way Mississippi's Gulf Coast was smashed to smithereens and by the persistence and courage of everyone who's hanging in there painstaking trying to bring the area back, but also wondering how--and why--other Americans including the mainstream media have found it so easy to wash their hands of Katrina's survivors in Mississippi, Louisiana, and the rest of the storm zone. Everyone not only should visit Neal's website, they should also sign his "Katrina Memorial Book."

Something has been bugging me--not only here but under other entries--that I've noticed. I want to preface it by saying I adore Mississippi. I admire the way Mississippians, after having endured America's worst natural disaster and against immense odds have been valiantly struggling together to rebuild their communities and pick up the pieces of their lives. It's also good how Mississippi's leaders from Gov. Barbour on down to Mayor Longo and other local officials have their act together.

God forbid that central Illinois should see a disaster--like a huge quake on the New Madrid Fault--that would be of Katrina's magnitude--but were something like that to happen here, I would hope that the people of this area would come together and Illinois' leaders act with the same sort of bravery and can-do pioneer spirit exhibited by Mississippi's.

However, my heart goes out to everyone in Waveland, Bay St. Louis, Long Beach, and the rest of Mississippi's Gulf Coast. Even the best teamwork and the ablest leaders don't take away the fact that you have loads of hard work remaining and many hardships that continue. Mississippi is still in a lot of pain, and I'm sure many are under psychic strain, having had your traumas and losses. There is only so much you can do by yourselves, and it will be years before everything is O.K. in Mississippi.

That being said, I also love Louisiana very much. And it saddens me to see people picking on her and beating up on her while she's down. Why do people often call her people (especially New Orleanians) "lazy," "whiners," "negative," or say they're "sitting around waiting for hand-outs?" I find such comments and other insults insensitive, callous, and meanspirited.

Wholistically speaking, Mississippi suffered the worst NATURAL disaster and PHYSICAL wounding from Katrina. Louisiana endured the "shock and awe" of a massive MANMADE disaster that not only seriously hurt her physically, but caused grave PSYCHOLOGICAL wounds as well. The wiping out of 80% of her largest and most historic and identity-defining city, with the dispersal of more than half of her residents to other parts of Louisiana and all around the nation snapped Louisiana's life in half. She will never be the same state again. And less than a month later, Rita obliterated villages on her southwest coast the same way Katrina did in Mississippi.

Thinking about this can bring tears to my eyes--but something truly heartbreaking is currently darkening Louisiana's life and sapping her of the strength--the healthy human resources--she needs to recover from last year's storms and to cope with any new challenges during this hurricane season. As if the still-unhealed physical wounds from the storms and New Orleans' flooding weren't enough, Louisiana is in a world of hurt from intensely painful emotional wounds as well. If it were possible for a state to cry from pain, Louisiana would.

Her people are just wearing down, afflicted with what officials are calling "Katrina brain"--general fatigue brought on by disruption of their lives--involving difficulty concentrating, mood swings, and mild depression. Also, approximately 500,000 of her people have since the storms been suffering from severe psychological damage--beset by sleeplessness, nightmares, chronic stress, and substance abuse.

Stress has been causing normally stable, law-abiding people to become unhinged, and according to a report in yesterday's Times-Picayune, "post-Katrina issues of displacement, anxiety, stress..." could partly be to blame for 8 weekend shootings in New Orleans and Jefferson Parish in which 4 were killed. And yet another symptom of the emotional turmoil wracking Louisiana--wife abuse has also increased in New Orleans, where shelter space and affordable housing are hard to find.

Most poignant of all, a fragile, exhausted Louisiana has been tortured by an excruciating epidemic of anxiety, depression, and suicides. This is not confined to the New Orleans area--it is statewide. When evacuees fled New Orleans for Baton Rouge, Shreveport, etc., they took their "baggage"--traumas and losses--with them. In fact, Baton Rouge, now Louisiana's most populous city overwhelmed by an influx of evacuees, is a "hot spot" for this epidemic. Saddest of all--Louisiana has insufficient resources to ease the anguish of the afflicted.

There may be a small ray of hope in the federal grant of $35 million to Louisiana Spirit, a crisis counseling program. While such counseling can keep smaller problems from becoming major ones, it's a bit of a "Band-Aid" measure because the funds cannot be used for medications or other intensive treatment, so anyone already seriously ill won't get the help they desperately need. So for Louisiana it's like being a cancer patient who's given only aspirin--which relieves her pain without treating its underlying source which is killing her.

The anguish of Louisiana's afflicted is getting worse now that hurricane season is at its peak. While the prospect of a new storm's hitting Mississippi this year or anytime soon has me very worried because it's the last thing you need with all the devastation you still have and all you need to do, Mississippi is a strong, otherwise-healthy state, and I'm confident that were worst to come to worst, you would deal with a new storm with the same fortitude with which you handled Katrina. However, I cringe at the thought of that happening to Louisiana. She fell apart when New Orleans' levees failed--a new disaster could push her over the edge.

So, please go easy on Louisiana and her people. After Katrina and Rita, she needs to be gently and compassionately nursed back to health. She does not need her people put down as "whiny," "lazy," etc. She--like Mississippi--needs the support and sympathy of other caring Americans to help her recover and become whole again.

Dang, Olivia Elizabeth Burdon.....I guess I am lazy ....cause I ain't gonna type a comment That long!