Katrina aftermath report from a friend
Hello everyone,
My good friend, Monica, who works for AmeriCorps NCCC*, is in Mississippi right now helping to rebuild the city. I am moved by AmeriCorps NCCC and by my friend. Here are her words that i'd like to share with you. We can too easily forget the devastation of Katrina and along with it, the people who this has affected.
from Monica...
I'm working in Biloxi now. What a difference! I prefer working here on the Mississippi Coast... though the towns are smaller, the people really get why we're here. We're staying in Ocean Springs, Miss. It's a smaller town next door that was hit really hard along the ocean front (and along the main highway and interstate), so if you walk around getting to know the people, they're so kind and appreciative. Ocean Springs has a quaint downtown, and it's a few blocks inland, so a lot of the adorable little shops have re-opened. Also, there's much more destruction in this town than in Baton Rouge... much more of a reminder of why we're here. Baton Rouge is normal looking, which is surreal, given the reason why we're all down here.
As for the actual location of where I work... it's the former Mississippi Convention Center (as in, was functioning as the convention center until August 28. This is FEMA's base of operation now) in Biloxi. The rug has been ripped out, most of the ceiling tiles are gone, but there are fancy chandeliers still remaining, which are an interesting contrast to the large pipes now visible above them. The expansive rooms are now filled with mazes of blue cubicles.
The destruction here in Mississippi is unbelievable; definitely hard to absorb it all. It looks like the hurricanes struck one week ago, not seven months. Everyone keeps saying how much better it looks and that a lot of progress has been made. Well, there's power and water in most places. By the way, most people had either/or until recently, not both as most of the previous reports would have you believe. Traffic lights are still missing at some less-busy intersections here along Highway 90 (Beach Blvd), the main beach drag here in Biloxi. Bridges connecting all these coastal towns on Hwy 90 are still out. The cemetery near the JFO has no remaining headstones or tombs. Over and over, you find bent, warped signs for restaurants remaining, but the restaurant is only a slab (in some cases, not even that). I can't even visualize what it must have looked like before the storm -- it used to be filled with all the beach-type stores, and loads of car dealerships, none of which remain. None. Judging from GPS findings, people say there are at least 2,500 new cars at the bottom of the gulf. Most likely more, since that's not accounting all of the older cars without GPS. If the homes are standing at all, you can see through the first level completely to the backyard. Either that, orr it looks like a giant force pawed out the front half the house, but the back is fairly in tact. So bizarre.
I haven't yet seen the smaller Mississippi towns, like Waveland or Diamondhead, which have been nearly eliminated by Hurricanes Katrina & Rita. This is just my first 4 days in town. I finally gathered up the nerve to take some photos, and I will attach some once they are developed. Plans changed and I haven't been to the lower 9th ward yet either... that'll be another tough one.
***
thank you, Monica.
My good friend, Monica, who works for AmeriCorps NCCC*, is in Mississippi right now helping to rebuild the city. I am moved by AmeriCorps NCCC and by my friend. Here are her words that i'd like to share with you. We can too easily forget the devastation of Katrina and along with it, the people who this has affected.
from Monica...
I'm working in Biloxi now. What a difference! I prefer working here on the Mississippi Coast... though the towns are smaller, the people really get why we're here. We're staying in Ocean Springs, Miss. It's a smaller town next door that was hit really hard along the ocean front (and along the main highway and interstate), so if you walk around getting to know the people, they're so kind and appreciative. Ocean Springs has a quaint downtown, and it's a few blocks inland, so a lot of the adorable little shops have re-opened. Also, there's much more destruction in this town than in Baton Rouge... much more of a reminder of why we're here. Baton Rouge is normal looking, which is surreal, given the reason why we're all down here.
As for the actual location of where I work... it's the former Mississippi Convention Center (as in, was functioning as the convention center until August 28. This is FEMA's base of operation now) in Biloxi. The rug has been ripped out, most of the ceiling tiles are gone, but there are fancy chandeliers still remaining, which are an interesting contrast to the large pipes now visible above them. The expansive rooms are now filled with mazes of blue cubicles.
The destruction here in Mississippi is unbelievable; definitely hard to absorb it all. It looks like the hurricanes struck one week ago, not seven months. Everyone keeps saying how much better it looks and that a lot of progress has been made. Well, there's power and water in most places. By the way, most people had either/or until recently, not both as most of the previous reports would have you believe. Traffic lights are still missing at some less-busy intersections here along Highway 90 (Beach Blvd), the main beach drag here in Biloxi. Bridges connecting all these coastal towns on Hwy 90 are still out. The cemetery near the JFO has no remaining headstones or tombs. Over and over, you find bent, warped signs for restaurants remaining, but the restaurant is only a slab (in some cases, not even that). I can't even visualize what it must have looked like before the storm -- it used to be filled with all the beach-type stores, and loads of car dealerships, none of which remain. None. Judging from GPS findings, people say there are at least 2,500 new cars at the bottom of the gulf. Most likely more, since that's not accounting all of the older cars without GPS. If the homes are standing at all, you can see through the first level completely to the backyard. Either that, orr it looks like a giant force pawed out the front half the house, but the back is fairly in tact. So bizarre.
I haven't yet seen the smaller Mississippi towns, like Waveland or Diamondhead, which have been nearly eliminated by Hurricanes Katrina & Rita. This is just my first 4 days in town. I finally gathered up the nerve to take some photos, and I will attach some once they are developed. Plans changed and I haven't been to the lower 9th ward yet either... that'll be another tough one.
***
thank you, Monica.
posted by Gina | 7:42 PM
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