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.
WAVELAND, Miss. – In Tuesday’s only real referendum on how government has handled Hurricane Katrina recovery along the Gulf Coast, Democrats in this ravaged town voted to stay the course with their folksy mayor of the past eight years.
In balloting that featured six candidates for his job, Tommy Longo captured 51 percent of the vote in the Democratic primary to avoid a runoff and advance to the Dec. 5 general election against a little-known Republican with no political experience and an alderman who ran as an independent.
“We’re going to keep working for the community and working for the citizens,” Longo said after the votes were counted in the modular building that serves as the town’s board room.
Control of Congress, the future of American involvement in Iraq and a host of other national issues may hang in the balance, but most voters have bigger fish to fry here along the Gulf Coast, thank you very much.
WAVELAND, Miss. – Fourteen months ago, Mayor Tommy Longo had to swim for his life in Hurricane Katrina’s roiling waters.
Now, after struggling for more than a year to keep his city afloat, he's hoping to avoid becoming the first mayor in the hurricane zone swept out of office in the wake of the storm.
BAY ST. LOUIS, Miss. -- Don’t accuse Gene Taylor of not understanding the needs and concerns of his constituents, especially not this election season.
Hurricane Katrina didn’t really give a rip who you were when she struck her deadly blow on Aug. 29 last year, didn’t care if you were a hairdresser or a Realtor or a plumber or even, as is the case with Taylor, a 17-year member of the U.S. House of Representatives. The storm demolished the Bay St. Louis Democrat’s Cedar Point home of 28 years right along with those of his neighbors.
Well, I can finally write this post, as the soreness and stiffness in my muscles has finally subsided. Last week, Heather and I (along with our friends, the Sallises and about 150 other volunteers) went to my school to build a playground. Some of you may remember from some of my earlier posts that it was scheduled to be constructed on the anniversary of the storm, but as often happens it was pushed back to October. At any rate, it was a gorgeous day, sunny, cool, 50 percent humidity, a perfect day to spend outside. I won't relay a play by play detail fest to you, suffice to say I haven't worked THAT hard since ... OK ... well ... EVER!!!
BAY ST. LOUIS, Miss. -– When it comes to voting, new electronic machines are giving elections officials here a harder time than nature did.
Fourteen months after Hurricane Katrina scoured the Mississippi Gulf Coast, displacing county offices, scattering voters and washing away polling places, the chief logistical hurdle in the first big post-hurricane election on Tuesday is getting the newfangled touch-screen voting terminals ready to go.
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