I went home to my mom’s house in Gulfport, Mississippi on Sunday. She had just finished the last of the repairs to the house, so she was having a little get together to celebrate. My boyfriend and I actually evacuated to my mom’s home from New Orleans last year and rode out Hurricane Katrina there, just twelve miles inland or so. It was quite the experience, believe me.
I took a little detour on my way home and drove down the beach on Highway 90 through Pass Christian, Long Beach and downtown Gulfport. I saw this same stretch of beachfront property for the first time after Katrina in mid-October, when the National Guard was still restricting access to this area and you had to have authorization to go any further south than the railroad tracks. It looks somewhat better than back then…there was a little stretch of
fancy homes that have been built since last fall. They were built further back and higher off of the ground than their predecessors had been, though. The barge that had been pushed on shore near Gulfport harbor has been removed, and work is well underway on some of the casinos. The SS Camille, a tugboat that was washed ashore during Hurricane Camille in 1969 and later became a tourist stop, was unmoved by Katrina, although the giftshop next to it was wiped away.
It’s weird to drive down the beach at home now. I try to look for where my favorite restaurants or friends’ homes used to be…I can figure out the general locations, but it’s often hard to pinpoint exactly where things were, because all of the landmarks are gone.
You can see more of my pictures from the Mississippi beach here. The Sun Herald, the daily newspaper for the MS Gulf Coast, also has a huge archive of before and after pictures taken all along the Coast.
I’m afraid this is about as much of an anniversary post as I’m planning to make now. I’ve been trying to keep my head up, looking forward, and moving on. Focusing on the positive and what’s to come. I just wanted to make sure that some of the attention remains on the MS Gulf Coast, considering most of the media blitz will focus on New Orleans. There are plenty of NOLA bloggers who I’m sure will be able to eloquently sum up their thoughts on the state of New Orleans one year later. To me, the Mississippi Coast and New Orleans are equal parts my home…I love the entire Gulf Coast region. I’m just hoping for a speedy recovery and trying to be a part of that recovery as much as possible.
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{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
Oh my! It must have been terrifying for you! My heart is with MS also as I grew up in central MS. I well remember Camille – I was 9 yrs old – and my dad (who worked for the power co) spent about 6 weeks there working on the power lines. He’s been retired for several years but went back to work to help with the power failures in central MS after Katrina.(He knows every dirt road in Winston, Nashoba and surrounding counties!)
May I say I just love your website! I am so excited to have found someone with so much knowledge of indie artists and businesses. Would love to do an online interview with you for my blog! Think about it.
Thanks so much! I would love to do that, I’ll email you about it.
“It’s weird to drive down the beach at home now…”
I couldn’t agree with you more. i grew up in Long Beach, then moved to Biloxi. It’s still shocking to see the places I grew up with.. gone.
Congratulations on a most interesting Site – I’m a freelance photojournalist based in Clinton, Mississippi – I’ve begun my own grass-roots initiative to get the word out about the unprecedented scale and scope of the monster storm named Katrina – I actually added related content to my Site back in November of 2005, creating a section devoted to the impact of Katrina on Mississippians….since all the media attention seemed ( and remains ) primarily focused on New Orleans – Any interested parties may view what I call “Katrina’s Wake” on my non-commercial website at http://www.jackneal.net/editorial.htm – I would encourage any and all interested parties to check out the editorial and photographs ( shot right after the storm ), and to further consider adding a comment or two to the Katrina Memorial Book on page 2 of “Katrina’s Wake”
Like you, I consider New Orleans a second home, and am troubled deeply at all the petty politics and finger pointing that has delayed recovery.
We’ll all get there together, assuming we can stop the BS about who or what might have caused the disaster that befell South Louisiana and coastal Mississippi – I’ve ranted and raved about this already on the MSNBC website, so this may be somewhat repetitive for you and your readers.
Anyway, let us stop the fighting about the past and look forward together to re-build….together – Yes, it sounds cliché by now, but no less relevant.
Thanks again for the good work you do for indie’s, and let me also congratulate “Traveling Mermaid” for her great website – It’s all that a Site ( in my opinion ) should be…clean, concise, and sophisticated…really well done – You’re all some really talented people.
By the way, and obviously off-topic, I make artisan soaps ( yes, I know I’m a strange guy ) – Do I need to talk to you or your readers about marketing of the same? – I’m currently working on a website specific to the same – I’d appreciate any feedback, and thanks again.
Thanks for the comments, Insane Nerd and Jack.
Jack, you’ve definitely got some great but heartbreaking pictures there. I was back on the Coast again this weekend and it doesn’t get much easier each time I drive down the beach.
BTW, I’ve replied via e-mail to your other questions, about the artisan soaps.
Thanks again, I’m glad you’ve enjoyed the site!