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I believe that Pass Christian was on Good Morning America not too long ago with Robin Roberts and Haley Barbour for the opening of the new Boys & Girls Club there.
If his office reported that he was going to Katrina ravaged areas, that includes Mississippi.
If he were coming because you guys asked him to, then it should have been reported as such instead of as visiting Katrina damaged areas.
Please do not turn this into politics. I do not want this thread about politics at all.
That is also something that needs to be taken up with the media, but New Orleans is a "Katrina ravaged area". I'm sorry you feel the way that you feel, but like others have said, the money is coming.
I hate political threads and politics in general so I had no intentions of making this thread political. It already was when I got here. One more thing at least be glad that MS gets the reputation of having hard workers and a resilient population who had to do what the had to do, blah blah bla..... Even though people here have worked just as hard, we're all whiners dependent on the government to bail us out.
Angel, I understand exactly what you're saying and you have every right to feel the way you do.
West, it sounds like you try to be a good neighbor to Ms. and I'm sure there are many others like you. Let me be more specific so you don't have the impression that it's all "blah, blah, blah" as you put it.
The media did not show looting in Ms., but they showed plenty of it in N.O. Was every person from your area out looting? Of course not. BUT when they show many scenes of police officers walking out of stores with big ticket items, it leaves a lasting impression.
When help finally arrived for the people and they were transported to Houston, many of them complained about the food in the food lines. Some were asked to help with setting up cots and refused to do anything just as they refused to help with serving food or cleaning up. Keep in mind that there were people from all over the country who came down to help so little things like that get around fast.
The area they stayed in at N.O. was trashed along with the same area in Houston. The extensions for free rent continued for years and yet, many didn't seek out employment in a city where jobs were abundant. In many instances, the HPD assisted in removing residents because once the govt. checks stopped coming for rent, residents refused to pay rent. Again, it'd be interesting to have the exact number of the apartments that had to be gutted once they were forcefully removed. And let's not even get started on the spike in the Houston crime rate during that time.
Naturally, this doesn't mean that the entire population of N.O. is this way and I didn't mean that. BUT it does show that several people there had the attitude that they should be taken care of for life because they survived a hurricane.
The few things they have shown about Ms. have been positive. People working together to try to rebuild. Out of N.O. the media is still presenting stories about little being done and the constant whining how the federal govt. moved too slowly and didn't rescue them. Have you looked at the local govt? Have you seen the stories of the rows of buses sitting under water that could've been used for transport if local officials would've been concerned about their own people?
It was horrible what all of you went through. But Ms. does give the impression of shaking off the bad, picking themselves up by their bootstraps, helping their neighbors, and moving forward. Maybe the media is partially to blame, but that same impression was never given of the N.O. area.
Angel, I understand exactly what you're saying and you have every right to feel the way you do.
West, it sounds like you try to be a good neighbor to Ms. and I'm sure there are many others like you. Let me be more specific so you don't have the impression that it's all "blah, blah, blah" as you put it.
The media did not show looting in Ms., but they showed plenty of it in N.O. Was every person from your area out looting? Of course not. BUT when they show many scenes of police officers walking out of stores with big ticket items, it leaves a lasting impression.
When help finally arrived for the people and they were transported to Houston, many of them complained about the food in the food lines. Some were asked to help with setting up cots and refused to do anything just as they refused to help with serving food or cleaning up. Keep in mind that there were people from all over the country who came down to help so little things like that get around fast.
The area they stayed in at N.O. was trashed along with the same area in Houston. The extensions for free rent continued for years and yet, many didn't seek out employment in a city where jobs were abundant. In many instances, the HPD assisted in removing residents because once the govt. checks stopped coming for rent, residents refused to pay rent. Again, it'd be interesting to have the exact number of the apartments that had to be gutted once they were forcefully removed. And let's not even get started on the spike in the Houston crime rate during that time.
Naturally, this doesn't mean that the entire population of N.O. is this way and I didn't mean that. BUT it does show that several people there had the attitude that they should be taken care of for life because they survived a hurricane.
The few things they have shown about Ms. have been positive. People working together to try to rebuild. Out of N.O. the media is still presenting stories about little being done and the constant whining how the federal govt. moved too slowly and didn't rescue them. Have you looked at the local govt? Have you seen the stories of the rows of buses sitting under water that could've been used for transport if local officials would've been concerned about their own people?
It was horrible what all of you went through. But Ms. does give the impression of shaking off the bad, picking themselves up by their bootstraps, helping their neighbors, and moving forward. Maybe the media is partially to blame, but that same impression was never given of the N.O. area.
I fully agree. That's another reason why MS should be thankful for the lack of coverage they did get. The media only focused on the negative aspects of New Orleans, on top of that they exaggerated them and played them out over and over again. Mississippi had all of the same issues only in smaller numbers (duh, less people). Even though New Orleans got all of the attention it only added a bum rap to an already seedy reputation. No one focused on what was rebuilt and how long we've come over the last 4 years. Everything is always focused on what isn't done.
I fully agree. That's another reason why MS should be thankful for the lack of coverage they did get. The media only focused on the negative aspects of New Orleans, on top of that they exaggerated them and played them out over and over again. Mississippi had all of the same issues only in smaller numbers (duh, less people). Even though New Orleans got all of the attention it only added a bum rap to an already seedy reputation. No one focused on what was rebuilt and how long we've come over the last 4 years. Everything is always focused on what isn't done.
Some folks don't have a understanding of population and density. They will instead generalize about N.O. evacuees for not getting a job in a state that has an 8% unemployment rate. My understanding is that Biloxi, MS had 50,000 people surrounded by upscale communities like Ocean Springs and parts of Gulfport. But some folks still don't get it because they will inaccurately compare the reaction of MS coast residents with the folks of New Orleans, an impoverished city which had over half a million people with much greater social & transportation challenges. If Katrina took out a larger & denser population center like say, Jackson MS, I guarantee the response from residents would have been different than on the MS gulf coast.
..Hattisburg sustained quite a bit of damage and the scars are still visible. Katrina did come up and do damage to the interior of Mississippi, heck, I live just North of Tupelo and we had Tropical Storm Warnings and winds and tornadoes and rain....
I tell you what the people further North of the Coast did. They grabbed chain saws and hit the roads and started clearing them so emergency personnel could travel thru their areas heading towards the Coast. They banded together and checked on neighbors, started clearing their lands and helped distribute food, ice and medical supplies, as well as generators and tents and clothing.
They helped clear churches and schools to use as Shelters for people who could, to come in and get their needs met.
That is what the people of the Mid part of Mississippi did my friend.
I am not knocking, nor have I knocked the people of N.O. I do understand population and density very well.
What you fail to understand though is the damage that was wrought to the Gulf Coast. Houses that had survived for over 100 years were destroyed, new homes destroyed, from the rail road tracks toward the ocean looked as if many bombs had been dropped upon it. Hwy 90, the major road along the coast was ripped to pieces and tossed inland, bridges fell like domino's. Some home sites were wiped clean, even the 100 year old HUGE oaks were long gone, stronger structures with lots of metal and steel were demolished with only the skeleton of steel twisted and mangled....the water was higher than 25 feet in most of the areas which, along with the wind helped to wipe the landscape clean.
Huge Casinos that had to be water based were picked up and tossed onto what was once a 4-lane highway, water lines were ruptured, sewer and gas lines were wiped out and of course electricity was long gone.
Infrastructure was non existent in most of the areas. Thank goodness for the air force base that was sheltered a bit from the storm.
Yet, what you fail to understand is most of the towns were demolished, nothing left.
People from all walks of life lived in these towns, young and old, rich and poor....all were affected.
Survivers came out of hiding from bits of homes that managed to withstand the storm, from trees and in some cases from debris they clung to and started searching for loved ones, for neighbors and friends.
The stench of death permeated the area but the job of going thru mass amounts of destroyed debris made the search stretch out and people endured and kept on keeping on. They slept in make shift tents, hulled out boats that were thrown inland and on the ground those few days. People did what they had to do....from the Coast inland almost 100 miles.
Take a look at this website, it shows devastation of the coast.
Actually, people "get it" more then you realize. When many were moved to Houston where the unemployment rate was hovering at 5% or lower, they still had no interest in seeking employment. Now I don't mean to generalize. It DOES NOT mean that everyone who lived in N.O. looted or acted that way or just wanted a free ride. Yet it was obvious that many did.
But back to Miss. Angel, those pics are really something. I actually got to see very little coverage of the devastation that the Ms. Gulf Coast sustained. Just sad.
Actually, people "get it" more then you realize. When many were moved to Houston where the unemployment rate was hovering at 5% or lower, they still had no interest in seeking employment. Now I don't mean to generalize. It DOES NOT mean that everyone who lived in N.O. looted or acted that way or just wanted a free ride. Yet it was obvious that many did.
See this is my point. It's obvious that many in New Orleans did. It's not obvious that people in MS did. That's not saying they didn't, you just don't know if did or not. For the metro to go from 1.4 mil before Katrina to 1.2-1.3 mil right now says a lot. For the city to be short only about 100,000 people says a lot. That means way more than half of the population came back and was willing to work on coming back. May I add that the average person cannot just get up and move back here. It has become extremely expensive to live here with a decent job so don't think that all of those who didn't want to do anything are just crawling back.
Don't take this the wrong and don't assume that the tone of this message is out of anger, but MANY is nowhere near ALL.
I don't want to take any focus away from Mississippi, they damage they received was unimaginable. There were towns in Louisiana that were wiped completely off of the map, towns that no longer exist period that were also overshadowed by New Orleans.
The minute you make an assumption that in-depth based on something in the media, you have a problem. (not you specifically, but just in general.)
Jammie, if you look to your left of the page, you will see different cities and towns, Long Beach, Waveland, etc. Each of those towns has 25 or more pictures of their loss. Photo after photo....and what you might not realize is, the elevation of the land starts to rise as the beach meets water and continues to rise several feet to the road and even beyond. That is how high the storm surge was. Also, the trees look intact, but in fact, they are just pices of wood, sticks if you will no leaves whatsoever left on them. Many died, but some came back after a year or so.
If you click on the small pic, it will bring it larger in the right hand side, and if you scroll down, a map will show one where that photo was on another map. It is surreal even now for me to see all this....
I drove down Hwy 90 a year and a half after Katrina, and still found sections that was just sand and the bridges were still out. That was a main highway!
Both Louisiana and Mississippi suffered from the hurricane with Mississippi acting as the front line with the storm surge. 80% of the buildings in New Orleans flooded, while the MS Gulf Coast was literally washed away. Regardless, both instances of storm damage left the structures uninhabitable and in need of rebuilding. The whole states of Mississippi and Louisiana were declared natural disaster areas.
This image shows FEMA disaster declarations in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina with the 4 states: Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana. The dark shade of orange represents counties eligible for full individual and public assistance, the intermediate shade of orange represents counties eligible for individual and public assistance (Categories A and B only), the light yellow-orange represents counties eligible for full public assistance, and green represents counties eligible for public assistance (Category B only).
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