Hurricane Katrina

I can’t say that I’ve ever been to a war zone. I’ve seen the destruction of natural disasters, but not really close up. All that changed in Gulfport, Pass Christian, and Bay St Louis, MS. The amount of devastation in these towns, almost four years later is still so apparent and vivid.
We got into town late, so we couldn’t really see much beyond the roads and the main part of town looked a tad “old” or “rundown”, but the reality of the situation was apparent at morning. Our campground was about a half block back from the Gulf. Just a strand of sand and what looked like an old parking lot between us and the beach. Before Katrina, it was a motel and apartments. Simply washed away in a 30+ foot storm surge. The became waterfront overnight..nothing to block the view now. I’ve used amazing to describe things, and awesome is a favorite word, but I’m at a loss to describe the complete destruction of the first few city blocks of these towns.
I can only believe that these are some of the strongest “willed” people around as they have begun the process of rebuilding. Surely there are many that walked away, but there are many more who stayed put, and started cleaning up. Where they decided to begin is a major question. Roads buckled, bridges dropped into the water and as we drove on 90 west towards New Orleans, we saw concrete slab after concrete slab left with only stairs leading to the beach. The entire house had been washed away, nowhere in site now. For every twenty knocked down, there would be two or three left standing with fresh paint, obviously restored in some fashion.
The setting was so surreal and sad that Tracey and I both felt guilty for being there, for viewing this, and very guilty for even filming anything.
Rolling into New Orleans and the destruction of that same storm is evident still. Not so much in the downtown area around the french quarter, but primarily the neighborhoods to the north and east as you pass into town on I-10.
Having seen portions of both areas now….I’d say that New Orleans got the media coverage and those coastal towns of MS got the shotgun blast of a major hurricane. All the damage, half the sympathy.