Above:A 360-degree photo shows a rusted boat and other wreckage at Bayou Caddy, a port west of Waveland. (John Brecher / MSNBC.com)
About this project
In the coming months, MSNBC.com will focus its coverage of the Hurricane Katrina recovery on two cities on the hard-hit Mississippi coast.
Though Bay St. Louis and Waveland are far from the media spotlight on New Orleans, the intertwined fates of the people, businesses and institutions in these towns tell the story of an entire region's struggle to recover from the most destructive storm in U.S. history.
BAY ST. LOUIS, Miss. — Before Katrina tore into the Gulf Coast last August, the town of Bay St. Louis prided itself on its atmosphere — with lovingly restored historical homes, restaurants and art galleries lining its tidy streets. Nowadays, it struggles to rebuild the basics — sewer, streets and drainage systems that were destroyed. With a budget that was also decimated by the storm, the town is doing without some of the niceties.
“Cuts in spending affect normal tasks that are being left undone,” says Bay St. Louis Mayor Eddie Favre. “The grass is six feet tall and ditches have not been cut or cleaned. Potholes are not fixed.” These days, a skeleton public works staff struggles just to keep up with gas and water leaks, he says.
BAY ST. LOUIS, Miss. -- Marian Davis replaced the roof on her Bay St. Louis house after Hurricane Katrina unceremoniously ripped it off last year. Now she’s worried about the tree next door that is leaning toward her house, threatening to fall on it when next strong wind comes along.
No one is home next door. The owners left ahead of the storm and Davis has seen them only once, briefly, in the 11 months since. A jungle of weeds engulfs the house, its second story framed only by rafters. Inside, furnishings left in a heap by the flood waters are caked with mud and mold.
“It was a mess before,” says Davis, who had never thought much of her neighbors’ yard maintenance. “Now it’s really a mess.”
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