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READER COMMENT:

"Thank you, David. You remain my main source of news. No TV. Most of your
articles I forward through my small e-circle. Friends value the NHNE
forwards. Happy Winter Solstice to you and yours, David." -- Woods /
Williamsburg, Virginia

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KATRINA UPDATE 17
By Sherry Stultz
<sherjs@...>
Thursday, November 11, 2005

People lament that in bad times at least they have their health. I wish that
were the case for thousands of people living here. The destruction left by
HK has splintered in many directions and the latest to emerge is what locals
call "Katrina Cough." There have been several articles in the paper about
it, but the Sun Herald recently published an in depth article about the
situation:

http://www.sunherald.com/mld/sunherald/news/13289304.htm

I had been very sick when I first returned from the evacuation because the
air here was terrible. Since then I have made some personal changes to my
diet, essentially removing alcohol, caffeine, dairy and some other goodies,
and have been fortunate to have my yoga instructor back from her personal
crisis (losing her house to the tidal surge) to hopefully ward off any more
illness. At least I have MY health. Not that it matters. Everyone around me
is sick and that in itself is just as exhausting.

It's cooler now. Not the cold most people complain of in the winter, but the
cold that makes people sleeping in tents terribly uncomfortable. So many
people are still in tents and between the low pressure of rain and
thunderstorms punctuated by the cooler high pressure systems, the weather is
somewhat unfriendly, even though the extreme heat has finally abated. The
media will probably do a Katrina Christmas special, but each day it's such a
long weary existence for so many people, especially in Hancock County. I
can't impress enough on people from out of the area that the most extreme
damage from HK is in Hancock County. I realize that decades of social
oversight and racism created a humanitarian nightmare in New Orleans, but
the real structural devastation to communities was in Bay St. Louis and
Waveland, MS. The Mississippi Heritage Website gives many excellent shots of
these areas:

http://www.mississippiheritage.com/HurricaneKatrina.html

Thanksgiving was the great turkey give away. I daresay the MS Gulf Coast was
well prepared to celebrate. If you bought a turkey like we did, it had to be
for a special reason (ours was organic) because aide agencies and private
charities donated thousands of them to us. It was nice to be remembered.
Many people will need to be remembered for the next few years. After a few
months here, I don't see life resuming to normal for a long time.

I stood at the foot of the foot of the Ocean Springs-Biloxi Bridge the other
day. It was clear and sunny and I got some better shots to add to the blog,
whereas before I had photographed it from a distance. I still cannot believe
the power of this storm. The bay was littered with toilets, appliances and
other household items. We were on the bridge at low tide and it was evident
the clean-up from HK was far from over. A friend of mine joked that it
looked like Sears jutting out of the bay. Huge concrete sections of the
bridge have been ripped away completely. It looks like earthquake damage
rather than hurricane, but who can say? After Katrina, we will redefine what
makes a powerful hurricane.

New photos of the Ocean Springs-Biloxi Bridge are posted here:
http://www.nhne.com/specialreports/ss_katrina/photos2.html

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KATRINA UPDATE 16
By Sherry Stultz
<sherjs@...>
Thursday, November 3, 2005

Hurricane Katrina clean up has been underway for a good six weeks now and
they are finally picking up the debris, only there is no where to put it and
we have a burn ban because of drought conditions, so it's being buried or
mulched or both.

The state approved the on-land gambling for Harrison and Hancock Counties,
so the casinos are warily working on plans to rebuild, and with that has
come input from all over the world. It would be a great feat to have South
Mississippi made into a resort town with less Vegas and more local color,
including some much needed public transit, but the debates continue.

The real trouble here however is doglessness. At one time, South Mississippi
was plagued with stray animals. There were public announcements, newspaper
editorials, TV ads and an array of information about spaying and neutering
your pet. It was part of the Mississippi stigma of teenage pregnancy and low
literacy.

I had decided after Abbey died in Macon that I would wait a few years before
I got another dog, and grudgingly told Astra she could have a guinea pig
whenever we finally settled. Time has passed and I realized that I don't
need a dog right now; my grief over Abbey is fresh, but Astra does need a
puppy. Her life has been upside down for over a year and with all the
confusion, it would be therapeutic to have an unconditional somebody in her
life.

So I set off to find a small breed or mixed female puppy. Little did I know
I could have discovered Bigfoot living in the local gum swamps before I
found my daughter a dog! I called every single pet shelter on the
Mississippi Gulf Coast, private or public, and six veterinary offices only
to discover the Humane Society, ASPCA and other local pounds had shipped all
the animals out of her after HK and there were few to be had. I called
Mobile, AL and the local ASPCA had adopted out 61 animals the week before. I
congratulated them of course, and flopped on the couch, incredulous.

I spoke to my friend at the health food store and learned I was not the only
person looking for a dog. Many pets died in the storm and for those of us
who have always had an animal, the emptiness that follows cannot be ignored.
The Mobile ASPCA called me later and said there would be an adoption this
week at the Mobile Pet Smart and that many puppies who were not eligible for
the previous adoption would be adoptable this weekend.

I went to petfinder.com and the closest animal that fit my needs was 5 hours
away. I need an under 30 lbs. dog and would prefer a female. In my region
(you type in your zip code) there are thousands of animals needing adoption.
It was overwhelming to click through the pages. The surrounding shelters in
adjacent states have burgeoned because of HK and have been holding pets,
hoping the owners will finally come to get them.

I managed to get some pictures of East Biloxi this week; they are all taken
from a car and the lighting was in the late afternoon, so pardon the
quality. Highway 90 is cleared enough to travel, but still not open to the
public. For those you who look at the pictures, I'll remind you that the
original casinos were on barges, which is why many ended up on shore.

This was not the first time I had seen East Biloxi and the downtown area
near the Beau Rivage Casino, but it's chilling, still after two months. I've
never seen it so empty; it was always busy, with traffic and tourists. As
you can see from the photos, only a few vehicles (aid workers, law
enforcements, clean-up crews, etc.) are allowed in the area. I snapped a
shot of a lone worker cleaning up a hotel. In previous pictures I didn't
photograph when residents were cleaning up their property, which is why most
of the pictures are without a human component. Things were too fresh; the
media circus here left people jaded and out of respect for their losses, I
did not take their photographs. However, Biloxi near the beach is virtually
empty and I photographed it as it appears daily.

Photographs:
http://www.nhne.com/specialreports/ss_katrina/photos2.html

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PREVIOUS KATRINA POSTS FROM SHERRY (& PHOTOS):
http://www.nhne.com/specialreports/ss_katrina/

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Published by David Sunfellow
NewHeavenNewEarth (NHNE)
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