Four years later: NYT Still doesn't know where Katrina hit

The famous headline-accompanying Katrina photo: Taken here in Pascagoula, MS

The City Submerged - Josh Neufeld Tells Katrina Stories in a Graphic Novel - NYTimes.com: "Thousands upon thousands were affected by Hurricane Katrina, which struck Louisiana on Aug. 29, 2005. The magnitude of the catastrophe is depicted on a personal level in the new graphic novel “A.D.: New Orleans After the Deluge,” written and illustrated by Josh Neufeld and published by Pantheon."

As another anniversary approaches - Katrina memories are whirling around in my head with greater frequency and intensity... Almost like a - yeah - hurricane. I wonder how much of that is due to the lingering post-traumatic stress disorder related to the event itself.... rather than PTSD related to the really lousy, disingenuous, politically-motivated, and infuriating news coverage which followed.

I've mentioned many times before that the most devastating feeling post-Katrina was that of total isolation. I don't blame the hurricane for that feeling. I blame the national news media. For solid months they reported from, on, about, in, within, above, and in spite of New Orleans, Louisiana. Every now and then they would mention the state of Louisiana in general. In the meantime, we listened from our rotting homes in Mississippi... Saved only by those volunteers who couldn't get into New Orleans right away and ended up on our shores completely by accident. (It was rather common for volunteers to be quite surprised when we told them they were not, in fact, in Louisiana... Often they seemed a bit worried - as if they realized they were supposed to be in Louisiana and there must have been some mistake.)

From the article linked above:

"The winding road leading to the New Orleans novel began when Mr. Neufeld signed up to work with the Red Cross after the hurricane hit, serving as a disaster response worker in Biloxi, Miss., for almost a month. He said the catalyst for volunteering was 9/11. “Having been in New York when the towers fell, I remember that overwhelming feeling of helplessness and displaced anger,” he said. “When Katrina hit, I saw what was happening, and I realized that I, as a single person, could somehow help.” Mr. Neufeld blogged about his experience and self-published a collection of his dispatches called “Katrina Came Calling.”" (my emphasis)

It's got to be downright confusing to people fed a steady diet of MSM coverage for the last few years when the NYT throws in Biloxi, MS in an article which refers to the disaster exclusively in relation to New Orleans, LA.

OH but this almost clears it up:

"Together Mr. Neufeld and Mr. Smith decided to focus on New Orleans rather than on the whole Gulf Coast and to look for a broad range of people with different experiences."

Hey - wouldn't it be easier to 'look for a broad range of people with different experiences' on the whole Gulf Coast? These guys just made it harder on themselves, eh?

Let's see what else the news has for us as we approach the fourth anniversary.

From the Washington Post this week - we have this nice weather chap who tells the story of coming down to see Katrina make landfall... moving east toward Pascagoula out of concern for safety.. and having to evacuate through flooded roads as the surge came in.

Other than that, well, just see for yourself - I can't read anymore.

UPDATE: My link stopped working for the 'see for yourself' section and I'm feeling a bit under the weather.. My apologies. If you're interested... I am quite sure that any internet news search for keywords: Hurricane Katrina will produce the same results.

You mean you haven't missed us?!

Just in case anyone out there was wondering what happened to us ...

We survived Christmas. Not only that - it was fantastic.

But then - then - we decided we would do something ridiculous and started taking the garage completely apart in preparation for remodeling it. (We haven't touched the garage since Katrina other than to have some sheetrock hung where walls were removed. However, Dave's Christmas present to me was a major motivating factor in having a finished garage.) We bought U-Haul boxes and removed everything from the wire shelves on the east wall. We then packed all that stuff into said U-Haul boxes and stacked them against the west wall. The plan was to move everything to one side of the garage -- fix walls, install cabinets, and paint -- then move it all back to the other side -- repeat. That was the plan.

We got as far as removing the old wire shelves. We even managed to use those old shelves to install some much-needed shelving at Mom's house.

Since about that time we have been sick as proverbial dogs.

This morning - after days of sleep and rest and never feeling any better... after days of wondering where on earth we contracted this mystery illness - I finally realized what a truly STUPID thing we had done. Did you catch it?

"We haven't touched the garage since Katrina other than to have some sheetrock hung where walls were removed."

You don't think we were smart enough to wear masks while we were disturbing all that three- and-a-half-year-old Katrina dust do you? Ugh. We never learn.

We'll be back when our bodies stop draining green goo and we're able to stand up for at least 10 minutes at a time.

Happy home-improving in the meantime... Oh - and wear your dust masks, people.

Not yet federally banned.....

A palm tree near a previously bulldozed restaurant in Biloxi, MS: 2006

When the unthinkable happens - catastrophe strikes - it is apparently instinctual to slip into what they call 'survival mode'. All of the regular thought processes of the day come to a grinding halt and all you can manage is the brainpower to find clean water, a food source, and shelter from the elements. We are intimately familiar with 'survival mode'.

There were various dangers and hazards in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina that either never crossed our minds at all or which were instinctually dismissed as secondary given our relative mental states. It was only well after it was too late before we considered the chemicals washed in from refineries and chemical plants (and our own garages & storage rooms) that swirled through our homes. Likewise, it took almost a year for us to start to consider the danger of unfortunately inevitable (for us) asbestos exposure.

Our own home was built in 1998 and the risk of exposure from older materials was low - however, consider the hundreds and thousands of older homes and businesses demolished in the aftermath of Katrina. There were days in those first months following Katrina when large particle pollution was so thick in our air that it reduced visibility like a winter's night fog. Debris trucks rumbled through neighborhoods and city streets packed with insulation - leaving mysterious moldy residue on our cars and windows.

The following is an article from the Mesothelioma Cancer Center (www.asbestos.com) published here in the hopes that it will be a starting point for many to make themselves aware now of the circumstances and dangers of asbestos exposure.

With a force only nature could create, Hurricane Katrina made landfall on the morning of August 29th and railed through Bay St. Louis, Mississippi and destroyed everything in its path on the Mississippi Gulf Coast area. Although most media coverage surrounded Louisiana, the devastation was widespread through various states.

Responsible for $81.2 billion in damage, Hurricane Katrina is by far the costliest natural disaster in the history of the United States.



Due to the extreme nature of the storm, one of the major contaminants of concern was asbestos. The threat of asbestos exposure was everywhere, and became a serious problem for those who did not evacuate and those assisting in the cleanup. The storm destroyed buildings in two, allowing many asbestos-containing substances flow freely into air and water. These buildings had to be demolished in the cleanup process (many have yet to be demolished still) which makes the risk for asbestos exposure much greater.



Regarded as the “silent killer,” exposure to asbestos fibers can be a real problem for home and business owners. Homes built prior to 1980 maintain a strong potential of harboring asbestos products. It is important to make sure the location has been tested for asbestos levels. Citizens need to be aware that inhalation of asbestos levels can pose severe health risks.



A fatal lung ailment known as mesothelioma is obtained through asbestos exposure and takes the lives of thousands each year. Asbestos manufacturers were aware of the corrosive effects of the substance, but continued manufacturing it anyways. Due to the amount of victims being plagued by the debilitating illness, it has lead to a variety of mesothelioma attorneys advocating for individual rights.

Although not yet federally banned, the United States Environmental Protection Agency has placed strict regulations in regards to the use and handling of asbestos. The removal of asbestos in public facilities and homes must be completed by a professional asbestos abatement contractor. Once the removal is complete, green alternatives should be considered, such as: cotton fiber, Lcynene and Cellulose.

The United States Environmental Program states that the use of recycled building materials such as cotton fiber insulation can reduce energy use by 25 to 35 percent. The numbers continue to improve as more eco-friendly options become available. These asbestos alternatives will not only reduce energy costs, but allow for a clean, healthy home, free of health damaging materials.

This post is dedicated in memory of Father Patrick Hayes - the priest who performed my baptism in 1971 - taken from us by mesothelioma in the summer of 2007. Requiscat in pace.

Last night I cried for New Orleans

We recently, as a family, had the privilege of viewing the new feature-length documentary Katrina's Children from the relative comfort of our mostly-renovated living room.
The film focuses on nineteen children from various New Orleans area neighborhoods. The narrative is presented entirely through the words and artwork of the children. Through the magic of animation, their paintings are brought to life as they tell their stories -- stories of survival... of death... of loss... of destruction and fear... and of faith and hope.

I admit that I approached the film apprehensively. On the one hand, I expected the skewed editing and political bias that we've gotten from Katrina documentaries to date. On the other, I assumed that even if this film managed to achieve some sense of honesty that it couldn't possibly tell us anything we didn't already know given our personal Katrina experience. I was genuinely surprised on both counts.

The issues are all there - poverty, crime, racial inequality, the Corps of Engineers, the failed response, the effects of class disparity, the hellishly slow rebuilding effort, the depression and apathy of the (still ongoing) aftermath.... Oh, our children are so much wiser than we give them credit for! One little boy's artistic vision will stay with me for a long time: Hurricane Katrina spinning toward the symbol of Yin-Yang... Will the hurricane destroy it? We don't know. He explained "The black has a little bit of white in it.. and the white has a little bit of black in it...." In his vision the storm was ultimately defeated by not one - but two powerful dragons using their diametrically opposed powers of fire and frost together to stop it. (Some of my old philosophy professors would love to see this kid in their classes someday.... ) And another little boy's words will remain forever burned into my heart and mind: "I don't hate white people. I want to be a white person."

Do you remember the horror stories that came out of Katrina? The dead bodies? The dying babies? The shootings and stabbings? The suicides? Do you remember when all of those stories were slowly and systematically reduced to myth and urban legend? Well there are quite a few of these children who were apparently never told that the horrors they witnessed never actually happened.... And no one ever will.

After the film it was our son, George, who remarked first: "I'm just so shocked at what these kids went through - the stuff they had to see." This, coming from the boy who was only 8 years old himself when he survived Katrina... So confused as to what was actually going on that it wasn't until the water had started to recede and we adults were crying with joy that he finally shouted: "I don't want to die!" He remembers the terrible heat, the foul-smelling house, the lack of food, the threat of disease, the wild dogs growling through the neighborhood at night, and sobbing hysterically when we explained that we all had to use a plastic coffee can as a toilet. Yet he said in true sincerity: "Nothing really happened to us.... those poor kids."

Dave and I were simultaneously struck dumb by the state of New Orleans. Here we are - three years out from that terrible day - and nearly done (yes... really) with our Katrina repairs. Nothing is the same, mind you... Our neighborhood is a little older... a little more depressed... a little shabbier than it was pre-Katrina... But it's a neighborhood again. We couldn't understand how things could stand still: Neighborhoods that look like war zones (complete with guard patrols). Gutted houses. Ungutted houses. FEMA trailers. It's like Dorothy stepping out of the Kansas house into the wrong side of that rainbow. Late last night I cried for New Orleans.... and early this morning I slept fitfully while I dreamed of broken houses and mud-caked mementos.

But when I woke up not long ago I was drawn to look out our front door... And I realized something very, very important. Out through our front door.. over our thick, green lawn and past the poorly patched street.... Behind the brick house across the street and the few broken oaks that have recovered enough to block the view.... There is a neighborhood like that. Other than a few empty slabs scattered throughout and a handful of algae-covered FEMA trailers - street after street yields abandoned homes - left as they were the day after the storm. The broken windows and poison ivy growing over the rooftops can barely hide the piles of rotting possessions inside. Lives. Row after row of lives still interrupted (if not halted altogether) - and merely 600 feet away from my front door. Yet, we forget that it's there. The mice and rats had run out of food there several months ago and invaded this neighborhood.... Without much thought we understood that our new mouse problem was a result of it. But how how how do we forget? How do we ignore it day after day?

It was in this way that Katrina's Children was truly eye-opening for us. Right here - in the aftermath... In the middle of the destruction.... We have been surviving and recovering. We have built ourselves a bubble and we have chosen to live in it for our own sanity. We barely leave the emotional safety net of our own home as we work desperately to remove any reminders of the horrors of Katrina that remain within. We walk through the realm of anti-Oz every day and consciously choose not to see what is around us for fear that it will finally break us.

And if we can manage such selective vision - is it any wonder that the rest of the world, so far removed, has been able to forget and move on?

A couple of the children in the film mentioned that their parents didn't understand. Their parents told them it was over. It's over. Forget about it. I suppose those parents have constructed a bubble of their own. Thank God for the children to remind us that it's not over...

Our future is in these kids' hands. For a while there - that thought concerned me. What would become of a region whose children had suffered so much loss and tragedy -- all at once? The answer lies with these nineteen kids.... and with all of the kids like them along the Katrina-ravaged coast. From Bayou la Batre, Alabama through every city on the Mississippi Gulf Coast to the mosquito coast of Louisiana and northward into tragic New Orleans - we are promised a future generation of people made courageous through loss and wise through tragedy. It's up to us now to teach the final lesson - to ensure that theirs is not a generation of bitterness and disillusionment.

We are very grateful for the opportunity to view this beautiful film. We hope that many more people will have the chance to look into the eyes of these children and listen to their words of innocent wisdom. This is what we need - not just those of us here in Katrina Oz -- but all of us.

Destruction.. ergo Construction

Mom posted a new montage on her blog yesterday that I must share. It's an excellent view of the state of things here in Pascagoula 1033 days post-Katrina... And an interesting look at the various house styles under construction here in the aftermath. (There's even a picture of this house thrown in there somewhere if you watch carefully... That is, more carefully than me... I missed it the first time.)

From I Will Make Everything New: "Yes We are still rebuilding!"

Check out the montage ---->here<----

And this is why FEMA believes ice isn't needed after a hurricane....

I posted earlier about FEMA's announcement that it would no longer provide ice after a hurricane because it was not a 'necessity item'... You can read all about that here.

FEMA is under the impression that we didn't actually need ice down here ... And that probably has something to do with the fact that they didn't actually get a whole lot of ice down here to those of us who needed it. In some convoluted way - I suppose this is proof that we can survive without it.

Click on the screenshot below to view the article from way back in 2005:

SunHerald.com : FEMA: No ice after a storm

SunHerald.com : FEMA: No ice after a storm:

"It's official. FEMA has decided not to deliver ice to the public after the next hurricane."

I suppose this shouldn't affect me at all considering that not a single one of the five bags of ice that kept us alive during the aftermath of Katrina actually came from FEMA. As a matter of fact, it's probably good of them to just drop the pretenses and tell us in advance that they won't be delivering any ice after the next hurricane. This must be one of those 'lessons learned from Katrina' that we've heard so much about over the last nearly three years: "If they don't expect us to do anything then we can't go wrong."

As for the suggestion that ice following a major catastrophe in the extreme South in the middle of hurricane season can be considered merely a 'comfort item' -- I feel that this assumption has not been thoroughly researched. I suggest that we take a few dozen FEMA (MEMA too - let's not leave them out) officials and place them in a recently flooded home somewhere in Biloxi... shut off the electricity and the running water... and let them swelter in place for a few days while racing against the clock to get the sewage out of the house before they die from some undocumented parasitic infestation.

For those of you who don't quite understand -- we didn't use our few pieces of not-acquired-through-FEMA ice to keep our beer cold during the aftermath. . Our most precious commodity was ice water since the ice itself melted in about 20 seconds in the heat. We used rags soaked in that ice water to cool ourselves down (especially our baby) when heatstroke started to overtake us. There was NO other relief from the heat.

From the E-How article on how to treat Heat Stroke:

Step6

Place ice packs on the patient's head, back of the neck, armpits, palms of the hands, soles of the feet and groin.

Mighty hard to tackle Step 6 without the main ingredient.

UPDATE - Various reactions from the Sound Off column of the Sun Herald printed this week concerning FEMA's ice-capades:

No freezer to keep ice

• I'm calling in about the article about "No Ice." What about the people who have no freezer or fridge to store ice? That's going to be hard to do. A lot of people have to use the refrigerator to store food. Most poor people don't own a freezer. What about all those people?

Ice is a necessity

• Regarding "FEMA: No Ice," ice is a comfort? More like a necessity. Put water jugs in the freezer before a storm. What a joke. We have to keep things cold so we will not get sick. So we can have something cold to drink to keep hydrated. We did not have power for a month and a half after Katrina. And I am also a diabetic, which makes it worse because I have meds that have to be kept cool.

What happens on the third day?

• Ice is not a comfort item. I was shocked when I read FEMA stated it would not provide ice after the next hurricane. They stated ice was a comfort item. I do not know about most, but we did not find comfort in lying in a pool of ice. It was a necessary item to survive the week to two weeks or even longer after the storm without electricity. They said everyone should freeze jugs, which should keep for up to two days. What happens after those two days? Contact your senators and representative today.

What next, FEMA?

• No ice after a storm, FEMA! First, you tried to kill us with formaldehyde and now you take the ice away. Ice kept me alive after Katrina by keeping my body temperature down in a 110 heat index. This is the Deep South, not D.C. Whoever made this decision should be mandated to come here after a storm, grab a chainsaw, pluck some roots in the hot sun all day, lock their doors and windows in a house without a fan, no shower, can't flush a toilet. Someone needs to change this immediately.

We need ice

• I read FEMA is not going to fund ice after the hurricane. Well, I've got news for you, that is the only way we could have survived after Katrina. We had to live out of an ice chest through the middle of December and I think they better reorganize themselves and find out where they are spending the money. Because people without electricity, we need ice.

More ice

• I would like to be the first to challenge FEMA to freeze a gallon of water and see how long it lasts in 80 temperature. They got to understand this is water, frozen water, not oil.

Will Iraq give us ice?

• It was reported FEMA does not have the funds to give ice to victims after future storms. This is from one of the richest nations on Earth that can afford to give billions a month to rebuild Iraq, which we've been doing for five years.

Left with nothing

• Even if you have a freezer, if the electricity goes off when the storm first comes in and is off for a long time, the ice will melt and the water will get hot, so the people are left with nothing, thanks to FEMA.

Another urban legend

• In reference to people urged to freeze water jugs, the Sun Herald or someone needs to check into this. I have read many articles and even seen on TV, if you do freeze water in these plastic containers, including bottled water you buy at the store, there is a toxin that is released after it thaws out that is not good for human consumption. Please check it out.

(Note: The final Sound Off refers most likely to a popular hoax email that finds its way around the internet throughout the hurricane season. Frankly, the 'toxin' that is released from that plastic jug when it thaws out is no different than the toxin that's released from the same jug that was never frozen in the first place (i.e. plastic isn't all that great for us in the long run). Personally, I'd choose my daily dose of carcinogens over immediate dehydration any day. )

June 11, 2008: The ice debate continues

According to an article published in the Sun Herald this morning, FEMA has responded to the recent criticism over its decision not to supply ice to the general public following a hurricane by reiterating its position. FEMA states that it stored tons of ice following Hurricane Katrina until it finally went bad and had to be destroyed -- a truly stupid move costing millions.

I can't describe how this revelation makes me feel personally -- but I'm going to try. I'm in total and utter shock that there was ice left over to go bad. Do you know why? Because for days after Hurricane Katrina we could NOT find ice. Each of our attempts to procure ice at the designated distribution center at the Jackson County fairgrounds was a bust -- trucks never showed up... or the truckloads that were sent were no where near enough to distribute to the unbelievable number of people waiting in the heat for it... I will state again: We NEVER received ice from a FEMA distribution site after Katrina... The only ice we received came from family or neighbors with cars capable of taking them outside of the area to buy ice... or from our two hour round trip to Mobile, AL where we bought ice at a gas station... or in the weeks that followed - purchased from Walmart.

I can't believe they had tons of ice left over to ruin.

Those lucky enough to get ice from the distribution centers told us that there was a limit of two bags per car.... because there wasn't enough ice for everyone.... Then how.. tell me how... was there tons of ice left over? Could it have something to do with the trucks that were diverted from the cost and parked at Camp Shelby in Hattiesburg, MS? We were told at one point that we could go to Camp Shelby to pick up ice if we needed it.... 70 miles is a really long walk for folks who just lost both vehicles in a natural disaster.

If I got to put my two cents in as to how such 'waste' could have been avoided following a natural disaster it would include just a few items: Do not set up distribution centers in areas that actual victims of the disaster cannot reach. Allow each household to take enough ice for said ice to actually remain frozen for more than 10 or 15 minutes -- a chest, cooler, or broken freezer will not keep ice frozen for long unless the chest, cooler, or broken freezer is packed fairly full of said ice... (We all know even a working empty freezer is not as efficient as a tightly-packed one.) So even the scanty distribution of ice is a factor of waste. Plan on actually distributing ice as local officials once did and most likely would have done had their own resources not been destroyed -- as in... send in vehicles to 'zones' or 'neighborhoods' near the actual victims.

The most disturbing trend in the recent debate in my mind is that of commentators opining that hurricane victims are once again asking for a 'free handout' by whining that we want our FREE ice from FEMA. Listen people.. I don't care if it's free. Free is not the issue here. There was no ice free or otherwise. If FEMA would like to sell ice - that's fine with me... Just sell it somewhere near where people who actually flooded or lost their homes could get to it.

Actually... Further, the issue to me here isn't even whether or not FEMA will be in charge of ice distribution in the future... The issue is the abject ignorance displayed by the folks who are supposed to be in charge of EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT for all future catastrophes - mine and yours. From the Sun Herald's Editorial this morning:

How can FEMA draw a line between comfort and survival when it comes to ice?

We get the following quote from director R. David Paulison: "I don't know how FEMA got into the ice business, but it's not a life-saving commodity. People say they need it because they want it. They don't need it. It's not one of FEMA's key jobs."

Such ignorance is appalling - and frightening. Tell us that you wasted money.. you can't afford it.. you don't want to deal with it.... Tell us you're incompetent... Tell us you don't care.. But don't tell us it isn't needed and that we're delusional to think it is.

On the horizon

William's room is being used for storage at the moment.

Materials for the roof have been ordered. A tile sample for the bathroom is waiting for us at the Carpet Cottage. I feel like a thoroughbred bucking at the starting gate.

Since we can feel the impending home improvement chaos looming again - we decided to throw our next project into the mix: William's bedroom. I realize that the normal procedure is to complete a project and move on -- but normal procedure hasn't been the procedure around here since Katrina. Normal for us is having at least 3 or 4 things being ripped out and redone at a time.

The plan for William's room is to remove the chair rail which visually shrinks an otherwise large room. Replace baseboards and window and door trims with something that matches the rest of the house. Replace the overhead light fixtures which are water-damaged. Repaint the room with something a little more sophisticated for our growing kid... And possibly two more larger projects...

The larger projects all revolve around the removal of the wall adjoining the dormer area in the photo. We would very much like to take that wall out and extend it back to match the slope of
the roof. Of course if we do this we will need to do something about flooring since we would be adding new subfloor to the space -- that makes new floor covering the second larger project.

We were feeling pretty confident about all of this just a few days ago... but then an article in the local newspaper dampened my spirits. From the Sun Herald: "The three Coast counties will mail notices beginning the end of this month to let homeowners and businesses know how much their property values have increased since 2002, the last time property was reappraised.

Jackson County notices will go out at the end of the month, Harrison County plans a June mailing and Hancock County hopes to send out the new values by the end of June.

Values have increased an average of 42 percent across Jackson County and 15 to 20 percent in Harrison County, according to the tax assessors' offices."

(Full article here.)

Of course we've once again hit the jackpot living in Jackson County. Our property taxes are already enormous.... And I've already blogged about our staggering home insurance premium....
It seems like every day we take one step closer to not being able to pull this recovery thing off at all. Today I can't shake the feeling that we have been fighting a losing battle here.

With the number of homes destroyed -- and the value of the associated properties decreasing... We all knew that eventually those of us 'lucky' enough to have homes that initially at least partially survived the storm would have to foot more of the bill. Then there was a wave of ridiculous home sales as folks forked over 2 and 3 times more than a given home was worth just to have a roof over their heads... This in addition to the already present and swelling housing bubble everywhere else. We received three offers to buy our home right out from under us during the first three months following Katrina. If you remember at that time our house was still gutted... full of mold.. and we were living on concrete floors. In addition to these things - Pascagoula took a hard hit last year when a measure was passed which would force Chevron (the refinery is less than 1/4 mile from our home) to no longer pay tax benefits to Pascagoula alone and instead spread them out over the entire county (most of the residents of which do not suffer the risk of living near the refinery of course). We knew we'd be footing the bill for that deficit eventually as well.

I told you that was gonna be an expensive patch of pavement in front of our house.

Hurricane Katrina was horrifying... devastating.... tragic. But this... this slow and agonizing death of the Mississippi Gulf Coast is sheer cruelty.

Little patch of tarry heaven

Back in February of 2007, I had blogged a link to the local newspaper for an article entitled: "Promenade a sign of progress in Pascagoula". The article has disappeared into the murky depths of broken internet links now... The title alone remains. Literally - the title alone remains. Because you see -- there was no promenade built in Pascagoula as the title had suggested. That article referred to plans to build a beautiful promenade along Pascagoula's waterfront. There is no promenade... The city did hang some banners on the broken street lights (those that weren't broken off at ground level anyway) along the waterfront... but it's not quite the same as the vision they had given us all back in 2007.

Mom had blogged about this one back in 2007 as well. Of course that article is gone as well -- but it outlined a four-year repaving plan for Pascagoula's city streets. I don't think our neighborhood made it into that four-year plan. At least... now I hope not - for this wonder of municipal beautification appeared directly in front of our house sometime yesterday:

Yes - our concrete slab streets are in bad shape... Just driving around the block out here is something like the kiddie-rides at Disneyworld. The enormous amount of water back in 2005 took the sand and clay right out from under our roads and dumped it somewhere in the bayou, I think. But, still, I fail to see how anyone could think that patching cement streets with asphalt would be a good idea. So much for curb appeal.

Those pesky Katrina house X's

For the last six or seven months there has been a steady stream of Google referrals to this blog from people searching for the meaning of those spray-painted X's on the side of houses post-Katrina.


We didn't get any X's in our neighborhood... No one ever checked our houses for survivors. Maybe that's why we're not sure if we survived or not.

All I really knew about the X's was that when I saw them on a house that otherwise survived Katrina pretty well on the exterior I could only imagine just how irritating it would be to have to re-brick your house just to get rid of the spray-painted X.

But now - thanks to an archived post from Ray in New Orleans, I know the story behind those search and rescue markings. And you can too if you check out his post on the subject HERE.

SunHerald.com : Repair fraud arrests total 87

SunHerald.com : Repair fraud arrests total 87: "Eleven men have recently been rounded up on felony home-repair fraud charges, bringing total arrests to 87 in Mississippi since Hurricane Katrina.

Two others were arrested in misdemeanor fraud cases involving less than $5,000.

Another 50 to 60 cases are being mediated for completion of repairs, Attorney General Jim Hood said Wednesday during a press conference in Biloxi."

From the Mississippi Attorney General's office - the following are offered as guidelines for hiring a contractor to repair or remodel your home. Unfortunately, following a massive natural disaster, fatigue and desperation can lead to being much less diligent in this process. This is precisely why fraudulent "contractors" will prowl disaster areas for potential victims.

• Get at least three estimates (bids). Be certain each contractor bids on exactly the same work. ALL bids should be itemized and detailed.
• Know with whom you are dealing and verify the contractor’s address. Request and check references (previous customers, bank references). Inspect work done for others when possible. Make sure the contractor is licensed through the Mississippi Board of Contractors (1-800-880-6161) If he/she is not licensed, do not do business with him/her.
  
• Get the name of the contractor’s insurer and bonding company. Call the bonding company and verify that the contractor is insured and for what amount.
• A reputable contractor can usually charge building materials and does not normally require a large down payment. Where one is required, it should not exceed 10%-25% of the total price. Better yet, accompany the contractor to the building supply store and pay the store for materials yourself. Have the materials delivered to your job site rather than the contractor’s shop.
• Be specific. Have samples, model numbers, pictures or anything else that will show the contractor exactly what you want. If you don’t specify the quality of materials in the contract, you are leaving it up to the contractor to decide what material will be used.
• Be certain the materials you have selected are what you want. Changing your mind in the middle of a construction project is costly. If you do change your mind, be prepared to pay more.
• Get a guarantee in writing. Any contractor not willing to guarantee his/her work is not someone with whom you should be doing business. Accept no verbal agreements. Any changes in the contract should be in writing and initialed by both parties.
• Specify in the contract a beginning and completion date, exact description of work to be done, total cost of job, exact schedule for payment and warranty or guarantee that can be expected. (If contract is for an hourly rate or on a cost plus basis, get an estimate of the total cost.)
• Always pay by check or money order and keep a receipt. Write all checks to the company, not the individual worker. Make sure all subcontractors are paid to prevent a lien from being placed against your property.
• Keep a signed, legible copy of the contract in a safe place.
• DO NOT sign a certificate of completion or make final payment until you are satisfied with all work performed. Save copies of all material receipts so you can be sure you received goods and services for which you paid.

Meanwhile....

Remember the overflowing toilet and the downstairs ceiling leaks of a few days ago? Funny thing. Really. It's funny. It makes me giggle and I bet you will too!

It appears that the flooded bathroom was purely coincidental! It could have played a role in increasing the volume of water that was waiting to leak through the downstairs ceilings... but was anything but solely responsible.

That same morning it was raining. And I must mention that it has been raining every day for as long as I can remember now. (Mom calls this weather 'suicide weather' for good reason.)

A couple days after that post.. and a long time after the bathroom floor totally dried.... ceiling stains continued to spread in three rooms downstairs. Nothing really registered though until George casually mentioned changing his socks because he stepped in a wet spot on the carpet in his room. (!!) We then discovered a new ceiling stain upstairs in his room.... (obviously not caused by the overflowing toilet of a couple days before) directly above one of the largest leaks downstairs.

Dave then went up to crawl around in the attic with a flashlight and a camera. Most of the pictures were nauseating....

Post traumatic stress disorder in the attic.

2 years, 4 months, 29 days later... and thanks to the perfect combination of unusually consistent cold temperatures and near-constant rainfall... We finally see Katrina's wind damage.

Yes - we had all the missing shingles and missing siding replaced after Katrina... and we had plenty of professional roofers and contractors in those areas many many many times following the storm. (Of course all those qualified roofers and contractors closed shop and disconnected their phones months ago when they went back to wherever they had come from in the first place....) However... There was also the drought. Droughts don't help when it comes to discovering potential leak problems, you know.

We're just thrilled out of our minds to have to track down the sources of what is most definitely more than one leak and find some way to get them properly repaired. Our current wild guesses as to locations: At least one actual roof leak due to lifted shingles, possible damage somehow related to the hole in the side of the house, and damage to both dormers and/or the siding and or flashing around the dormers.

Meanwhile... I will take a deep breath and busy myself draping draperies and baking cookies.

*flop*

Post-script: I'd like to thank Bobby for his offer to help us out with the bathroom floor. I'd also like to point out that those skylights are still the most watertight things we have in the house at this point. Thank you again. I haven't forgotten the promise to invite you guys over when the upstairs room is finished -- hopefully we'll all still be able to get up the stairs by the time it's finished..... :)

I think I was abducted by aliens. It seems like only yesterday that the ceiling was leaking in the foyer.... But it has been days now and I have fallen down on my blog-duties once again.

Repair Update

The first piece of joyous news - the guest bathroom toilet now includes a seat and is (so far) completely functional. Actually I was a little surprised when going through receipts earlier today (more on why I was going through receipts earlier today later in this post) and was reminded that we originally had the guest bathroom toilet replaced because it was rocking. Sort of. Actually... The first guest bathroom toilet met its untimely demise after Yvonne flushed five or six bath toys and Dave removed the toilet to retrieve the toys and... Well the toilet ended up in many pieces on our patio. Dave replaced that toilet himself... However - the toilet rocked. Dave blamed himself. We called Lowe's - and had 'professionals' install the toilet. That toilet also rocked.. and eventually cracked from all the rocking.. and eventually leaked from all the cracking. So far - this new professionally installed toilet is not rocking, cracking, or leaking... Of course we are currently avoiding said toilet at all costs so as not to tempt fate...

Second - we had Merlin Wagner Electrical out at the house this morning to troubleshoot our weird tripping circuit breaker problem from a month or so back. The guys rather miraculously figured out that a light switch near our front door operated an unused cable which was apparently put underground when the house was built... and that something happened to short out the mystery line (oh say like digging for a sprinkler system) causing our circuit breaker difficulties. Another problem solved... So far. Maybe.

Third - the A/C unit (more properly - "heat pump") that we had installed last week stopped working yesterday. Just 'poof' stopped working... Completely. Our friends at Herman Cronier sent a guy out this afternoon to figure out why this happened. I don't have the full story at this point but I heard something about a fuse being blown... This could be another problem solved (so far) - but I'll have to ask Dave for details later.

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder Update

Since I have absolutely nothing else to do - I started putting together a "Household Notebook" last week to get us better organized around here. In case you didn't know - I'm a list-maker. I make lists of my lists. A "Household Notebook" is basically a three-ring binder where one can keep lists (and lists of lists) of necessary household information. When ours is complete we will have a section for calendars, to-do lists, and shopping lists; a section for basic info on each family member including clothing and shoe sizes for the kids (no more undressing the kids to check labels before a shopping trip); vaccination schedules and records for babies and critters; important phone numbers as well as unimportant phone numbers; and even a section for those pesky take-out menus we can never find when we're frazzled enough to need one.

I'll take this moment to say that I believe that the 3-ring binder is one of the most marvelous creations of mankind. My next project will involve a project binder for repair & decorating stuff around the house (I need a better place to keep all of those paint chips and little sketches). Already tucked away around the house: the huge homeschool binder, the lesser homeschool forms and worksheets binder, binders for each of the boys' schoolwork, binders for each of the kids' artwork (tabbed by age), a binder for ridiculous correspondence from FEMA, SBA, MDA, and our insurance company, and a binder for receipts and estimates (tabbed by year). Hmm.. I should consider making a binder with an index of my binders... A master binder!

PMS Update

Pregnancy lasts for a long time.. and my memory is short (thus the lists!). Therefore, I had completely forgotten that for at least two (maybe three) weeks out of every month I not only feel like I have been trampled by wildebeast -- I also totally lose my mind. Losing one's mind is not conducive to home organization (or the common good). After reading a few thousand internet comments on the subject I sent Dave out for a bottle of Premsyn. Don't ask me how to pronounce that. Premsyn is supposed to relieve not only the usual physical discomfort of PMS (read: trampled by wildebeast discomfort) - but also calm the nerves and tone down mood swings. Twenty four hours on the stuff and I think I feel a little more sane. I'm expecting no miracles - five kids, millions of ongoing repairs and improvements, a couple dozen binders to maintain, three cats, homeschool, and a big fluffy dog: There's a limit to the calm that can be achieved with over-the-counter medication.

File this under "More stuff we thought had survived Katrina...."

But we were wrong.

Lesson learned: Oxidation is an ongoing process - not a one-time event.

The outdoor firebox didn't look too bad immediately following Katrina... As a matter of fact, I recall saying a little rust lended some charm. A lot of rust, however, makes the legs fall off and the bottom fall out. (Also featured in this photo - our backyard slowly returning to native swamp. Apparently, the sinking of our property is also an ongoing process....)

This is a rusty gear on the verge of snapping and falling on the ground. The rusty gear belongs to our backyard composter which also looked pretty good immediately following Katrina.

For the curious or the potentionally helpful - you should know that in the months following Katrina I did sand both of these items and then coat with a generous helping of Rust-o-leum.
Katrina's floodwater was much more corrosive than your average salt-water bath....

Also on the list but not featured here -- both double-french doors leading from our living room to the back porch have rusted shut and are slowly being eaten completely away from the bottom up.

For continuity's sake....

First, the good news: I finished the basecoat for what will someday be Yvonne and Emily's upstairs bedroom.

Very pink room.

Next step for the room: Colorwashing. The texture is subtle and will look something like this test board when complete (I hope).

Pretty test board.

Now, I shall continue to chronicle the bumps in the road on the way to recovery.....

It rained yesterday. I quickly discovered that the leak that has developed in our North and South windows has not effectively been stopped (at least in the North windows.... I can only make assumptions about South windows until we get a storm from that direction). The dripping water ruined the greeting cards I had so optimistically placed in the kitchen window.

Ruined card.

Mid-afternoon it was realized that we'd received no word regarding Dave's Jeep which ended up in the shop Tuesday after not starting in the parking lot of the grocery store (while Dave was picking up William's birthday cake to deliver to the house). When Dave called the shop he was a little irritated - borderline angry - that no one had tried to contact him. Of course, we should have realized that they had indeed tried to call but Dave's cell phone wasn't working.... but let's not go off on that tangent right now. The repair shop was calling to tell Dave that they had lost the keys to his Jeep and had not been able to work on it at all during the week as a result....

Missing Jeep.

Next I realized that I was spending far too much time running to the breaker box resetting a circuit breaker when the lights and monitor in the girls' downstairs room kept going off. On the same circuit -- the entire south side of our Christmas light display. I assumed of course that I had simply overloaded the circuit, but unfortunately the breaker still tripped within 5 minutes of resetting when all of the extra load was removed. Therefore, Dave will be spending some of Friday replacing the circuit breaker as well as the GFCI outlet on our front porch which we just remembered was at least four feet underwater in August 2005. Let's consider the reminder a bright side.

Dave and a breaker box.

Finally, a glance at the ceiling in the girls' room last night left us in a bad mood for bedtime. This was a spot that leaked last during Katrina and was attributed to missing shingles by our insurance company. Apparently, they were wrong.

Another roof leak... more ceiling repairs.

And this brings us to the end of our update for this afternoon.... Let's hope there aren't too many follow-up posts to this one .... At least not before Christmas.

Emily putting an ornament on the tree (or maybe taking one off.. I can't remember).

The good news is Emily came home from the hospital mid-morning yesterday. Other than a couple of extra bandaids and a slight cough -- she's completely herself again.

We still don't have a sink though.

A couple guys from Custom Interiors showed up Friday morning and basically stuck the old sink back in place. It looks it, too. It's pretty obvious that the sink was injured during its slip and fall - and now there are uneven gaps where sink meets countertop. We're also not feeling all that confident that this new installation will last considering that the uneven gaps have gotten wider and more uneven over the last 24 hours. But.. it's the weekend.. and no one will be returning our whiney calls til next week sometime. No point in worrying about it now -- just a few more days of making coffee in the laundry room and washing dishes in the master bath.

The bigger problems are over at Mom's house this weekend. The latest is all the more tragic as Mom was spending all of her time helping us survive our last three weeks of unexpected emergencies. (Thank you so much!) It makes me feel sick to think that this happened while she was distracted running between our house and the hospital. So tell me -- What exactly are you supposed to do with a neighbor who sets your fence on fire and doesn't bother to let you know? I'm sorry, Mama.

Ho Ho hahahahahahaha

I have a confession to make. I haven't been a very accurate - nay! truthful - blogger of late. Believe it or not, life has not been all cuddly newborns and Christmas cookies for the last three weeks. Actually, cuddly newborns and Christmas cookies haven't been nearly as prominent in my life as I would like them to be. How shall I explain this? Ah.. there's no way unless I take you back in time a little bit.....


Let's go back to three weeks ago when our darling son Peter was born after nine and a half months of the most miserable pregnancy of my life (and hey I have so many other pregnancies to compare it to - I can say things like that) -- not to mention after three weeks (YES THREE) of very uncomfortable and exhausting prodromal labor. (i.e. painful contractions no more than 10 minutes apart every 10 minutes for three weeks)

As soon as I stood up for the first time in the recovery room I knew something was wrong. Pain immediately shot up my spine to the very top of my head like one of those 'test your strength' meters at the carnival with a bell on top. DING. I chalked it up to exhaustion and went to sleep not long after that. Rest didn't help. As a matter of fact.. it all continued to get worse. By the second day in the hospital my neck was so stiff I couldn't lift my head off of my pillow.. standing up meant the addition of splitting head pain and any sudden movements left my back in spasms. The doctor on call prescribed muscle relaxants and a heating pad... and because the pain in my neck and back was not relieved by merely lying completely prone -- side effects from the epidural were ruled out and it was said that I must have pulled something during delivery since I was no longer a spring-chicken, afterall.

When I got home the following Sunday - the headache became as unbearable as the neck and back pain - despite the steady stream of tylenol 3. By Monday I couldn't function. I was hoping the doctor would prescribe something a little stronger for the pain when I called to make my follow up appointment that afternoon. All I did was mention my headache and the doctor asked if I could come in immediately.

I was at the doctor's office long enough to describe the neck and head pain before he made a few phone calls and sent me across the street to the hospital. I then learned that I had a post-dural puncture and was leaking spinal fluid and this needed some correction. I called Dave who was home with three of our smallest kids and a Jeep Wrangler with no car seats to tell him I would need a ride home from the hospital -- then my cell phone battery died.

After a lot of waiting and paperwork.. I had a fifteen minute procedure called an 'epidural blood patch'. This lovely and uncomfortable procedure involved taking blood from an IV in my arm and then injecting said blood into my spinal column (eep) just above the offending epidural site from three days before in the hopes that my blood would then clot and effectively 'plug' the leak.
All internet sources state that the epidural blood patch procedure is anywhere from 'painless' to 'mildly uncomfortable'. I'm here to tell you that all internet sources lie. The sensation of having blood forced into your epidural space is not at all pleasant... And as the pressure increases the sensation progresses from unpleasant to painful to unbearable. The doctor asked me to tell him when it was uncomfortable so he could either slow down or give me a short break. It took less than 35 seconds for me to go from telling him 'okay that's feeling kinda uncomfortable' to shouting 'okay STOP NOW' and then threatening: "I'm sorry but if you do that again I'm going to cuss.. and then I'm going to get off of this table whether you like it or not."

At that point.. it was over.

In the meantime, Dave had obviously arrived at the hospital as I could hear the sweet sounds of my young girls screaming bloody murder in the waiting room across the hall.

The doctor had me lie prone for 20 minutes before asking me to sit up slowly. It was about that time that I noticed I couldn't hear my family in the waiting room and learned later that Mom had come to our rescue yet again and gotten the girls from Dave. I also noticed that the headache.. the backache.. and the stiff neck were all gone. POOF just like that. I told the doctor it was a miracle. He was very pleased. I was very pleased. We laughed. I smiled. I thanked him. He told me I could wait just a few more minutes and then get dressed and go home. I thanked him again. He left. It was all sunshine and roses....

Until I stood up to get dressed.

Yes they had warned me that the trade-off for getting rid of the headache would be a 'bit of a new backache'. I should have known that it would be something like describing the procedure itself as 'mildly uncomfortable.' When my feet hit the floor I had to stop myself from collapsing like a stringless marionette. Stopping myself from collapsing hurt. Getting dressed hurt. A happy nurse brought me a wheelchair. I smiled a pained smile because I was afraid that if I didn't smile they might keep me in the hospital a little longer... And I took the gruelling four steps to the wheelchair.... With every step it felt like my hips were going to explode.

But the headache was gone.

Life at home was slow for a while as things like bending over, walking, sitting, sleeping, coughing, sneezing and laughing were all excruciating. But I felt so much better than I had during my entire pregnancy that I really didn't complain much.

Now I have to pause my post-natal disaster story to mention that our friendly professional over-charging contractors were still here.. not finishing the house. MDA sent us a certified letter informing us that they were unable to process our application (you know the one that resulted in a grant? that we appealed.. and won... the one that they closed... months ago?) because we had never provided them with an affidavit stating we lived in our house on August 29, 2005. A couple days later we got a letter from the IRS informing us that we owed them more money and penalties after we paid taxes involving the grant which we actually didn't have to pay in the first place... but since our CPA was dumb enough to have us pay something - we might as well pay them more that we don't owe them.. or something. We also got a letter from FEMA letting us know that we were eligible for a grant to help us in relocation. Maybe they were trying to tell us something.

So.. this brings us to last Friday when I discovered after a long homeschooling day with the boys that we were even further behind schedule with classes than I had previously thought. This meant we spent the entire weekend trying to catch up and get back on track once and for all. In retrospect.. we should have slept more.

Monday night was another long one after we realized that we hadn't actually gotten any Christmas shopping done and it would probably not be a good idea to rely on getting everything we needed from the only store in town which happens to be an over-crowded Walmart. Dave and I stayed up until the wee hours ordering a few important items online and praying that the shipping cost wouldn't kill us this year.

Tuesday night sent me out Christmas shopping at said Walmart with George in tow and functioning on a mere two hours of sleep. (We did get to stop by Mom's for a visit which made all the delirium worthwhile.) I got home exhausted and fuzzy and then realized that we had forgotten to go grocery shopping. I was not looking forward to yet another homeschool day with five kids and nothing to eat but bread heels and an old jar of pickles. At that point I had what can only be described as a minor nervous breakdown. Dave talked to me and comforted me until 1 am -- which is when he left for Walmart to grocery shop.

I stayed up grading homeschool papers and feeling really guilty for sending my exhausted husband to the grocery store at one in the morning. We both put the groceries away when he got home and finished just in time for Emily to wake up screaming .... and for Peter to need his middle of the night bottle. Dave took Peter and I went to get Emily who was sweaty with fever.

I forgot to mention that at some point between the epidural blood patch and the nervous breakdown both Emily and Yvonne had come down with unexplained fevers for about 48 hours. There were no other symptoms.. and the fevers disappeared... and I thought everything was better.... But it seemed like Emily had relapsed.

We then stayed up with Emily and Yvonne and Peter for the rest of the morning. Dave left for work and I started laundry around 4 am. It was now Wednesday. It was a long day. Emily just wasn't herself and by mid-morning had developed a nasty cough and was wheezing badly. At 2 pm Dave called to let me know that he had made a doctor's appointment for Peter's checkup at 8:15 am the next morning. At 3pm I called Dave back to say "I know you really don't want to hear this right now.. but Emily is incredibly sick and her breathing is shallow..."

Sooo Dave came home and got Emily and the Suburban and took her to the doctor. In the meantime Mom and I were getting ready to go out Christmas shopping. We never made it.
Dave called at 4:30 pm from the hospital. Emily was admitted at 5:30 pm.

So... there we were. Dave was at the hospital with Emily with no sleep and the only vehicle that can carry all of the children. I was home with four others including a newborn. We didn't even know WHY she was being admitted to the hospital.. but it all seemed very serious. They did bloodwork and samples and xrays.. and food and nutrition called and asked what Emily wanted for breakfast... So it was assumed they'd be spending the night.

Look! Ceiling repairs are in our future! Again!

Thursday morning rolled around and it was pretty obvious that Emily was being treated for pneumonia -- but Dave wasn't getting a whole lot of feedback from doctors or hospital staff. The IV antibiotics and steroids and oxygen tent were a dead-giveaway though. Thanks to Mom - Dave was able to take a little time off from holding Emily to come home and get cleaned up... which is when he noticed that the air conditioning unit upstairs.... which is broken (oh wait.. I didn't mention anything about when the air conditioning unit upstairs broke....) ... was running... poorly.. and therefore... flooding the upstairs. The flood was consequently leaking through the downstairs ceiling.

I gathered every towel in the house and threw them on the mess. I wasn't going to let it get me down. I took a deep breath and started cleaning up the house... finishing with the Christmas decorations.. doing laundry.. and adding more and more to my to-do list. At around 3pm I finally sat down with the boys to go over schoolwork for the day. Just then there was a loud bang.. pop.. crackle.. explosion from somewhere in the center of the kitchen. I looked up just in time to see a miniature wall of water rise up just above where our kitchen sink is.

I should say 'was'.

That is.. where our kitchen sink was.

Where our kitchen sink was.

While we were sitting there reviewing spelling words - the entire kitchen sink and the water and dishes it contained simply fell out of its opening in the countertop and crushed the plumbing beneath. The kitchen seemed to fill up with water rather quickly. The boys spent the next two hours sopping up the floodwater with two dishrags -- since the rest of my towels were upstairs sopping up THAT floodwater. Can anyone say 'deja vu'?

On the bright side... The one year warranty on installation of said sink expires December 14th... We managed to make the warranty period with less than seven hours to spare.

Okay.. so we do still have a kitchen sink... It's just that it happens to be on the garage floor.

And so.. with new water damage, another broken air conditioning unit, a child in an oxygen tent, and no kitchen sink (again)... I bring all my blog-readers up to date for a little while. If I were feeling optimistic I would promise to post again and let everyone know what tomorrow brings.. but I really am not sure that waking up in the morning would be in my best interest -- so maybe not.

Anniversary Shmanniversary

Welcome, one and all, to the two-year anniversary of the annihilation of my way of life. Greetings from those who lost every trace of normalcy twenty-four months ago. Two years ago - and exactly two hours from now - the simple pleasures.. the joy of life.. were swept out into the Gulf of Mexico. At least for me. So, let's not start donning those party hats just yet - okay?

Let's talk about another milestone, instead. Let's talk about that looming mental health crisis we heard so much about in the days and weeks and months following Hurricane Katrina. It's been about six months now since it stopped looming and began to seep into every dark crevice of my mind and heart. Today it would totally consume me if not for the need to survive. I would surely lose my mind if the laundry stopped... or if my children didn't scrape a knee and need some aloe and a soft word... or if there weren't bills to pay.. and dogs to feed... grass to mow... floors to sweep. Life consists of endless mundane chores strung together by the occasional minor crisis.

My son, George, is sitting with me this morning talking about what this great anniversary means to him. It isn't what you're reading in the news this morning, I assure you. No, George tells me that today is nothing but a reminder that for the past two years we have been forgotten. He woke up this morning to rousing renditions of 'City of New Orleans' and moving footage of the destruction in his own hometown -- with voiceovers that never at all mention his hometown by name. With tears in his eyes and the softest voice this ten-year-old has ever mustered, he told us: "It's been two years and they still don't know we got hit. They're talking about everyone else - again."

My other son is more easily influenced - perhaps the year between the two boys makes that much of a difference.

"What does the anniversary of Katrina mean to you, William?"

"It reminds me of what the hurricane did to the city of New Orleans."

I'll mark this anniversary in my own special way this year by a return to the blogging world. I still have nothing of any great importance to share. But as long as our lives continue to revolve around Katrina and the aftermath... as long as every dream and nightmare I have involves the flood... I will continue this blog.

"Is that all you know about Katrina, William?"

"Oh no. I remember alllllll about Katrina - but I remember that every day. It's just that I remember all the New Orleans stuff on the anniversary 'cause it's all over the news."

How did I miss this story?

Dated February 13, 2007:

Justice At Last? St. Bernard Sheriff's Deputies To Be Arraigned In Katrina Pet Killing Case Today: "When some owners refused to leave without their pets, they were threatened with arrest, and when they remained steadfast in their defiance, the deputies threatened to shoot them and their pets. In some cases, residents were dragged from their homes or shelter in handcuffs and brutalized. Some sustained broken bones. When these people were finally allowed back into the parish to look for their dogs and salvage their belongings, what they found was violence, tragedy and a pet owner's worst nightmare."

And more...

"Caught on videotape shot by cameraman David Leeson, a photojournalist on assignment for the Dallas Morning News, Sgt. Mike Minton and other deputies were running over dogs in a jeep and shooting down dogs in the street, all while rockin’ out to 80’s hair-band music.

Minton was also identified by many evacuees as being at the scene of the St. Bernard HS pet killings when the forced evacuation order to vacate the staging areas was given. He was even overheard by several of these witnesses telling another deputy, “Once we get these people out of here, it’s target practice tonight.”

Google Maps - Hybrid view shows FEMA trailer frequency

Dave and I were toying around with Google Maps last night when we realized that Google has finally updated the satellite view of our section of Pascagoula (the last time we checked our entire street was still lined with woodlands and our house didn't exist).

You can find the hybrid map here: West Pascagoula courtesy of Google

What's so interesting about this? Well -- not a whole lot probably. However, if you're interested in getting a bird's eye view of the destruction of the waterfront area here in Pascagoula -- this is the way to go. What we found most interesting though -- was the number of FEMA trailers in our area. For months I tried to tell you all just how many FEMA trailers were around us... But finally - I think this photo can give everyone a good idea. Just look for the little white blocks found in almost every yard.....

If you see anything utterly fascinating that I'm missing -- please leave a comment here and let the rest of us know. Thanks!


**I'm guessing the new satellite photo was taken sometime around November 2005?? I'd like to know for certain. Email me if you know how to check the dates on Google satellite images.