Dear Friend (My Katrina Photo Essay - Dial-Up Warning)

When I returned to Denver after doing relief work in Biloxi three months after Katrina hit, I couldn't stay home in Denver. I felt compelled--called--to return to the Mississippi Coast. I moved heaven and earth to return to help some more. Yet hardly anyone I met could understand my driving need to go back. It was as Katrina didn't exist outside New Orleans.

The pièce de résistance happened in December, when I met a man who was working with New Orleans evacuees in Denver through his church. He asked me, "Why are you going to Mississippi? Isn't their economy doing pretty good now?" If I could remember his name, this is the letter I would send him:

Dear Friend,

Do you remember our conversation about Mississippi's economy post-Katrina? Please. Do come down for a Sunday on the beautiful Gulf Coast and enjoy the benefits of a thriving recovery yourself. Start your day by going to the church of your choice:

Leggett Memorial United Methodist, Biloxi


First Baptist, Gulfport


St. Paul Catholic, Pass Christian


St. Mark's Episcopal, Gulfport


After church, you'll want a bite to eat. May I suggest McDonalds?

Landry's?

Or perhaps a local place is more to your liking?

You can be sure no matter where you go you'll find plenty of handicapped parking.


After eating, you'll have the whole long, lazy afternoon in front of you. You could walk off that meal at Gulf Islands National Seashore in Ocean Springs on the "Nature's Way" path

or over by by the fishing pier.


Hiking is now also open at the Clover-Thornton Nature Area in Gulfport.


Or take a stroll through a quaint seaside neighborhood.




There's golf in Biloxi,




and goofy golf in Gulfport.




You could spend your afternoon betting your fortune in the casinos


...but who wants to waste all that beautiful Gulf sun indoors?

Better to take a sleek cruise

down scenic Route 90.


Whatever you do,

you'll want some souveniers to take home with you.


May I suggest the Pass Christian Yacht Club for dinner?




And after another great meal, you could take a walk along the beach

or the boardwalk

...if the police don't tell you to leave because of the contaminated sand.

My Dear Friend, the economy is hardly robust. There is still enough devastation and debris to shock and appall. Clean-up is only debris removal, the EPA is pretending there are no toxic contaminants. Only the very wealthy--inland--are rebuilding destroyed homes. Out of the ten casinos that fueled the region's economy, only three are open. Waveland and Bay St. Louis were so decimated they're merging. Authorities have no real estimate of people who have left the area or where they've moved to. Almost 100,000 people are living in FEMA trailers, but there are also a great many who are still living in moldy, damaged homes.

My Friend, this is why I returned to Mississippi. And it's why I remain in Mississippi--now six months after Katrina.

P.S. If you do come to visit, it's best to plan ahead where you'll stay. Accommodations are hard to come by.

All photos were taken by me between January 16 and February 28, 2006.

This is so heartbreaking to me. I was just there last November and went to a couple casinos, bought souvenirs at that shop and ate at Landry's.

:cry:

Good for you for being there. Thanks for posting the pics.

intheflow these pictures are stunning....they have left me speechless....

It's still unbelievable that this is happening right here in America.....

Thank you for sharing these photos with us.....

Seen other areas of the country after a hurricane???????????

It takes timeThe lower part of LA and MS took it much worse than NO.....what happened in NO's could have happened after alot of rainfall in central amerika

How blessed I am that you have returned to give a hand, to be a witness, to make a difference.
On behalf of all those you have helped, on behalf of my fellow Coastians, I say, thanks so very much.

And thank you can never be enough.

With all of my love and deepest admiration.

merh


:loveya: :hug:

:blush:

:hug:

St. Paul's Church, I can't tell you the number of weddings and baptisms I attended there. I probably attended just as many weddings and funerals at the 1st Baptist Church in Gulfport.

Just north of St. Mark's church was the office that I worked at when I began my professional carrier, just as St. Mark's Church, it is completely gone, nothing but foundation left. It was a family owned and operated business, the patriarch, my mentor, having died in 2005. I'm glad he didn't see what was left of his office, his world. Of the different offices I have worked at during my professional carrier, 3 of the buildings are gone, totally wiped out by the storm.

I played in a golf tournament at the Biloxi golf course the July before the storm and the Gulfport goofy golf was an amusement park that I worked at in high school and throughout college. I actually helped build the place using shovels and plenty of sweat to move the earth to make the hills and the mounds. I learned about carnies at that place and how to repair go carts and small boat motors. I paid my way through college working on weekends and during the summer months and holidays. I used to have the most glorious golden tan and in those days I dreamed of working a real job, out of the sun. :D

The souvenir stores are owned by friends of mine and for a period of time, I was the warehouse manager working at the taller of the two. It looks like both of my warehouses and my office disappeared.

And the Deep South Motel, let me tell you that we had some incredible parties in her rooms when in high school.

So many memories, so much devastation, so many lives forever changed. :cry:

On the north side of the railroad tracks, thoug, that seems to be the dividing line between total devastation and major damage. They tell me there was Ruby Tuesday's on the corner of Courthouse Road there, but I couldn't tell you if it was on the east or west corner because all that remains are slabs. If someone from St. Mark's hadn't planted that recovered flag on the property, I never would have looked at the property twice. I would have just thought it was the site of another restaurant or store gone, it never would have occured to me that there was a church there. :cry:

So the goofy golf place was really an amusement park? Another thing I wouldn't have guessed. I looked up each church online to get the names straight, but I was absolutely sure that the tipped over aligator had to be on a putt-putt course. I was so sure, I never checked. I'll have to look for it online.

I'm so sorry you've lost so much, Dear Friend. :hug:

FunTimeUSA -- it had old carnie rides complete with a carrosell and tilt-a-whirls and bumpercars. I also had a small train that circled the property and go carts and bumper boats and an arcade full of video games and skiball games.

It was great to eat dinner with you and the other volunteers, thanks for the invite and the great company. And yes, just as JJ says, fried food is a major food group in the South. :D

As a gift, here is the recipe to Hush Puppies

INGREDIENTS:
* 1 cup cornmeal
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 3 teaspoons baking powder
* 3/4 cup buttermilk
* 1 tablespoon sugar
* 1 tablespoon flour
* 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
* 1 egg, beaten
* 1/2 cup chopped onion
* 1 cup fresh or frozen corn kernels or drained kernel corn from can
* chopped jalapeno peppers or mild chiles, as desired

PREPARATION:
Combine all the ingredients; drop the dough by spoonfuls in hot fat (about 365° - 375°) in a deep-fat fryer. Cook until the hush puppies are golden brown.

=====================

Give usedtobesick a hug for me and ask him to hug you back for me. :grouphug:

I sure appreciate you guys, I really do. Thanks so much. :hug:

wrong about St. Mark's location. :(

That is how messed up the landscape is now. So many things have changed, it's hard for us locals to know where we are at. St. Mark's was actually near all of the bars I used to frequent when in college, hell, the first bar I used to sneak into when I was in high school was just on the corner of the street down from St. Mark's.

I don't even remember the name of the other church that was wiped out in down town Gulfport, I think it was St. Peter's By the Sea.

About two weeks before the storm.

Was that goofy golf Fun Time USA? Spent many an hour keeping the kids entertained. Fun Time had miniature golf, bumper boats, kiddie rides, etc. I worked for a short time in a concession booth there.

There was a bar about a block or two east of there called Timothy O'Sullivans. I expect it's just as gone as everything else. I think it was located directly behind Spirits Bar and Grill. Somewhere beyond those yellow marked posts in the background of that photo. I spent many a tipsy evening celebrating after rugby games and hanging out. Many, many memories there. So many parts of my life down there have been washed away. I hope my memories don't leave me too.

Awesome pics...

Thank you for showing us how much more needs to be done, and thanks for your commitment.

Thank you so much for posting these pictures. People really do need to remember that things are not going well, and that there is so much to do in the Gulf region to help rebuild it.

Bless your heart, and thanks again for the pictures.

Amen... may we never forget the will and heart of the people of the Gulf coast!

Peace!

I lived in New Orleans for most of my life. Each summer around Kentucky Derby time, my dad would take mom and me to a business convention dad had to attend. We stayed at the Broadwater Beach. I grew very familiar with the area. Years later, a good friend of mine had a house right off Highway 90, in Pass Christian and I'd go visit her. Her house was wiped out by Katerina. She told me her zip code doesn't exit anymore. She and her partner were able to get a FEMA trailer and get it properly hooked up on a friend's land in Bay St. Louis.
The Pass Christian/Gulfport/Biloxi area was a great place for me to go and get away for a couple of days and decompress.
That was then.
I checked out your first link (above) from December. Your photos are amazing and you write so well. I wish you would consider getting up a website (like "http://sorryeverybody.com" after the 2004 "election", but have it be strictly Katerina-related). No one SHOULD EVER be allowed to forget what happened with Katrina.
George Bush and Company should be ashamed. Oh, yeah. They doesn't have any feelings.
I think he and his cronies should be made to shell out billions of bucks from their deep pockets to pay for their neglect, pain and suffering.
Dimson felt "unsettled" when he eventually was shown what was happening.
My ass.

Also the old Hook, Line, and Sinker resturant, may not be the best seafood in town but I loved it as a child and always had a meal there when I was in town.

So many things to remember.

Thanks for showing the real truth! :cry:

junior isn't trying very hard is he?

Just sadness.

Put these on the web somewhere...besides here...

:cry:

I stayed at the Deep South Motel in the 70's and played Goofy Golf with the kids in the 80's. Used to attend the 1st Baptist Church back when I went to church and rode my bike on the boardwalk back and forth to the Copa Casino.

Thanks, Intheflow, for showing me some of my old landmarks. It breaks my heart, but I need to see it. It makes me ache to get back down there. Your photography is very well done.

I need to go through my old photos and find some before Katrina photos because so many memories have washed away.

I'm so sorry. That is so sad. I cannot believe how devasted the area still is. It's hard for me to understand why Mississippi is not receiving more attention. I don't know what to say. God bless you and may the people in the Gulf find restoration soon.

Our church is twinned with one in Waveland, MS, and we were asked to make a two year commitment. I don't think even that will be enough.

Estimates are that 80-90% of the town was wiped out. Disaster relief organizations im Mississippi that have worked all over the world say it will take 8-12 years for the entire Coast to recover. I'd put Waveland in that 10-12 year time frame, and that's even with the Bay St. Louis merger.

It was still recovering from Camille, that was like 13 years. Katrina was way worse with a higher population.

If you get the chance, I'd like to see a photo of the bridge over the East Perl on hwy 90 (Perlington). There was a Bar and Hotel there, I wonder if they stand (doubtful, they were dives then). The storm surge came in like a tidal wave there at 30'+ after crossing about 5 miles of marshlands/swamp.

The main problem is that the Miss. coast is so republican that they won't generate the publicity needed to get real help. The casino engine won't be supported by infrastructure for quite a while, I figure 5 years or so until the roads etc are really back.

-Hoot

and had been inside several of the buildings.

Thanks for sharing.

Thanks for sharing this!

People need to know.

job with both your pictures and words. Very different in some ways from the first one, but just as poignant and well done.


(had to put it here too and not just in the photogroup)

:hug:

thanks for all your great work, intheflow. :hug:

Great photos of horrible subject. Kudos to you for all you do to make it better.

:toast:

Thank you for showing us the reality of it. K&R.

thank you for sharing, and thanks for helping those on the coast devastated by Katrina

I had no idea it still looks like this; I'm totally stunned.

Thank you for placing these here. The world needs to see these. My heart is breaking. This is not my country, not here - not in the good ole' USA. My God...

Whomever you are, thank you for sharing these. Seriously sad. We've destroyed so much from over there to here, one no longer recognizes anything anymore. Where are all the Christians screaming about "Gays," "Woman's Right to Choice?" Those "Terri Protestors," "Pro Lifers?" Where are they for those in Mississippi & New Orleans?

here in the bay area is involved with mississippi -- st marks in i believe.

interesting to see that photo here -- though we also have photos of teh mess in our church.

it's all very sad.

and yes mississippi is being ignored{they all are, in their way, aren't they}.

Man, I wish I could be there with you. Your photos give a real feeling of what it's like, though. Except for the smells, which I'm sure aren't pleasant.

You are an inspiration, my friend.

Occasionally I catch a whiff of something unpleasant, but no more so than in Denver. Stray sewer smell or stagnant swamp. Nothing rotting in the streets of Biloxi, no decaying corpses or anything. It was much worse when I was here in November, and even that wasn't everywhere, all the time. I understand for the first two months, though, the stench of sewer, rotting food and God knows what else was pretty pervasive.

A co-worker just returned from a two week trip along the coast and he said the people he met are angry and feel abandoned by the government and their fellow Americans. I wish every American could see this photo essay.

I am willing to do something to help. I have given $ but that doesn't seem to be enough. Does anyone have a plan, or an idea of how to help?

things like Home Depot gift cards.

No more clothes, please. Thousands had to be thrown away because they got so many they just spread them out in parking lots for pickup, and after a few rainstorms what was left was unusable.

No furniture or appliances--yet. There are simply no houses to put them in yet, and no place to store them. All available warehouses are being used to store building materials and bulk food items. The Coast will need paint, appliances, and furniture in the future, but it's still a ways out, maybe up to a year.

Honestly, the best thing you can do is contact a relief group here on the Coast and ask them what they need. Gifts of what is needed are easier to hold accountable and also go straight to the source. If you don't know any good aid agencies, pm me and I'll work with you to hook you up with a group you'd like to support.

Absolutely every little bit donated to a good cause helps.

Thank you for your service.God bless you.

is the human devastation that those buildings speak of. :cry:

thanks for that

xx

by any chance?

Ah, never mind. They know, and they don't care.

Redstone

Heartbreaking.

Recommended.

even after six months of this hell.

IF we can't even "reconstruct" our own country, how on earth are we suppose to make any progress in Iraq?

just PR bullshit.

FEMA and DHS doin' a "Heck of a Job!"

I wish I were of means to go down myself, having lived much of my earlier life in the South and spent many happy days along the Gulf and in NOLA.

Could you do me a favor? If you get to Biloxi, could you snap a shot of Beauvoir (Jeff Davis house and museum). Is it totally destroyed and permanently gone? (And, please DUers don't pile on with the usual anti-confederate heritage comments. I'm not defending any of that. The historical home (which wasn't actually Davis' at all, but loaned to him to live) was a lovely spot I remember visiting many years ago. And, as my signline shows, I have a deep respect for preserving history and the lessons to be learned thereof....)


May the public, through your efforts and those of others like you, not forget the plight of so many who have essentially been left to fend for themselves. It is so painful to see what our government has done...

http://www.sunherald.com/multimedia/sunherald/archive/baflash/beauvoir.html

This section, Before & After, of the MS Gulf Coast newspaper, The Sun Herald, has images before the storm and after the storm.

http://www.sunherald.com/mld/sunherald/news/special_packages/renewal/before_after/

I'm not sure. I haven't driven that far along Hwy 90 since before the storm.

It's still a bit too painful, I've lived here all my life and all my landmarks are gone.

One day at a time, one step at a time.

computer glitch x(

And that the gift shop was either in the curator's cottage or also destroyed. The story I heard was that crews went in to try to recover historical articles, but there were the real Jefferson Davis dish sets and the copies from the gift shop, and no one could really tell right off the bat which was which of the few shards found. :(

near enough to get a decent photo. I'll try on Saturday, though, and post them somewhere on DU for you to see. :hi:

:cry:

Wow!

to my knuckleheaded RW sister who is still regurgitating the "state & local" clap-trap?
(Along with a few others....)

:D


Please pass it along, just give me credit for the work. :hi:

:D

Of course you can share it. I posted it on a public forum for the world to see it. Just give me credit--and if anyone wants to publish it, pm me and let me talk with them (via email) direct.

Thank you for wanting to help spread the word!

Thanks!

And thanks for being there

WHAT ARE YOUR ELECTED REPRESENTATIVES SMOKING??? There's all of this destruction everywhere, and they're more concerned with banning abortion??? Maybe they DO believe that Katrina was God's wrath upon them and they're making sure it doesn't happen again?

I truly feel for everyone that's been affected by the hurricanes. It's just too bad that their representatives have their priorities screwed up.

for that moving post. When you put those pictures up, it shows the gravity of things as they are now. I was able to visit NOLA and St. Bernard Parish this past week and saw much the same .... just hearbreaking to see communities flattened, the everyday places that people called part of their homes. More to the point, thank you for the blessed work you're doing down there. :hug:

thank you

gold star awarded

it just breaks your heart

You would think someone would be rebuilding. :shrug:

I don't know what part of the photo you're referring to? :shrug:

On edit: I guess you're referring to the plywood building with no windows that's been erected on the property. I wouldn't consider that new construction; my feeling is it's a hastily constructed storage shed for anything that might be recovered and useful or valuable, or maybe a light equipment shed. There's a better shot of it in this photo of my sweetie.


To contrast that, here's what the yacht club looked like pre-Katrina (image borrowed from their website):


I guess those lush trees on the sea side of the property are the stubs in my first yacht club photo, which gives you an idea where I shot the photo from.

The building in the right side of the photo you reposted is the same as the plywood building in the photo with my boyfriend, just from a different angle. What is it in this photo that you thought looked like rebuilding was happening?

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=364&topic_id=561384&mesg_id=561384



Keith’s Barbeque Central

thank you for posting this stunning photo-essay, intheflow.

your essay. I get so sick of the happy talk stuff that gets whipped up from time to time elsewhere or the "blame Brownie" crap that comes out. This area is clearly not anywhere close to recovering and no one seems to care in DC or in the media beyond Anderson Coooper and KO. I'd like to see some thing like this presented to the nation.

I'm so disgusted by these people who want to finance war and won't take care of our own nation to do it.