Mississippi: what happened; progress; shortfalls

[Ani Ibi]

I am starting this thread for Mississippi. Please feel free to google away and post reports of progress she is making as well as places which are still falling through the cracks so that we can discuss ways to get help to her. I realize that some political issues will come up; those can probably start a new thread or go onto an already existent thread where political discussions are already well developed. Please put a date beside your link.

Recovery of Mississippi's Coastal Area Slowly Begins

08 Sept 2005


progress:

Power has been restored to much of the state, although about 150,000 homes and businesses remain dark...Phone service is starting to come back...Running water is returning...Residents can once again buy Domino's Pizza...National Guard have cleared out most of the rotting chickens and shrimp that had washed up from destroyed warehouses at Gulfport, eliminating a major source of stench...The looting...has largely subsided; authorities have arrested 100 suspects.


Shortfalls:

Authorities are warning of health hazards. Radio stations broadcast tips on where to get tetanus shots and antidotes for snakebite venom. Some survivors who spent hours treading water in Katrina's wake report that they have broken out in rashes...Katrina destroyed 416 homes and businesses and severely damaged about 3000 others.

[Ani Ibi]

Casinos worry about future; leaders consider rebuilding on land

08 Sept 2005

The state did not mean for casinos to be floating palaces vulnerable to hurricanes. Originally, legislators debated "riverboat" casinos when Mississippi legalized gambling. The adjective "dockside" was inserted into the legislation, giving the state an advantage over riverboat jurisdictions. As the market prospered, so did the barges. The floating casinos became too big to move out of harm's way...

Treasure Bay could not obtain affordable insurance because it had been slammed by past hurricanes and tropical storms. After Hurricane Katrina, other Coast casinos could be just as financially vulnerable. Investors and insurers may be reluctant to take the risk of gambling on floating casinos that are sitting ducks for the next big storm...

When Gov. Haley Barbour calls a special session of the Legislature to address the catastrophe from Hurricane Katrina and how to pay for rebuilding, the land-based option will be among the topics at the top of the agenda...casinos are the economic engine for the Coast's tourism economy and the third-largest revenue producer for the state.

[Ani Ibi]

Businesses re-emerge in post-Katrina world

08 Sept 2005

French, a 10-year coin-operated laundry owner with three other laundries in Gulfport and another in Long Beach which sustained the most damage, wanted to reopen the latter and another in Gulfport, but he had no gas to get there. The police gave him 5 gallons of fuel in exchange for free clothes washing, and the reopenings are likely this week.

Shelby works for Shoemake Painting and Drywall and smiled when considering his employment work prospects during the reconstruction because his trade will be in high demand. "That's what I'm hoping," he said. That need for skilled laborers will draw thousands of them into South Mississippi.

[Ani Ibi]

Kentuckiana Police Join Katrina Relief Efforts

08 Sept 2005

Hawkins is just one of many police officers from Kentucky protecting southern Mississippi. Some victims "said that in this area there hadn't been anyone to drop off any water or anything since the Hurricane," said KSP Trooper Lt. Dwayne Depp.

"I've been having a hard time getting around," [Hawkins] said. "Houses are gone -- all your landmarks are gone. If you weren't familiar with the area before, you wouldn't know where you're at. A map wouldn't help you."

KSP says it will keep troopers in Mississippi on a rotating basis week by week for the next two weeks, then determine whether their help is still needed.

[Ani Ibi]

Miss. Shipyard Toils to Resume Business

Los Angeles-based Northrop Grumman has three Gulf Coast yards that build ships or sections assembled elsewhere, one each Pascagoula, Gulfport, Miss., and New Orleans. They sit within about 110 miles of one another, the largest being Pascagoula's 800-acre facility.

Including an onshore facility, the defense contractor employs close to 19,000 people in the Gulf region, which accounts for nearly 10 percent of its annual business. The regional impact is significant as well. Northrop Grumman's average Gulf operations payroll is about $17 million a week, Cullin said...

Pascagoula has the highest profile among the three shipyards. Here, the company builds four classes of vessels for the U.S. Navy and Coast Guard. Nearly every worker who reported to this shipyard was put on clean up duty, regardless of the job title as shipbuilder.

"We need to get more people here, and we will get them," Jackie Robinson said...Each trash pile removed not only means being a step closer to a return to shipbuilding, which the company hopes to resume next week, it also means more people can come back to work.

[Ani Ibi]

Assessment of damage to the Urban and Community Forests of Mississippi

The greatest impact of the storm was to the 11 cities on the coast where economic impact to the urban and community forest is estimated to be $439,099,860.54.

The second greatest impact is to the near coastal area that includes an area from Waynesboro to Brookhaven and south to the coast, which includes 30 communities. Monetary damages to the near coastal communities equate to $250,042,696.32.

The total state impact to 181cities and communities is estimated to be $1,115,276,478.64.

This monetary figure is based on an estimate of 465,009 overstory trees destroyed, 680,909 that need to be removed, and 1,598,715 that need repair work. Removal and repair work is necessary to protect public safety, maintain infrastructure services, and protect power delivery systems.

map of damage

[Ani Ibi]

Assessment of Damage to Stewardship Forests of Mississippi

The greatest impact of the storm was from the entire width of the state beginning on the coast and extending north to Laurel, Ms. Hardwood along streams and rivers were particularly impacted. Pine damage was significant in Hancock, Harrison, and Pearl River Counties. An estimated 14,581,279 cords pulpwood and 3,210,165,000 board feet of sawtimber were damaged. The value of all timber damaged is $1,285,646,600.

map

Total of all damage to stewardship, urban, and community forests = $2.4 billion.

[Ani Ibi]

DHHS releases almost $12M for aid

Outdoor burning is banned in Stone and George counties because of the hurricane, according to the Mississippi Forestry Commission.

12 foresters have been working with the Federal Emergency Management Agency conducting damage assessments. A timber salvage council is meeting this week to plan salvage operations for the timber destroyed by the hurricane.

Henry S. Jacobs, a Union of Reform Judaism overnight camp in Utica, is housing more than 150 evacuees in its cabins.

[Ani Ibi]

Book on 1927 Mississippi River flood in demand after Katrina

A book about a deadly 1927 flood along the Mississippi River has become an online best-seller since Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast.It's called "Rising Tide: The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 and How it Changed America."

[Ani Ibi]

Port picks up diverted cargo: Houston to see Louisiana and Mississippi loads

01 Sept 2005

Houston port officials were bracing Wednesday to handle an upswing in cargo as a result of a shutdown of ports in Louisiana and Mississippi...

The cargo ship Indotrans Flores, originally bound for New Orleans and the Port of Pascagoula in Mississippi, is scheduled to be unloaded at the Port of Houston today...

The vessel was carrying 3,000 tons of rubber and 2,000 cubic meters of timber destined for delivery in Oklahoma...

New Orleans...handles a large amount of coffee, a commodity Houston port officials have worked to get more of in recent years.

[Ani Ibi]

The Effects of Hurricane Katrina on the US States of Mississippi and Alabama

High winds and the storm surge from Katrina inflicted catastrophic damage across the Mississippi Gulf Coast. The counties that are more seriously affected in Mississippi include Biloxi, Gulfport, Long Beach, and Pass Christian.

It is believed that in the seriously affected coastal areas, almost 90% of the structures are completely ruined, including homes, businesses, and industries...The damage to twelve Mississippi casinos is of enormous magnitude...

These casinos employed 14,000 workers and paid about $500,000 in gaming tax revenue daily...Closing of the casinos could have a prolonged effect on employment and gross state product in the state.

Mississippi already has one of the highest unemployment rates in the nation, which is estimated at 6.5% in July 2005, compared to 5.4% for the nation...During fiscal 2004, tourism accounted for 92,400 employees...$1.7 billion.

[K C]

Dear Ani:

I am glad you are posting about Miss. I am afraid that the state is being underserved because of the focus on New Orleans. Have you seen any news in print about Biloxi? I want to send a donation to both the Catholic Relief in Baton Rouge AND to Mississippi and am considering sending it to Biloxi:

Diocese of Biloxi
c/o Archdiocese of Mobile
400 Government St.
Mobile, AL 36602 (mark chk for intended use: emergency or rebuilding)

However, do you know if the need is more immediate in another location within Miss?

P.S. Your link to the thread about donating shampoo is not working. Besides, when I read it earlier, it sounded as if no buses are able to get through Baton Rouge. Has that been remedied do you know? I know that the airport is operational, however.

[Ani Ibi]

Lumber shares rise post-Katrina

Investors lifted shares of U.S. lumber firms this week...but analysts were divided over whether rebuilding would actually boost results or merely support an otherwise a weakening market. Shares of companies like BlueLinx Holdings Inc., which distributes plywood, and Deltic Timber Corp., which sells lumber in the south, saw double-digit gains in stock prices...

The first products needed are panels to board up ravaged homes or for flooring replacement, helping companies like Norbord Inc., Louisiana-Pacific Corp., Georgia-Pacific Corp.. Weyerhaeuser Co., he said. Louisiana-Pacific on Friday said it would donate boards for rebuilding in Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana, and will switch production at a Texas plant to panels from siding...

"(Panel) prices should be higher as we estimate that 200,000 to 400,000 people have lost their homes," he wrote in note this week...A need for lumber would follow, helping companies like Weyerhaeuser, Canfor Corp., and West Fraser Timber Co., Atkinson said...Mississippi Power has said it will need to replace almost 5,000 power poles...

[Ani Ibi]

Originally Posted by K C

I am glad you are posting about Miss. I am afraid that the state is being underserved because of the focus on New Orleans.

When I raised my head from N'awlins last night I saw Mississippi and the extent of the devastation just seared my heart. I saw that many in great need were falling through the cracks. Some in outlying communities had not had food or water dropped to them since before the storm. Even those getting supplies had no one to lift the big crates off the semis.

Originally Posted by K C

Have you seen any news in print about Biloxi?

No. I am just finished googling Mississippi. Then I will start on Pascagoula and then I will start on Biloxi. I am sort of hoping someone will start a similar thread on Alibami. I'm learning to talk Southern. Up here we say Battong Roojsh. Down there they say BattnRooz.

Originally Posted by K C

I want to send a donation to both the Catholic Relief in Baton Rouge AND to Mississippi and am considering sending it to Biloxi:

Hey great idea! Maybe you could phone someone in the rectory down there and start up a long distance buddy system. I'm in touch with the guy at the phones at St Josephs in BattnRooz.

This way they can email us if they need something to be sent out over the internet. We can also hunt down links to housing for them. Links to jobs. For instance, on this thread, there are a bunch of places people can rustle up some jobs:

Shipyards
Timber
getting the coffee back from Houston

Originally Posted by K C

However, do you know if the need is more immediate in another location within Miss?

Nope. I'm up here in Toronto. Best thing is to call the Cathedral in Biloxi and ask them to keep their ears to the ground and get back to you. The situation is 'fluid.'

Originally Posted by K C

P.S. Your link to the thread about donating shampoo is not working.

Thanks. I'll fix it. The buses are running to BattnRooz. Everything is running. They are just overwhelmed with people. Their population has literally doubled.

They need people to help out; but those people will have to bring their own camping supplies, food, water, and so on. They will have to be self-sufficient.

[Ani Ibi]

Coast fishermen hope Katrina spared sea life

08 Sept 2005

The week before Hurricane Katrina's catastrophic arrival, Verges' boat landed 400 pounds (181 kg) of prime quality shrimp in the Biloxi channel. Then, day after day, the catches fell off. "On the day before Katrina, I brought home just 40 shrimp. The others must have known something real mean was happening and did something about it"...

Commercial and sport fishing is one of the biggest industries in the state of Mississippi and Katrina dealt it a devastating blow. Many boats were destroyed, the shipyards in nearby Biloxi wrecked and the marinas obliterated...The sediment spells death for oysters unable to escape the choking silt...

On the shoreline, many sea-facing houses have simply vanished and the rich verdant forest of pines and oaks looks like a New England autumn, the leaves burned orange by their lengthy emersion in the salty surge. The once vibrant bird life has also gone. A decaying cormorant floats in the marshes, a sole seagull with a twisted, broken leg flies overhead.

No-one has sighted any ospreys or hawks since the storm swept north. "I used to have three alligators live opposite the house but they disappeared with Katrina. Well, a week a later, I get in my boat and there's one of them back looking at me," he says, a can of beer resting easily in his hand.