Eight Months Later - Katrina Recovery

The spending frenzy in Washington continues -- with help from the Mississippi Gulf Coast and New Orleans.  Special interests in D.C. and on the Coast have recognized a chance to push their agendas and ask for the moon.

Move a railroad track?  Why?  Because "people get killed on the tracks".  Yes, they do.  But trains don't  sneak up on them.  On the Mississippi Coast I've been astounded to see car after car weave their way in between the railroad "safety arms" AFTER they were lowered.  The train is approaching, frantically blowing its whistle -- yet car after car slowly drives over the tracks going left around one lowered arm and then veering to the right to navigate past the second safety bar.

Each year there are a few pedestrians killed on the railroad tracks.  How intoxicated do you have to be NOT to hear and see a train yards from you?  How loud is the music in your car that you can't see the red lights flashing and hear the train's whistle blowing?  How dumb can people be?

But the desire among a few here is to relocate the recently repaired train tracks and train bridges several miles to the North.  Thus, those people who built homes away from the towns in the quiet countryside are furious to see the government approve spending that will destroy their peaceful lifestyle. 

Once the track is moved, the Federal Government will be asked for more money to build yet another East-West highway so that more cars can travel faster along the Coast.  This in a time where we are seeing the folly of ignoring the earth's resources of oil and gas far too long.  Some major businesses in the area who were fully covered by storm insurance are also receiving hundreds of millions in taxpayer dollars for "hurricane relief". 

Meanwhile, homes have been abandoned because insurance companies refused to cover damages from the huge storm surge of Katrina.  The lifestyles of many families have been decimated by homes destroyed while mortgages are still due each month on those homes.  Suicides are up, divorces have increased, children show symptoms of traumatic stress disorder.

Three Mississippi Coast casinos have re-opened, two of them in temporary facilities.  Some have closed permanently, while many have plans to rebuild.
Day and night they are filled to capacity with gamblers.

Residents have been complaining that speculators are buying up waterfront property where historic homes used to stand -- yet the owners are relieved to have someone buying at all.  Local city governments argue about new flood maps and height requirements for homes and more often than not no decision is reached. 

Immediately following Katrina, Mississippi was ignored by the media and the Federal Government.  The levee breaks in New Orleans took precedence over the worst of the damage from Katrina, the storm.  When 80% of a city the size of New Orleans has been flooded, it is normal for attention to focus there.  On the Mississippi Coast several towns have disappeared.  For several months, former residents vowed to rebuilt bigger and better.  They buzzed with excitement when politicians such as the President visited and promised help.  After 8+ months, they are sitll waiting for help to arrive from the government for even the most basic projects for some of the damaged towns.

For several months, there was a feeling of "can do" on the Coast of Mississippi and in many areas that feeling remains.  It has been dulled somewhat by the realization that for many help will not be coming.  There is no cure; there is no fix.  Many residents returned only to leave again - this time for good.  Some who initially planned to stay now have doubts and homes on the market increase weekly.

The population of the Mississippi Gulf Coast will be drastically changed by Hurricane Katrina.  Professionals, white color workers, technical personnel have left to find work elsewhere and will not return.  At the same time, there has been a huge influx of construction workers who have now brought their families and are making their homes here where work will be plentiful for years to come.  The immigrant population on the Coast pre-Katrina was mainly composed of a large Vietnamese community.  They are now outnumbered by waves of Spanish speaking people -- many of them undocumented and willing to work for less pay and fewer benefits.

What will emerge in the next ten years will be a new Gulf Coast.   It won't be better...or worse perhaps -- just different.  There will be high rise condos where historical homes stood, there will be jobs and stores.  And, sooner or later, there will be another storm.

Author Kay King works from her home on the Mississippi Gulf Coast.  Please visit her site at www.1disaster-recovery.com for ongoing news about the recovery of the Mississippi Gulf Coast.