I lost everything in Katrina and guess what...I didn't live in New Orleans!!!!

The pictures at the bottom of this link are more telling...

www.gulf-coast.com...

I am Johnny Utah, yes, but I used to live on the Mississippi Gulf Coast…until Hurricane Katrina.
If you were to look at the news coverage, you would think New Orleans was the only place hit by Katrina. Nothing could be further from the truth and I have had enough of it. Two years of yammering on about poor New Orleans, well, I am about to explode.
Here is the thing. New Orleans only got a glancing blow from Katrina. The storm made landfall in Mississippi...my home.
The coast of MS was decimated. You have not seen destruction, you have not seen pain, you have not seen or understood what loss is…until you look at the MS Coast.
When the storm went ashore, it raised the sea level 20-30 feet. So, the day before, where you could be picking up seashells and feeding the seagulls, you would now be 25 feet under water! New Orleans did not face this! The waves rolled in as far as 6 miles in some places and it lasted for hours. HOURS!!!!
The Coast was dotted with casinos at the time of Katrina (some are back, some gave up). The laws of the state at the time, required all casinos to be on the water. So, they created these massive barges and attached them to hotels and resorts. It was the Atlantic City of the South. The power of the waves lifted some of these casinos and dropped them on top of the hotels. These were barges weighing hundreds of thousands of tons and it placed them ON TOP of HOTELS!!!! The waves cracked the road in half. They crumbled bridges. They erased buildings. They instantly changed, what was once a thriving and ever growing area, into a barren landscape of shredded buildings and homes. It looked like a nuclear bomb went off.
What happened to New Orleans was terrible, yes. But what happened to Mississippi was far worse. It is a moral crime to only look at New Orleans.

I have pictures, but I am not sure how to post them...maybe I will figure it out.

you can thank the MSM for that. all they show people is how bad New Orleans had it. i think the only reason that area got more attention was because people are so familiar with it. anyway, i hope things have started to get back to normal for you. people aren't intentionally ignorant to the devastation elsewhere, it's just that the only thing being drilled into their heads since that day has been "Katrina wiped out New Orleans!" i usually use photobucket for posting pictures. you can create an account on their site for free and just link those images in your posts.

Yeah...I think the media coverage has been disproportionately revolving around NOLA, however I can remember when I saw the first footage from a helicopter flyover of Biloxi thinking how it looked like a city that had been hit by an atom bomb.

reply to post by an0maly33


Thanks for the tip on photobucket!
s285.photobucket.com...
Here are a few pics

As politically incorrect as this may be...New Orleans is a slum...I think much of the reason why New Orleans is in the news more is because many of the people in New Orleans are still living off FEMA.
The MS Gulf Coast has moved on as best they can and have chosen to do what they can...themselves...to rebuild and NOT wait with their hands out begging and complaining about what is or isn't being done.

What a horrible disservice the media has been to your area.
I must admit, I am grossly unaware of what happened in your area. You have got to admit, the msm does have an amazing stronghold over what we see and know. I bet you all got pretty screwed over with aid as a result.

I know this is so after the fact, but I am sorry that were never told.

You have my sympathy, Johnny.

To corroborate, I drove through the MS coast a few weeks after Katrina (the roads were closed to through traffic until then). What I saw broke my heart.

To either side of I-10, the shoulders were piled as high as my truck cab with what I first took to be just garbage. then I looked closer. I saw sections of roof, refrigerators, washers, dryers, all manner of appliances and furniture, mixed in with the garbage that I suppose was once personal libraries, photo albums, important records, memoirs, etc. This was not small piles here and yonder, it was a continuous row that lasted for miles upon miles, almost the entire width of the state.

I saw pipes supporting billboards, 60" pipes, twisted and broken like they were made of cardboard. I saw giant concrete phone poles flattened without breaking, their buried sections now sitting atop huge gashes in the earth. I saw buildings partially missing... not damaged, but missing. I saw cars and trucks strewn across the landscape willy-nilly, as though some giant child had thrown a temper tantrum while playing with a fleet of Hot Wheels miniatures.

New Orleans got the attention because they were stupid enough to spend millions in grants specified to rebuild levees for fiber-optic cables to help their casinos. New Orleans was filled with people who stood around helplessly and wailed for help, not willing to help themselves. New Orleans blamed everyone around them, and spent their valuable time using the disaster as an excuse to loot, pillage, and destroy what was left of their city.

Mississippi took stock of the damage, and rolled up their sleeves to begin the arduous task of rebuilding. They asked for nothing; they did not loot and pillage. They rebuilt, together. Several weeks later, on another trip through, I saw billboards proclaiming "We will be back!" where once there was a twisted specter of a destroyed casino sign. As I passed New Orleans, I saw people begging for handouts and police sirens wailing.

On that first pass through, I stopped at the Flying J near Biloxi. The parking lot had been roughly shoveled clear, and it was full of utility and construction trucks, rather than the usual crop of semis. I went inside and had the buffet in the restaurant. As I ate, I couldn't help but notice the holes in the ceiling, roughly patched over until a repair could be made. A sign said "Sorry, buffet only" due to the equipment in the kitchen being mostly out of order. But the food was good, and the people smiled a lot. I asked one waitress how she was handling it. She shrugged and responded "We just have to rebuild" with a tear in her eyes.

I left her a $20 tip for a $10 meal. I still felt like I should do more, but I didn't know what to do.

I for one will never forget that trip, Johnny. The MSM can scream about New Orleans all they want. Your home is not forgotten. God bless Mississippi.

TheRedneck

First off Johnny, let me begin this by telling you that I am extremely sorry for your loss. Losing everything that you had is so painful, and the memories can hurt for so long that it's completely surreal. I have been back on the coast a few times to help people recover what they could (one house on the bay, one in Biloxi.) Devastated is not even the correct term to describe the situation that was there, I don't think there are words to describe it.

From myself to you, in a manner only those of us who went through something like this can ever understand, I'm sorry.

Originally posted by _Johnny_Utah_
As politically incorrect as this may be...New Orleans is a slum...

That is simply not true, there are very bad areas, but you will find that in any major city in the country. The whole of the city is actually very nice. Algiers Point, Lower Garden District, Mid City, Carrollton, Uptown, French Quarter, Esplanade Ridge, Marigny/Bywater, CBD, areas of Lakeview, English Turn.

For little or no homes under $300,000, I would hardly consider that a slum.

I think much of the reason why New Orleans is in the news more is because many of the people in New Orleans are still living off FEMA.

I would like to see where you are getting those statistics from, for neither myself or anyone that I know is still receiving any sort of funding from FEMA, Red Cross, and only two people that I know have yet to get their Road Home money. The reason that we are on the news all the time is we have an idiot mayor who speaks without thinking and makes some of the dumbest statements, and because while on the Gulf Coast the water was indeed much higher with the tidal surge, New Orleans as it is bowl shaped was submerged for quite a longer period of time, in which a much higher density of people were removed from their homes and left hungry on city streets. Whether or not you see those people as being wrong for staying behind is truly not an issue here. The issue is that that sold to the media much more, and it is not the fault of New Orleans that it is the case.

The MS Gulf Coast has moved on as best they can and have chosen to do what they can...themselves...to rebuild and NOT wait with their hands out begging and complaining about what is or isn't being done.

Would you care to compare federal funding on MS vs LA?

---

As said at the beginning, I am sorry for your loss, and I am not trying to say that New Orleans had it better or worse, I find such arguments to be wasteful at best. I would never turn something so terrible around to use it as a spear to jab already unhealed wounds.

Wish you the best in your areas recovery, last I checked things are going very well in that regard, and I see more and more people are moving back into their homes. That's something we should both be proud of.

reply to post by shadow watcher

Thank you for your concern. I hope you don't think the reason I posted this was to have people feel sorry for me, though.
In all honesty, the financial aide came very quickly at first. I was in Utah when I got it and the people at FEMA were very very kind when listening to my story.

There is a standard rule for people who live in Hurricane areas (maybe other places too) that you should have a 72 hr supply of food and water. This is because, on a worst case scenario it may take three days for help to get there.
That was about what it was.
The weeks and months after were much harder. I came out to UTah a couple days before the storm and since I had nothing to go back to, I stayed here. Many of my friends, however, weren't so lucky. The money was nice, but when everything is gone, money is useless. As of 8 months ago, some of my friends were still in tents and the Coast is covered with FEMA trailers. They are about the size of a boxcar.
State Farm is the one who screwed people over. They bailed out of MS and gave only partial settlements. They offer $40,000 for $200,000 homes. The adjusters for State Farm should be put in prison.

I'm extremely sorry to hear of your plight johnny_utah~! My the Lord give you peace, grace and mercy!!! I heart goes out to all that were caught in this storm!!!! (

Well, I received these pics from my wife who received them from a friends friend while they were getting the heck out of the path!

My question is: How was it possible to NOT see how bad this storm really was and with even a cat 3...they should have warned WAY before..

these pics paint a thousand words!!!!!!

s240.photobucket.com...

Dude, I never thought for a second that you were pandering for sympathy.
I was just sickened by the story. I wish you got better media coverage, maybe the insurance companies would suck it up and deal with their customers.

Well, the problem with Mississippi is that they didn't bitch and moan as much as New Orleans!! I think the citizens of MS just opened a can of MAN and got to work cleaning up things. They were too busy working to ask for a handout.

I had friends down in Biloxi and they told me about Katrina. One of the casinos (Treasure Island?) is shaped like a pirate ship and it rolled over!

reply to post by jerico65

Treasure Bay is the casino...i was a Beverage Manager there a year before the storm. It was gutted.
The President Casino was moved 3 blocks down the road and set on top of a Holiday Inn. Boomtown casino broke in half.
It was a sight to see.

Sorry for your loss Johnny, and no I didn't see it as you asking for sympathy either. Keep your chin up, hopefully things will get better soon.

reply to post by niteboy82

I know how dear New Orleans is held to the people who live/lived there. I understand that. There is nothing wrong with it.
However, it is not a nice city like it is made out to be. It is filthy, and when I say filth...I mean in every way people can imagine. I read in either the Sun Herald or the Times Picayune, there were 3 killings a day at one point. That makes it more dangerous to be a citizen of New Orleans than an American soldier in Iraq....that says quite a bit.
The French Quarter is not a nice area...it is filled with bars and strip clubs.
The area around the Superdome is not a pleasant place to be...the CBD...harrah's is on the boarder between the good areas and bad, but the thing is, the bad areas of New Orleans, they are VERY bad. The 9th ward is /was disgusting.
The drive to Tulane is gorgeous, and the campus is amazing...but even on the way there, there is urban blight.
I am not saying all of it is the people's fault, however it is some is.
Nagin is nothing more than an absentee landlord and many of the problems facing the people of N.O. have been compounded by him.
The amount of money that has gone to MS, has to do with the total amount of destruction which hit the ENTIRE coast.
Over 100,000 telephone poles had to be replaced in Harrison County alone.
Both areas have been hurt by the storm and in the aftermath.
My main point is that MS has been forgotten or overlooked.

Well, not to sound crass or anything, but tragedies are like that. As in: everybody forgets about it after a while. I don't watch MSM, so I don't know if they're harping on N' Orleans still, but the country (as a whole, anyway) has pretty much put Katrina in the past. It's the same thing with smaller tragedies. I had a house fire on May 5th last year, and for a month or two my friends were calling daily to see if we needed anything. (we lost virtually everything). But over time everyone just goes back about their own lives.

Now on the topic of "Was MS overlooked in the first place?" I'd have to say that it was by the masses, because N'O was taking up so much news time. Isn't New Orleans below sea level? Bad idea to live there even if there ARE levies. I don't understand why someone would want to live on the coast below sea level (or at least Mississippi river level) anyway... That's just unsound engineering IMO.

This isn't even the first time this has happened to New Orleans, and I'm sure it won't be the last. But I agree with Johnny Utah, New Orleans was pretty disgusting before the storm, and it still is. I went through there in Mid January and there were FEMA trailers all over the place, and we didn't even have to go through the nastier parts of town. It smelled really bad too.

Definately sounds like selective reporting to me! The MSM has a lot to answer for in a LOT of ways. I looked into Mississippi sortly after it happened and was horrified by it - but was puzzled why not much was mentioned on the news. I just thought because I am in Australia we don't get every snippet of news and that New Orleans is a major city was the reason for the coverage.

We has a cyclone (same thing really) a few hundred kms from my place a year or so ago and by golly did we hear about EVERYWHERE that was affected! I remember reports on people who were only SLIGHTLY affected in stories right next to stories of major damage. The big loser was the banana farmers - our country had a major shortage after that! Not joking there, my uncle lost everything (and a leg).

Your attitude reminds me of Florida. I went thru Andrew which was devastating but the thing is we took it seriously. We prepared for it and were ready. Afterward, everyone got busy and I mean quickly after the last of the storm went thru. The people didn't wait for the government and just got to work clearing and helping others. Of course there were those that took advantage but there were many more that would just drive thru areas giving away ice and supplies. Much of this from their own stores and businesses.

1. Be prepared with emergency supplies (especially water, batteries, etc..)
2. When told to evacuate, just do it and do it as quickly as possible.
3. Don't do stupid crap during a storm. Emergency response has enough to do aside from fishing you out because you want to ride the gnarly waves.
4. Keep radios on to stay up on news.
5. After the storm don't go out joyriding because you're curious. You might end up blocking emergency vehicles.
6. Help out your neighbors whether it be clearing or patching or having them stay with you for a few days. Distribute goods and services to those that need it if you can afford to do so.
7. Volunteer in any other capacity you can think of. Even answering phones is a great help.
8. Don't moan about the government as you as a city, county and state should have prepared for the inevitable to begin with.

just wanted to post and say, i see where your coming from as well. i went to new orleans and the gulf coast late last year to see some in-laws. many of the ones on the golf coast lost houses. on our drive from new orleans to their house we drove up the coast and they told us all the same stuff you said. they showed us the "slab" that was their old house. pointed out people still living in FEMA trailors etc.

i was shocked that it has been YEARS afterwards and it's still that bad and we barely here about it on the news if at all. luckily all of my family were able to recover as well as they did. good luck to you.

edit: id like to add as well some of the stories they told me about the economic situation today. as you mentioned the casinos, which are now rebuilt on land, but are having trouble finding employees due to the fact that there isnt affordable housing for many to live. we saw condos which i was told are way to expensive for most people to afford. also, there's the fact that people cant get insurance to rebuild still today since many companies high tailed it out of there.

[edit on 4/4/2008 by homeskillet]