Mississippi Coast

I decided to take a drive up to Mississippi on Labor Day. I wanted to see the state’s coastline, which sustained the most damage from Katrina. I’ve been here awhile now and there was never a doubt in my mind that I wanted to focus on the New Orleans area. Still, I felt it was important to at least see Mississippi’s coast. I know quite a few volunteers who have spent time up there, and have heard stories and descriptions, but just like greater New Orleans, words and pictures don’t do justice.

I got off of I-10 shortly after crossing over the state line and cut over to Rte. 90, which runs right along the shoreline. At this point I was about 12 miles west of Bay St. Louis. I ended up driving along 90 from there all the way over to Biloxi. It’s not that far, maybe about 35, 40 miles, but after originally thinking I’d just hang around and check out Bay St. Louis, driving along that long of a stretch allowed me to see more than I thought I would. I was glad that I did, too.

It’s not that the surroundings and scenery change all that much as you go along. In fact, if not for the bigger hotels and casinos that you see as you get close to and then into Biloxi – and there are some big ones there – it all looks pretty similar. Mile after mile of endless beach to the right, but they were pretty nice beaches. There were quite a few people out enjoying one of the last days of summer, although something tells me the entire Gulf Coast has plenty of hot, humid days left. And to the left, I saw a combination of open or abandoned land, often full of vegetation, of homes that were empty, homes being rebuilt, shops, and an occasional trailer or trailer park. None of it was ever cluttered, either. Things were always very all spaced out, maybe a house or plot of land and property every 500 yards or so. Clearly a good part of this stretch is not made up of the typical sprawling residential type neighborhoods but rather is a very relaxed, vacation-like setting with beachfront homes, hotels and businesses. Not cheesy, not like Daytona or Myrtle Beach, just a nice setting that happens to be on the beach.

The one consistent theme or sight: the damage and destruction. It was very clear as I made my way along 90 that this area had been hit hard and received a lot of damage. Two years later, and just as you’re struck as you enter St. Bernard or the Ninth Ward in Louisiana, you know driving along this stretch that the destruction was significant.

I don't know enough about the Mississippi Gulf Coast to really understand why I saw what I saw. But I do know this, like New Orleans, there's a problem if two years later that kind of destruction is still so evident.

My Dad's Visit

My father made a visit to the New Orleans area for a couple of days late last week. He drove over from Florida, bringing a car full of clothes, books and toys he gathered from their home in Florida and from a client of his. We fit in quite a bit over the two days he was here, making stops at three different schools, a half dozen or so homes, a couple of stores, the volunteer camp I used to live at, a recreation department office. We also squeezed in dinner and drinks in the city with my roommate, who is a native of the New Orleans area.

He was worn out by the close of Day 2. The heat and humidity, combined with constantly getting in and out of the car, meeting a bunch of people and hearing a number of pretty intense stories, made sure of that. But, as he put it, the effort was well worth it. We spoke about it the night before he left, as we recounted all we did while eating some dinner in his hotel. His entire perception of the situation here has changed, and I think there are a few things that especially stood out.









People very much want to talk, to tell and share their stories. If they meet someone new, someone from out of town, it just really helps to talk to that person and tell their story. It's therapy for them, and you really can see why. Two years is a long time to build frustration and any chance they have to get things off their chest, well, it's a good thing. My dad did lots of listening, but he was happy to and it was a big help in shaping his perspective on things here.

He also was able to see that there are lots of good people here, residents and volunteers. The greater New Orleans area is an amazing place to meet people these days. Years from now when I'm long gone from staying here, I know I'm going to look back and remember a lot of the people I met and was able to work with, to help.

Most importantly, my dad was able to see that the post-Katrina era is not just a case of the poor sitting around and waiting for handouts. Far from it. Yes, some of that exists, but presuming that that's what most people here are doing is not only inaccurate but a disservice to an entire region of people. The struggles that still exist in this region two years after Katrina rolled through involve all kinds of people from all walks of life. Young, old, hard-working, professional, public servants, kids, dads, moms, daughters, teachers, life long residents, the list is endless.

His two days here had a big impact on my father, and he's intent to take those messages home and share them with more people, which is another reason all that activity over two days was more than worth it.

Two Year Anniversary

By the time I hit the save button and publish this post, it should just about be August 29. That date's a significant one around here, as it was on August 29th of 2005 that Hurricane Katrina roared through the Gulf Coast. Of course, a lot of the destruction and death occurred in the days that followed thanks to the levee breaches and water that just kept rising. Still, it's this date, 8/29, that symbolizes the start of something very horrible.

It's 8/29/07 now, two years later. Driving through many neighborhoods, you'd think it was two weeks later, but no, it's two years now. And there's no question lots of things have gotten better. Parts of the city of New Orleans look just like they did, and in some cases better, than before Katrina. Some homes and buildings that have been rebuilt have the shine we love and new car smell we can't get enough of. Most importantly, more people have come back. Different figures from different sources show up almost weekly down here, be it in the newspaper or some other medium, indicating that population levels are creeping upwards, even if just ever so slowly. And it's absolutely critical that the positives and the improvements are recognized.

But, make no mistake, two years might have passed but a lot of work that should have been done in that time has not. No one with an ounce of sense can pass through the greater New Orleans area yesterday, today or tomorrow and think for a second that this place is normal, that things are O.K. And no, it's not just about the poverty, and crime infested neighborhoods. Forget all that for a minute. It's about people still living in trailers, who have exhausted their savings and who look at gutted and empty homes, often their own. It's about condemned commercial buildings that haven't been cleaned up, schools that haven't re-opened, jobs that haven't come back, roads that haven't been fixed, street lights that haven't been turned on. The list goes on.

I'll wake up Wednesday, and I plan on approaching August 29, 2007 just like any other of the hundred and some odd days I've been here. This place needs to keep surging forward, working to make things better, helping people to get back on their feet. There are lots of ceremonies scheduled, in New Orleans and in every surrounding Parish. President Bush is here, the media has converged. CNN will be live from Camp Hope again. In one very important respect, that's good. The attention on a national level is a positive, as it will help remind people from all over the country that there is still a "world of hurt" down here. I'm just a volunteer who didn't go through and isn't going through the hell that many of the residents here did and are, but I'm going to wake up Wednesday and look forward, not back. As a resident named Daniel I met in the Lower Ninth Ward told me today, "we've got to stay strong, stay positive" -- these, by the way, were his words to me as we stood in his driveway, in the rain, outside his house, a house that's been rehabbed but that has just one small twin mattress on the floor in one of the bedrooms. He shares it with his wife. He's looking forward, too.

GOOD PIECES: I’ve come across a few articles among the dozens of stories running daily leading up to the two-year anniversary of Katrina that I thought captured the “realities” of life in the New Orleans area. The story titled “Keeping Up Is Costing More”, which ran the other day in the Times-Picayune, really resonates because this is an aspect of the Katrina fallout that I think gets lost in the shuffle sometimes. It might be two years later, but in many respects people are much worse off than they were just after the storm.

http://blog.nola.com/updates/2007/08/keeping_up_is_costing_more.html

http://www.nola.com/news/t-p/frontpage/index.ssf?/base/news-9/1188284521298400.xml&coll=1

http://blogs.usatoday.com/oped/2007/08/in-new-orleans-.html