Katrina in the News

The New York Times acknowledges that the Gulf Coast towns and cities not named New Orleans has been left in the shadow of events in New Orleans.

Whose fault is that? Not mine. It is the fact that the media swarmed to New Orleans and then never bothered to venture anywhere else has something to do with it. The editorial decision at the New York Times and other media outlets have something to do with it too. After all, if the editors decide that while the damage in Gulfport is extreme but the people are rebuilding without blaming the federal government, then there isn't much reason to cover the story.

Ditto for Biloxi. MSNBC discovers that Biloxi is historic and that it faces serious challenges in rebuilding. Again, no kidding. Many areas in the Gulf are historic and are full of buildings that require significant rebuilding and restoration. Yet, Biloxi hasn't gotten nearly the same coverage as New Orleans, despite the fact that Biloxi was fully hit by the storm's fury.

Nearly three days after the convoy left Bakersfield, the relief convoy reached Slidell.

After three days on the road and a new destination, one of the Bakersfield Cares relief trucks pulled into Slidell, La., a city that looks like it has been bombed.
Slidell is about half an hour north of New Orleans, and full of people thankful for Kern County’s help.

“Some people that had to leave, they don’t have any houses left,” said hurricane survivor Ashley Mistretta.

The Patterson Motor Freight Bakersfield Cares truck was supposed to go to Lafayette, but was rerouted to Slidell’s First Baptist Church because of the great need for supplies there.

Hurricane Katrina hit the First Baptist Church of Slidell hard, but that’s not stopping them from their mission of helping the people in the community.

Retail businesses are returning.

A legendary blues musician who made his home in Slidell, Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown died at the age of 81. He was battling lung cancer and was devastated over the loss of his home in Slidell.

In Pascagoula, people are concerned about the jobs situation. Some employers, like Northrup Grumman are hoping to get production restarted quickly, but other businesses are facing bankruptcy or the inability to rehire workers because of damage to the business.

Mississippi Insurance Commissioner George Dale, who has surveyed the damage by helicopter, predicts that within months, the coast will be the center of the nation's biggest building boom.

"You're going to have millions of dollars of insurance money coming to the Gulf Coast. You're going to have millions of dollars of federal money pouring into the Gulf Coast. Somebody's going to have to do the work," Dale said recently. "An old-timer once told me, he said, 'Sometimes, about every 10 years, the coast needs a haircut. It adds to the economy."

Bernard Garcia, the 16-year-old son of immigrants from Michoacan, Mexico, says his family will not only remain in Biloxi and rebuild the El Toro Bar, but also summon relatives from California to come for construction jobs.

"There's going to be more work here than any other place," he says.

And auto mechanic Khoi Le, 34, will put his own reopening on hold for three or four weeks to help in the rebuilding.

But welder and mechanic Melvin Young of Bay St. Louis may be forced to move on.

"I got $25 to my name," he says. "We're looking for work."

Waveland isn't so lucky. The town was pretty much wiped out completely. However, there are some families that have decided to rough it in a parking lot of a supermarket instead of going into government shelters. Where were you when the storm hit, is going to be a common refrain in those parts. Practically everyone who rode out the storm will have a story of survival to recount.

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