For those who may have forgotten.

[Twoplanker]

I'm in Jackson, Mississippi on business and had the opportunity to visit the two towns hardest hit by Hurricane Katrina: Pass Christian and Bay St. Louis. The visit was sobering to say the least. I was speechless. The only way to describe the devastation is to compare it to a nuclear blast. 90+ miles of the MS coast is absolutely and completely devastated.

Even though the American media seems more interested in talking about Brad and Jen's breakup and Osama Bin Laden's threats, I wanted to remind you all that these Americans are still living in tents, still sifting through the rubble that was their homes, and still suffering. I was brought to tears today for them and for my shame for not having remembered them often enough.

I staggered around the scene, mouth agape. My throat tightened. I couldn't speak.

I snapped a few pictures with my camera phone. I wish I had a better camera, but I didn't. I hope I can use them to convey to you what it is like down here... Keep in mind that these were all taken 5 months after the hurricane, after the cleanup has long been underway.

Imagine you are standing on the doorstep of your home. Look into your windows at your furniture, your pictures, your books, your possessions. Look down your street at your neighbors, their homes, and their possessions. Now close your eyes.

Open them again.

The steps to your front door are still there, but your home is gone except for the foundation. The framing, down to the lowest studs have been ripped from the foundation.


Almost all of your possessions have vanished and you will never see them again. You sift through the small pieces of debris around your foundation and find small bits of barely recognizable items. A telephone. A CD case. A book. Some broken dishes and spoons. For some reason you feel compelled to pile this stuff up. It's all that you have left...


The force of the Hurricane is capricious, leaving some things intact and others destroyed.


Entire buildings have vanished and yet somehow a lightbulb survives intact.


You stumble away from your home. The skyline has changed because in places everything is different. Homes are flattened, moved, crumpled. Cars have been bent in half, flipped repeatedly, tires ripped from the axles. The devastation is complete and endless - it goes on for 90 MILES along the coast.






The force of the winds were strong enough to bend steel poles flat to the ground, like this basketball hoop.


Lightposts are snapped like pencils.


All that remains of this dentist's office is the chair.


Buildings with steel or concrete frame construction are skeletons, eviscerated by the water and wind.


A child's doll lies in a filthy pile of twisted rubble. Did the little girl that loved this toy escape? Where does she live now? Where does she go to school?


Spraypaint symbols are a reminder of the search for the dead. Many are unaccounted for. One man I spoke with said that when he finally left his destroyed house and made his way through the water and the debris to escape, he encountered 23 bodies. He will never recover entirely from that - I saw that in his eyes

This was a multi-million dollar two-story beachhouse.




Did the seniors that occupied this senior home escape? All that remains is the pillared facade.


Street after street looks like some third-world country. Bicycles are wrapped around trees, cars, and debris like twisted paperclips.


Buildings that are still standing were filled with 30+ feet of water. Everything within is smashed, filthy, moldy. Ruined. This is the Pass Christian district school office. Where will these children go to school?


Cars are filled with muck and debris and bits of what used to be people's lives.




So many stories left untold... This Rolls Royce stands guard over a foundation that used to be an expensive home. Did the car somehow survive the destruction? Where are the owners?


So, that's what I saw today. Please keep these people in your hearts and in your minds. This is where many are living.

[schindlerpiste]

Dang.!!! It might as well happened a few days ago.

[skiguide]

Even though the American media seems more interested in talking about Brad and Jen's breakup ...

Oh, come on TP - get with the times, everyone's more concerned about Brad & Angelina's baby and how Jen is dealing with it! j/k...

Seriously, thank you for the sobering reminder of just how bad things are for those affected in the south.

But in fairness to the media, I still have been seeing quite a few things still about the devastation and how slowly things are going in terms of recovery, reconstruction and FEMA efforts in general.

Just the other night I saw on the news about how bad FEMA was in dealing with it - and it is sad, and Americans should be outraged.

there were some details about how FEMA had promised a ridiculous amount (i can't remember exactly, but 10's of thousands, maybe 100K) of RV trailers to act as housing for those displaced, but only 2300 had been delivered.

and in NO, a city normally around 450K people, estimates they've lost around 325K residents that still haven't returned, mostly because they can't.

and of course, there's still controversy over the NO mayor's comments.

but come to think of it, all you ever still hear about is New Orleans, and not much about that scene you've shared in Mississippi. It's like they've been forgotten. You're right.

Of course, I also just saw a news report about families with small, and now very sick children (lack of medical supplies) in the mountains of Pakistan, following their devastating earthquake how long ago? weeks? months?

It's just tragic. all of it.

[cj001f]

Of course, I also just saw a news report about families with small, and now very sick children (lack of medical supplies) in the mountains of Pakistan, following their devastating earthquake how long ago? weeks? months?

Now it's not just the sick - it's everyone. They have no homes, no heating/warming supplies - no wood or oil, and no warm clothing with winter well started. No roads to get supplies to them either.

In other news there was an interesting article about overfishing problems in Thailand. Apparently there are now 5x the fishing boats there were before the tsunami thanks to beaucoup aid $ and nobody can make a good living.

[skiguide]

Now it's not just the sick - it's everyone. They have no homes, no heating/warming supplies - no wood or oil, and no warm clothing with winter well started. No roads to get supplies to them either.

exactly - I was going to elaborate on that but got distracted. this bbc report or whatever it was showing a family with 6 or so kids, mother was killed, living in cotton (non waterproof tents) "lucky" enough to have a mixture of crappy synthetic comforters and blankets, but that of course was not enough to keep them warm, or even dry. the reporter happened to be bundled in TNF clothes and was obviously sympathetic to the fact that they were even cold in their expensive camping gear for just a few days, and couldn't imagine how they were living day to day for weeks like this. and there wasn't much food either.

[Artie Fufkin]

I'm in Jackson, Mississippi on business and had the opportunity to visit the two towns hardest hit by Hurricane Katrina: Pass Christian and Bay St. Louis. The visit was sobering to say the least. I was speechless. The only way to describe the devastation is to compare it to a nuclear blast. 90+ miles of the MS coast is absolutely and completely devastated.

For a few years due to my job I had to fly into areas right after hurricanes and major tornado events. You need to see this stuff in person, you have no idea the of the extent of the destruction until you see it in person, it's unbelievable and disturbing.

[avacadotoast]

WOW!!

Thanks for sharing TP!

[Shredgar]

Thanks for the photos & captions. Very moving & sad.

Anyone else remember this?

From the September 15 2005 NY Times:

"Republicans said Karl Rove, the White House deputy chief of staff and Mr. Bush's chief political adviser, was in charge of the reconstruction effort..."

[two_planks]

THe clean up will take a very long time. Right after the hurricane there was a huge call on all the arboriculture boards for arborists to help with the clean up. Predictions where for a mimimum of two years just to get the tree side of the cleanup done.

[Grange]

exactly - I was going to elaborate on that but got distracted. this bbc report or whatever it was showing a family with 6 or so kids, mother was killed, living in cotton (non waterproof tents) "lucky" enough to have a mixture of crappy synthetic comforters and blankets, but that of course was not enough to keep them warm, or even dry. the reporter happened to be bundled in TNF clothes and was obviously sympathetic to the fact that they were even cold in their expensive camping gear for just a few days, and couldn't imagine how they were living day to day for weeks like this. and there wasn't much food either.

I saw something very similar only it was in Pakistan and the story was about the aftermath of the recent earthquake. The reporter was kneeling in front of the tent with the door open while the family was huddled together under a couple of raggy blankets.

Just sad how quickly we forget.

[skiguide]

I saw something very similar only it was in Pakistan and the story was about the aftermath of the recent earthquake. The reporter was kneeling in front of the tent with the door open while the family was huddled together under a couple of raggy blankets.

Just sad how quickly we forget.

yep, we saw the same thing I think.

[MTT]

TP

I was aware of this, And its all over the place thousands of good people hurting from Texas to Florida. Thanks for bringing it up and posting the reality.

So the question is, I'm a guy in NV enjoying powder daze. What can I do?
I feel like hell right now, how do I help? you know, without disrupting my small life to much?

Fuck the RED CROSS, I know the insurance companies are jecking as many as posible around. The government is not designed to (HELP PEOPLE)
What do we do to fix this, or just take the edge off?

[Twoplanker]

I don't know. However, know that these people have not taken this lying down. They (and people from around the country) are working tirelessly to repair, rebuild and restore. Gittin er done.

I worry about next hurricane season....

TP

I was aware of this, And its all over the place thousands of good people hurting from Texas to Florida. Thanks for bringing it up and posting the reality.

So the question is, I'm a guy in NV enjoying powder daze. What can I do?
I feel like hell right now, how do I help? you know, without disrupting my small life to much?

Fuck the RED CROSS, I know the insurance companies are jecking as many as posible around. The government is not designed to (HELP PEOPLE)
What do we do to fix this, or just take the edge off?

[3eyedsmiley]

i think alot of the media just ignores natural disasters after a week after the event. pretty horrible, but true. i mean, probably most of the american public has almost no clue about the pakistan quakes.

[Lostinthetrees]

Amazing photos. Thanks for reporting on ground zero and the lack of progress.

Honestly, I had forgotten. Here I am bitching about 10cms instead of 50cms. Thanks for putting things back into perspective for me.

[Max Gosey]

This hurricane season has been OFF THE HOOK! Fuckin' SICK! Err HORRIBLE!!! I have never seen a hurricane season like this one. It seems to get progressively worse every year.

Barges were finally able to clear a path down the West Pearl River into Lake Ponchartrain, and my friends and I took a boat ride down there when I was home. there isn't a river anymore. There is barely a defined flow. There are trees and banks and mud and shit EVERYWHERE, and it just looks like marsh. What used to be a nice wide winding river is now nothing but marsh. The power of nature is INSANE.

But, in a different context than many of us know the phrase, THE SOUTH WILL RISE AGAIN. Those people are very strong in heart and will. It will never be the same, but it will likely be pretty close.

Thanks, Twoplanker.

[teleee]

Great pictures TP. I spent three weeks working in New Orleans as a project manager repairing broken levees. The amount of work that needs to be done to repair the damage is mind boggling. No matter how much money is poured into the problem, the fact of the matter is that it is going to take a LOT of time to bring things back to even a semblance of normal. I need to post some of my photos from the immediate aftermath...

[Sluff Vertigo]

And the gooberment is here to help you........................if you're rich and make campaign contributions.

One thing I know about my friend Twoplanker is that he is a sensitive and caring guy. I talked to him on the phome while he was there and could tell by his voice how much this disturbed him. With Bush and company pilfering the wealth of the country through war, events like the hurricane further widen the gaps between rich and poor in America. Why can't the people of this country help each other through the construcive use of the gov't? I just saw a report on how there were 14,000 repossessed homes that hurricane victims could have been placed in, but the govt couldn't get the paperwork done in seven fukking months.

So what does the govt do?
Kick the victims out of the hotels they were staying in and leave them in the streets.

This is racist bullshit. I honestly believe these are days of deep shame for America. Too bad so few at the controls have the integrity to actually know what shame should feel like.

For everyone who voted for Bush: