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July 2007
I recently got an e-mail from someone
who lived on the Coast before Katrina, but left and hasn't returned. She
mentioned how much she liked my Katrina pages, complimented my writing
style, and asked why I hadn't updated this site.
To be honest, I really don't know.
After the first year in which the strain of Katrina kept me on "edge",
I guess I settled back down into my life. Since I had retired a year before
Katrina, I didn't have to go to work, but I got busy being involved with
my art (I'm a fine arts photographer). Slowly the art world got back on
its feet, and cities started having art festivals again. I exhibit in
several galleries, so I had to keep my work rotated. I also became busy
with being on the board of a newly-formed nonprofit foundation (The Mississippi
Renaissance Garden Foundation) whose purpose is to build a memorial botanic
garden here as a memorial to those who lost their lives in Katrina, and
to honor those thousands who came and are still coming to help the poor
rebuild. Its plan is to be a peaceful, restful place where all of our
souls can heal. Like most of the rest of our recovery, it has been a slow
process, and we still haven't started our garden, but have laid much of
the groundwork. Click for more information about the MRG.
I also stopped writing because I wanted things back to normal. They still
aren't, but they are getting better. Maybe I just got tired of thinking
about it all of the time. The worst was over and it was time to try to
move forward.
Overall Conditions
In some ways, we have come a long way
in our recovery. In other ways, we still have a long way to go.
One the positive, we have back most
of the stores we need for basics, and for fun. We have our bookstores
back, two movie theaters (two are gone forever), and most of our basic
needs are provided for. In Pass Christian and Bay St. Louis, I won't even
say they have much more than survival businesses back. They have been
without banks, grocery stores and Wal-Marts.
More people are rebuilding, although
not many are building back along the beach. They are moving north of I-10
where flood surge isn't as bad. Condos and high-rises are taking over
the coastal landscape, and in Biloxi, much to my dismay, developers are
swarming in from all over trying to get land rezoned for casinos in order
to make a big buck. While I'm not dead set against casinos per se, I do
not want to see property rezoned; rather, they should stay where the original
zoning allowed them to build. Many of us would prefer to allow progress,
but not at the expense of our quality of life. We do not want to become
a Gulf Shores or a Destin, where all you can see along the water is high
rise buildings. Alas, things will never be the way they were as far as
pretty antebellum homes and quaint houses on the beachfront. Nor will
you see many nice restaurants built on the beachfronts.
We are having trouble getting people
to have pride in their community. Many owners of destroyed buildings are
not keeping their property clean from litter and weeds. Overgrown lots
with slabs and signs and leftovers from "what was" are a common
sight along the beach. It is still depressing to drive down Highway 90
and see the carelessness.
I don't know if it is the workers from other states who are trashing the
Coast, or (some of) our residents who have stopped caring, but I do know
that the more people throw out as litter, it acts as bait for more litter.
Cities have started to issue summons for not following ordinances to keep
property mowed, but it is a hard battle as some refuse, giving the excuse
that they can't afford to clean up.
I think it is a matter of pride, which so many seem to have lost.
My MRG group is leading an effort to
try to get people to clean up and landscape by giving awards for outstanding
green spaces and civic pride, and the publicity is making the program
known, so that hopefully others will see the importance to their quality
of living as well as civic pride and economic impact on the area. Who
wants to live and shop around filth, litter and rubble?
Photos
Common litter seen along roadsides - still.
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Many slabs and old signs sit with weeds and
rubble along Highway 90. This is a common sight.
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In April, the National Keep America Beautiful
for the second time came down, rallying many volunteers, to kick
off their national campaign by rebuilding a park on the Coast.
This time we (yes, I volunteered, too) clean up and planted shrubs
and trees at the West Gulfport Community Center Park. (building
gone)
Many groups helped, from military to college to organizations
to ordinary volunteers. This girl was one of a group of college
students from Ohio State University who worked very hard.
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More of the work done at West Gulfport. Tons
of shrubs and mulch and fertilizer and tools and equipment were
donated, as well as a free dinner for the workers provided by
a group from Alabama. Barbecue pulled pork, baked beans, potato
salad, and drinks.
Massive work was done on that site by literally hundreds of volunteers.
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Sites like this where McDonald's in downtown
Biloxi are unsightly. They say they plan to rebuild, and McDonald's
certainly has enough money to clean up their property, but this
is how it looked a few months ago.
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This pile of debris sites on a side road by
Edgewater village. They are rebuilding the shopping center and
remodeling it. Many of the stores closer to the beach were gutted.
Not all have come back. We also lost the movie theater in this
shopping center.
Where is civic pride?
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Litter like this is a common scene along roads
and especially unmowed lots. I'm afraid that people here have
the mind set that we have been trashed so much that what will
a little more hurt? I blame our citizens for not cleaning up to
set a good example as well as all of the influx of workers who
have no stake in what we look like so they throw their trash out
as well.
Plus, parents aren't setting good examples for their children.
Some people simply just don't care.
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Mary Mahoney's opened by Christmas of 2005,
giving us one fine dining restaurant in Biloxi. They are open
for lunch and dinner and the food is always good. Moreover, they
received one of our MRG's Bringing Back the Beauty Awards because
they have worked consistently on their landscaping and it is now
looking better than ever.
They exhibit strong civic pride.
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If more people would get together and clean
up vacant lots like our neighborhood did, the entire Coast would
look better. Look at the pile of trash, downed limbs, and trimmings
we got from vacant lot.
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The City of Ocean Springs also received our
Bringing Back the Beauty Award because of all of the landscaping
the city down in downtown Ocean Springs. This is a city that knows
what quality of living means, and they serve as an example of
what we all should strive to become.
In all fairness, they didn't sustain the damage that other cities
did, but they still are doing great work in greening and beautifying
the Gulf Coast
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Bridges
Two lanes are open on the new Pass
Christian to Bay St. Louis bridge, with the bridge supposedly on time
to be fully open some time this year. Work is progressing on the Biloxi
to Ocean Springs Bridge, with two lanes expected to be open by November.
Traffic has been heavy on alternate routes to and from Ocean Springs,
making travel around the area difficult and slow. I go to Ocean Springs
all the time, but we have not been to Bay St. Louis since before Katrina
I understand that Trapani's (our favorite BSL restaurant) opened a while
back in another location, and the art colony there has gotten back on
its feet, which is good.
The Golden Fisherman
The Golden Fisherman, an often controversial
sculpture created in honor of our shrimping heritage, had been moved from
the Vieux Marché to down by Point Cadet and the OS Bridge. He was
knocked off his pedestal and somewhat damaged by the storm. He lay at
the foot of the bridge for months until "someone" noticed that
he had disappeared. Rather than anyone putting him in a safe place, they
let him lay as I photographed him until one night, someone came along
and hauled off the golden statue to sell for a huge fortune. When word
got out that it was made from scrap metal from salvaged metal from shrimping
boats and other donated pot metal, the thief (who had already dismembered
the poor thing by sawing off his head and arms) dumped him in a pond over
in Alabama. They caught the thief, but I can't remember what they did
with him. Some were appalled at what happened; some were glad the (in
their opinion) monstrosity had been taken care of for good.
Galleries and Museums
& Art
Some of the art galleries that closed
after Katrina haven't reopened. The Art House,
an artist's co-op gallery that I belong to opened a few months after Katrina,
but lost a lot of members because quite a few lost their homes and studios
and all of their work. We have slowly built back to our usual number of
30 artists.
A new upscale art gallery opened on
East Pass Road, Andrew Jessup's. A brand new co-op of artists just had
their grand opening this week on Highway 49 in Gulfport.
Ohr-O'Keefe Museum in temporary location - Old Swetman House
The Ohr-O'Keefe Museum just this summer got an insurance settlement that
had held up construction for nearly two years. Frank Ghery, the internationally
known architect, has pledged his support for the new beginning for that
to be completed. There is even talk about building a replica of the Pleasant
Reed Cottage that Katrina Destroyed. Considerable
damage was done to the new beach location by Katrina, making the completion
date way down the road in years. Meanwhile, they Ohr Museum has taken
up temporary residence in the old Glenn Swetman home that was deeded over
to the city a few years back.
Last hear they held their annual Juried Art Competition after skipping
a year, and this is the second year for a Gulf State regional competition.
This year it will be held in the Swetman House.
Most of the little theaters are back
in business, keeping the coast entertained with local talent.
The Walter Anderson Museum of Art wasn't
damaged, and opened soon after Katrina.
Lynn Meadows Discovery Center, whose
bottom floor was gutted, opened this year and has rebounded fabulously.
They are back to full operation.
The Marine and Seafood Museum still
is housed in a trailer on the point, but it is trying to obtain land from
the city of Biloxi to rebuild next to the future Ohr Museum. No word on
how that is going because they not only want an eight million dollar piece
of property, but are asking the city for a building and insurance. My
thoughts that Biloxi should lease them the land, but they should raise
their own money to rebuild as it is not a city museum.
The Marine Education Center that was
on the Point was destroyed, and will not be rebuilt there. A possible
site may be in Ocean Springs, or further north in Biloxi. Land is at a
premium now, so who knows. It was a part of USM.
Colleges
William Carey College will vacate its
beach property and rebuild north of I-10. They are conducting classes
in temporary locations.
USM Gulf Park is holding some classes
on the beach campus in Long Beach and some in temporary buildings. They
plan to keep their Long Beach campus, and build an additional campus north
of I-10. They plan to offer more of a variety of classes, and even offer
classes from MSU and other universities on their campus.
We have a new, non-accredited Virginia
College on Cedar Lake Road in Biloxi, which trains people for careers
in various fields. Another, Blue Cliff College, is located in Gulfport
close to I-10. I don't know what they offer, but both are new since Katrina.
Of course, the Jeff Davis campus of MGCCC is still up and running
Restaurants
Unfortunately, restaurants
have been slow in rebounding. We have a few new ones, but they are located
away from the beach. Biloxi and Gulfport are especially suffering, with
Biloxi lacking the most. Highway 49 has restaurants around the Interstate,
and Crossroads has three or four. My favorites are Logan's Steak House
and Cracker Barrel if you are in need of home cooked tasting food. O'Charlies
is just down the road, and a little farther is Lookout 49. A new Italian
Restaurant did open just off the beach in Gulfport - Salute.
If you are hoping for new restaurants
on the Beach, I hate to dash your hopes, but so far only Wendy's has rebuilt.
O'Charlies, Red Lobster, Olive Garden, Ryan's Steakhouse and others are
not rebuilding on the beach. Insurance is either astronomical or they
can't get it. Bonefish Grill reopened in Edgewater Mall earlier this year.
Of course there are many restaurants in the casinos, but the ones I can
afford don't have very good food. The best buffet is the Beau Rivage,
but the line is always long. Still, it is nice to go every once in a while.
We did discover a new (to us) grille on Pass Road near Courthouse called
High Cotton. We've only been there once, but everything we ordered was
good.
The Beach
The sea oats have come back, and a
lot of the beach has been cleaned and is open to the public. Some portions
are not, however. They are still cleaning the deeper waters and have removed
tons of junk from cars to couches to you name it that came out of houses,
they found it.
This year they let the beach vendors come back in certain places, which
certainly does make the beach look friendlier.
I would not want to go walking barefoot on the beach, nor would I go wading
in the water. Don't even mention swimming, although the health department
constantly monitors the water to make sure that the contamination levels
are safe. After a rain, when water drains into the beach from land, there
are always closed portions due to mainly animal poop germs that wash down
into the water. After a while, the sun sanitizes it and it is safe again.
The sea wall boardwalk is still destroyed, but they are slowly rebuilding
some of the fishing piers. They are working on the Courthouse Road pier,
and it looks like it is nearly finished. They plan to rebuild the boardwalk
using concrete so that is won't be torn up as badly in the next hurricane.
As I said before, nothing much has been build on the south side of Highway
90. A few casinos are being built, and a huge condo is going where the
old amusement park was.
Employee Help Problems
The Coast has not rebounded as fast
for businesses as they would have liked because we are still plagued with
a lack of affordable housing. Everyone has "Help Wanted" signs
up, but it is hard to get someone to work for even $8.00 an hour when
the price of an apartment has gone up. A lot of restaurants have scaled-back
serving hours, and although it is better than it was last year, it still
isn't good. Service is better than it was, but more wait staff is needed
everywhere.
We have many illegal aliens, mostly from Mexico and Latin America. Some
are here on work visas. They are our salvation because there are not enough
American workers to get the construction jobs done, which is mostly where
they are working. They are hard working, but the Coast is changing because
of them. Grocery stores offer more food items that they like.
Relief Workers
Relief groups are still coming down
by the hundreds to help people rebuild. Most of the rubble cleanup has
been done, so now they are helping build new homes and repair those damages.
The people they are helping are the poor and the elderly who can't afford
to pay for anyone to fix their homes.
FEMA Trailers
FEMA Trailer Parks and scattered all
over the Coast still. Some cities are asking that they now start closing,
but the residents say they have no place to live. They can't afford apartments
at the going rate now even if they could find apartments available. Then,
of course, you have heard that some of them are content to stay and let
the government pay for them to live. But, we had that before in the form
of welfare. It exists everywhere. FEMA parks are not the best place to
be living. Disturbances continually happen, and there have been a number
of murders in the FEMA Parks. They are known for having people living
there who cook up methamphatamine all the time. Decent people living around
the FEMA parks don't feel safe and don't want any more built.
Now the government is making Katrina cottages available to a select number
of people,and there is controversy over people not wanting even those
temporary/permanent homes in existing neighborhoods.
Then there is the problem with formaldehyde in the trailers making people
sick. Big controversy!
It is bad, and those living them are suffering from a variety of ailments.
Katrina Cottages:
Tiny, yet more stable, nicer and without
formaldehyde. They can be set up as a permanent house
on an anchored foundation, yet can be moved. These are being distributed
in selected areas to randomly selected recipients who are still in a FEMA
Trailer.
Pitch in! Everyone needs to help and
take responsibility.
One thing that will help is if everyone pitches
in and does their part.
My husband, Vern, and I cleaned our cul d'sac at least 5 times after
the storm, each time cleaning up dirt and rubble left from either our
or mostly our neighbbor's yard work in which they had dirt hauled in,
trees removed or put trash by the side of the road and it blew around.
This was after the massive removal of huge amounts of rubble and debris
that washed into our yards. The neighbors never cleaned up after their
workers in the street, but I hated to see the streed filled with dirt
and bits of trees and sticks, so we got out and cleaned the streets,
and the curbs, and even the dsug out the drains 3 times. For some reason,
people think that a storm gives them license to leave a mess.
This past winter, we got out our shovels, rakes and brooms and went
about two houses down where a damaged house had been torn down and the
street left a mess. Bit of glass, pieces of tile, concrete, and sticks
conglomerated with weeds in the street. The owners are trying to sell
that piece of property for over $500,000.00 and yet don't care enough
to clean up the street in front of it. I could n't stand it any longer,
so we went out and cleaned it up because we didn't want to look at it
anymore each time we drove by to and from our house.
Side note: Sometimes work is never finished. A week or so ago, FEMA
went back behind that property to cut down a few dead pine trees. They
piled them on the lot. It made another mess in that exact spot. The
pile of cut up trees was removed, leaving large hunks of wood which
(I guess) the property owners came back and piled the twigs again on
the street!
This is me raking the pieces of brick, glass
and tile away from the dirt on the street of the house down from
us. We worked for about 3-4 hours on this.
Unfortunately, this junk is common along streets. Property owners
won't get out and clean the curbs in front of their houses, and
neither do a lot of businesses.
What irks me is letting grass and weeds grow up on sidewalks and
curbs, and people who dump cigarettes out everywhere.
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My husband, Vern, is shoveling the dirt
into a wheelbarrow to haul away. When we finished, the street looked
nice and clean (for a while, until more debris was deposited). Ever
feel like you never get done because someone comes behind you and
messes up what you try to do?
If others would do the same,
our Coast would eventually look clean and inviting again.
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This photo was taken in February 2007, but is still
a common site along the entire
Gulf Coast. This is along Edgewater Drive in front of a place of business.
If I ran a business, I would want my street and curbs to look clean and
inviting, and
I wouldn't wait for the city to come along and clean it up for me.
Cities have enough to do as it is, and they lost a lot of their street
sweepers.
So, if I seem a little disheartened
about our progress, this is why.
I do have deep empathy for those who haven't been able to rebuild,
and for those less fortunate who are still struggling financially and
who
are without homes. Yet, if while they are waiting, they could just clean
up
their property, that costs very little to nothing except a little bit
of time.
And when a business is open, and when someone has the money to
clean up their property and doesn't, I have no sympanhy for their not
cleaning
the streets and gutters. Fortunately, there are those who do care, and
they are being recognized (See below).
Mississippi Renaissance Garden Foundation's
Bringing Back the Beauty Awards Program
Chairperson, Linda Saxon Nix (Me)
Please view our MRG
web pages for our awards.
I am very passionate about quality
of life, greenspace, cleaning up litter, landscaping with trees,
shrubs, and flowers. I'm glad to be able to spearhead this program.
Hopefully it will make a difference.
This is it for my updates for now.
I was inspired to to an an update page from that one e-mail, and this
is what I am capable of for now. It is hard writing about our progress
when I see so much left to be done, and I see city governments hashing
over zoning and variances and height restrictions for new buildings.
I see cities innundated with litter, and I see those who are overcoming
destruction and rebuilding. Some things are good; some are frustrating.
Things are improving, but I still call us a "Third World Country"
right now even though in my own little world, things are fine. We still
have a few more things to fix in our home and to clean up in our own
yard to be back to normal, and by that time another hurricane is sure
to hit, whether it be large or small.
Thank God for sending all of the volunteers from around the country
to help the poor and elderly rebuild. These people have given of themselves
countless times. They have worked in the heat and the cold. They have
literally learned how to build houses. They have slept in uncomfortable
places, been bitten by mosquitoes, and have eaten who knows what. Still
they come, and they keep coming back. There are a lot of caring, giving
people in the world and it does my heart good to see such love being
bestowed.
In addition, those who were able (individuals, corporations, celebrities
and movie stars, and even children with their coins dropped into collection
plates at Sunday School and Bible School) have raised money and donated
money to our cause.
It took a hurricane the massive size of Katrina to show us that people
care.
It is when I go out of state that I see what real quality of life is.
Then, I come back to the slabs and the weeds and lack of staff to operate
businesses, and the lack of things that large cities take for granted.
I love the Coast, and probably would not want to live anywhere else;
yet it is those vacations and art trips that feed my soul with normalcy
and beauty that we don't yet have. One day, if we all keep working,
we will have that quality of life again.
Please don't hesitate to come down to the Mississippi
Gulf Coast. What I have written here is fact plus my interpretation.
We have many wonderful things going on because our people are resilient,
and many of our festivals, our attractions and our events are back to
normal. There is a lot to see and do.
We do have nice places to eat and hotels to stay in. The beach is beautiful
to lay out and play on and just look at and experience the beauty. You
can't see the rubble that is still left on the bottom of the Mississippi
Sound. And, if you get away from the beach area, life is almost back
to normal. If you like Casinos, we have plenty of them as well as nice
restaurants at each of them.
Just don't be disapponted that the Beach Drive (Highway 90) still looks
depressing.
A plus factor is our Southern Hospitality and a warm welcome that you
will receive.
And, our local seafood dishes are to die for!
Shrimp is in season now, oysters are plentiful, and the Cajun influence
is seen quite a bit in restaurants.
If this page has been informative to
you, write and let me know.
E-mail address is below.
Back to Hurricane Katrina - Killer
Storm
Katrina,
Page 1
Popps Ferry Bridge, Lorraine Road
Katrina, Page 2
Biloxi Pass Road, Cowan-Lorraine Road,
St. Andrews
Katrina, Page 3
Biloxi Downtown and Point Cadet
Katrina, Page 4
Holly Hills Area
Katrina, Page 5
Rebuilding,
Recovery and Renewal
An Essay on the first signs of life
a few days after Katrina hit
Read about Katrina - "Hope Springs Eternal"
2007 Update
How things have progressed in two years.
More information about Biloxi can be
found here with some updates:
Biloxi
and the Mississippi Gulf Coast
This page created 7/28/07
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