Bracing for the Bay

We had many plans for today - and as you may recall my mentioning around Christmas-time - plans just are NOT the way to go down here these days... But we still make plans. It's a habit. The first plan was to wake up and get out of the house fairly early with all the kids in tow and head for Bay Saint Louis. Although we did wake up early enough - packing up four kids and a dog for a 140 mile round trip never goes smoothly. We got on the road by 10:30 am though - and we were feeling quite proud... We remembered the bottles for the babies. The boys remembered to bring something to do so they wouldn't kill us all with their boredom. We even brought dog treats for Judge. As usual though, I forgot my camera.

I remembered the camera as we were entering Gautier, but we couldn't bring ourselves to turn around to get it. It was just a few minutes later on the interstate when I first wished I had it... We passed the interstate sign just north of Gautier, Mississippi displaying the distance between that spot and New Orleans, Louisiana... Ninety-five miles. It said it was ninety-five miles to New Orleans. "Is ninety-five miles away close enough to be considered nothing more than the 'surrounding area' of New Orleans?" Dave asked. Over ninety-five miles away and in a different state -- we're still reduced to nothing more than a 'suburb' of NOLA by most major news organizations.

When we turned onto Highway 603 from the interstate, I took a deep breath. I've been hearing for months now that Bay St. Louis was hit the hardest. After seeing what had happened to Pascagoula, Moss Point, Escatawpa & Gautier... The damage in Ocean Springs...
The impact in Biloxi.. The devastation in Gulfport, Long Beach, & Pass Christian... I could not imagine what it would look like in a place that was even worse.

We made it all the way down 603 to 90... and then back east almost all the way to the remains of the Bay bridge. Anything that once stood within half a mile of any significant body of water was flooded or gutted... Anything that was within two to three blocks is non-existent. This is exactly the same scenario that played out in every city along the Mississippi Gulf Coast. Was it worse in Bay Saint Louis? That's hard for me to say... Perhaps I have simply gotten used to it all by now... I'm guessing that maybe destruction in BSL may cover a larger area geographically -- perhaps because there is so much more property which qualifies as 'waterfront'.

This is something we have discussed around here at length. Each of the coastal communities has suffered in ways that may very well be unique to that community. Taking Pascagoula for instance... I suppose the damage seems insignificant in the broad scheme of things: All of the homes along the waterfront and within two blocks of the waterfront were either completely destroyed outright or significantly damaged and tagged for demolition. However, the Pascagoula waterfront-proper (speaking exclusively of the road called "Beach Boulevard") is only about two miles long. Then there is the fact that nearly every home or business in Pascagoula suffered significant damage from flooding by Katrina's tidal surge. However, the incorporated areas of Pascagoula only make up about 15 square miles. So yes - 15 square miles of flooding seems pretty nominal when you're talking about a few hundred square miles of destruction... But explain that to the residents of Pascagoula who just had their entire town wiped out.

The differences became most apparent during our first trip to Gulfport after the storm: The total destruction stretched for mile after mile after mile -- totally overwhelming to see with your own eyes. On the surface -- so much worse than where we had just come from... However, Gulfport also had many homes and businesses which remained relatively untouched following Katrina... a blessing that many of the smaller communities do not have.

Waveland, Bay St. Louis, Kiln, Diamondhead, Lakeshore, Pass Christian, Long Beach, Gulfport, Biloxi, D'iberville, Ocean Springs, St. Martin, Vancleave, Gautier, Moss Point, Escatawpa, Pascagoula... Every Mississippi coastal community took a beating. Dauphin Island and Bayou la Batre in Alabama were stomped as well. Poor Louisiana and her cities that no one had even heard of before they were wiped off the map... Let alone places like New Orleans & Slidell. We're all in the same boat.

The awesome severity of this disaster is not apparent in any one of the smashed and soggy cities in particular... Instead, it can only be sensed when one takes a look at the bigger picture... at all of these communities at once and at the same time -- and the one thing they all have in common: They all need help - and plenty of it.