USATODAY.com - In Mississippi, Katrina recovery gaining steam

USATODAY.com - In Mississippi, Katrina recovery gaining steam: "GULFPORT, Miss. — Bill and Nanka Caraway, fresh from a two-week escape to Florida, are trying to readjust to their post-Hurricane Katrina lives here: Cramped inside a government trailer. Doing laundry in a little shed outside. Fretting over the still-vacant apartment building next door. Coping with the destruction that remains all around them.

'It was nice to be able to see something that's not totally devastated,' says Bill Caraway, 68. 'The pace of the recovery is disappointing, to tell you the truth.'

Katrina destroyed the home his family had owned since 1918, and 11 months later, they're waiting for a government check to help them rebuild. They're in the same situation as nearly everyone else on the coast: waiting, waiting, waiting.

Yet amid primitive living conditions, promising signs of Mississippi's comeback are emerging. Federal money to help homeowners rebuild is pouring in, bridges are being replaced and hotel casinos reopened. Schools are ready for children to return.

'We're turning the corner,' says Darryl Madden, a spokesman for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)."

Uh... There is federal money pouring in to help homeowners rebuild? Could someone tell me where it's pouring in -- we'll bring buckets. This entire article left me steaming. Does anyone believe in fact-checking anymore?

What bridges are being replaced? Is there a bridge over some drainage ditch somewhere for the next 95 miles that has been replaced as a sure sign of recovery? Because, I assure you that neither of the totally necessary bridges that effectively connect the entire Mississippi Gulf Coast have even been touched yet.

Here's another eye-opener: "The halting effort got a big boost last week when thousands of checks from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development began reaching homeowners like the Caraways.

Congress approved the grants — up to $150,000 apiece — to help homeowners in Louisiana and Mississippi rebuild. In Mississippi, 16,500 have applied for part of the state's $3 billion share of grants."

It turns out that thousands of checks were distributed last week!!! That's much better than the seven checks our Governor admitted to! AND I see why I have been so confused... All this time I thought the program was being carried out by the Mississippi Development Authority rather than the Fed Dept of HUD. I think I sent my application to the wrong place....

And for all you Katrina victims out there struggling with thoughts of suicide while you cook for your family on a charcoal grill on the stoop of your 20 foot FEMA trailer for the 11th straight month.... Here's news! USAToday says there are signs of the 'rebirth' of Mississippi 'gaining momentum' including:

• The state is encouraging local governments and citizens to rebuild in accordance with flood elevation maps created after Katrina.

• Most golf courses have reopened, vital to an industry worth $100 million a year to the coast.

• Airline bookings at the Gulfport-Biloxi airport next month are 14% above last August, pre-Katrina.

Although I struggle with exactly how the state 'encouraging' local citizens to rebuild in accordance with flood elevation maps that no one has yet (or will probably be able to comply with anyway) is something we're supposed to be happy about.... Or why an increase of bookings at the airport mean peace and prosperity for my family (considering that those bookings are either made by relief organization volunteers or investors ready to buy the land out from under us)... The reopening of most golf courses is a sure sign that we're all saved.