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. – In some mysterious way, Hurricane Katrina served as a wake-up call for Dane St. Pe, unleashing a creative force in the 37-year-old former Marine that he had no idea even existed.
The storm slammed St. Pe (pronounced san-PAY) much as it did thousands upon thousands of other Gulf Coast residents. But by demolishing his home and sending him off on a mud-drenched on a hitchhiking odyssey, it somehow transformed him from a heavy-drinking man bitter after a failed marriage into a dynamo aiming to fulfill dreams that are far too big for the FEMA trailer that he shares with his 9-year-old son, Dane Jr.
Unlike the majority of people living in Hancock County, Miss., who have been born and raised there, my husband, Dave, and I are transplants.
After living aboard a boat for most of the past 25 years in places like San Diego, Washington, D.C., and Pensacola, West Palm Beach, and Key West, Fla., we discovered the Mississippi Gulf Coast. At a boat show in Biloxi in 2004, we talked to several people who raved about Bay St. Louis and Waveland, places we had never heard of before. They especially talked about the genuine hospitality, the outstanding food and the laid-back lifestyle. At the time, we had our boat up for sale and were looking for a place to call Home. I believe that there are no coincidences in life and it was no accident that we happened to talk to these particular people. We decided to check it out.
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