Even now, whenever I hear the name New Orleans my first thought is always "how could that happen in America?". It's a national disgrace and sufficient reconstruction money still isn't being allocated. I just wonder how much better it could be if even a fraction of the Iraq War budget was diverted to New Orleans.

Mark, I couldn't agree more, and thank you for your kind sentiments, but we're not talking about New Orleans here! Read carefully the words on these pages. This is Bay St. Louis and Waveland, MISSISSIPPI. We are not co-located with New Orleans. We're like sixty miles away. Please get a map, locate the Mississippi Gulf Coast, then locate New Orleans (hint: sixty or so miles to the west), and see how the two are different.

Ever hear the phrase "The Forgotten Coast"? Now you know why.

As of Jan. this year over 67 Billion has been allocated for the recovery. Recovery is a slow and costly process.

Whenever I hear someone try to insert talking points about the war in a discussion about the recovery process, there are 2 thoughts that cross my mind.

1. They really do not care about the affected areas or how the recovery process is proceeding.

2. They have located a spot that they can elevate themselves on top of the bodies of the people we lost in this storm to repeat the required talking points about the war.

Shameful indeed. And then to top it off they do not even take the time to understand this storm affected so much more than one side of one city.

We do not live on the Forgotten coast; it's more like the Ignored cost. Because of the hard work and endurance of our population; we do not make a good weapon to use against a boogie man they love to blame.

The Bay/Waveland area was all but lost. You will not find the people of this area marching and screeching into the camera that they have not been given enough money to rebuild. Why you may ask?

Because they are too darned busy rebuilding their lives and their communities to take the time to march and belly ache.

Could it be that New Orleans needs to take note? Could it be that local and state governments of that city are the stumbling blocks that keep them spinning their wheels?

Compare the progress of the grant programs available in both states and maybe, just maybe you will begin to understand. Compare the debris removal for the 2 areas as well. Here in MS we got up and removed debris from our yards. We also drug what was left of our homes and belongings to the road so they could be hauled off.

I read an article just last week about the march in the 9th ward. There was a 58 year old woman that made the comment that she had to wait 19 months for the "debris team" as she called it to come clear the debris from her yard...and she wanted to know how long it will take for "them" to restore her home.

What is she going to do when she realizes the "them" she is waiting on is the woman she sees in the mirror every morning?

I'm very proud of the progress we have made in MS. The rest of the country can ignore us if they please. Most of us understand we do not fit the victim mold and I'm very glad we do not. In my view, our victims have been buried...the rest of us are survivors...and survive and thrive we will.

"The Forgotten Coast" is correct, the fact that this generation of children will remember how their parents, neighbors and classmates all struggled just to survive the first few days let alone the last 20 months. As a "former band parent" of Bay High School my heart and prayers go out to all the students still in Hancock County, Mississippi. I hope many of your continue on with your dreams and aspirations and never forget what has happened. Go to college, get your degrees and use your voice, vote and power as a United States citizen to make changes to what the insurance companies and government have done to our towns. The government that we all we have all counted on have let us down, but know once you turn 18 use your rights to vote and elect the right officials to prevent this from ever happening again.

Be the cause that wakes this country up and puts a stop to the endless hurt that you endure today. You can and should make a difference, do not let what has happen end with a shoulder shrug. This is how important your voice is to our community, You are our future. What does not kill us will only make all of you stronger, your life means something to all of us, even those of us who had to leave.

God Bless you all

These young people have seen things that will stay with them for the rest of their days. But maybe some of this mayhem that they have lived will make them stronger, too. Bless The Mississippi Gulf Coast!

Excellent, thought-provoking posts, all. I wish my computer had audio so I was able to hear what the young people had to say. I imagine they and their families are still going through tough times now because rebuilding and recovery are so difficult, but hope for the best for them and everybody else in the disaster zone. I just read the news that the new Bay St. Louis bridge is open--that's a good sign. May this bridge be a bridge to a wonderful future.

I adore Mississippi and admire the strength and fortitude of the people of Bay St. Louis, Waveland, and the rest of that state's communities impacted by Katrina, who've been hanging in there and working hard together to rebuild. As andy,ms says, "Bless the Mississippi Gulf Coast!"

Mississippians are right in taking pride in being able to do this difficult work without federal help--however, this is not a good reason to run New Orleans or Louisiana down. I love Louisiana and New Orleans very much and know from reading the Times-Picayune, the Baton Rouge Advocate, and other Louisiana papers online that, as in Mississippi, people there, too, have been working together to clean up and rebuild.

It's a far more difficult job in New Orleans, firstly because the nature of the disaster was different. I'm not diminishing what Katrina did in Mississippi, which caught hell because of all the communities that were obliterated, but the storm blew right through and moved on, which freed Mississippians to start the clean-up and make preparations for rebuilding. this gave them a head start.

But regarding New Orleans, first nothing could be done because the floodwaters needed to be pumped out, which took about a month. Then Rita came through and re-flooded the city. Then there are the complexities of a large city's infrastructure. While private citizens with the help of groups such as Habitat for Humanity can build houses, they can't be themselves repair a city's power, water, and sewer systems because of the know-how and special equipment, etc., required. On top of that, there are those things one expects in any community--the school and health care systems, just to name a couple--that 20 months after the flooding are still insufficient even for a city of New Orleans' diminished size.

Mississippians and Louisianians who survived Katrina need to see themselves as being in the same boat. It should not make a difference whether a survivor lived in Bay St. Louis and lost his home to Katrina's ferocious winds, or was flooded out when New Orleans' levees broke and drowned much of that city. Mississippians need to be supportive of Louisiana and her people's struggle to rebuild and recover--and vice versa. Because each state has a vested interest in the other's health and wholeness--whatever positively or negatively affects one will ultimately impact the other. Mississippians and Louisianians (and people in other states in the storm zone)should stand together in the face of recovery's challenges--they're all in this together.

Whenver I read about the Gulf Coast and Katrina, I think "Wow, it happened 2 years ago and these losers still are trying to suck money out of the rest of us (through the government)? MAN UP, buck up, get a life and move on. My ancestors came through the St. Lawrence Seaway and their boat sank leaving them with NOTHING and did they sit around without a job for 2 years asking the government to fix everything for them? NO.

Get a life crybabies, get a job and stop bitching at the rest of us to solve your problems. Go see "The Pursuit of Happyness" and take an example.

Why not reseach every disaster, and tell those people to, Man up. Tell those of them who didn't survive, how to Man up. Maybe, they'll stop crying when there isn't anything to cry about. You should all get together, and write a book,(How to survive a disaster). This book should sell well enough, to replace all of the monies, that you all have donated, to the different charities. I strongly recommend the movie, "Pay it Forward". God Bless America.

For those of you who negatively see the New Orleans area residents as 'crybabies', please know that those whom you see as that are only a small portion of the city! Take a look at St. Bernard Parish and you will see what real people accomplish, quietly, efficiently and with help from each other!

Why dwell in the past people it was a history making moment, but thats what it is history. move on with your lives as my family has 2 years after Katrina we are doing better now then before it. you have to want it to get it and WORK for it. If you wait for others to give it to you i feel real sorry for ya because you have no life and have no future. i lived in downtown Gulfport i was there.

Mr. Killeberal does not have a grasp of what the Gulf Coast(Mississippi) has done. My family lives on the coast and have all worked very hard to get back into their home if they had a home left. All of them except my mom who is in her 80's were back to work as soon as they could, some within days of Katrina. Most lost almost everything and none of them complained or asked for help, they just went back to work and worked on their homes at night.

Before you cast stones get your facts straight Mr. Killeberal!

i think all of you need a life and a job. i am at mine and found time to write this. no one is asking for a handout, but is is the governments fault that the levees broke in new orleans. just like they can find the money to send to iraq, they can find the money to send to new orleans to build the levees back up and to mississippi to give them some sort of structure to help protect them. the government at least owes it to us. i am speaking for lousisnan and mississippi "yall can kiss our bayou lovin', cajun food eatin' asses"

I wonder if Jack and Lemmy have the same philosophy when it comes to foriegners, namely Iraqis and illegal immigrants. Remember, Katrina made a lot of money for Halliburton so it could move to the Arab Emirates. By charging the taxpayers $25,000 per roof replacement, (the illegals that performed the work got paid $1,200 to $2,000)Halliburton made enough profit to leave the country. Good ridance!

this is to everyone that thinks new orleans residents needs a handout from the gov.we as the people of the N.O. area did not ask to leave we was forced to leave.why,because the corps.of engineers shouldve fixed those damn canal-walls so no water could come over them.this shit shouldve been fixed since betsy.somebody knew.stop putting the money in your pockets.maybe we all will have a safe place to live.THANKYOU-lower-9th ward

D. Hallmark,

Your post is frank and honest and hits the proverbial nail right on the head. People who see the people of the Gulf Coast as "crybabies" have a misconceived notion (fed by the media, by the way) that Katrina happened to New Orleans. I worry about how history will remember this national tragedy/embarrasment/fiasco. The people of "the ignored coast" of Mississippi will always have a very special place in my heart. Those of us who have volunteered and have worked side-by-side with "y'all" have such a deep respect for you. You have worked, and are still working, and will continue to work, very hard to recover, and I hope and pray that is how the good people of "d'Bay", Waveland, Long Beach, etc. will be remembered. Thanks to you, D. Hallmark and others of "the ignored coast" for having the guts and determination to RISE above the ruin.

WE WILL NEVER FORGET!!!

Here we are almost two years after the storm and still waiting for the great state of Mississippi to finalize my grant process, which by the way just yesterday I got another form to fill out, get notarized, and return... an affadavit asking me to swear that I did live at my registered address when the storm hit. Is this all they can come up with to delay the process, why wasnt the initial one filled out with the grant application and all supporting paperwork good enough I took everthing i had down there. comeon people the government has got their money from the feds, they got their new police cars, tasers, vests, radios, guns, badges, fire engines, light posts theyre even done landscaping the public beaches and planting flowers in the roadway medians.
they have bought all new equipment for ALL government offices, and still no grant for the citizens for a HOME!!!! affadavit of residence, yes I live here and I can see whats going on...and whats not..and im pissed off to be blunt.... its a shame

MAKES ME SICK

My goodness, Jason--thanks for the informative, eye-opening post. Sorry to hear about your problem--I hope your grant process is finalized soon--and the same for everybody else in the storm zone who's still waiting on their grants. You've waited too long--until nearly 2 years after the storm--already.

I've read and heard quite a lot about how Louisiana's "Road Home" program is tied up in red tape, has been moving at a snail's pace and otherwise messing up, and has been ticking a lot of people off, but have hardly heard anything about Mississippi's program except propaganda saying Mississippi's has been doing a better job than Louisiana's. Your post shows that both states' programs are seriously screwed up--if Mississippi's has been doing better than Louisiana's, it hasn't been much better.

I think part of the problem is the mainstream media, especially the electronic, which hasn't been giving Katrina's aftermath the attention it should. Unfortunately many Katrina survivors are poor and politically powerless, and have no voice of their own, nor any special-interest groups, nor K Street lobbyists with direct lines to the networks to ensure that their plight is consistently in the news. So a newscast such as NBC Nightly News feels it can get away with writing off Katrina as yesterday's news and instead airing fluff pieces on such things as Tony Snow's recovery from cancer. When the story of Katrina survivors' recovery from the storm and their traumas and losses is far more important because it affects far more people. (And NBC Nightly is supposed to be doing the best job of all the non-cable newscasts--so when it's not doing a good job at covering Katrina, that's saying something.)

Katrina survivors and those who support them need to flood (pun intended) news outlets with demands for more and better coverage out of the storm zone. Here are a few e-mail addresses:

dailynightly.msnbc.mcn.com for NBC Nightly News
firstread.msnbc.msn.com for First Read, MSNBC's political blog
CNN.com

If you aren't seeing enough Katrina coverage, or the coverage is poor, send these outlets e-mails letting them know. Conversely, if they air news out of the storm zone, thank them for it. Do this as often as possible. If they don't post your e-mail--some of mine haven't been posted lately--don't be discouraged, and above all, DON'T GIVE UP. Someone has to be reading the e-mails in order to decide not to post them--and hopefully getting the message.

In closing, I'll just say hang in there--I'm pulling and praying for you. Hopefully this year's storm season, which fortunately has been slow so far, will be as mild as last year's. And with Katrina's anniversary in a few weeks I hope new stories and diary entries will be showing up on "Rising from Ruin."

To the people who made post slamming the people of the Mississippi Coast, you should have gone down there right after Katrina hit, i was down there helping in the clean up. I saw them have to use a GPS just to find where the road was under all the debris and clear it off with a bulldozer. I saw the circles painted on the houses to show when it was inspected, and how many if any bodies were recovered from them. I have seen 1st hand the devastation this area withstood, and have seen the remarkable recovery they have already made. It makes me proud to be a Mississippian to see how these people have bounced back, without marches and protest, without the liberal press trying to make us feel the government has let them down. Sure, the relief was slow arriving at 1st, but Our Country could never have been prepared for the devastation that befell this are, or New orleans either for that matter. No country could have been prepared. Quit useing this disaster for an excuse to bad mouth our great country and the wonderful people that have made great strides in their recovery, and continue to do so. If you feel so bad for them still then come down and roll up your sleeves, there is plenty of work to be done still. I am quite certain they will appreciate any and all help.

Aid?

Much of the "aid" the people in Louisiana received was payments on flood insurance policies. This is not aid in my mind, but a contractually obligated payment.

The process of rebuilding in Louisiana has been complicated by many factors.

1. The City of New Orleans had 80% of its housing damaged. Much of it was rental units which were not eligible for aid. If you applied, you might get an SBA loan, but the process was arduous.

2. The infrastucture was gone. Water, if it worked was not drinkable for 6-8 months. Gas lines were full of power. No phones, no cell phones. No grocery stores no gas stations for gas for your generator.

3. The nearest high ground with working infrastructure was not 10 miles away, it way more like 30--across lake Pontchartrain in communities that half flooded. There was no where to live.

4. The flooding in New Orleans trapped water that had to be pumped out. Almost all cars, buses, or machinery in New Orleans was destroyed.

5. FEMA took over 18 months to tell residents how high their houses had to be when rebuilt if they had been "substantially damaged". Funny thing is houses that took 6 feet of water only had to be elevated 2 feet.

6. FEMA and the Army Corps of Engineers in their infinited wisdom decided on flood zones assuming the levees held. They did this before the storm and continue to do it after the storm.

7. Louisiana with Billions of dollars to hand out and a reputation for corruption decided that there had to be tight controls on all monies. This led to a process where it takes years to get a grant. Meanwhile, your mortgage payment is still due for a house that you cannot live in.

7. Our Mayor decided not to anger anyone. Everyone could rebuild. Unforunately, the population is still down by 30% from pre-storm levels. Most of the elderly are gone--they do not have the fortitude or strength to rebuild, so they sold and moved nearer relatives. Many of the children are gone. Once you move from your rental apartment and put your child in school--wherever you landed you live there. We don't need every house rebuilt. We should have had zones where we gave extra money. If you bought a house and rebuilt it there you got a tax credit or some such.

8. Our governor has tried to use the money as a political tool to help her base. The grants vary by whether you stay of leave. Her response to the Hurricane has been so bad that she is not even running for re-election.

9. New Orleans was a good place to be poor before the storm (as places go). Lots of low income housing--much of which included paid utilities, free medical care at Charity Hospital, and then the variety of other programs. The people were used to government support and the easygoing attitude of New Orleans. With the housing gone and Charity Hospital closed, it is a struggle for the poor to live her now.

In Louisiana, we look at the Mississippi coast with envy. The politicians got more aid, more quickly, and dispersed it more quickly.