Are Any Parts of Gulfport/Biloxi Open Yet?

[george_r_1961]

I was down there last month while visiting NOLA. Both Gulfport and Biloxi were VERY heavily damaged and in my opinion Gulfport was the worst. Inland areas of Biloxi, like Woolmarket, appeared to be doing a lot better than areas near the beaches. What I saw reinforced this: while the wind is dangerous the storm surge is what kills! Anyone not affected by the surge who was in a sturdy building survived. There was no way anyone could survive the carnage I saw near the beaches.

[timNms]

I was down there last month while visiting NOLA. Both Gulfport and Biloxi were VERY heavily damaged and in my opinion Gulfport was the worst. Inland areas of Biloxi, like Woolmarket, appeared to be doing a lot better than areas near the beaches. What I saw reinforced this: while the wind is dangerous the storm surge is what kills! Anyone not affected by the surge who was in a sturdy building survived. There was no way anyone could survive the carnage I saw near the beaches.

George, we have some friends who live near the Orange Grove community just north of Gulfport. They had way over $40,000 damages to their house from the wind. Thankfully, they were not there! They had gone north for the storm. They said after riding out Georges in '98, they'd never do that again.

You should get a copy of WLOX's "Hurricane Katrina, South Mississippi's Story". One of their news anchors was riding out the storm in her home with her husband when the storm surge destroyed their house! Her story is chilling!

[pojo]

I still look at the pictures that I took while walking the beach... I couldn't believe the amount of pop bottles lying on the beach. The item that struck me the worst is some little child's teddy bear lying lifeless in the sand... Someone graciously used a piece of wood to rest the bear on...........

There was also a Semper Fi flag lying on the beach.... I hit rock bottom when I saw that..... Being a fellow service member, I do understand the pride we have in 'our' forces flag... being a 'sister' service, it struck me that no one claimed the flag.

[Bluefrog]

Beach Blvd.
This is the home my mom built & that I grew up in ... 3 stories, 5800 sq ft, in Pascagoula, Mississippi

collapsed in Hurricane Katrina.

[Bluefrog]

Spinnaker Townhomes in Pascagoula, Mississippi on Beach Blvd. I was living there and my mom was in a different townhome there also. Completely gone

[Bluefrog]

another home on Beach Blvd in Pascagoula, Mississippi

[bvigal]

Bluefrog, my heart goes out to you!!! Thanks for sharing your pictures, it helps to make it real for those of us so far away.

[bvigal]

Pojo, can you or someone tell me what the historic downtown in Biloxi is like? Was it destroyed? What about Molly Malones, courthouse, etc.?

[Bluefrog]

Thanks ... It's good for people away from the MS/LA coast to see what we've been thru and continue to go thru. It's hard to believe that this much damage happened 2 hours driving distance east of New Orleans...although we did take the brunt of the hurricane !!!!

[pojo]

I don't know about downtown.... the City Green was redone

[timNms]

BlueFrog, My wife, son, and I were in Pascagoula Wednesday. We saw the areas along Beach Blvd. My wife said, "Hey, that's the place that was in the picture someone sent to you from S2K". Seeing the pics doesn't do justice to the devastation down there! I was very pleased with the progress that I saw, though.

What tugged at my heart strings was seeing people rebuilding their homes and lives all along our coast. I'm thankful that while there were some who tucked tail and ran (moved away), there are some of us who are determined to make our coast the great place it was before the storm. I'd be one of those die hard Mississippians who would rebuild if I had lived down there and lost my home.

[Dionne]

BlueFrog, My wife, son, and I were in Pascagoula Wednesday. We saw the areas along Beach Blvd. My wife said, "Hey, that's the place that was in the picture someone sent to you from S2K". Seeing the pics doesn't do justice to the devastation down there! I was very pleased with the progress that I saw, though.

What tugged at my heart strings was seeing people rebuilding their homes and lives all along our coast. I'm thankful that while there were some who tucked tail and ran (moved away), there are some of us who are determined to make our coast the great place it was before the storm. I'd be one of those die hard Mississippians who would rebuild if I had lived down there and lost my home.

"tucked tail and ran"............well my fellow Mississippian......you can put me on that list. As you well know I did a rescue run south immediately following landfall. I critiqued the situation as being in continued danger.....and evacuated my daughter. I've been working in Waveland. The entire community went underwater. Hundreds and hundreds "tucked tail and ran".......and have yet to return. I harbor absolutely no animosity towards them. It's still hard to look at a home with the big X and see the number 4.

[Javlin]

It's still hard to look at a home with the big X and see the number 4..........Hey Dionne I know they had differet codes and colors for different things.In this case what does it mean?

[timNms]

BlueFrog, My wife, son, and I were in Pascagoula Wednesday. We saw the areas along Beach Blvd. My wife said, "Hey, that's the place that was in the picture someone sent to you from S2K". Seeing the pics doesn't do justice to the devastation down there! I was very pleased with the progress that I saw, though.

What tugged at my heart strings was seeing people rebuilding their homes and lives all along our coast. I'm thankful that while there were some who tucked tail and ran (moved away), there are some of us who are determined to make our coast the great place it was before the storm. I'd be one of those die hard Mississippians who would rebuild if I had lived down there and lost my home.

"tucked tail and ran"............well my fellow Mississippian......you can put me on that list. As you well know I did a rescue run south immediately following landfall. I critiqued the situation as being in continued danger.....and evacuated my daughter. I've been working in Waveland. The entire community went underwater. Hundreds and hundreds "tucked tail and ran".......and have yet to return. I harbor absolutely no animosity towards them. It's still hard to look at a home with the big X and see the number 4.

Dionne, my post was not intended to insult you. Hope it didn't. I was speaking about some friends we had who used to live on the coast, but moved away.....wayyyy away. They didn't stay long enough to even try to help any of their neighbors. Of course, they aren't native Mississippians

[Dionne]

It's still hard to look at a home with the big X and see the number 4..........Hey Dionne I know they had differet codes and colors for different things.In this case what does it mean?

A family perished. Mom, Dad and two children drowned in the storm surge......one mile from the coastline. They were found by rescue workers. We're told that 5' 4" of water came in off Waveland Ave. But we found oyster shells stuck in palm trees at the 8' elevation. All we can figure is that the surge must have been extremely turbulent.

[Javlin]

Sounds like something my buddy with the BFD had to go through at Eagle Point three weeks after the storm.They found the whole family under the debris he couldn't do it had to bow out.It's his second year with the BFD.Sad Sad alot of things changed that day.