A shattered pier in Pascagoula, Mississippi
As we move into the heart of the 2007 hurricane season, what with monster Hurricane Dean making its way through the Caribbean and possibly headed for Texas, it would be instructive to know some of the lesser known facts about the last really traumatic season, 2005, so that we can learn from them before we get suckered by government agencies, private swindlers and media spin once again.
It just so happens that I was on the Gulf Coast twice recently, once for two weeks in April, and once for two weeks in May. I was working in Pascagoula, Mississipi, and used that as my base to explore the Gulf Coast from, all the way to New Orleans. I started taking a lot of pictures of Hurricane Katrina's massive damage and then decided to write a series of articles for OpEdNews.com, which morphed into five photo-essays. I also create five photo albums at Kodak's online photo gallery, creating an album to correlate with each photo essay. I figure I will now share all of this on Mosquito Blog now. I am going to start quietly with Pascagoula itself.
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Along the Gulf coast, Post-Katrina, Part 1: Pascagoula
April 21, 2007,
I've just returned from the Gulf Coast with several hundred photos of Pascagoula and Ocean Springs, Mississippi, as well as of New Orleans, particularly in the Lower Ninth Ward. If you think the Bush Administration is paying anything more than lip service to revitalizing the Gulf States, then think again. The only true priority in their minds is colonizing the Middle East. That is where all the badly needed funds for reconstruction are going, into the Pentagon cesspool, despite what officials say. Carpetbaggers, crooks, and inefficient bureaucrats are sucking up the rest of the available funds.
To let you see what's going on along the coast, I am going to invite you to view several photo albums of the reality down there, starting with Pascagoula's still rather scenic waterfront in this first article. Pascagoula wasn't hit anywhere near as hard as New Orleans, but it was still hammered. Ingalls shipyard, for example, was devastated. Much of the city is back on its feet, but there are still miles and miles to go, as you will see in this first photo album. And I think it's important that we know what the situation is from as many sources as possible, including my own.
All but the foundation of this house was wiped away.
Another house stripped to the slab
Only the briars and birds are left to inhabit this chaise lounge and the empty slab and lot it overlooks.
What you see in just these four photos is a glimpse at the slow progress, when there is any at all, in rebuilding the Pascagoula waterfront. Rich and poor alike got hammered in this district, although only the rich are able to bring their wealth to bear to get some results. Most egregious are the shattered piers all along the several miles of waterfront, some 20 months after Katrina hit. and then there are scores of citizens living in oft toxic FEMA trailers, that is if they haven't been evicted yet.
There are more of these photos under "Mac's Slide Show" at the Kodak Gallery, so if you are interested, check them out at: (click here). Then just click on Mac's Slide Show. You don't have to sign in unless you want to. With my next photo-essay, I will move on to Ocean Springs, Mississippi and into the Bayou.
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