As the White House released its assessment of the federal response to Hurricane Katrina, Pascagoula City Manager Kay Kell was looking for answers to an even more pressing problem - the lack of promised recovery funds to help her struggling coast town.
"We keep hearing all that money is out there, but we haven't seen it,'' Kell said.
She said money was needed not only to speed recovery but to prepare the town for the upcoming hurricane season, which begins June 1.
The White House report , released Thursday, concluded that inexperienced disaster response managers and a lack of planning, discipline and leadership contributed to numerous federal failures in response to the Aug. 29 hurricane.
The 228-page report by White House homeland security adviser Frances Fragos Townsend urges changes in 11 key areas - mainly in better disaster relief coordination among federal agencies - before the next hurricane season begins June 1.
The White House study took a softer approach than a scathing House report issued last week, focusing on proposals to fix problems without singling out any individuals for blame.
Hurricane Katrina smashed the Mississippi Gulf Coast from Pascagoula on the east to the Louisiana line on the west. Powerful wind and storm surge destroyed thousands of homes and businesses and left thousands homeless.
Pascagoula, home to Northrop Grumman's giant shipyard, still struggles with the slow pace recovery, with scores of buildings that need to be demolished.
Kell said 50 structures a day should be leveled but said one day this week the total was only six. Until those structures come down, new ones can't be rebuilt.
"They think if you're east of Gulfport you're OK, but we had 95 percent of our inhabitable city under water,'' Kell said.
She said 65 percent of the city's homes remain uninhabitable. Kell said there were 5,000 FEMA trailers in her city and she estimated that roughly 15,000 people are living in them.
The trailers provide precious little protection from a storm and Kell worries that, in the event of another hurricane, there are no safe areas to put the thousands of people who would be seeking shelter.
Sens. Trent Lott and Thad Cochran, both R-Miss., have worked to get money for the city but receiving the financial fruits of their labor has been slow, she said.
She said that in the end "it's some faceless, unidentified bureaucrat that's holding things up for us.''
"I think if anyone had told me six months ago that we would still be in this situation I would have been totally unbelieving,'' she said.
Federal help still not here!
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Federal help still not here!
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MiamiensisWx
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MiamiensisWx
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MiamiensisWx
I know... that's why I'm only just upset at the media. They should focus on New Orleans and all other areas EQUALLY. I know it's bad in New Orleans... I just wish everyone could somehow get good attention. Katrina affected miles and miles of coastline and more than six states, both at the coast and inland.
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CapeVerdeWave wrote:I know... that's why I'm only just upset at the media. They should focus on New Orleans and all other areas EQUALLY. I know it's bad in New Orleans... I just wish everyone could somehow get good attention. Katrina affected miles and miles of coastline and more than six states, both at the coast and inland.
I am well aware of the far reaching effects of Katrina. What I wish others would understand is how it's makes us here in New Orleans feel when we see this written TIME AND TIME AND TIME again. It's almost like WE have done something wrong, and it's old.
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MiamiensisWx
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Dionne
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I work the construction trades.....I'm a builder. I'm also a Katrina survivor. My daughter narrowly escaped as mature long leaf pines fell on her home in Hattiesburg. Katrina is unlike anything I have experienced in my life. We were some of the foolish people that did not heed the warnings. I cannot find the words to tell you what it's been like since landfall. I have shed many a tear for myself and others. You try to be strong......digging deep inside for that extra bit of strength. Sometimes you just need to sit down alone and cry.
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When I ride around Pascagoula there is no progress that I can see. Most of the homes on the beachfront have been torn down. That is about all the progress I have seen. On a positive note though, the city has released the new flood elevation. So now people can start to rebuild their homes along the coast of Pascagoula.
Crime is on the rise here in my small town in the FEMA trailer parks. They are cutting each other. The out of towners staying in this area are going to our local restaurants and bars confronting the locals and stabbing them. I wish they would hurry up and get out of here!
Crime is on the rise here in my small town in the FEMA trailer parks. They are cutting each other. The out of towners staying in this area are going to our local restaurants and bars confronting the locals and stabbing them. I wish they would hurry up and get out of here!
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wxman57
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I wonder if there may be too much reliance on the government coming in to help? I've made 3 trips to Pascagoula (Gautier, really) since October, rebuilding my mother's house. She had no insurance to cover flooding. My sister and I put up sheetrock in October, they had a contractor replace the lower kitchen cabinets and bathroom vanities in early November, we painted and installed baseboards at Thanksgiving, and they got carpets/vinyl installed near the end of January.
Each trip to Gautier, I drove through her neighborhood and saw very little activity. Most homes have a FEMA trailer out front, and the people just appear to be waiting for something to happen. Forgive me for sounding a bit harsh, but many of the MS coast residents need to stop waiting around for someone to come help them and help themselves. What if there was no government?
I was just watching a CNN report focusing on the recover (or lack thereov) of Bay St. Louis, MS. It's clear that some insurance companies included vague wording in the polices and are now claming that many homes aren't covered for the full damage (or any damage at all). It looks like a number of insurance adjusters need to be hung from the nearest tree (if any are left standing)
Each trip to Gautier, I drove through her neighborhood and saw very little activity. Most homes have a FEMA trailer out front, and the people just appear to be waiting for something to happen. Forgive me for sounding a bit harsh, but many of the MS coast residents need to stop waiting around for someone to come help them and help themselves. What if there was no government?
I was just watching a CNN report focusing on the recover (or lack thereov) of Bay St. Louis, MS. It's clear that some insurance companies included vague wording in the polices and are now claming that many homes aren't covered for the full damage (or any damage at all). It looks like a number of insurance adjusters need to be hung from the nearest tree (if any are left standing)
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Chris, no one is standing around waiting for help from the government. You answered your own question in paragraph 3 as to why you feel there is no activity in neighborhoods. Just think if your Mother did not have anyone to hang sheetrock?
You should have heard Trent Lott. "State Farm will pay or there will be Hell to pay this day" He means it. Even folks who have flood insurance are having a hard time with that.
You should have heard Trent Lott. "State Farm will pay or there will be Hell to pay this day" He means it. Even folks who have flood insurance are having a hard time with that.
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wxman57
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Lindaloo wrote:Chris, no one is standing around waiting for help from the government. You answered your own question in paragraph 3 as to why you feel there is no activity in neighborhoods. Just think if your Mother did not have anyone to hang sheetrock?
You should have heard Trent Lott. "State Farm will pay or there will be Hell to pay this day" He means it. Even folks who have flood insurance are having a hard time with that.
Yeah, I know not everyone can hang sheetrock. But when they needed someone to install new cabinets, they got in the car and drove to the contractor's house to get help. She's 76 years old, Sue is 70. They got all the wet carpets/pads and everything else out of the house themselves the day after. They did find a couple of guys to remove the wet sheetrock but they went to Lowe's, bought insulation, and installed it between the studs themselves. That was a big help, saved us 2 days of work when we went there in October to put up the sheetrock.
My point is that they can find someone to do the work, to make their homes liveable again. I can't speak for everyone, of course, but my mother's neighbors seemed to be just sitting around waiting for someone to DO something. I think my mother may have the only home in the neighborhood that's repaired 6 months after Katrina.
By the way, How are you doing, Linda? I can't remember what damage you had. Did your home get flooded? How are the repairs coming along?
Speaking of which, I made a couple of web pages showing our work at their house. This first one shows the house during the flooding, just after, and during the repairs. The last shots are how it looks now:
http://myweb.cableone.net/nolasue/relief
Here are some pictures I took around Thanksgiving. There's a picture of my mother (the short one - 4' 11"), my sister, & Sue, the lady she shares the house with:
http://myweb.cableone.net/nolasue/wendy/
Some web sites with damage photos I took:
http://myweb.cableone.net/nolasue/KatrinaPascagoula/
http://myweb.cableone.net/nolasue/KatrinaBiloxi
http://myweb.cableone.net/nolasue/KatrinaGulfport
http://myweb.cableone.net/nolasue/KatrinaOceanSprings
http://myweb.cableone.net/nolasue/KatrinaPassChristian
http://myweb.cableone.net/nolasue/KatrinaLongBeach
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wxman57 wrote:Lindaloo wrote:Chris, no one is standing around waiting for help from the government. You answered your own question in paragraph 3 as to why you feel there is no activity in neighborhoods. Just think if your Mother did not have anyone to hang sheetrock?
You should have heard Trent Lott. "State Farm will pay or there will be Hell to pay this day" He means it. Even folks who have flood insurance are having a hard time with that.
Yeah, I know not everyone can hang sheetrock. But when they needed someone to install new cabinets, they got in the car and drove to the contractor's house to get help. She's 76 years old, Sue is 70. They got all the wet carpets/pads and everything else out of the house themselves the day after. They did find a couple of guys to remove the wet sheetrock but they went to Lowe's, bought insulation, and installed it between the studs themselves. That was a big help, saved us 2 days of work when we went there in October to put up the sheetrock.
My point is that they can find someone to do the work, to make their homes liveable again. I can't speak for everyone, of course, but my mother's neighbors seemed to be just sitting around waiting for someone to DO something. I think my mother may have the only home in the neighborhood that's repaired 6 months after Katrina.
By the way, How are you doing, Linda? I can't remember what damage you had. Did your home get flooded? How are the repairs coming along?
Speaking of which, I made a couple of web pages showing our work at their house. This first one shows the house during the flooding, just after, and during the repairs. The last shots are how it looks now:
http://myweb.cableone.net/nolasue/relief
Here are some pictures I took around Thanksgiving. There's a picture of my mother (the short one - 4' 11"), my sister, & Sue, the lady she shares the house with:
http://myweb.cableone.net/nolasue/wendy/
Some web sites with damage photos I took:
http://myweb.cableone.net/nolasue/KatrinaPascagoula/
http://myweb.cableone.net/nolasue/KatrinaBiloxi
http://myweb.cableone.net/nolasue/KatrinaGulfport
http://myweb.cableone.net/nolasue/KatrinaOceanSprings
http://myweb.cableone.net/nolasue/KatrinaPassChristian
http://myweb.cableone.net/nolasue/KatrinaLongBeach
great pic thanks for sharing and nice house BTW.....
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I pretty much see what you are saying now Chris. My parents got the ball rolling too. Heck you just about have to if you want out of that FEMA trailer. The elderly is who I feel for the most.
Pascagoula lost it's main tax base. That is a HUGE hit to our budget. We are not a big city so we rely on those taxes. Cleanup is done by the city but demolition of homes we have to hire a contractor. When you have no money to pay for that service then you have flooded and badly damaged homes and businesses just sitting there. Pascagoula is still trashed. I am so sick of the piles and piles of debris and trash everywhere. Now we have these FEMA trailer parks that make it look even worse.
Excellent pics!
Pascagoula lost it's main tax base. That is a HUGE hit to our budget. We are not a big city so we rely on those taxes. Cleanup is done by the city but demolition of homes we have to hire a contractor. When you have no money to pay for that service then you have flooded and badly damaged homes and businesses just sitting there. Pascagoula is still trashed. I am so sick of the piles and piles of debris and trash everywhere. Now we have these FEMA trailer parks that make it look even worse.
Excellent pics!
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