Courtesy of The Mississippi Link
Home, bitter sweet home: Louisiana and Gulf Coast
residents set up camp in Jackson (09/05/2005)
BY OTHOR CAIN
The Mississippi Link
Hurricane Katrina packed powerful winds and rain upon New Orleans and the Mississippi Gulf Coast, leaving most of the area’s residents without a place to call home. Television images of barely recognizable cities were broadcasted repeatedly confirming the helplessness and homelessness of thousands along the nation’s southern coast. Fatalities, according to Mississippi reports, are expected to be in the thousands.
Mississippi runs about 96 shelters that are able to serve nearly 32,000 people. In Jackson, the biggest shelter is the the Trade Mart Center and Mississippi Coliseum - where several hundred evacuees from New Orleans have called home for the last three days. John Parks, a Jefferson Parish, La. resident, spent 10 hours on the road Aug. 28 trying to escape Katrina’s unforgiving wrath.
“Interstate 55 was jammed packed and we were at a virtual stand still,” Parks said. “I’m grateful that we finally made it and that they had room for us [at the coliseum].” Carolyn Smith, a Bernard Parish, La. resident, said although the conditions are extreme, she’s grateful for the helping hand.
“I’m grateful that a neighboring state would offer us a place to camp out,” Smith said. “We expect to go back to nothing.”
Smith referred to the fact that New Orleans suffered severe flood damage in 80 percent of the city. Several levies and arteries were damaged or broken. A mandatory evacuation for the entire city had been issued.
In Mississippi, coastal towns such as Pass Christian, Gulfport, Biloxi and Bay St. Louis are virtual shadows of what they were before the storm. Power lines are down, enormous trees uprooted, casinos are blown away and entire streets have simply vanished.
In a press conference at the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency (MEMA), Governor Haley Barbour said, “I promise you, Mississippi and the rest of the Gulf Coast would recover. It will cost a lot, but we’ll rebuild and the Coast will be bigger and better than ever.”
Meanwhile, Smith and her family expect to stay in Jackson until they are released to go back to the bayou. But, according to some officials, residents may not be able to return for more than a month.
“We are prepared to stay as long as we have to. We don’t have money for a hotel so as long as they provide this place as a shelter we will be here,” Smith said. “I’m grateful to God that he has spared me and my family.”
