The photo in the header image above is of the Ocean Springs/Biloxi Bridge. This 1+ mile bridge was my drive to work every day pre-Katrina and was taken in September 2005. I could take the same photo today as that bridge looks exactly the same now, over eight months later. It's a long road back from Katrina.
The Fear Emerges - It's Hurricane Season
Next week marks one year away from Hurricane Katrina. One year away from life as we knew it. We are in another Hurricane Season - and it has seldom been mentioned here. So far we've been fortunate as it's been a quiet Season.
For those living away from "hurricane country" I should explain that every year the Hurricane Season is discussed daily in the late summer. Every wave coming off Africa into the Atlantic, every depression that is developing into a storm, every Tropical Storm that may further develop -- is discussed everywhere. Storm tracks are debated, projections made...it's almost a summer hobby along the Gulf Coast.
This year has been different. No one wants to acknowedge Hurricane Season. There was nervous ripple when the Season began but since then no one mentions it. It's almost like by not acknowledging the possibility - you may be able to avoid the reality. This weekend that will change as there is a real possibility that the latest depression will end up in the Gulf of Mexico sometime next week. Maybe it will only be a tropical storm, but it's more likely that if it does reach the Gulf it will be as a Hurricane.
The discussions that do occur are more serious than in past years and accompanied shaking heads and promises to leave the area.
Before Katrina, there was a "catch me if you can" attitude displayed toward Hurricanes by many of the locals here on the Coast. Katrina took that dare...and won. This year we all know the dangers of even a minor Hurricane. All along the Gulf Coast all of the subdivisions and small towns are peppered with hundreds of insubstantial FEMA trailers.
On many streets, there are piles of debris around homes that were destroyed and have been abandoned. Any storm greater than a Category 1 in intensity has the potential to turn debris - and even FEMA trailers - into dangerous projectiles. Almost any hurricane that approaches this year will likely trigger a massive evacuation of the Gulf Coast. One thing we learned last year was to get out of the way!
Some previous risks have been lessened. Prior to Katrina, businesses and casinos felt safe in waiting until the last possible hour to close their doors. Many employees didn't leave the Coast last year because there was no time or way to escape once they had finally been able to leave their jobs. This year will be different. The casinos that have been able to re-open have announced that they will close 36 hrs before any predicted landfall of a Hurricane.
Even that may not be time enough for residents here. The number of people evacuating will be much higher than those who evacuated for Katrina - and that number a year ago turned the evacuation routes into parking lots in the two days before landfall. In New Orleans, many residents have not returned but on the Mississippi Coast there has been an influx of people as casinos have reopened and jobs are once again becoming available.
If a hurricane comes near this year, the "big story" may be not of the storm itself but of the evacuation problems.
If today's weather channel prediction is accurate...we may find out how efficiently an exodus will work much sooner than we want.
Author Kay King works from her home on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. For more articles and photos of the Coastal area hardest hit by Hurricane Katrina, please visit her site at http://www.1disaster-recovery.com .
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© 2008 - Brenda King All Rights Reserved Worldwide...