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 Eyes on Katrina
Saturday, September 10, 2005
Taking some time off
Don Hammack is taking some needed time off, and now I'll be leaving for a day or two. One of us will be back to update you on the latest news going on in the area as soon as we can. Priscilla Frulla, my fellow news assistant, may be our special guest host if anything desperately needs to be blogged. Sorry to leave you...but we need the rest.
ZZzzzz...
Sunday church services
Our Lady of the Gulf, Bay St. Louis, will celebrate Mass on the steps of the church at 10 a.m. Sunday.
St. Michael Parish, Biloxi, invites parishioners to attend Mass at Christ the King Church in Latimer at 9 a.m. Sunday.
Sacred Heart Parish, D'Iberville, will celebrate Mass at Heritage Methodist Church, 4322 Popps Ferry Road, Biloxi, at 5 p.m. Sunday. Morning Masses will be held at the Diocesan Pastoral Center, 1790 Popps Ferry Road, Biloxi, at 8:30 and 10 a.m. Sunday.
St. Patrick's Episcopal Church of Long Beach will meet at Coast Episcopal Church, 5065 Espy Ave. on Sunday at 10 a.m. for weekly services until further notice. Details: 324-7593.
St. Peter's By-The-Sea Episcopal Church of Gulfport will meet at 8 a.m. Sunday on Switzer Park Pavillion between MGCCC Jefferson Davis and Handsboro Community Arts Center. The church will meet every following Sunday at the Handsboro Presbyterian Church at 9 a.m. Childcare is provided. Details: 229-6683.
St. Luke Anglican Church, 555 Cowan Road, Gulfport, will have a special morning prayer service at 11 a.m. Sunday. Details: 875-9652.
Sept. 11 commerative ceremony set
A Sept. 11 commemerative ceremony will be held at 9:30 a.m. Sunday at D’Iberville Moose Lodge, 5145 West Gay Road, D'Iberville. A blood drive will take place from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Details: 392-2465.
Singing River Electric update
Singing River Electric crews are working towards a goal of restoring power to all who can receive it by Sunday, Sept. 11. Crews are being reinforced in areas hardest hit, including the Vancleave, St. Martin, Ocean Springs and surrounding areas. They're also reinspecting lines in areas where power is back on to make sure all customers have restored power.
Power restoration numbers, SREPA customers without power as of Sept. 10:
-Wayne County: 20 out of 964
-Perry County: 180 out of 1,408
-George County: 295 out of 9,915
-Greene County: 290 out of 5,437
-Jackson County: 3,100 out of 46,214
-12-1,500 in the St. Andrews, Pinehurst and Gulf Park Estates area (much due to homes not being able to receive power due to structural or water damage)
-1,500 in the western part of the service areas of Vancleave and St. Martin (an area that suffered great destruction)
-100 members scattered throughout Jackson County (mostly homes that cannot receive power due to structural or water damage)
-Total customers waiting to be restored: 3,885 out of 65,000 (little over 1,000 members served in Perry, Stone and Wayne counties and Mobile and Washington counties in Alabama).
Red Cross care sites
American Red Cross Neighborhood Care Sites are now set up at nine locations, offering nursing staff to assess health issues, counseling and basic hygiene items: Food Tiger, I-110 and Division Street, Biloxi; Salvation Army, Howard Avenue and Bellman, Biloxi; West Elementary School, east parking lot, 15th and 41st, Gulfport; Good Deeds Community Center, 15101 Madison St., Gulfport; Bel-Aire Elementary, Community and Klein Road, Gulfport; Choice Market, Railroad Street at Pineville, Long Beach; West Harrison County Fire Station, DeLisle; Jack Reid Park, Goodyear Street, Picayune; and in front of Hancock County Hospital in the Edward Jones parking Lot, Bay St. Louis.
If the hurricane diet hasn't quite worked...
World Gym in Ocean Springs is now open. The Biloxi location will open Monday. Facilities, including showers, may be used by relief workers at no charge. Details: 388-7930.
Doctors' offices opening
There are quite a few opening in the area on Monday. Here are those that called the newsroom directly to let us know:
Hogan Eye Clinic, Biloxi, will be open 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. Patients and anyone else needing opthamology care are welcome. Walk-ins and appointments being taken. Details: (228) 896-1120.
Spraberry Dental Clinic, Orange Grove/Gulfport, will be open for emergency care including infection control and non-narcotic pain management. They offer a 70 percent disaster relief discount. Details: (228) 832-3231 or (228) 547-4930.
Keesler Oncology patients are asked to go to another oncologist and have them call Dr. Samuel Wood at (210) 274-3434 or (228) 377-6458.
Digestive Health Center, Ocean Springs and Pascagoula, will be open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday.
Coastal Family Health Center will see patients regardless of insurance status or ability to pay at the following locations: Highway 57 North, Vancleave, (228) 826-4711; Highway 49, Saucier, (228) 832-7223; and Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., Gulfport, (228) 864-0003 (open Monday).
Drs. Seicshnaydre, Meekin, Smith and Robinson of Coastal EMT will run clinics 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday at Drs. Seicshnaydre and Meekin's offices at 4300 15th St., next to Sartin's Drug Store and Memorial Hospital, in Gulfport.
Gulf Coast Psychotherapy, Ashley Drive, Ocean Springs, and Howard Avenue, Biloxi, will be open today for patients.
Dr. Janus Kulpa will open the Ocean Springs office at 8 a.m. Monday. Details: 875-1599.
A new day...
Yesterday was quite a busy one at the Sun Herald, the highlight of which was the arrival of our business editor, Lisa Monti, who rode out the storm in Bay St. Louis. We had almost no contact with her over the past week, so it was a relief to see her after so long. I think it's safe to say things are definitely looking up.
It's now Saturday here in the newsroom, but it doesn't feel like the weekend. Things are quiet at the moment, and I have some time to devote to the blog, but who knows what will happen in the meantime...
--Sara
Friday, September 09, 2005
Weekend Mass schedule
According to Shirley Henderson with the Catholic Diocese of Biloxi, the following Mass schedule will be held this weekend:
Our Lady of the Gulf, Bay St. Louis
Mass will be celebrated on the steps of the church at 10 a.m. Sunday, Sept. 11.
St. Michael Parish, Biloxi
Parishioners are invited to attend Mass at Christ the King Church in Latimer at 5 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 10, and 9 a.m. Sunday, Sept. 11.
Sacred Heart Parish, D'Iberville
Sunday Masses will be at the Diocesan Pastoral Center, 1790 Popps Ferry Road, at 8:30 and 10 a.m.
President/Silver Slipper Casino info
The President will be distributing payroll checks for the periods ending Aug. 21 and Sept. 4 at temporary offices at 101-A Rouselle Place in Ocean Springs. The building is west of Applebee's on U.S. 90 and behind the Allstate Insurance Building. Employees who have not already received pay checks may pick them up Sept. 14-16 between the hours of 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. Details: 872-3981.
Blog negligence
Don and I are slammed here in the newsroom at the moment and haven't been able to post new information on the blog as often as we'd like. Here's a little something I just received from a Sun Herald staffer:
Gulf Coast Medical Center reopened emergency services at 3 p.m. Sept. 6. Inpatient services opened today at noon and are now available to the public. Gulf Coast Medical is located at 180 DeBuys Road in Biloxi. Details: (228) 388-6711.
Report missing loved ones
Helpful information from a story by Sun Herald reporter Josh Norman:
DISASTER MORTUARY OPERATIONAL RESPONSE TEAM STATIONS: There are four stations in Harrison County where loved ones of the missing can bring information to help forensics teams searching for remains.
--Public Safety Building in Biloxi
--Hancock Medical Center
--Harrison County Coroner
--Marshall Funeral Home
DMORT encourages family members only to come forward, especially siblings, parents and children. Please bring as much information as you can think of about the missing person from physical characteristics, to school and medical records, to recent photos.
Source: Disaster Mortuary Operational Response Team
Or you can call toll free 1-866-326-9393.
Thursday, September 08, 2005
Loyalton of Biloxi
Loyalton of Biloxi Assisted Living Community will be distributing paycheck to its employees Friday at the Horizon Bank located on Pass Road between Walmart and Steinmart. They will be there from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Pfizer giving emergency supplies of medicine
Pfizer is providing medications to Hurricane Katrina survivors (from a press release):
Visit a nearby pharmacy to receive an emergency supply of your Pfizer medicines.
Victims of Hurricane Katrina who have lost access to their Pfizer medications can receive an emergency supply at any Walgreens, Rite Aid, Wal-Mart, Sam’s Club or CVS pharmacy.
From now until September 16th, Pfizer and these pharmacies are helping survivors obtain their Pfizer medicines. No matter where patients may be residing, if they are from the affected areas, they can go to any Walgreens, Rite Aid, Wal-Mart, Sam’s Club or CVS pharmacy and ask the pharmacist for help. Many independent community pharmacies will also be participating.
Patients without prescription drug coverage will get their medicines for free.
Pfizer and our partners will continue to do all we can to support the efforts of healthcare providers in the area. We are expediting donations of our medicines to relief organizations and local hospitals, and we urge any hurricane victims who do not have their Pfizer medications to contact or visit a pharmacy right away to receive an emergency supply during these difficult days.
For more information, please visit a nearby pharmacy.
William Carey College classes resuming
William Carey College's Hattiesburg campus will reopen to students Monday, Sept. 19 after closing due to Hurricane Katrina. Students may return to the dorms Saturday, Sept. 17 and Sunday Sept. 18.
Water and power have been restored to the campus. News of Carey's New Orleans and Gulfport campuses is pending and will be available in the near future.
Admissions, Financial Aid and Maintenance staff members should to return to work as soon as possible. All other staff should return Monday, Sept. 12.
Stennis Space center update
NASA Stennis Space Center is open and operating at a modified level of business.
Except for previously notified essential personnel, NASA Civil Service employees should not report to duty before Wednesday, Sept. 14. An all-hands meeting for NASA Civil Service employees is scheduled for Wednesday, Sept. 14, at 11 a.m. in the Logtown Conference Room, Building 1100. All employees who are able should attend for valuable information.
However, Navy personnel at Stennis and employees of Mississippi Space Services (including Team MSS) should report to work on Monday, Sept. 12. All other contractor and agency employees should check with their specific agency or company for the status of returning to duty.
Any employees of NASA, contractors, and resident agencies of the Stennis Space Center and the Michoud Assembly Facility who have not yet checked in are asked to personally call 288-688-3777 or toll-free 877-470-5240 with their status as soon as possible. The lines are staffed 24 hours a day. Employees with internet access should routinely check the NASA Web site for updates
and information that will be helpful to personnel and families.
Cellular South update
Cellular South zapped out its updates for today:
-- The Cellular South wireless network in hardest hit areas will be fully operational by Monday, Sept. 12.
-- Customers in unaffected areas should experience normal service. Those in affected areas may experience service quality issues including multiple calling attempts for the next few days.
-- Cellular South has been partially operational in the hardest hit areas since August 29, the day Hurricane Katrina made landfall.
-- Hundreds of Cellular South employees continue to work around the clock in the field and in permanent and temporary retail locations to help restore service and provide assistance to victims and evacuees.
-- Handling more call volume than before Katrina. Network call volume and minutes used are up significantly in the time frame between yesterday, Sept. 6, and Aug. 23, one week prior to Katrina. The data shows that Cellular South is not only handling the volume experienced prior to Katrina, but it’s also handling the additional volume despite not being fully restored as of today.
-- Call volume is up 16% (Sept. 6 vs. Aug. 23).
-- Minutes of use are up 21% (Sept. 6 vs. Aug. 23).
-- More than 7,000 victims and evacuees assisted since Monday at Cellular South phone bank locations. Cellular South has been operating Free Call and Cell Phone Charger Centers for any customer, regardless of their wireless carrier.
-- More than 90% of the Cellular South retail locations on the Mississippi Gulf Coast and in the Pine Belt are open. Cellular South stores with damage in Gulfport, Biloxi and Bay St. Louis are operating out of tents.
Continuing Emergency Service Assistance
-- Cellular South has provided loaner phones to Red Cross Shelters around the state so evacuees who are not Cellular South customers will have access to communication.
-- Hundreds of cell phones have been provided to first responders, government agencies and disaster relief teams who are coordinating Mississippi’s disaster relief efforts.
For updates, call #STORM from your Cellular South phones, call toll-free 1.888.790.7211 or check the company's Web site.
Singing River Electric update
As of Thursday, Jackson County officials announced that Singing River Electric restored power to 52,000 of 64,000 members. Staff are currently rebuilding power lines in all areas. Members should hire a qualified and licensed electrician to inspect their electrical system, officials suggested.
Looking for Kinney family of Gulf Park Estates
Anyone with information on the whereabouts of the Kinney family, a group of six, are asked to contact Stephen Parker (brother of Gina Kinney) at 239-573-0758 (home), 239-898-7048 (cell), or 239-277-6200 (work). They were last heard from at 3 a.m. Aug. 29 when they said they would wait out the hurricane in their home on Pointe Aux Chenes Road in Ocean Springs, of the Gulf Park Estates area. They are grandmother Charlotte "Charlie" Kinney, parents Chris and Gina Kinney, 13-year-old Kaitlyn, 9-year-old Trysten and 5-year-old Trevor.
UPDATE: I received this e-mail Friday morning:
Hi Sara, Gina Kinney and family are OK, they were stuck in thier home w/o any communications for 8 days. Not sure if they have any utilities yet. I spoke w/Gina's brother and everyone is safe.
Great news!
Salvation Army feeding sites, corporate donations
As of today, in Harrison County:
Jackson County:
Stone County
Hancock County
Financial contributions from corporations can be made by contacting the Salvation Army's divisional headquarters at (601) 969-7560, ext. 229.
Harrah's opens assistance center for employees
Harrah's has opened its Gulf Coast Region Assistance Center in Gulfport, at 11975 Seaway Road, as a resourse for employees at three properties displaced by Katrina. Available services include:
-- On-site primary health care services.
-- Compensation and benefits assistance.
-- Listings of shelters, local housing and transportation.
-- Nationwide job opportunities at other Harrah's properties.
-- Access to e-mail and the company's intranet for relief and recovery info.
Employees unable to visit the center can also call 877-422-7466. The company anticipates opening a second center in Louisiana soon.
Harrah's also says:
-- It will make up the difference between military pay and regular pay to employees called up by the National Guard or reserves for relief efforts.
-- Two special performances of Tony n' Tina's Wedding at the Rio in Las Vegas will be given with free tickets to those giving contributions of $100 to the Harrah's Employee Recovery Fund or the Red Cross, and 30 percent of proceeds from regularly purchased tickets will be donated likewise.
-- 150 hotel rooms at its Bourbon Street hotel in Las Vegas are ready for evacuees and displaced employees.
-- Harrah's will pay employees their regularly scheduled base pay for up to 90 days and giving first preference to them for jobs at other properties.
Coast Electric update
Coast Electric is still on target to energize 80 percent of its members who are able to accept service by the beginning of next week.
Phone service has been restored at the Bay St. Louis, Gulfport and Picayune offices and they are accepting calls for general inquiries -- not for reports of outages since they are aware of them -- at (228) 467-6535, (228) 832-1761 or (601) 798-5013. Those offices will open on a limited basis starting next week.
At this time, Coast Electric is concentrating all efforts on the restoration process and will not be sending out bills, collecting on due accounts or sending out disconnect notices until they are able to get the business offices up and running.
Saad looking for displaced patients
Saad Home Health, Hospice and Medical Equipment is open. They are in the field seeing patients and delivering medical supplies. They are also looking for displaced patients so they can care for their medical needs. Patients or anyone who knows of a displaced patient are asked to call the Biloxi office at (228) 432-8855 or (800) 279-7223 or the Gautier office at (228) 497-0300.
Nursing homes need donations
The Mississippi Health Care Foundation is accepting donations for medical and personal needs for residents of long-term care facilities displaced by Hurricane Katrina. Monetary contributions are tax deductible and can be made to the Mississippi Health Care Foundation, 114 Marketridge Drive, Ridgeland, MS 39157. Please notate contributions for "Disaster Relief."
"Many nursing homes have suffered damage, and resources are needed to continue to provide quality care to the residents of the facilities. We encourage the public to help with urgently-needed medical and personal care items. Residents would be grateful for any contribution," said Harold Beebe, president of the Foundation.
A special distribution center has been reserved adjacent to theMississippi Health Care Association headquarters at 114 Marketridge Drive in Ridgeland between 8:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday. For more information please call 601-956-3472, or 1-800-362-6430, or visit the Web site at www.mshca.com.
"Displaced long-term care facility residents have been relocated throughout the state, and supplies to help these residents and their caregivers are in great demand," said Vanessa Henderson, MCHA executive director.
Supplies needed include:
*Baby food/formula (for children of staff, as staff have moved theirfamilies into facilities)*Clothing (for nursing home/personal care residents; staff and theirfamilies, including children)*Paper products (plates, napkins, cups, plastic spoons, forks, knives, etc.)
*Insulin syringes and other needles & syringes
*Hospital gowns
*Admission kits
*Glucometers
*Water pitchers
*Basins
*Bedpans
*Urinals
*Feeding tube bags
*Foley bags
*Vaseline
*Tylenol
*Multi-vitamins
*Multi-vitamins with iron
*Glucerna
*Ensure or any othersupplement
*Hand sanitizer
*Towels/wash cloths
*Adult diapers
*Under pads
*Mattresses
*Pillows
*Sheets, blankets, pillowcases
*Bath soap
*Potty chairs
*Wheelchairs
*Cots
*Generators
*Baby wipes
*Shelf stable food
*Toothbrushes
*Toothpaste
*Deodorant
*Shaving crème
*Razors
*Shampoo
*Combs & brushes
*Other toiletries
*Glycerin swaps
*Peroxide
*Antiseptic wash
*Baby diapers
*Baby powder
*Foley cath trays:16, 18, 20, 22 or 24 French
MSU-Tulane game moved to Shreveport
From the Mississippi State media relations department:
STARKVILLE, Miss. The Mississippi State-Tulane football game will be played Saturday, Sept. 17, at the Independence Bowl Stadium in Shreveport, La., officials from Conference USA and both universities announced Thursday. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. CT and will be televised nationally by College Sports Television (CSTV).
The game was originally scheduled for the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans, a facility made unplayable by the tragic events surrounding Hurricane Katrina last week.
Mississippi State fans holding single-game tickets to the Tulane game have three options in this relocation of the game site.
1. MSU athletic officials will be at the Independence Bowl Stadium ticket office at 4:30 p.m. on game day to exchange tickets for the game in the Superdome for a reserved seat in the Shreveport facility.
2. MSU fans may choose to return their already-purchased ticket for the game at the New Orleans facility for a full refund by returning their unused ticket to the MSU Athletic Ticket Office by Monday, Oct. 17.
3. Bulldog fans may forego a refund and have the cost of their ticket donated to the Tulane athletic program. The Mississippi State Athletic Department intends to waive the $200,000 game guarantee to assist the Tulane athletic program in its efforts to overcome the budget shortfall resulting from its relocation.
"We fully understand the terrific strain Tulane University has been under in coping with this tragedy," MSU Director of Athletics Larry Templeton said. "We are doing everything we can to assist Tulane in its hurricane recovery efforts."
Fans interested in purchasing tickets to the game in Shreveport who do not hold Superdome tickets, should contact Ticket Master, 1-800-488-5252, and indicate they are Mississippi State fans. Tickets may also be purchased at the Independence Bowl Stadium box office.
The Bulldog team and travel party will depart from Golden Triangle Regional Airport on game day and return immediately following the game. These travel plans will insure that no one evacuated from the Gulf Coast region to the Shreveport area will be displaced from their hotel rooms.
Bay St. Louis snapshot
Scott Marshall, one of our Knight Ridder helpers, gives us this:
A snapshot of Bay St. Louis at 10:30 a. m. Central Daylight Savings Time, Sept. 8:
The Bay St. Louis side of the destroyed Bay Bridge has become a gathering spot for cellular phone users. Service is nil, if at all, in nearby Waveland. Service at the bridge, or rather, bridge supports, is good.
So those standing in the sweltering heat or sitting in their cars using cell phones Thursday morning saw Josh Harris, 25, tooling around on his strikingly blue MGX 21-speed bike, wearing a green boondocks hat, long blue shorts, dusty black boots and listening to Insane Clown Posse through his earphones.
Adorning the front of his bike was a fairly large Raggedy Ann doll.
"Just to get a smile," Harris confided. He lived a mile down Washington Street with his wife, Michelle McGrath and their daughter Jadie, 3.
They rode out Katrina, particularly since downed trees blocked their escape. Their rented home, which sat on three-foot pilings, took in two feet of water.
"I'm not going through this again, I lost two cars" said Harris, who allowed that he is headed to Central Texas soon because he has elected to not lose two more cars in every other hurricane that comes along.
Although Harris is not coming back, he asked for a favor before riding away: "Can you tell someone we're going to need skeeter spray here? They've all been pushed offshore, but they're coming back."
Doctors offices open
The Medical Foundation of South Mississippi has the following offices open Monday through Friday, 9 a.m.-4 p.m., no appointment necessary:
1) Norwood Village Medical (Dr. Galbraith/ Dr. Holland) located at 12100 Hwy 49, Gulfport.
2) South Coast Internal Medicine (Dr. LaRosa/ Dr. Maalouf/ Dr. Azar) located at 1110 Broad Ave Gulfport in the Memorial Hospital Medical Office Building.
3) Children’s Clinic (Dr. Reeves/ Dr. Bannister/ Dr. Budd) located at 20091 Pineville Road, Long Beach
4) Southern Coast Family Medicine Clinic (Dr. Dimitriades/ Dr. Schepens) located at 394 Courthouse Road, Gulfport.
5) Internal Medicine Clinic (Dr. Tilley/ Dr. Blanks) located at 1110 Broad Avenue, Gulfport.
6) Long Beach UrgiCare (Dr. Franklin/ Dr. Alexander) located at 5120 Beatline Road, Long Beach.
7) Gulf Coast Pediatrics (Norwood Village location ONLY) located at 12100 Hwy 49, Gulfport (Dr. McCrary/ Dr. Holland/ Dr. Samms/ Dr. Grant/ Dr. Coleman/ Dr. Saleme/ Dr. Schepens/ Dr. Cupp/ Dr. Haller)
South Mississippi Nephrology (4300B W. Railroad St., Gulfport) will open Friday, temporary contact numbers (228) 860-3321 and (228) 860-0203. The hours will be from 8:00 a.m. thru 5:00 p.m.
Village Square employees please report to Internal Medicine Clinic, Broad Avenue, Gulfport. For more information, please call 867-5292.
Treasure Bay information
The new Treasure Bay hotline number is (228) 896-5879. All crewmembers are encouraged to call this number for updated information.
Employees may pick up their paychecks Monday, Sept. 12, and Tuesday, Sept. 13, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the corner of Beauvoir and Pass roads near the Stein Mart parking lot.
Probation check-in info
All parolees are required to contact the Mississippi Department of Corrections in Jackson, (601) 359-5600.
Dillard's at Edgwater Mall
Dillards will be distributing food and paychecks to Edgewater employees on Friday at 2 p.m. at the front entrance of the store. For more information, please contact Ann Walker at 228-864-8806
In an effort to account for all employees, Ann Walker is requesting a phone call at 228-864-8806 if employees are not able to visit the store on the time/day provided.
OLA reconnecting
Kristin Gardner is an 8th grader at Our Lady Academy in Bay St. Louis. The school was decimated by the storm and she's trying to get back in touch with her schoolmates, teachers and staff with an OLA locator blog. She'd like to hear from her friends. Thanks to her mother, Betsy, for pointing it out to us.
Mississippi Power update
Mississippi Power says it has restored power to nearly 127,000 customers, about 76 percent of those who can receive power.
Some interesting numbers from the effort:
-- More than 9,200 workers from around the country are assisting.
-- More than 5,000 vehicles are being fueled each day.
-- The Gulfport Service Center unloaded 60 tractor trailers of material in one 24-hour period.
-- 6,000 poles have been delivered and distributed.
-- 1,000 miles of wire have been delivered and distributed.
The following payment offices are now open: Forest, Heidelberg, Laurel, Meridian, Newton, Quitman, Stonewall, Taylorsville, Union.
These offices will open Sept. 12: Columbia, Ellisville, Hattiesburg, Leakesville, Lucedale, Lumberton, Picayune, Poplarville, Purvis, Sumrall, Waynesboro.
These offices will not open until further notice: Bay St. Louis, Bay Springs, Biloxi, Gulfport, Moss Point, Ocean Springs, Pascagoula, Pass Christian, Richton and Wiggins.
Customers can mail bills to PO Box 245, Birmingham, AL, 35201.
Great news at the Sun Herald
I'm still cleaning out my e-mail inbox, but just got to great news from last night. All Sun Herald employees have been accounted for.
Postal service update
There remain three post offices open only for distributing Social Security checks through Friday, Sept. 16. The checks can be picked up from 9 a.m.-3 p.m. at:
-- Escatawpa Post Office, 4100 Rabby St., Escatawpa: Gautier (39553), Pascagoula (39567), Moss Point (39563).
-- Biloxi North Bay, 356 Ginger Dr., Biloxi: Biloxi (39530, 39531, 39592).
-- Gulfport Larkin Smith Mail Facility, 11110 Hwy. 90, Gulfport: Gulfport (39501, 39503, 39507), Kiln (39556), Pearlington (39572), Lakeshore (39558), Waveland (39576), Pass Christian (39571), Long Beach (39560), Bay St. Louis (39520 and 39525).
Customers at Wiggins (39577), Saucier (39574) and Perkinston (39573) can pick up their checks at their local post offices. McHenry (39561) can pick theirs up at Perkinston.
Pickup of outgoing mail in the 395 Zip codes will be providd only at the Larkin Smith facility and the Gulfport Processing Plant (10285 Corporate Drive).
To make a change of address, you can go online, call 1-800-ASK USPS (1-800-275-8777) or do so at any post office, station or branch. Mississippi district manager James A. Daily said 60,000 had been received nationally.
Postal employees should confirm their locations if they haven't done so already by calling (877) 477-3273.
Helping Katrina victims all over
Good morning, all. This comes from my cousin, Richard Lewis, who is the national PR manager for the Virginia Tourism Corporation. Katrina's diaspora has affected areas all over the place, and this is his story (and he's too good a guy to be pitching PR talking points in this situation, trust me):
I wanted to pass along some news from Virginia that has to do with Katrina evacuees. By the middle of last week we were hearing that some of Virginia’s Welcome Centers were starting to see evacuees and refugees from the Gulf South. By the weekend the numbers were increasing steadily and the staff of our Welcome Center in Bristol became nearly overwhelmed. The local Red Cross unit was mobilized and they set up a command center at the Welcome Center where throughout the weekend they provided food, supplies, gas vouchers, etc. to those who needed them. They also sent people to the Red Cross shelter for a place to sleep and showers. The vending machines were no match for the demand and so the staff of the Welcome Center, prior to the arrival of the Red Cross, were buying snacks and water with their own money and handing it out to those who needed it.
We heard of people coming in in states of shock, some breaking down emotionally, some in states of rage. The Red Cross had among their volunteers a licensed psychologist who did plenty of work. A few of us from the Richmond office went down there on Saturday to provide some relief to our Welcome Center staff. I worked there until midnight on Saturday and was able to chat with a number of folks from the Coast. Most all of these people are driving into or through Virginia heading to the homes of friends and relatives. One woman from Pascagoula (but a California native) seemed particularly affected by her experience, saying that California earthquakes were nothing compared to the hurricane. A woman from New Orleans (who works for the Saints) told me that in driving from New Orleans the first place she saw this kind of assistance was in Virginia.
Virginia’s governor, Mark R. Warner, has been very active in mobilizing aid for the Gulf Coast and New Orleans. I had the chance yesterday to speak with him privately and to tell him that I am from the Gulf Coast and appreciated all that he is doing.
Wednesday, September 07, 2005
Not all is lost
Leaving you tonight with a few excerpts from a story by visiting reporter Meera Pal, who looked into conditions south of the railroad (which by the way is where I'm headed now, as my bizarrely untouched apartment beckons):
Eugene and Debby Roe returned to their S. Railroad Avenue home last weekend and found that except for a few downed fruit trees and a destroyed backyard patio, their home was fine.
(Eugene Roe) has heard rumors that the city plans to bulldoze the entire area,
or install a razor wire fence and limit access to residents.
Col. Joe Spraggins, director of Harrison County Civil Defense, said city officials have not decided what to do with the damaged area.
"No one is going to go in and tear someone's house down without a lot of notification," Spraggins said. "They are trying to find a way to save everything they can save. We are not just going to demolish everything."
He is discouraging residents from returning to the area for their own safety, noting possible gas leaks, potential injury from debris, and hazardous materials buried among the wreckage.
...Eugene Roe managed to get power restored to his and a few other residents' homes...
One of those homes belongs to 76-year-old Rosie Parkerson and her son, Ron.
...Ron Parkerson spoke about his return to S. Railroad Avenue after the hurricane. A normally eight-minute drive took close to an hour, he said.
Before Katrina hit, Ron Parkerson evacuated his mother to his two-story house, four miles north.
Unfortunately, his house didn't fare as well as his mother's. Several large trees came down on the 100-year-old home. The pair returned to her house a day after Katrina and have been living there since...
More in tomorrow's print edition and posted on the Sun Herald web site soon.
Good night, all, and take care of each other.
--Sara Greer
Winn-Dixie offers free ice to storm victims
Hot off the fax machine:
Winn-Dixie is offering assistance to those affected by Hurricane Katrina by offering free ice at eight of its stores in the storm damaged areas.
A tractor-trailer truck full of ice will be conveniently positioned in the parking lot of designated stores, where each person can receive one bag of ice for free while supplies last.
Locations:
2800 Lincoln Road, Hattiesburg
771 U.S. 98, Columbia
2384 Pass Road, Biloxi
10511 D'Iberville Blvd., D'Iberville
851 Brownswitch Road, Slidell, La.
400 Georgia Ave., Bogalusa, La.
2985 Gause Blvd., Slidell, La.
12519 Airline Highway, Destrehan, La.
Winn-Dixie is implementing its "Neighbors Helping Neighbors" program in all of its stores as a way to assist the American Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund to benefit storm victims.
When a Winn-Dixie customer is checking out at the register, he or she may donat directly to the American Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund by telling the cashier how much they want to add to their total bill.
Emphasis mine...thought it was an easy way for someone lightyears away to make a difference in our backyard.
Info for cancer patients impacted by Katrina
Sun Herald photographer John Fitzhugh, who is very involved with Relay for Life and the American Cancer Society, passed us along this helpful information. The American College of Clinical Oncology has set up this site full of useful information for cancer patients affected by Hurricane Katrina, including a list of doctors available to care for acute patients.
Coast Electric update
You have had several updates on Mississippi Power how about Coast electric and how quickly they are getting power back.
Thanks
Paula
I found a rogue press release on a faraway desk in the newsroom. It hadn't made it to the "blog station" yet. My apologies.
As of today (Sept. 7), Coast Electric reports that it is on target to energize 80 percent of its members who are able to accept service by the beginning of next week (Sept. 12 or so). All transmission lines have been restored and they are now completing work on the three-phase lines, which will allow them to work on single-phase lines and get ore members connected.
If phone services are working properly, they will start taking calls at the Gulfport (832-1761) and Picayune (601-798-5013) offices beginning tomorrow (Sept. 8).
The Gulfport, Picayune and Bay St. Louis business offices will be open on a limited basis starting next week. They are currently assessing damages in the Biloxi office to determine when they will be able to use it.
Confusion at post offices
Mississippi District Manager James A. Daily issued this statement this afternoon after learning that some customers are visiting post offices and complaining that they are not receiving all of their mail:
"We have three designated sited to enable customers to receive Social Security checks only. We are not yet prepared to disseminate any other mail from these locations at this time. We are working diligently to get equipment in place to offer more services very soon, but we are only offering Social Security checks to customers so that they may take care of some of their most critical needs right now."
Road conditions update
For anyone set on returning to the coast, here is the latest on road conditions via MDOT.
I-10 Eastbound traffic will be crossed over to one lane of I-10 Westbound for several miles in Jackson County. This traffic change will be in effect for at least 5 weeks as crews work to repair bridge over Pascagoula River. Motorists should take alternate routes to avoid traffic congestion.
MDOT has cleared all state highways for travel except Hwy 90; however, the Highway Patrol discourages non-emergency travel in the Gulf Coast region.
Amen.
Hancock Medical Center news
Received this by e-mail earlier today:
All Hancock Medical Center department managers and maintenance and housekeeping staff members should report to work as soon as possible. Paychecks will be electronically deposited for those with direct deposit. All others may be picked up Friday at the U.S. 90 branch of Hancock Bank. The hospital will be under limited operations for cleaning and repair for at least two weeks. Medical care for the community is being provided on-site by federal and state emergency personnel.
Important info for USM employees
University of Southern Mississippi Gulf Coast employees who do not have direct deposit will be able to pick up their most recent paycheck on the coast this Friday.
Paychecks will be distributed at the Old Garden Park Hospital, located at 15200 Community Road in Gulfport, from noon until 3 p.m.
Student refund checks will also be available for pick up, but only for students with a 395-- zip code.
All employees and students must present valid, personal identification.
Harrison County urgent needs facilities
We're wading through all the e-mails and hoping not to duplicate stuff, but this might be a repeat:
Two urgent medical needs facilities have opened in Harrison County:
1. Coast Episcopal School 22037 Episcopal Road Pass Christian will have a mobile unit at this location today and will be on site tomorrow. Hours will be from 7am to 6pm. For more information contact Jennifer Knight at (228)332-0330 or (228) 860-7252.
2. Quarles Elementary on Commission Road is currently operational. Hours are from 9am to 5pm.
Water questions
Zdmo2 e-mails:
Can you please post info on the water supply in Biloxi. I can't find anything and want to know if it's at least safe to bathe in. The city's site has nothing and I can't find any updates on SunHerald or WLOX. Thanks
According to Sun Herald environmental reporter Mike Keller, 550 water systems in Mississippi alone have been affected by Katrina. In 404, there are boil water orders, and that includes everything on the Coast.
If you have a personal well where you lost power and there was flooding, don't turn on or use your pump until it's been professionally disinfected.
Seabees working
From a series of e-mails from the folks at the Seabee base, we have a sense of what tasks they're taking on:
-- Navy personnel from the Seabee base in Gulfport are repairing five schools in Gulfport and Biloxi.
-- They are being joined by Marines to support efforts in New Orleans.
-- NMCB 40 is building a 500-person tent city to house victims.
-- Underwater Construction Team 1 from Norfolk will survey the Gulfport Small Craft Harbor today or Thursday. The Navy Divers will inspect the harbor and pier, checking the piles with sonar. They'll also map the harbor's hydrography to see if there are any hazards to shipping.
Missing persons list consolidation effort
Scott Denton is working with Atlanta-based Katrina Data Project to consolidate information at the numerous sites collecting missing persons information around the Internet. He e-mails:
Please check out this site, as (in my opinion) this is the best source of information to displaced evacuees. It serves as a central repository for the most forward-thinking data that can (and should) be collected. The data collected is organized in a manner that is much more useful to evacuees and/or their families. Currently, they/we have collected more information than the American Red Cross. We are working diligently to obtain even more useful information.
Thank you for your time. God bless you and all those affected by this horrible storm.
Missing pets around
Scott M. sends the following vignette:
Katrina was a great divider of families and friends, including their pets. Now, missing-pet fliers have begun appearing.
One of the first was for Bailey, a 2-year-old chocolate labrador escaped her kennel and then from the Keesler Air Force Base shelter on Aug. 31.
Her picture, lying on a blue rug, adorns fliers posted along Pass Road, on the base and on Jordan Drive. Bailey's human, a Keesler employee, said no one has yet called to report finding her. If you do, call 813-323-3217.
Beware Katrina donation scams
Secretary of State Eric Clark's office has received multiple reports of individuals using fake Hurricane Katrina donation and relief Web sites. These sites are being used to create false donation foundations to gain money or capture user names and passwords. They can lead you to install spyware or trojan software on your machine, which can be used to steal personal information to gain access to your credit card number or bank account. Several Web sites/domains in question include katrinahelp.com, katrinarelief.com and katrinacleanup.com, according to the Federal Trade Commission. To report a suspected charities scam in Mississippi, call the Secretary of State's office at 1-888-236-6167 or (601) 359-1371.
It never fails, does it? Be sure to stay away from those sites listed above and stick to familiar charities.
Physician's offices opening
The Medical Foundation of South Mississippi has these offices open from 9 a.m.-4 p.m., no appointment necessary:
-- Norwood Village Medical (Dr. Galbraith/ Dr. Holland) located at 12100 Hwy 49, Gulfport.
-- South Coast Internal Medicine (Dr. LaRosa/ Dr. Maalouf/ Dr. Azar) located at 1110 Broad Ave Gulfport in the Memorial Hospital Medical Office Building.
-- Children's Clinic (Dr. Reeves/ Dr. Bannister/ Dr. Budd) located at 20091 Pineville Road, Long Beach
-- Southern Coast Family Medicine Clinic (Dr. Dimitriades/ Dr. Schepens) located at 394 Courthouse Road, Gulfport.
-- Internal Medicine Clinic (Dr. Tilley/ Dr. Blanks) located at 1110 Broad Avenue, Gulfport.
-- Long Beach UrgiCare (Dr. Franklin/ Dr. Alexander) located at 5120 Beatline Road, Long Beach.
-- Gulf Coast Pediatrics (Norwood Village location ONLY) located at 12100 Hwy 49, Gulfport (Dr. McCrary/ Dr. Holland/ Dr. Samms/ Dr. Grant/ Dr. Coleman/ Dr. Saleme/ Dr. Schepens/ Dr. Cupp/ Dr. Haller)
Village Square employees please report to Internal Medicine Clinic, Broad Avenue, Gulfport. For more information, please call 867-5292.
BellSouth update
From a press release:
BellSouth is completing our sweeps to determine the extent of damage suffered from Hurricane Katrina.
BellSouth is working to re-establish and re-route communications capabilities according to its customer's needs. The company continues to focus its restoration in support of public safety concerns, wireless services and relief activities. The company's overall restoration activities are ongoing and good progress is being made daily.
BellSouth is bringing in additional personnel to supplement its Mississippi network work force. The company continues to coordinate with other utilities to ensure the restoration effort for all customers is made as soon as possible.
Debit cards for victims
It's obviously too early to figure out exactly what this will mean across the victim spectrum, but the US government is going to be giving $2,000 debit cards to victims.
HarCo update
Lisa Krieger, who is helping us from the Knight Ridder news chain, sent this information in from the Harrison County Emergency Management Agency briefing:
Where to pick up your Social Security Check
Social Security check recipients can call the U.S. Postal Service at 1-800-275-8777 to find which of three Harrison County locations they pick up their check. Recipients need to provide their zip code when they call and they will be directed to their check pick up site.
Change of address
Residents can file change of address forms with the U.S. Postal service by phone at 1-800-275-8777. If you have access to the Internet visit www.usps.com.
Rumor Control Hotline
The telephone number for the Rumor Control Hotline has been changed to 228-865-4070.
Interim roof repair
Operation Blue Roof, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers contractors, is offering temporary roof repair to residents. To sign up call 228-701-0588 or sign up in person at the Justice Court Building in Gulfport.
Gulfport Biloxi International Airport
Some carriers will begin limited air travel service from Gulfport Biloxi International Airport. Northwest will carry one flight a day beginning on Sept. 8. Delta will begin service on Sept. 11. AirTran will carry one flight a day beginning Sept. 13. Continental Airlines will begin service on Sept. 19. American Airlines will begin service on Dec. 16. Call the airlines for more specific route information.
Bus service
Coast Transit Authority has 15 buses that are operational and traveling all routes.
Jobs help
Corrina Pearse called in from Spectrum Aquatics in Missoula, Mont., to let folks know about a job offering up there. They do commercial pool manufacturing and are looking for a engineer/draftsperson. You can call (800) 776-5390.
You can also post similar items at our online classifieds site.
Child care center opening
Wee Ones Child Care Center, 1023 East Pass Road, just west of Cowan-Lorraine Road (897-1637), will open for children of any age on Monday, Sept. 12. Hours will be 6:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. The Wee Ones Child Care Center on Three Rivers Road (832-7272) also expects to open Monday, Sept. 12.
Northwood Christian Center to have services
Northwood Christian Center, 14281 O'Neal Road, Gulfport, now has electricity and will have service at 11 a.m. Sunday. Come as you are. A service will also be at 9 a.m. Sunday at Wiggins Christian Center. Details: 832-5100.
Supplies in Orange Grove
Folks at the Orange Grove Church of Christ on Highway 49 next to Hardees have a lot of food, water and clothing available. Anybody who needs such items, or wants to volunteer are welcome.
Traffic alert -- I-10, Jackson County
Beginning today, I-10 in Jackson County will be restricted to two lanes between Highway 57 and Highway 613 while bridge repairs are conducted on the eastbound lane. This constriction will take place for at least five weeks, according to the Mississippi Department of Transportation.
NOAA images
NOAA continues to give outstanding satellite imagery of the region affected by Katrina. Check out for areas where imagery is available. You can check out Fort Massachusetts on Ship Island and other sites of interest.
A note: It's amazing that with all the detail in the photos how difficult it can be to find what you're looking for. It took me a couple attempts with finger on laptop screen tracing the streets in my neighborhood trying to find my home to be successful. Roads and streets get covered up and you just lose your way.
More electric company stuff
Mississippi Power has also opened bill payment offices in: Forest, Heidelberg, Laurel, Meridian, Newton, Quitman, Stonewall, Taylorsville and Union.
These bill payment offices will open Monday: Columbia, Ellisville, Hattiesburg, Leakesville, Lucedale, Lumberton, Picayune, Poplarville, Purvis, Sumrall and Waynesboro.
The company isn't sure when they'll be able to reopen offices in Bay St. Louis, Bay Springs, Biloxi, Gulfport, Moss Point, Ocean Springs, Pascagoula, Pass Christian, Richton and Wiggins. Customers can mail bills to PO Box 245, Birmingham, AL, 35201.
Mississippi Power update
Mississippi Power says it has restored electricity to 65 percent (nearly 110,000) of its customers that can receive power. More than 9,200 workers from around the country are helping the effort.
Estimates for restoring service to customers include:
Sept. 7: Leakesville, Lucedale, Richton
Sept. 8: Bay St. Louis, Long Beach, Wiggins, Saucier
Sept. 9: Pascagoula, Moss Point, Pass Christian, DeLisle
Sept. 10: Hattiesburg, Laurel
Sept. 11: Biloxi, Gulfport, Picayune, Poplarville
"We're asking that customers in areas that have been restored contact us if they still have problems," spokesperson Kurt Brautigam said in a release. "Because the damage was so widespread and severe, there will be a number of individual customer problems that can be corrected as soon as they're identified."
Customers can report outages at 800-ITS-DARK (800-487-3275).
Free prescriptions in Waveland
According to a report from the field, the Wal-Mart in Waveland will fill prescriptions for free from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. as long as they can. They're set up in front of the store on Highway 90.
Looking for James Lance
Cassidy Lance is looking for James Lance who lives on Southwind Drive. Call 972-625-1653.
Tuesday, September 06, 2005
Last post for the day
I'm shutting down for the night. I've made a date with a real shower, making me a very fortunate man here on the Coast. I'm going to reintroduce my body to the concept of cleanliness for at least one night. I wish I could do the same for everybody out there who needs one. I'll be back to dirty by the end of the night tomorrow, joining the unwashed masses trying to dig our way out. This recovery is all about small victories, so cherish them.
SouthTrust employee meetings
SouthTrust Bank will have informational meetings for employees affected by Katrina starting Wednesday. Employees can call (800) 473-7254 for more information. Here is the schedule:
Wednesday
8:00 am Pascagoula Office
8:00 am Ocean Springs Office
5:00 pm Pascagoula Office
5:00 pm Ocean Springs Office
Thursday
8:00 am Biloxi - Main Office
8:00 am Biloxi - Edgewater Office
*8:00 am Hattiesburg - Hardy Street Office
5:00 pm Biloxi - Edgewater Office
5:00 pm Gulfport - Courthouse Road Office
(*Additional Hattiesburg meeting TBD)
Friday
8:00 am Gulfport - Courthouse Road Office
HarCo sets up rumor hotline
The Harrison County Emergency Managment Agency has set up a rumor control hotline in an effort to propagate factual information. Officials want folks to call 865-4070 to have their questions answered 24 hours a day.
Looking for William Stanley Wilkinson
We encourage everyone to continue to use the message boards for you search for loved ones. When we get them physically in our hands, however, we'll post them here, like this one.
Suzanne Westman is looking for William Stanley Wilkinson, who lived at 9031 River Oaks Court in Biloxi. Call (916) 359-1651 or (916) 919-5602.
Tom Benson statement
New Orleans Saints owner Tom Benson put out this statement this afternoon:
The entire New Orleans Saints organization would like to extend its prayers and best wishes to all of our fans throughout Louisiana and the Gulf South region. We are currently working with the NFL and expect to be in a position shortly to announce the sites for our remaining 2005 home schedule. I have expressed my desire to the NFL to play games in Baton Rouge, to the extent circumstances allow.
Saints ticket holders unable to attend home games, wherever played, should also be assured that they will be permitted to request refunds. Specifics of the refund policy will be publicized in the upcoming days.
The New Orleans Saints look forward to the start of the NFL regular season this Sunday and to having the Club be a source of pride and joy in these difficult days. As we move forward together, the Saints look forward to serving as a leader in the rebuilding and revitalization of our great community. Towards this effort, the Saints have established the "New Orleans Saints Hurricane Katrina Relief Fund." Further information for those individuals/companies interested in contributing will be announced shortly.
Blue Roof info
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is now located in the Harrison County Justice Court building which is located at 1620 23rd Ave. Gulfport. The telephone number is (228) 701-0588.
The Corps currently has a program available to assist in covering damaged roofs.
The Blue Roof program is up and running. Operation Blue Roof is a program designed to provide temporary protection for roofs damaged during a hurricane. It consists of a plastic tarp, which is usually blue in color that is installed onto homes by companies contracted by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
The Army Corps of Engineers must acquire from homeowners permission to enter their residence. This will be accomplished through the completion of a Right of Entry form "ROE."
Effective immediately, Harrison County EOC and Army Corps of Engineer employees will begin handing out these forms. They can also be obtained at the Harrison County Justice Court located at 1620 23rd Avenue. They can be contacted by dialing 228-701-0588.
Once a completed form is received, your home will be assigned to a Quality Assurance inspector and a contractor. Please note that it can take up to a month, or even longer, for you to have your blue roof installed.
MEMA sets ups staging area
MEMA has established the Multi-Agency Staging Center to receive large donations of goods. It will be open around the clock to receive only large donations. It has loading docks and is staffed to receive tractor-trailer trucks.
The facility is located at 840 Boling Street, Jackson, Miss., 39202. For more information or directions, call (601) 969-615 or (866) 230-8903. Call the hotline to schedule arrival times and to confirm items to be donated. For small donations of food, clothing, money or other goods and services, please contact local shelters.
Still looking for three Sun Herald employees
We've still got three employees we're still trying to contact. All three live in Gulfport. If you have seen or heard from Yashika Clark, Alma Magee or Stephon Smith, please call 228-896-2432 or 228-860-6524.
Loyalton employees in Biloxi
Employees of Loyalton of Biloxi are to contact Emeritus Assisted Living for important information regarding their paychecks.
Water at Staples in Pascagoula
Staples in Pascagoula will distribute water at their Denny Street store Wednesday starting at 1 p.m. They have an 18-wheeler full of 5-gallon bottle to be handed out one per person until empty.
Staples
3253 Denny Avenue
Pascagoula
Chlorine tank near downtown Gulfport
By TRACY DASH
SUN HERALD
Environmental crews, along with Gulfport fire and police officials
recovered a chlorine cylinder Tuesday morning that was damaged but not
leaking near the intersection of 37th Avenue and 11th Street in
Gulfport.
According to the state Department of Environmental Quality, Seabees
were cleaning the area and found the cylinder. The area was sealed off
during the recovery as a precautionary measure, but no one was injured.
It was unclear what size cylinder was located.
DEQ is working with several agencies including the U.S. Coast Guard to
locate tanks of hazardous materials that washed ashore or were damaged
by Hurricane Katrina.
"We're going street by street, block by block, from state line to state
line looking for (tanks of hazardous materials)," said DEQ first
responder Earl Etheridge.
Crews have found materials such as diesel, gasoline, motor oil,
chlorine, liquid oxygen, medical waste and corrosives. Etheridge said
they are marking the containers with orange paint to indicate whether
they are full or empty.
The Environmental Protection Agency has crews that will pick up the
materials and dispose of them outside Mississippi.
Anyone who finds a hazardous material container is asked to contact the
local fire department. Don't touch the container, Etheridge said. He
said people should let the fire department know whether the container is
leaking.
Saucier water OK
From Saucier:
Saucier Utilities would like to announce to all members that you are not required to boil your water. We were able to retain power through the storm and the water is safe to drink.
Long Beach fire chief statement statement
Long Beach fire chief George Bass has released this statement:
We are here to protect and limit access to the area south of the CSX Railroad tracks. We are attempting to keep anyone who does not belong in the area from entering your personal property.
We are not going to bull doze your homes; they belong to you, and you will deal with your insurance company to settle your property.
We have not set a date for anyone to have to vacate from south of the CSX Railroad tracks. If this becomes necessary, we will try to give you enough lead time to secure your property, and we strongly encourage you to use your time to prepare for this possibility.
To reduce your risk of illness, infection, or injury, we recommend that you use extreme caution while in this area and that you use any means to protect yourself from the hazards that exist south of the CSX Railroad tracks. Some of these hazards include; natural gas leaks, stagnant water, raw sewage, dead animals, and other unknown hazards.
We want to remind you that curfew south of the CSX Railroad tracks is 24 hours a day, but we are allowing passes from 8:00 to 5:00 p.m. All passes must be returned to the checkpoint at Choice Food Store by the 5:30 p.m. dead line. This pass is to allow you to access your property only. Heavy equipment is operating in the area to clear debris from the streets to allow emergency vehicle passage, and all vehicular and pedestrian traffic must be restricted to your property only.
When they become available, passes will be issued to residents remaining overnight south of the CSX Railroad tracks whose homes have been declared structurally safe by city building officials. We will record the names and addresses of those residents in order to allow emergency responders to locate them if necessary.
Southtrust/Wachovia Bank update
Branch Openings
SouthTrust bank will open the following branches on Tuesday, Sept. 6 from 9 a.m. until 4 p.m.:
Mississippi Gulf Coast
-- Pascagoula, Biloxi Main, Ocean Springs, Vancleave, Edgewater, Courthouse Road
Hattiesburg
-- Turtle Creek and Hardy Street
In addition, offices in Jackson and Southaven, Miss. are open during regular business hours
Branch Closings
The following SouthTrust Bank offices remain closed until further notice as a result of Hurricane Katrina:
-- Mobile Main – Mobile, Ala.
-- Gulfport Main – Gulfport, Miss.
All other financial centers opened at the usual time.
ATM Fees Waived
SouthTrust Bank is temporarily waiving fees for non-customers at its ATMs in Escambia, Mobile, Baldwin and surrounding counties in Alabama, San Antonio and Houston, Texas and as well as locations throughout Mississippi.
Wachovia Bank is temporarily waiving fees for non-customers at its ATMs in the Florida Panhandle, including Escambia, Santa Rosa, Okaloosa, Walton, Holmes, Washington, Bay and surrounding counties.
Special Installment Loans Available
SouthTrust/Wachovia is offering special installment loans to those needing assistance because of Hurricane Katrina. The loans, available for the next 45 days, have a fixed annual percentage rate of 9.99 percent and no origination fee. To apply or to receive more information, call 1-866-421-2779.
Customers may call 1-800-WACHOVIA or 1-800-CALL-STB for additional information.
YMCA in Ocean Springs
Mississippi Gulf Coast Blossman YMCA at 1810 Government Street, Ocean Springs is open and is making services available for both members and non-members.
The shower facility is open 24/7. Soap is available but bring a towel if possible. The pool will also be open for lap swim from 7 a.m.-5 p.m. and family swim from noon-5 p.m.
The YMCA Youth Activities Center at 2550 Bienville Blvd., Ocean Springs is open 24/7 for children 5-12. Details: 872-0322.
The YMCA Preschool at 1904 Government Street, Ocean Springs received minor damage and should reopen in a week or two. Details: 875-0152 or 875-0157.
All YMCA employees should contact their supervisor as soon as possible. Paychecks for Sept. 2 are available at the Member Services desk. No paychecks were direct-deposited.
Donated clothing is available in the AOP Building on Government Street.
Details: 875-5050.
SSC Navy update
The Navy employees (civilian, military and contractor personnel) at Stennis Space Center have checked in in droves over the last day. There are still 246 of the 1,700 unaccounted for, but that's down from 650 yesterday.
All employees from CNMOC, NAVO and NRL are encouraged to call in, even if you can't come in to work. They're just trying to locate everyone now. Rear Admiral Timothy McGee has granted administrative leave thru Friday.
Call 228-688-5200, 228-688-3777 or 831-656-4327 to check in.
Mississippi Power update for Tuesday
Mississippi Power thinks that all its customers who can receive power will have it restored by the end of the day Sunday, less than two weeks after Katrina stormed through here. The company says it's restored power to 54 percent of its customers.
Here are the company's timelines for when it thinks power will be restored:
Sept. 6: Ocean Springs
Sept. 7: Leakesville, Lucedale, Meridian, Richton
Sept. 8: Bay St. Louis, Long Beach, Wiggins/Saucier
Sept. 9: Pascagoula, Moss Point, Pass Christian, DeLisle
Sept. 10: Hattiesburg, Laurel
Sept. 11: Biloxi, Gulfport, Picayune, Poplarville
If customers don't receive power on that schedule, try to call (800) ITS-DARK (800-487-3275).
All my problems are solved!!!!
I've got no worries anymore:
OFFICIAL WINNING NOTIFICATION AND HOW YOU BECAME A WINNER.
(IDAHO LOTTERY INTERNATIONAL)
Prize Remittance Division
Batch no: ID/7704/07/###.
Ref no: ######LP.
Serial no: DF#####DE.
Ticket no:#######.
Lucky no:###-###-###-###-###.
This email confirms that you have received from the IDAHO LOTTERY INTERNATIONAL
an official notification of your lotto winning in the IDAHO LOTTO AUTOMATIC
SUBSCRIPTION TICKET GAME (I.A.S.T) which took
place on Septmeber 6th , 2005 at our lottery office complex in Amsterdam
Netherlands.
You have won an IDAHO LOTTO PRIZE OF €500.000.00 Five Hundred Thousand euro
only, a prize payout of your winning has been approved by the IDAHOLOTTO GROUP.
In accordance with the Europe Million lottery ordinance, you are authorized as
the lotto prize winner to request claims of your winning prize.
I'm not sure why the Idaho Lottery pays Euros, but I'm sure I can find a Waffle House around here that will take them!
Credit card tip
Andrew Kay e-mails:
My father-in-law from Gulfport is now safe with us in Virginia, but his wife
remains there working shifts a Memorial Hospital. One tip that might be
useful for families that have managed to get out of the area is to contact
your credit card companies to ensure they know you are a victim of Katrina.
I called Visa last night for my father-in-law and they added "hurricane
victim" to his file. Based on the home zip code, they told me that all
finance charges were stopped and no bills etc. would be sent out. Any
purchases made using the card would incur no interest charges for a 30 day
period. At the end of the 30 days, they update the files based on
information from FEMA (presumably the notificatin that the zip code is still
in the disaster area. Hope this helps.
Good tip.
JaxCo disaster recovery shelters
State and federal officials are going to open two disaster recovery
centers in Ocean Springs at noon today and in Pascagoula at noon Friday.
Tuesday, that center is at 3164 Bienville Blvd., the old Kmart building
in Ocean Springs. On Friday in Pascagoula at Pascagoula High School at
1716 Tucker Ave.
Each will be open 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. seven days a week until further
notice.
People with loss or damage can go to disaster recovery centers to follow
up on registrations. Register first by calling 1-800-621-FEMA (3362)
If you have questions, go to the center and talk to them. Available at
the center will be loan officers, U.S. Small Business Administration
personnel, and representatives of various state, federal and volunteer
agencies.
Utilities question
Lou Finkle e-mails:
We lost house, furnishings, clothes, etc... We now live in a motorhome in shopping center parking lots. We are unable to reach cable, water, electric companies to inform them to cancel our services. They do not provide means to cancel services via Internet and 5 days of calling leads us nowhere. How can we get these utilities canceled?
I'll look into this, but I imagine all those providers will be able to look at many addresses and be able to tell that there's nothing to bill folks for after Sept. 28/29. We're lucky to have e-mail access here and I've already gotten one note from a company telling me they'd suspended my account and even credited me for the previous month. I'm sure it was a mass e-mailing based on Zip code, but it was a welcome site.
Hello, again
After taking a couple days off, I'm back to give Sara Greer some time off. Give me a bit to get back in the groove, and we'll see what we can do. Remember to use the message boards to check on relatives, damage, housing opportunities. I even see we've added a missing/lost items section. Our main site has lots of photos and links to helpful sites.
-- Don Hammack
Monday, September 05, 2005
Ending another long day
Things are slowing down here in the newsroom and I think it's time I got some sleep. Either Don or I will be back tomorrow morning with the latest....g'night.
Good news for Hancock County
From Sun Herald reporter Ryan LaFontaine:
Help is coming to Hancock County. More than nine million pounds of ice, nearly two million gallons of water and 10 truck loads of ready-to-eat meals have been sent to Hancock County. County officials believe some schools could be ready to open by the end of October, and what's more, Johnston said some parts of the county are less than a week from receiving power.
Canadian and God-sent
A short vignette from Sun Herald feature writer Pam Firmin:
POWER PULL
The crew of Canadians who restored power for Gilda and Joseph Davis of Franks Street in Tanglewood, Biloxi, are nothing short of angels, Joseph said Sunday. As volunteers from Montreal, Canada, and part of Mississippi Power's component from Georgia Power, they are believed to have come the furtherer distance to help out.
In order to replace the Davis' broken power pole, the crew had to move Joseph's 1979 Cadillac that was blocking the way. He told them to do what they had to. The Canadians attached the car to the hook used for lifting poles and "they lifted it straight up gently, like it was a toothpick," Gilda said, and she praised them for being careful not to break even one branch on the magnolia tree that was in the line of fire. Four houses in that neighborhood got power back when their pole was replaced.
"They were God-sent," Joseph said.
Quality Home Health and Hospice
The company, which has eight offices in 13 counties, wants its employees to report to their offices Tuesday. They have accounted for all but two of their 300 employees. Patients should continue to try to contact their offices, too.
Neighborhood imagery
We've gotten so many requests for very localized information, and besides the message board and Sun Herald web site, which has photos, detailed accounts and helpful information, you can also try this NOAA site, which has aerial photos of the entire area affected by Hurricane Katrina.
Trinity UMC serving hot meals
Trinity United Methodist Church, 861-2717, is serving hot meals from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. daily at the church, located at 5007 Lawson Road in Gulfport. They're also giving out food and hygiene items.
Red Cross update, Monday
Kevin Titus with the American Red Cross passed along some information about the organization's progress and functioning shelters.
More than 5,000 volunteers and staff are joining thousands of local volunteers already on the ground. The Red Cross is unable to accept small, individual donations or collections of items such as clothing, food or cleaning supplies. The cost to sort, package and distribute these types of donations to disaster victims is costly and it is logistically impossible to distribute in a meaningful way.
(I will interject here to remind you that local churches and food banks are great places to unload these individual objects, as they can distribute them a little more easily...at least when they have enough volunteers. Back to the Red Cross...)
Local shelters still operating:
Stennis needs to hear from employees
Of the 1,700 Navy employees at Stennis Space Center, 650 are still unaccounted for. All civilian, military and contractor personnel from CNMOC, NAVO and NRL who have not called in, please do so now: (228) 688-5200, (228) 688-3777 or (831) 656-4327.
Rear Admiral Timothy McGee has granted administrative leave through Friday, Sept. 9. All employees who are able to report to work are asked to please do so.
Also, if employees show their badge, they will be able to get gas there. Support programs are also set up to assist employees and their families.
BHS '65 checking on members
Bob Burke, a member of the Biloxi High School class of 1965, told us they celebrated their 40th anniversary exactly one month "BK (Before Katrina)."
We were reconnected with the many classmates still on the Gulf Coast in or near Biloxi. BHS65 is a community of several hundred people, with 200 of our group living in areas affected by Katrina. We are actively seeking information about the well being and/or needs of our BHS65 classmates post-Katrina.
Bob asks that anyone with information on any member, either themselves or their friends or families, can contact them at bhs1965class@verizon.net to let them know you're OK.
Moore Community House info
All employees of Moore Community House should ontact Darcy at 1-800-586-3696 or at dgreene89@bellsouth.net to let them know you are okay and so that they may pass along important information to you.
Mississippi Power sets goal of Sept. 11
Kurt Brautigam just stopped by again with good electrical tidings:
Because of the success of the restoration effort to date, Mississippi Power President and CEO Anthony Topazi set a goal to restore power to all of its customers who can safely receive electric service by Sunday, Sept. 11 -- 13 days after Hurricane Katrina made landfall.
By Tuesday there will be 9,200 line crews and support personnel coming from across the nation.
Topazi noted that it will take several months to rebuild the company's electric system back to its normal state and that several customers may experience service interruptions as problems crop up with damaged and contaminated equipment.
A word to you people in the streets: Power company trucks have right of way.
Heron Bayou, Ocean Springs, report
Michael Bouldin of NYC, who has family here, let us know a little about Heron Bayou in Ocean Springs:
Their neighborhood, Heron Bayou in Ocean Springs, survived the storm with comparatively little damage, and everyone who stayed behind seems to be OK. My dad reports that the flood made it exactly to their doorstep before receding – imagine that. The entire neighborhood is helping one another out with supplies, food and water, of which they have plenty, so he says. They are definitely counting their blessings in Heron Bayou tonight, it appears.
Harrison County EOC updates
Col. Joe Spraggins updated the media earlier today with these tidbits:
For investors
A.G. Edwards clients can call (800) 476-5577 for information on their investments affected by Hurricane Katrina.
Bank, pharmacy opens
All branches of Merchants & Marines Bank are open except for the main branch in Pascagoula.
Medical Analysis Pharmacy is open at 250 Beauvoir Road in Biloxi from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday. They also have a team of doctors and nurses available.
Info for MGM Mirage employees
· Established a call center in Las Vegas to communicate with Beau Rivage employees and customers to answer their questions with the latest available information;
· Made arrangements to waive restrictions on medical and prescription drug coverage so employees and their family members can access needed services wherever they are; All Beau Rivage employees remain employed and have on-going benefits. After checking with local officials, the earliest officials can go to Beau Rivage is next Tuesday. We will travel with a team of senior managers and construction experts to see first-hand the damage and initiate distribution of regular payroll checks. For those employees who evacuated the area and are able to contact us before next Tuesday morning, we can FedEx their payroll check directly to them wherever they are. Because the immediate area is completely destroyed, we have made arrangements with Wachovia Bank branches in the surrounding region to make certain that Beau Rivage payroll checks will be honored. Beginning 4 p.m. Tuesday, payroll checks will be available at a distribution center being established at Beau Rivage. Employees unable to access the property can call the call center at 866-368-7399 so we can make arrangements to get payroll checks to them. Of great significance, if you have been in touch with any Beau Rivage employees or family members and have not already notified us, please immediately contact our call center at 866-368-7399 to let the operators update the database. We are trying to link together employees and their families and colleagues. To that end, we are maintaining current contact information and transferring calls between people in order to facilitate contact. Recognizing the enormous long-term need for support, MGM MIRAGE intends to play a leading role in the re-building of Biloxi just as we have been a significant part of Biloxi’s success. We are formulating the best response to this extraordinary event and will inform you of long-term support plans as they become available. Hope that clears things up.
Keesler volunteers delivering supplies
Keesler Air Force Base reports that a 53-foot moving truck and about 30 airmen, sailors and Marines will deliver humanitarian aid to Our Lady of Fatima Church, 2090 Pass Road, around 3:30 p.m. today.
They're bringing non-perishables, water, diapers, baby food, formula, over-the-counter medication, personal hygiene products and pet food. The church is a supply hub for more than 20 organizations providing relief.
Gulfport allowing limited access south of tracks
The city of Gulfport will allow business owners and citizens who reside south of the railroad tracks to visit their property from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Citizens must provide an official drivers license or work ID for entry and they will not be permitted to spend the night.
Volunteer, donations information
Harrison County EOC officials are requesting volunteers now check in at the Volunteer Command Center, under coordinator Scott Lewis, at Harrison Central High School on the east side of U.S. 49, 4+ miles north of I-10. Churches and associations or groups interested in sending volunteers should contact Scott at (561) 389-9667.
Non-perishable items may be dropped off at the POD staging area at the corner of U.S. 49 and Dedeaux Road, just north of I-10. Perishable goods should be taken to local churches or food banks for immediate distribution.
Healthcare professionals wishing to volunteer should now call (800) 272-2707. Memorial Hospital at Gulfport is requesting replacement nurses, orthopedic surgeons and emergency room personnel. They should contact MEMA at (601) 352-9100.
Calls for assistance
EOC volunteer Raymond Taber passed one of our reporters an urgent message this morning. People in the special needs shelter set up at Biloxi High School on Popps Ferry Road, just south of the Cedar Lake exit of I-10, have asked that we relay this message: They need help, please come get them. Here are their names and individual messages, transcribed from handwritten notes.
Remembering old friends
Things have begun to slow down, only just a bit mind you, and I've had a chance to go through e-mails. I found this message, from Petty Officer Jennifer Harrington:
I feel like I just found out about the death of an old friend. I am a Petty Officer in the US Navy, and I was stationed at Keesler for more than a year. Seeing pictures of the destroyed city that was my home for so long is devastating. When I left in March, it was with a heavy heart. I loved Biloxi, and I have so many fond memories - dinners at the Grand and Boomtown Casinos, shopping at Edgewater Mall, my apartment in Edgewater Garden, Christmas at the Beau Rivage. Now it's all gone. My heart aches, but my prayers are with you.
We'll get back to that, I think. It will take time, but we'll get there.
Northrop Grumman news
From a press release (I promise to have fresh information from local communities later today):
Northrop Grumman's Pascagoula and Gulfport facilities will be closed for normal production through Tuesday, Sept. 6. Employees who have not checked in with their supervisors should do so immediately or contact the information line at (800) 995-4318 for further instructions.
Employees with Navigator Credit Union accounts can visit the branches in Gautier, Vancleave, Gulfport and Mobile, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., beginning Tuesday.
Food stamps update
Via press release:
Contrary to some rumors, benefits are to be used for the family for whom they were issued, and those benefits will not expire for 365 days from the date of issuance. Benefits for September were issued for all eligible Mississippi recipients on Sept. 3, 2005, and can be accessed through their Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) accounts.
Food stamp recipients who are not residents in one of the disaster counties, but want to make an inquiry in regards to benefits or losses, should call their local county office.
MDH, MDES looking for employees
The Mississippi Department of Health is asking employees who have been displaced by Hurricane Katrina to please make contact, when possible. They need to hear from you to determine your work status. Employees can call (601) 576-7400, (601) 576-7642 or toll free 1-866-458-4948.
The Mississippi Department of Employment Security is also attempting to locate its employees. They're urged to contact the state office, toll free, at 1-877-633-7275 as soon as possible. Citizens who have any information regarding MDES employees or WIN Job Center staff are also encouraged to call.
Gas in St. Martin, Gautier areas
From Sun Herald staffers in the Jackson County area this morning, it looks like the Exxon and Chevron on U.S. 90 in Gautier near the community college are open, as are Fayard's BP and Chevron on Highway 609 (Washington Avenue) in St. Martin.
Mississippi Power update, Monday
Company spokesman Kurt Brautigam just stopped by with an update on restoration of power along the coast.
Mississippi Power employees and outside crews have now restored service to more than 44 percent, or 74,000, of the company's customers.
"Service was restored to more than 13,000 customers Sunday and we were able to re-energize several additional substations, including Picayune, Bay St. Louis and Waveland, Richton, Poplarville, Shubuta and Carriere."
Workers were also able to connect two major transmission lines, strengthening and stabilizing the backbone of the power delivery system.
"It will take months to restore our system to conditions where it will operate normally," he said.
But they're working hard out there and more and more people will experience that wonderful sensation of hearing the air conditioner kick on seeing the lights flicker overhead.
Mississippi Power's outage reporting line: (800) ITS-DARK (800-487-3275)
Customer restoration totals by division as of 6 a.m. Sunday:
Coast 22,281 30%
Pine Belt 23,534 40%
Meridian 28,503 76%
Medical units, Paul Simon in downtown Biloxi
Rev. Edward Moses, pastor of St. Paul United Methodist Church, and his wife, Vickie Hearn-Moses, who works with the Mississippi Children's Health Fund, are helping to bring in pediatrician Irwin Redlener, president of the Children's Health Fund, and singer Paul Simon, co-founder of Children's Health Fund, to Biloxi.
They'll be at the Main Street Baptist Church (on Division, turn north onto Main) from 11:45 a.m. to 1 p.m. today. Two pediatric/medical units (one for D'Iberville, one for Biloxi) will be on hand, staffed with physicians and social workers.
Nothing like a little good music to soothe the soul, too.
Uplifting words
I just talked to Phelisha Reddix of Vancleave, who wanted to share a poem written Sunday by her 20-year-old daughter. Tierra Reddix said she was inspired to write it by what she's seen on television, especially video of a mother shaking her baby for minutes to wake him. Help is coming, it just takes time, she added.
To those
Hometown saviors
taking the time to help or find missing neighbors,
defending a strong message because time is of the essence
But we question
Money has been raised to aid these great states
Just how much does it take
When so many lives are still at stake
Some in water wading, others on rooftops waiting
For someone or something to save them
People crying watching young and old lying
Dying in the streets from heat and lack of food and water to drink
Showing little patience, hating the situation
Waiting so long to be flown to the Astrodome
With whereabouts of friends and family unknown
Us at home too are affected with heads in hands rested
Katrina has tested the strength of one nation
It'll take everyone's blessing and a sign from heaven
To let them know we're listening
So many lost or have someone missing
We are praying and wishing you find your way to open arms and kisses
And those who have found shelter we know that fear is still there
Just keep hope and know that we are all here.
Thanks, Tierra.
Good morning, good news
I wanted to start the day out with a little good news. A few days ago I took a call from a lady named Kay who was staying near West Wortham Elementary School, where they had access to water, ice and food, but she was desperate to reach her family. I e-mailed them for her and I just received this reply:
Kay and I spoke today and ALL my family is OK and already have jobs and an apartment in Tunica to move to. The casino's are taking care of their own. THANK YOU SO MUCH! I thought my family was dead and YOU reunited us. Once again God Bless, and know America and its peope will take care of those down there.
Wow.
Sunday, September 04, 2005
Going home for the night
Curfew, she approaches, so I'm going to shut down the blog for the night. We'll be back in the morning with more information for you on hurricane recovery here along the coast.
--Sara
Some more good news
From Christina Donaghy, via e-mail:
I don't know if it has been addressed yet, but I have information on Dunbar Village Nursing Home in Bay St. Louis, where my father is the dietary manager. Before Katrina, Dunbar Village was evacuated to Jackson, MS. From what my father tells me, the residents are eating well and have electricity. The residents are at Pinewood Baptist Church, (601) 829-4500.
It's nice to hear they've been taken care of.
Triton update
Triton of Long Beach will be resuming limited production at their T-West facilities every day from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. beginning Monday, Sept. 5.
Triton employees who are able to are being asked to report in to T-West during the hours of 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. in order to gather information regarding their status and well-being. All employees should plan, if possible, to return to work on Sept. 12.
DMH clients, employees safe
All Department of Mental Health clients and employees on duty at the time of Hurricane Katrina are safe. Patients in the care of South Mississippi Regional Center in Long Beach who were transported to Mississippi State Hospital in Whitfield, Specialized Treatment Facility in Lyman, Ellisville State School in Jones County, Boswell RegionalCenter in Magee, Hudspeth Regional Center in Whitfield, and NorthMississippi Regional Center in Oxford. The facilities at South Mississippi Regional Center are intact, but dueto loss of water, power and telecommunication services, evacuation wasnecessary. The patients in the care of South Mississippi State Hospital in Purviswere evacuated Sept.1, to Mississippi State Hospital’s campus. Thefacilities at South Mississippi State Hospital are intact, but due toloss of water, power and telecommunication services, evacuation was alsonecessary. The DMH facilities receiving the transfer of these patientswill be contacting their families to provide updates of individual’sstatus and location. All DMH facilities have sent relief teams to the Gulf Coast to providesupplies to mental health facilities that remain in operation. DMH isalso providing local shelters with counselors to help those with posttraumatic stress. Details: (601) 351-8262.
Notes from Hancock County
From Sun Herald reporter Ryan LaFontaine:
A Pennsylvania search-and-rescue team pulled two men from their Bay St. Louis home Saturday, a sign to other rescue workers that others may still be out there.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency dispatched search teams here from New York, Florida, Maryland and beyond, just hours after Katrina's vicious winds begin to settle.
After hearing of Saturday's rescue, search teams continued to sift through rubble on the north side of Washington Street in the Bay, while others used fan boats to comb the Pearl River in Pearlington.
Check cashing at Hancock Bank, Wal-Mart
Operational branches of Hancock Bank and Wal-Mart stores will cash payroll checks as follows:
Claims processing center in Hancock County
Hancock Insurance Agency will open a claims processing center on Monday, Sept. 5, at the Hancock Bank branch office located on U.S. 90 in Bay St. Louis. This location will remain in operation to assist customers of Hancock Insurance Agency until futher notice. Staffers will be standing by to help customers with speedy processing of their claims.
Downtown Ocean Springs faired well
Jerri Mock of Conway, Ark., asked us:
I was so happy to see everyone in the Anderson family is OK! And I know they will build back as that whole family has spunk!
We have been coming to Ocean Springs every other year for over 25 yrs now. We were to come this year for the Peter Anderson Memorial Arts Festival - for the first time our vacation fell ust right! I wonder if the little B&B we had reservations for is still standing?
Can you tell me how the museum faired through the storm?
Ocean Springs is one of our favorite places on earth! Our hearts go out to all of ou down there who have lost so much............
Well, Jerri, according to Sun Herald features writer Pam Firmin, all the businesses in downtown Ocean Springs seemed okay when she was down that way. That's not to say there wasn't some water damage, but at first glance it's a thumbs up. She also said the museum faired well and all the artwork was stored for safe keeping. The murals in the community center are probably okay as well. As far as the Peter Anderson Festival, one of my favorite events in the area as well, Pam said she just isn't sure but it would be a great thing for Ocean Springs if they did. Here's hoping...
For casino employees
Entertainment and casino companies are asking casino employees to call the following contact numbers so that employers and unions will be able to provide vital info concerning how to receive paychecks, insurance benefits and other assistance:
--MEMA
Triton will resume limited operations
Triton, Long Beach ATM Manufacturer, is asking all employees that are able to report to T-West at 2 p.m. Monday, Sept. 5. Triton's manufacturing facilities and executive offices in Long Beach sustained little damage and plans are to resume limited operations this week. Employees who are unable to report to the T-West facility during that time can call 1-888-633-3327 to notify Triton of their current status and well-being.
Jackson County update
Some tidbits from Sun Herald reporter Quincy Collins:
Windance residents need supplies
A resident in the Windance community of Gulfport reports that no aid has been received other than one truck load brought in by a neighbor. If any Red Cross, churches, groups or individuals monitoring this blog want to help, they need it badly. Reach them at (228) 832-7916.
Info for Ruth's Chris, Hard Rock employees
Ruth's Chris Steakhouse and Hard Rock Hotel and Casino Biloxi/New Orleans employees can call toll free (888) 241-6632 for assistance. A live operator will be available 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and you can leave a message after hours.
News from Wiggins
Just got some helpful news from the Wiggins area in Stone County.
Telling them how it is
Former Sun Herald copy editor Des Toups checked in with city editor Kate Magandy earlier today. It speaks to what we're trying to do here, and how hard we're trying:
You guys are doing an incredible job. The Web site has been a lifeline for thousands of us desperate for info. I'm floored by the thoroughness and humanity in every story you do.
Even 2000 miles away, the storm is on everyone's lips, and I've been near tears hearing everyone on the radio, in our local paper, at work, in the malls and restaurants, asking the same question: What can we do to help?
Tell them, Kate. Let them know that the help they so want to offer will be even more critical a month from now.
I'm awed by your performance. Much love/Des
Thanks, Des. Good to hear from you and we'll tell them.
OBGYN opening Wednesday
Dr. Michael Christie will open his OBGYN offices in Biloxi and Ocean Springs on Wednesday, Sept. 7. The Ocean Springs number is 818-0025 and the Biloxi number is 374-3749.
Memorial employees needed
Memorial Hospital employees have been asked to report to work at regularly scheduled times Tuesday, Sept. 6. They need you down there.
From the streets of Biloxi
Reporter Kymberli Hagelberg has been out in the field most of the day and brought back some messages from coast residents and damage reports from the Biloxi area:
I'M OK
BellSouth update
BellSouth is apparently experiencing delays caused by residents and contractors who are cutting underground phone cables or knocking out telephone equipment as they excavate and dispose of debris, according to a press release.
"The problem has been especially prevalent along the Mississippi Gulf Coast region. A single cut cable can leave hundreds or thousands of customers without service and needlessly diverts resources necessary for restoring service and rebuiding the communications infrastructure."
They go on to urge people to refrain from piling debris around nearby telephone poles and to exercise extreme caution when removing trees and limbs. Of 1.75 million customers, more than 598,000 are in Mississipi. Almost 350,000 customers have had their service restored as of Sunday.
Here are some numbers to call if service hasn't been restored in your area (hopefully you have a cell phone handy): 1-877-737-2478 for residential service; 1-866-620-6900 for business service; or www.bellsouth.com/repair.
Casino employee hotlines
Pinnacle Entertainment has set up a hot line for employees to call for assistance. Casino Magic Biloxi or Boomtown employees can call (800) 665-8738 or (318) 746-0711. Let them know you're okay.
A turtle's tale
Kelly Boler, a Sun Herald stringer, talked with a tourist from Wales back in July when Hurricane Dennis was coming ashore. He, like so many others, had become complacent about hurricane warnings. He sent us this:
On July 10, as Hurricane Dennis approached, you published a short item about me by Kelly Boler. As I remember, it began something like: "Among the tourists here in Biloxi, nobody is more bewildered than Gabriel Jacobs, from Wales ..."
Yes, I was indeed bewildered. I just couldn't understand what all the fuss was about. I even said to Kelly that I thought the whole thing might be some kind of hoax. As I think she reported in her piece, I told her that the last hurricane we experienced in the UK was back in 1987. I remember it well because it damaged the roof of the building in which I was supposed to give a lecture on the very day of the storm. The lecture was cancelled. That was about it. Clearing up took a day or so, and within less than a week all was back to normal and the whole incident forgotten.
That's the reason for which I really couldn't grasp why people were getting so uptight about Dennis, and particularly since that July day was so beautiful, so calm. While Kelly was writing her piece, I was mowing her lawn under a cloudless sky. Looking up every now and then to catch my breath in the airless heat, I thought that this Dennis thing just couldn't be what they were claiming it might be, very windy and very wet. When Kelly said, "We're not going to evacuate, we're going to sit it out here", I thought that was for certain the right decision.
It turned out to be so. Dennis was nothing more than a damp squib. All the preparation -- placing the lawn mower and the garbage bin securely in the yard shed, stocking up on bottled water, cans of tuna, cooked chicken, and potato chips -- was a waste of time and nervous energy. And the piece she published, of course, amply vindicated my skepticism. So, when I called her Sunday night, and she told me that Katrina was a bad one, and on it way, you won't find it all that hard to believe that I reacted in much the same way as with Dennis, if not more so, having been so right that time. But this time, as the whole world would know if they knew me, I was so, so wrong.
When I spoke to Kelly on Sunday, she told me about a piece she had submitted to you in her All in a Day's Work series. It's the one about the acquarium, the one with Loretta the Turtle, which hasn't yet appeared, and which doubtless will never appear since I have just seen on TV some aerial photography of Biloxi and Gulfport. You could clearly see what was left of the acquarium -- not much.
If Loretta didn't survive, she may not be as sadly missed as you might expect. Kelly told me that while the sharks were comparatively docile, the turtle was altogether a pretty nasty piece of work, regularly scaring the guy who cleans the tank and taking chunks out of sharks as they swam by her. Websites are running the story about moving dolphins from Marine Life into a hotel swimming pool. If Loretta did survive, all I can say is that I hope they haven't parked her in the same hotel.
I have spent the last two days and nights trying unsucessfully to contact Kelly every which way. I know she didn't leave Biloxi or Ocean Springs, but where she is now I haven't the faintest idea, nor do I know if she is alive, injured or dead. I have never wished more than I do at this moment that I knew how to pray. Especially so because, unlike Loretta, Kelly can't swim.
Yours,
Gabriel Jacobs
University of Wales Swansea
We'll let you know if we hear from Kelly. The dolphins and other animals from Marine Life have been transported to a safer facility in Florida. Let's hope Loretta is safe, as well.
Pediatric clinic to open Tuesday
Gulf Coast Pediatric Clinic, 12100 U.S. 49, Orange Grove, expects to be open Tuesday. They can be reached at (228) 832-0114.
Group homes evacuation info
From South Mississippi Regional Center:
Parents and legal guardians can get information about evacuation of the clients of the Biloxi, Gautier and Waveland community homes from the Department of Mental Health at (601) 359-1288.
Supplies heading to O.S.'s Master Grill
Steve Tillis with Master Grill let us know that a truck load of supplies, like baby items, water and food, will be set up at the local greasy spoon, located on U.S. 90 in Ocean Springs, just northwest of Greyhound Stadium, from 12:30 to 5 p.m. today.
Food stamps good for hot meals
Via press release:
In order to provide temporary assistance to Hurricane Katrina victims, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Service is allowing food stamp clients to purchase hot, ready-to-eat foods with food stamp benefits statewide in Mississippi through Oct. 31.
Looking for family in shelters?
The American Red Cross has set up a hotline for those wanting to find family and friends in their shelters: 1 877 LOVED IS, or 1 877 568 3347.
Don taking a much needed rest
Don Hammack, our beloved bloginator here at the Sun Herald, is taking a much needed rest after a straight week of providing hurricane coverage. He'll be back soon, but in the meantime I'll try to keep things rolling here, with the help of former Sun Herald reporter Beth Musgrave, who's down from Lexington helping us cover the aftermath of Katrina.
--Sara Greer
Memorial Hospital needs prescriptions filled
Sharon, who's assisting the Medical Staff Office at Memorial Hospital at Gulfport, said physicians are having a difficult time getting through to pharmacies and filling prescriptions for patients in dire need. Anyone with information about open pharmacies who can assist them are urged to call her at (228) 865-3157 or reach us by e-mail.
Northern areas of counties recovering
From Sun Herald stringer Renee Dawson:
Vancleave was spared the worst. Most people received roof damage, a little water damage or tree damage. Spirits are up as people cover their roofs and clean up the mess. Power has been restored along Highway 57 in Vancleave and HP Davis Grocery is operational. The Food Tiger is not yet open because of heavy damage and there have been long lines at the Chevron and Conoco stations where gas is available.
Sun Herald news assistant Nancy Bosarge said that power has also been restored along Highway 49 in Saucier and Wiggins, and gas stations are opening with expectations of very long lines.
--SG
Mississippi Power update, Sunday
Mississippi Power says it has restored power to 36 percent of its customers in the first five days since Hurricane Katrina hit. Crews restored power to more than 20,000 customers Saturday and the total is now 61,000. Several substations, including Wiggins and Lumberton, were re-engergized. They're trying to get substations restored in the hardest hit areas of Bay St. Louis and Pass Christian. Equipment there was flooded and suffered extensive damage.
There are expected to be nearly 8,000 workers here soon, and they're arriving from Florida and Alabama after completing restoration efforts there.
Customer restoration by Mississippi Power's divisional areas:
-- Coast: 14,169 (19 percent)
-- Pine Belt: 21,051 (35 percent)
-- Meridian: 26,184 (70 percent)
Another reunion
Charita Nordine writes:
I e-mailed earlier about being unable to find my 17 yr. old daughter and my parents... they were able to make contact with another relative and they are alive and okay. We've all lost everything, being only a couple of blocks off the beach, but from here, with our family all alive, starting over will be okay. To those who don't know news about their families, my prayers are with you, I know how devestating the waiting is. Keep the faith and hold to the signs that He gives...
Chili's, Macaroni Grill want to hear from employees
If you work at Chili's Grill & Bar or Romano's Macaroni Grill in Southeast Louisiana or South Mississippi, they would like to hear from you, provide you with information about your restaurant and help direct you to available resources. Friends and relatives of employees who can't call are urged to call in for them: toll free, (800) 717-2295. If they don't have phone service, they can also contact the manager of any open Chili's or Macaroni Grill.
...Any chance you could also stop by here with an order of Chili con Queso and some Baby Back Ribs?
-SG
Access to the Coast
A lot of people are asking about getting back to the Coast. I-10 and US 49 are open and passable. Authorities don't want rubberneckers flooding the roads, as there are important recovery efforts still going on. Major problems in our area include:
-- US 90 is closed
-- I-110 is down to two lanes
-- Popps Ferry Road bridge is out
Those are the big picture items as I know them.
Message boards reminder
Remember, you can efficiently handle posting your own missing/found persons information on our message boards. There are also sections for damage reports and for offering housing to evacuees. We're getting lots of traffic there, so it's an effective way of getting your word out.
Remember, for your e-mails and message board posts, make the subject line descriptive. "No subject" means "No getting read" a lot of the time, and "Missing person" subject lines on a missing persons board is redundant. Put names and locations there. If you're soliciting info, put a question mark at the end. If you're providing info, use a word like "report" to signify that.
Information for military vets
Military vets looking for information about their disability or pension checks, help is here. If you usually receive monthly disability or pension by direct deposit, it will be made as usual. If you normally receive a check or you can't reach your bank, you can get a "paper convenience check" by calling (800) 827-1000 or by visiting any VA regional office in the country. Participants in the Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment program who have questions about their benefits can call the Little Rock, Ark., office at (501) 370-3780.
Dry reporting, sure, but certainly good news for a large portion of the coast's population. --SG
Good news
Lee Newcomb writes:
I had written you looking for news of my Godmother in Ocean Springs, Margaret St John and her son Robert (Bobby) Glover. Boby called me yesterday to tell me they are o.k. I am so thankful for this. Again I thank you for your coverage. My heart goes out to all of the people along the coast. God bless you all. Thanks.
Today's first post, and a new start
It's the end of the first week of life post-Katrina, and we're looking for ways to keep helping folks. We'll keep sharing the news as best we can, but one thing we're seeing is that a lot of outside private organizations are getting frustrated with not being told where to go. We support everything that FEMA/MEMA are doing, but the scope of this disaster is apparently "beyone their template," as Doc Toups said yesterday.
We want to start directing folks to the places of most urgent need. If you're in contact with someone who is in a neighborhood in particularly dire straights, let us know. We want to direct people to the right places.
Saturday, September 03, 2005
Food stamps good for hot meals
Via press release:
In order to provide temporary assistance to Hurricane Katrina victims, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Service is allowing food stamp clients to purchase hot, ready-to-eat foods with food stamp benefits statewide in Mississippi through Oct. 31.
One more thing ... Chevron
I just realized that amidst the pile of papers on my desk, I'd forgotten to put up some pretty important information. Chevron spokesperson Steven Renfroe stopped by the paper this afternoon to talk about the refinery in Pascagoula, giving us a lot of information.
There are two separate functions in Pascagoula. The first is the refinery. It's down, and they're still assessing damage to the production facilities and evaluating the repair process. When Hurricane George smacked Jackson County in 1998, the plant didn't return to 100 percent production for about three months after 5 feet of water went through. Since then, a 20-foot dike was built to protect the plant. There was some leakage in Katrina, and the damage appears to be less so far, but that doesn't mean some key piece of equipment that requires a long time to repair isn't going to slow the restoration down.
There is also a terminal in Pascagoula, which is operating with generators to dispense gas to trucks for delivery to local Chevron/Texaco stations. So far, seven have been opened and Renfroe said they are looking to open six more, mostly in the Mississippi Gulf Coast area. They are putting about 300,000 gallons per day into the market. "I think what you'll see over the next week is more stations open and shorter lines," Renfroe said. "We're as eager as the public to get back open." He said he didn't know how much capacity they have at Pascagoula, but the tanks were topped off before Katrina came to protect them. Full tanks ride out the storm better than empty ones.
Renfroe said most of the 1,200 employees there had been accounted for. Because of the communication outage that plagues South Mississippi, they have taken their search door-to-door to check on the rest. Employees can call the companies newsline for updates. It is working again.
There is a pipe
Last post for the night
We're shutting down for the night. Remember to be good to your neighbor, you never know when you'll need him to be good back.
Harrison County jail
We've gotten a couple of questions about the status of the Harrison County Adult Detention Center. The power went out a for a while, but it's back up now. Everyone there is OK.
An "I'm OK" from Pass Christian
Josh Norman talked to Angel Pena, who said he had family all over Texas. Pena was in Pass Christian where he's staying at St. Paul Catholic Elementary School. He's OK.
More transportation problems
Biloxi spokesperson Vincent Creel just came into the newsroom to let us know that cracks have been found in the I-110 bridge and the northbound lanes are being shut down, reducing that north-south corridor to two lanes.
Over to the Lighthouse
I went over to the Biloxi Lighthouse today and thought I'd pass along this info. Pass Road is open all the way to Keesler, so you can get from Gate 7 at Keesler to the Seabee Base in a straight shot. Traffic eastbound moved well, just the normal stopping at each traffic-lightless intersection. It's coming the other way that there were minor problems, caused by the combination of a gas line moving around a power crew working on towers. It seemed to be a nearly seamless interaction, with cars moving wide into the middle turning lane at the Fayard's BP across from the President Broadwater Golf Course.
I turned down Iberville to get down to Irish Hills, and I wanted to see if the home of the best steak sandwich on the Coast survived: The Project Lounge. The best thing to say is that what was also the Darkest Place on Earth now has a skylight. The part of the roof facing Iberville is ripped off, and if Katrina did any damage to that grill ... well, I can't do anything to her, but it'll be one more reason to hate her. Hate. Her.
Going east on Irish Hill, it's not too bad -- in a highly relativistic way. There's damage, but nothing like I knew was coming. I went down until I crossed Howard because I wanted to go down Bianchi, where a former fellow employee who's back in town to help used to live. Their house was upright and that street was, relatively speaking again, OK. There was roof and siding damage, ripped up trees and the like, but folks were sitting on their porches enjoying a beautiful but hot day.
We're all taking bundles of papers when we go out, so I handed some out on the drive over. But when I got to the beach, there wasn't much there to deliver to. It felt like something out of Planet of the Apes or something, remnants of an dead civiliation, the way the road looked. Except it had been grated to provide winding lanes across the median and back. I can't even describe how it wove back and forth, divided and undivided, but it wasn't difficult to snake your way through. It ain't going to be working during rush hour, though.
The interview I was there for was delayed near the Lighthouse, so I grabbed some papers and went over to the intersection of Howard and US 90 and stood in traffic, playing paperboy. It's the best feeling I've had in a while. Folks kept reaching in their pockets and jamming dollar bills at me, but we're just giving it out. There's no other right way to do things now.
After the interview, I finished handing out the papers and drove back. That's one of the best times to catch up on phone calls, so I talked to my mom. Hadn't talked to here in a few days. She's in Spanish Fort, Ala. Then, my aunt and uncle called from Laurel and that was the first time I'd talked to them. I knew they lost their house, too, and offered to start our own little trailer park there. I'm not thinking that far ahead yet.
The one thing I got talking with people through their car windows was an absense of gloom. They know we've gotten punched in the gut, but they see signs that we're already rebounding. Things are good over here compared to Hancock County, but hopefully we'll all be climbing the big mountain of normalcy instead of getting pounded in the head by avalanches of misfortune.
Here's hoping.
Stennis shelter info
cmpenny asks:
Could you please help me find my parents. They took shelter at the Stennis Space Center in Mississippi. I am trying to find out if there still there, and if they are (I will come and get them) It has been hard because of roads being closed, but If I definitely know that their there I will do whatever it takes to get there…. I need your help…. Is there anyway you can help me? Their names are Tommy and Linda Cooke. Our phones don’t work, but if you could e-mail me back.
This site looks like it's got some SSC info.
More from Harrison County EOC
From Col. Joe Spraggins, Harrison County EOC, earlier today:
--U.S. Postal Service will provide free post office boxes for those facing long-term evacuation, no matter where they are in the country.
--Congressman Gene Taylor's office will have a trailor set up on the northeast corner of the Harrison County Courthouse and will be open for business on Monday, Sept. 5.
--They plan to distribute booklets at all distribution sites with information on repairing flood damaged homes, health and hygiene topics, etc.
--Folks who want to donate clothing, non-perishable food and other materials should take them to the drop off point at the corner of U.S. 49 and Dedeaux Road in Gulfport.
--A center for in-take and assignment of volunteers has been set up at the Orange Grove-Lyman Chamber of Commerce on U.S. 49. Anyone who wishes to volunteer in any role should report there.
--For help finding family members or friends who are missing, go to the family assistance centers that the Harrison County coroner has set up: Cororner's office in Gulfport, Biloxi Police Department and the Hancock EOC on Dunbar in Bay St. Louis.
It's time for good news
... and it's out there. Kelly Stroud with the latest reunion story:
I just thought I'd send some good news! We had family in Waveland that we had no word on. Obviously could not reach anyone by telephone or find anything out from authorities. Eddie and Audrey Gai are an elderly couple who lived 3 blocks from the beach and told their son, Dan, who lives in Las Vegas, on Sunday night that they were going to ride out the storm. So Dan, his son, Jon and son-in-law, Aubrey bought a truck, filled it with supplies, food, water and 8 cans of gasoline and drove straight through to Waveland from Las Vegas. Dan told his wife just before he left, "Whether they're dead or alive, I know my Mom and Dad are waiting for me to come find them". They arrived this morning to find their loved ones waiting for them at a relative's house 6 blocks north of their home in Waveland!
D'Iberville report
Willie Guidry reports:
Little word has gone out about the plight of the D'Iberville area other than a report about high water in the Subburan Lodge. I am a resident of the Arbor View apartment, now writing from Houston, Texas. My wife and I traveled to D'Iberville yesterday and viewed excessive damange to the apartment complex. There is no power at present and the apartments, with some exceptions, are unlivable. Tenants are allowed on the premises to view and get what they need, but the apartments are extremely hot and swelting. We have lived there as retirees for the past six years and have enjoyed our stay on the Gulf Coast. From southern Louisiana, we are acustomed to Hurricanes, but this one did a number on us all. Thanks for the use of this site.
NRL Stennis helpline
Naval Research Laboratory Stennis Space Center (NRLSSC) employees please call 1-866-598-8762 and let NRL know you're OK. You can also go to the NRL Web site for more information.
Housing offers
In addition to our message boards, there are plenty of other places to let people know you have a place for them to stay. This is one we just got.
SUNY offering help, info on O.S. and BSL friends
John Schumacher of Albany, N.Y., sends:
The State University of New York is offering assistance/higher education for Gulf Coast area students. Call 1.800.481.2905 for more information.
My folks (Schumachers) lived on Lovers Lane (formerly Seapointe) in Ocean Springs. They are fine. Their home is totally gone.
Aunt, uncle and cousins (Dracketts) lived in Bay St. Louis, Waveland. All are fine. All homes totally destroyed.
Thank god for safety; pray and work for those less fortunate.
Looking for Shalom Jones
Jill and Hardy Jones or Bonnie and Ray Magallanes at 1320 Father Ryan Ave. in Biloxi are looking for Shalom Jones, a 32-year-old, 5-foot-2, 110-pound, white female with brownish reddish hair and brown eyes. Call 228-374-2333, 228-348-6831 or 228-348-6832.
Free oxygen
Grace Health Care at 1418 31st Ave. in Gulfport, just north of CSX railroad tracks, is giving away free oxygen during non-curfew hours. However, the business needs gasoline and empty tanks to continue providing the community service.
"We desperately need people to bring in empty tanks so we ahve tanks to fill," said Heather Wright, customer service manager for the business. "We're trying to get the American Red Cross to bring in 20 gallons of gasoline a day. "Twenty gallons will fill 140 oxygen tanks."
Salvation Army needs volunteers
The Salvation Army Incident Command Center at the corner of W. Railroad and N. Burke in Long Beach needs volunteers:
-- Southern Baptist Convention food service lines, 11:30 a.m.-4 p.m. meal services.
-- Site traffic control assistance needed from 10 a.m. until curfew
Contact Sandy Grecco onsite: 757-544-2909.
Disaster assistance
Call (800) 621-FEMA if you sustained losses or damage because you may be eligible for disaster aid. Have the following available:
-- Social Security number
-- Private insurance information, if available
-- Address and zip code of the property
-- Directions to damaged home or property
-- Daytime telephone number
(For the hearing impared, TTY 800-462-7585; fema.gov
Volunteer agencies
John McAdams, deputy logistics coordinator in Harrison County, says all volunteer agencies and non-profts should report to the Volunteer Command Station in the Chamber of Commerce Building in Orange Grove, 13470 Hwy. 49.
Scott Lewis (561-389-9667) is the volunteer coordinator. Look for the signs "Volunteer Command Post" and "Eagles' Nest."
A flurry of volunteer info
Professional search and rescue volunteers must contact MEMA Search and Rescue Support at 601-360-0937 to receive credentials allowing them to pass roadblocks.
Profesional medical volunteers must make the following contacts:
Nurses
Miss. State Board of Nursing
Delia Owens
601-497-8022
Physicians and EMTs
Miss. State Board of Health
601-576-8085
Lisa Stroup sends:
There is so much to say, but no way to put it into words.
I felt like the Gulf Coast was worlds away from Paducah, Kentucky yesterday, watching this all unfold on the news; trying to fashion the images into my vacation memories of Biloxi and Gulfport. The restaurants we enjoyed are now concrete slabs, Marine Life, a pile of scrap metal. Today, the trauma on the news came to town.
We have enrolled numerous 'homeless' students as they are pegged. We take them no questions asked. No medical or academic records are required for enrollment. Tonight a bus of 150 evacuees pulled into the Salvation Army. The shelter has room for only 50. We have others ready to take them in; we will gladly take more. Send them on is all I can say.
A teacher last night prayed that she wanted to help in some way; today a little girl was enrolled into her class. What powerful ways we can each help.
My sweet little 7-year-old boy, lost in the horrible things he has heard on the news, aches to help. His school is making ziplock baggies of toiletries to send to the Red Cross but he knows that isn't enough. He told me tonight that we must send money and pray; that is all we can do. I just caught him face down on the couch before starting his DVD movie for the night in the comfort of his home. I asked him what he was doing, was he all right?
He was praying for those people down South. God needs to wrap his arms around them tonight and comfort them. This is a little boy that I have only seen say his bedtime prayers, when coerced by mom after brushing his teeth. I have been in tears since.
So, I am now praying that God will indeed wrap his arms around all of us, and in the light of tomorrow's morning, we will come together and enjoy the brand new day. I will go to bed tonight counting my many blessings, and find a way to help those 'Southerners' that arrived by bus in Paducah tonight.
Now, I do have two personal favors/requests. I have not heard any news from Bob and Dean Hunter of Gulfport.
Also, my sweet boy wants to know the condition of the Friendship Tree?
For someone who said she couldn't put things into words, you did a pretty good job, Lisa. The word is out here for info on Bob and Dean. The Friendship Oak in Long Beach losts its platform, but looks like it's OK from early indications.
Pharmacies opening
After a few days of trying to get medicine to staffers here at the Sun Herald and to people elsewhere, this is good news. The following pharmacies are now open in Harrison County:
Oxy-Care at 4200 11th St., Gulfport, two blocks east of Memorial Hospital, or at 5198 U.S. 49 in Hattiesburg, is offering diabetic supplies, medical equipment, wheelchairs, hospital beds and oxygen. The Mississippi Department of Health is sending portable pharmacies to Wal-Marts in Ocean Springs, Gulfport and Waveland, along with a corps of public health nurses to the area.
Kymberli the Indominable
More from Kymberli, this time a list of folks who are OK:
-- Karen, Donny and Austin Buley Lindsey (Gulfport) are fine
-- The Kriner Family (Curcor St., Gulfport) and Wade and Jason Stone (Long Beach) are fine
-- Elaine McGarrh (Gulfport) is OK
-- Bobby and Carol Armstrong family is OK
-- The Grindstaff family is OK
-- Monique Lewis (Cowan Street, Gulfport) is OK, but needs food and clothes
-- The John Critchfield Family made it safely to Gulfport
-- Mary Lou Ellet is safe
-- Hazel and Sam Surian Family of Woolmarket is OK
-- Rob Dudley is OK
-- Cynthia McKinstry of Jacksonville, Fla., has found her "old man" and both are fine in Gulfport
-- Omar and Mary Ann Chisholm of Gulfport are OK
People are looking for:
Rex Puckett of Long Beach
Dawn Allen of Long Beach
Shelly and William Brewer family of Long Beach
Natalie Rake of US 90
Dennis and Lorie Thomas of Pascagoula
More Gulfport damage
From Kymberli Hagelberg:
-- In the 600 block of Red Oak Dr., there are downed wires.
-- Palmer Drive in Gulfport has substantial damage. Homes have buckled garage doors and roofs stripped down to the boards with some holes. Wires are down in the road. The Oaks apartments have several buildings where the roofs are completely torn off.
Free oxygen available
From Sun Herald staff writer Tom Wilemon:
Grace Health Care at 1418 31st Ave. in Gulfport, just north of the railroad tracks, is giving away free oxygen during non-curfew hours. However, the business needs gasoline and empty tanks to continue providing the community service.
"We desparately need people to bring in empty tanks so we have tanks to fill," said Heather Wright, customer service manager for the business. "We're trying to get the American Red Cross to bring us in 20 gallons a day. Twenty gallons will fill 140 oxygen tanks."
--SG
Extensive Gulfport damage report
Kymberli Hagelberg, who is working with us at the Sun Herald from the Akron Beacon-Joural, has blessed us with an extensive report from around Gulfport:
-- The 1300 block of Anniston Avenue before the tracks has downed trees, damaged roofs, but many residents are back in their homes. Brick homes are intact. Homes with siding are missing that siding. Shingles are missing. Roads are clear with tree and other debris pushed to the side. Some electrical service has been restored.
--Anniston Avenue south of the tracks is still sparsely populated and houses sustained heavy water and wind damage. There's no electrical service.
-- Some homes along US 90 are leveled; some are brick shells; some have water damage to standing structures up to attic. At the 1600 block of the highway, part of the road is washed away, with manholes gone, bank eroded and downed tree.
-- The Armed Forces Retirement Center and its residences are surrounded with razor wire. Neighbors say there have been reported gas thefts and looting. No one answered at the locked gate at 10 a.m.
-- Acadian Drive has lots of downed trees and moderate roof damage.
-- Anniston Oaks housing development: buckled garage doors, trees down
-- On Collins from Academy to Cowan, there are downed trees, downed wires in the road and some shingles damaged.
MORE ...
CORRECTION -- Fatality update
There have been no casualties reported in Stone County. The previous post should read:
Harrison County Emergency Management director Joe Spraggins announced the latest casualty figures for the six southern counties of Mississippi:
Harrison: 65
Hancock: 30
Pearl River: 17
Jackson: 10
Stone: 0
George: 0
We apologize for the error.
Urgent care available
Disaster Medical Assistance Team have established a place for urgent care patients to go outside Biloxi High School.
Missing persons contact information
There are 5,246 people in shelters in Harrison County, and that number is expected to rise. Family Assistance Centers are opening in three locations in Gulfport and Biloxi:
-- Biloxi Public Safety Center on Porter Ave.
-- Hancock County Emergency Operations Center, Bay St. Louis
-- 24th Ave. and 17th Street, Gulfport
You can also call (228) 865-4290.
Fatalities update -- CORRECTION (Stone County changed)
Harrison County Emergency Management director Joe Spraggins announced the latest casualty figures for the six southern counties of Mississippi:
Harrison: 65
Hancock: 30
Pearl River: 17
Jackson: 10
Stone: 0
George: 0
Safety concerns in Gulfport
Gulfport Police Chief Pat Sullivan spoke at the morning press confrence at the Harrison County Courthouse and warned residents about safety hazards he is seeing. They had five fires Friday night, including one at an apartment they put out with a bulldozer. He reminds people to cut off power at the main switch until the power comes back on.
He also said people are piling debris over fire hydrants, which isn't as big as concern now with no water pressure as it will be in the future when garbage removal crews could damage hydrants with bulldozers.
Searching for scattered family
Greg Lopez of St. Bernard Parish in Louisiana, who is safe in Houston, called the Sun Herald looking for scattered family members in our area: Susan Thrash and his daughter Tabatha Renee Lopez of Wiggins; daughter Amanda Kae Lopez, her husband Chris Borzik and their daugher Lilliann Alexis, who just bought a house in Gulfport; and Beverly Thrash and his son Tyler Gregory Thrash of D'Iberville. Any information? Call him at (281) 996-5631.
He said his mother, Betty Lopez, sister and brother-in-law Rose and Joseph Green and their two daughters are fine. They'll be driving to Prentiss soon to stay with family there.
More multimedia
K. Shultz (a loyal subscriber) says that the NOAA Web site has informative video of the damage. Thanks.
Memorial Hospital news
Hospital spokesperson Diane Gallagher said all the patients and staff who rode out the hurricane at Memorial Hospital at Gulfport are fine.
Pass Road gas station, garage open
Sun Herald features editor Scott Hawkins said he noticed Fayard's gas station on Pass Road in Biloxi was pumping gas, and Joe's Garage on Pass Road in Biloxi was working on cars just an hour or so ago. We'll post others as we hear them.
--SG
Harrison County EOC tidbits
A few things from Col. Joe Spraggins, emergency management director for Harrison County:
Nineteen different distribution sites, now called PODS, will be lean on water and ice today but plan on replenishing those as soon as possible. Water restoration is progressing throughout the county (I know that I had a trickle this morning at my apartment just south of the tracks between Edgewater Mall and DeBuys in Biloxi).
The Salvation Army will add more mobile canteens in the northern part of the county today.
BFI supervisors are surveying the garbage situation today and expect to remove household garbage by Monday, or as soon as today.
They plan on opening 6,000 tents in the city but plans depend on help from the National Guard.
Post offices distributing Social Security checks
According to Clear Channel radio, people can pick up their Social Security checks via post offices in Hattiesburg, Gulfport, Biloxi and Moss Point. Information is spotty right now but try calling (800) 772-1213 for more information.
--SG
An apple a day...
Sun Herald sports writer Brandon Bickerstaff passed this nugget along:
Dr. Bruce Scarborough of the Mississippi Dental Association has offered his help to any dentists whose practice or homes were damaged. They can reach him at (601) 982-0442 or office@msdental.org.
--SG
Heading to downtown Biloxi
I'm getting out of the office for a couple hours, heading to the Beau Rivage for a CNN interview. Sara Greer, who's been a boon to augment our blog, will continue to crank away. See you soon, and I'll have more on Biloxi when I get back.
Still looking for Sun Herald employees
The list of missing Sun Herald employees is diminishing, but we still haven't heard from quite a few. Let us know you're still out there: (228) 896-2432 or (228) 860-6524.
Phyllis Brown
Yashika Clark
Keith Cummings
Craig Favre
Naydine Gillum
Mary Hurley
Charlie James
Hui Kang
Ladarius Leggett
Alma Magee
Felecia Moore
Stephon Smith
Beverly Strickland
William Sykes
Kelley Walkinshaw
Southern hospitality in harshest of times
One more thing from Doc Toups ... He made me turn off the tape recorder, but he spoke about the generosity he saw from people who had nothing. Toups evacuated to a state park upstate and came back with food and water, but broke down when he described "people who have nothing offering me something." He said it was the first time he'd lost it this week.
We gave him some Sun Herald's to take back with him, and he left to go try to find missing family members.
Wow.
Sun Herald's online photos
We're getting lots of requests for photos, and we have lots of them on the Web. We're refining and adding to the collection constantly.
Waveland update
Doc Toups, the owner and publisher of the Hancock Reporter, a monthly business magazine, just came by our offices. We will have powerful streaming audio of his eyewitness accounting of what he's seeing over there, stuff he's collecting as he continues to look for family members and deal with the complete gutting of his life.
Some important bullet points:
-- Hancock County officials, while respectful of MEMA/FEMA efforts, are begging for private organizations to help. They don't want you coming down in a 1965 Buick with three bald tires, but desperately need self-sufficient organizations who won't become a burden to come down and bring food, water, fuel, diapers, bedding, tarpolines, toiletries and the like. Don't add to the problem by getting stranded and becoming homeless, but help if you can.
-- Contrary to reports, it is possible to get into the county. It's as simple as going down Highway 603 to US 90 and hanging a right or left. Toups got down there by coming Hwy 13 and 11.
-- As reported before, Waveland is devastated. The only thing left on Coleman Avenue is the 1969 Camille memorial plaque and the flagpole. The city hall is gone. Haggard Waveland mayor Tommy Luongo's office is now on the second floor of the waste management building.
-- Waveland police have no communications. They are in desperate need of walkie-talkies and the like. If a law enforcement agency can help them, they are begging for it.
-- A ranking Hancock County emergency official said: "Supplies are needed. Even though some are coming, it's not enough."
Three recordings of the powerful interview will be posted at SunHerald.com soon.
Insurance information
Useful information for insurance policy holders affected by the storm (take these numbers down for your friends and family):
The National Association of Insurance Commissioners is coordinating consumer assistance divisions nationwide to assist evacuees with questions regarding their insurance. Consumers are encouraged to contact their insurance carrier for assistance with questions about claims or their policies as soon as possible. Other information can be found at www.naic.org or by calling the Mississippi Department of Insurance Consumer Help Line at (800) 562-2957 or (601) 359-2453.
Goodwill seeking displaced workers
Via press release:
The 700+ employees of Goodwill Industries from the New Orleans and Gulfport areas are urged to contact Goodwill International by calling (800) 664-6577. The phones will be manned around the clock.
Looking for Linda Milner of Shoreline Estates
Anyone with information on the whereabouts of Linda Milner, 58, who lives in the Shoreline Estates area on the Jourdan River, and who may have received help from her church group in Waveland, please call her son, Randy Powell of French Settlement, La., at (225) 698-1407, (225) 803-0870 or (225) 806-6427.
--SG
Mississippi Power update
Here's a number that speaks to the scope of what we're dealing with in South Mississippi. Mississippi Power spokesperson Kurt Brautigam just gave me a rough estimate of customers who are currently able to receive service once they get the grid restored. The number used to be 195,000. Now, a rough estimate is 172,000.
"We will restore all customers to service whenever they're able to receive it," he said, "but at this point, it's obvious not all will be ready in the next several weeks."
The company has restored power to more than 20 percent of its customers. You can't extrapolate that out and say in 16 days everything will be restored, because there will be tougher areas to get electricity into, but more than 40,000 people have power now than didn't Monday, according to Mississippi Power.
There are more than 5,000 outside workers in the area, with another 3,000 arriving today and Sunday. The workers restored 16 more substations yesterday and two-thirds of the total in the area are repaired overall.
You can go to the company's Web site for resources in recovering from this disaster. An example is this page that has a list of post-storm actions can be taken.
Colleges offering free tuition
Several colleges are offering free tuition to students displaced by Katrina, and these aren't Joe's College of Underwater Basket Weaving. I'm going to go back through the e-mails and find some of the releases, but I remember schools like Dartmouth and Savannah College of Art and Design. I'll try to make a more complete list later on.
A local bulletin board for survivor searches
This has been widely propagated bulletin board for looking for people. We'll add to it.
Edgewater Estates has power
In Biloxi, they've got the power, according to Mike Woten.
Help coming from the east
Amy Worden from The Philadelphia Inquirer has just driven in from Tallahassee and this is what she saw:
Help began rolling in in force Friday night from the East. At twilight on I-10 through the Florida panhandle and Alabama hundreds of trucks and trailers -- from almost every branch of the military and private contractors -- far outnumbered the cars in a seemingly endless stream of headlights. Dozens of boats being trailered by the U.S. Coast Guard, earth-moving equipment and dump trucks with Army and Air Force license plates, headed west with scores more tree-trimming and wood-chipping trucks and power repair vehicles. A caravan of at least 50 Florida State Troopers was also seen headed West.
One of 2Daves from Diamondhead
Dave Magee, part of the famous "Two Daves Pick the SEC" team, is a member of the Hancock County Sheriff's Department Auxiliary and sends:
News coming from Hancock County, Mississippi is slow. Unfortunately, any news you get from the area is that Hurricane Katrina left her catastrophic footprint throughout much of Hancock County. The Diamondhead Community was not spared from the wrath of Hurricane Katrina.
What once once a pleasant Yacht Club and community overlooking he Saint Louis Bay is gone. No homes remain in the area. The Diamondhead Yacht Club was gutted and only the roof remains. Piers that homes were once built on, 10 feet or higher, are all that is left. Debris litters the area all the way to I-10. Catastrophic really is not a strong enough word to describe what remains South of I-10. Governor Haley Barbour stated that many areas of the Mississippi Gulf Coast looked like Hiroshima. That assessment is extremely accurate.
North of I-10, the news is better. A large part of Diamondhead was spared from the massive storm surge from Katrina. Areas near the Jourdan River were not so fortunate. Near the intersection of Mahalo Hui Drive and Diamondhead Drive, water rose to a level of about five feet. Some homes on Kome Drive had water up to the roof. Others had flooding of three to five feet. While I was unable to view the Devil's Elbow area and the Bayou Drive area, seeing what Katrina did this far away from the Jourdan River convinces me that severe flooding occoured in those areas.
There are numerous trees, utility poles, and power lines down. Navigating Golf Club Drive found many areas limited to one lane for traffic to flow. The sound of generators could be randomly heard as you drove through the community. The roof of the Diamondhead Country Club has a moderate amount of damage with some sections torn off. Several homes throughout Diamonhead have roof damage that varies from shingles missing to major structural failures. Power will certainly be one or two weeks before it can be restored, perhaps longer in some areas. The water and sewer systems are not operational, and may not be
for some time.
I witnessed Hancock County Sheriff's deputys, Alabama State Troopers, Military Police, and even an FBI agent patroling Diamondhead streets. They are checking each person that enters Diamondhead to verify the have a legitimate need to be in the area.
Having spent a few hours viewing what I could, the suggestions by officials to not return to the area is sound advice. The heat is high, there is no electricity, and the stench near flooded areas is nearly unbearable.
There is good news to be heard from Diamondhead - the geese and ducks were conducting their normal daily business near the entrance to Diamondhead. That served as one small glimmer of light in a community that has suffered at the hands of Hurricane Katrina.
Thanks for the news from out there.
Fort Worth Little Leaguers checking on us
Chris Ryan sends:
We played D'Iberville Little League in the Jr. Baseball Tournament held in Grand Junction, Colorado last month. You had a article in your paper on Aug. 26 about the team. We are trying to find out if we can help any of the families that may have had damage.
Players: Boomer Scarbourgh, Jason Carney, Jacoby Bell, Jeremy Picard, Beau Underwood, Michael Pitzer, Dillon Owen, Jacob Miller, Tyler Flowers, Mark Seymour, Drew Bosarge, Andrew Francois. Coaches: Ronnie Flowers, Bobby Underwood, Ernie Francois. League President: Buddy Dunaway.
We are Texas West, Westside Little League, Fort Worth, Texas
Thanks for the line. We'll post it here and see if we get a response from their families.
Good news to start the day
One of the first e-mails of the day comes from Betty Thornton:
On Wednesday I sent you an email about my mother in Pascagoula. That night I finally found out that she is o.k. Thank you for your assistance.
All right, that's the way to start a Saturday. (At least I think it's Saturday. We're having to ask each other when we write stories around here.)
Friday, September 02, 2005
Shutting down the blog for the night
It's time for a little rest for the evening. It's been another long day. We'll try to keep givng more information Saturday.
More power
Mike "I Can Beat Kevin Bacon At Six Degrees" Woten just spoke with folks in Vancleave who have power.
Power coming back on
We're seeing power coming back on along the Coast, slowly but surely. Sun Herald sports assistant Mike Woten said he saw power was on along pass road from Beauvoir to Eisenhower, one block deep on both sides. He also talked to two people who lived east of Anniston Avenue, north of the Armed Forces Retirement Home who had power.
Check our news site
We try to post a lot of news on the blog, but don't forget to check for comprehensive coverage from the Sun Herald. Stories that will appear in tomorrow's Sun Herald are already getting up there.
Shearwater Pottery update
By PAM FIRMIN
SUN HERALD
Shearwater Pottery, the home of the Anderson family of artists, was heavily damaged, and some of the buildings on the family compound were destroyed. Others, however, including the Leif Anderson home, the showroom and the Walter Anderson cottage remain. The winding drive leading to the compound was blocked by trees and debris.
Everyone in the family of painters and potters, who draw visitors and buyers from across the country, survived, said John Anderson, son of Walter Anderson.
The family compound lies close to the Mississippi Sound, along a stretch of waterfront in Ocean Springs that was devastated by Katrina. Anderson said the storm surge reached 28 feet on the property, according to his measurements. Most of the family's belongings were lost in the storm, Anderson said, but family memebers and friends are living on the property and beginning to rebuild.
"The biggest asset we have left after the storm are our friends," he said. "We appreciate the concern, care and prayers."
He said the family planned to reopen the business.
Times-Picayune reporter missing
Anyone knowing the whereabouts of Times Picayune staff writer Leslie Williams or who has any information about him should contact Peter Kovacs at 225-578-9880; or 225-205-3277, cell; or Kovacs70003@Yahoo.com
Pass Christian reports
Todd Bennett of Philadelphia has been worried about his parents' house and got good news:
I just spoke with a neighbor of my parents (who evacuated and haven't known whether their house is standing or not) who lives on Firetower Road. My parents live on Elmer Ladner Road just east of Firetower Road...and that general area is fine. I was told the houses sustained very little damage---some roof damage---some missing shingles but that's about it! This would be the area about 2 miles north of I-10 where Firetower Road branches off to the left from Menge Avenue. He advised that no one should attempt to return for at least one week, preferably two weeks as the heat and mosquitoes are bad...and of course...no jobs to return to either. He also stated his son returned from Georgia on I-10. I-10 is closed on the eastbound direction from Alabama basically to Louisiana but that they're allowing traffic in both directions on the westbound lanes.
Downtown Gulfport eyewitness
Sun Herald interim sports editor Doug Barber walked around parts of downtown Gulfport this afternoon. He's a deacon at First Presbyterian, so he wanted to see his church with his own eyes:
Venerable First Presbyterian Church, located off Highway 90, still has its brick walls, its steeple and the pipes in its organ. The rest of the church is gutted, though, by storm surge. Just two blocks north on 24th Avenue, the First United Methodist Church still stands with its painted glass windows intact. A sign invited people to worship Sunday, which I presume is this Sunday.
Looking for the Stiglett's
Kathleen Stiglett, who staying in Lake City, Fla., is looking for her son and grandkids, Ronald Stiglett Jr., Christy Stiglett, Macie and Dylan of Bay St. Louis. Call (386) 755-4664, room 113.
Funeral homes ready to help families
Jeff O'Keefe of Bradford-O'Keefe Funeral Home has told the Sun Herald that families may now make funeral arrangements at the Ocean Springs, Pass Road and Orange Grove locations.
The Ocean Springs branch has power and can be reached at (288) 875-1266. Orange Grove at (228) 831-2322, Pass Road at (228) 388-1811 and the crematorium expect to have power in the near future, he added.
He asked that families contact those particular branches, as the downtown Gulfport and Howard Avenue branches sustained severe damage during the storm.
--Sara Greer
City of Gulfport update
Sun Herald reporter Melissa Scallan reports from Gulfport:
Employees of the Harrison County School District can pick up their paychecks today until 5 p.m. at the school district office on U.S. 49. Gulfport Mayor Brent Warr said the city needs volunteers to help rescue animals who were tied up and left during the storm. There are animals throughout the city who are chained to trees. Warr also said that BFI will try to run its normal route throughout the city Monday.
Two Pass couples OK
We just received a phone call to the Sun Herald newsroom that Phil and Dot Mansfield and Ginger and Ben Brill are fine. Keri Campbell of 1749 James Buchanan in Pass Christian e-mailed us Thursday asking if we'd heard anything.
Message boards working
Janet Beasley of Westport, Conn., e-mails:
This is a huge thank you for what you are doing. I belong to an international organization and one of our members lives in Ocean Springs. Several of us posted messges to find out how she fared. Her son, who lives in another state saw the postings and emailed us to let us know that his mom and dad are ok. It wouldn't have happened without you.
I spent part of my childhood in Germany during WW II and the pictures of the devastation bring back vivid memories of what it was like in the city of my birth during that time. The destruction, homeless people and body parts sticking out from the ruins or picked up by cranes moving the rubble. And just as the Germans brought their cities back to life through hard work and perseverance, with the help of all of us so will you.
It's gratifying to know we're helping, but sobering to know what kind of battle we're facing.
More aid on the way
A former Long Beach resident sends the following:
I have been trying to keep up with events there by your on-line edition. First, our heartfelt sorry and prayers go to everyone there.
But, I want you to know that there is much being done to get supplies to the coast. I just wanted to tell you that the North Alabama area is working hard to collect much needed supplies to send. I know of one specific truck from a business that left this morning from Birmingham. I know that 1 truck doesn't sound like much, but this is happening everywhere. Many, many churches are collecting non-perishable food and toiletries to send. I know that it doesn't help today or tomorrow, but in the next few days, I believe you will see supplies beginning to come in.
Our radio and TV stations are giving new locations constantly of where items can be dropped off.
My dad was born in North Alabama (Ft. Payne) and my mom was born in South Mississippi (Gulfport), making me some sort of mutt and it's good to know that one half of my family's history is helping the other.
Jack Nelson's family OK
Sun Herald executive editor Stan Tiner talked by e-mail with Pulitzer Prize winning reporter Jack Nelson, a former Sun Herald reporter from here. Nelson's family is fine:
Worried like hell for several days because my sister, her daughter and son-in-law decided to ride it out in her house a block from the Biloxi beach (127 St. peter, around the corner from Kat Bergeron) and their house was saved by a multi-story condo bldg. betrween it and the beach. I reached her by telephone just before the water surged to their house and we lost connection. Heard nothing until yesterday when her daughter used a neighbor's cell phone to call and say they were okay. Used the Sun Herald web site for postings short time ago and found phone service was restored so I called her house and got her on the phone. Great relief. The internet really is a blessing in these kinds of disasters. Like everyone else they need water, ice and food but recognize they're extremely lucky. I covered Camille but from everything I've read and seen on TV Katrina is much worse. Jack
Three South African families are OK
Tom Wilemon found three native South African families who wanted folks back there to know that they were safe in Biloxi. The families of Malcomb Smith, Shawn Abraham and Lynne Bassier wanted him to pass that along.
Sondria looking for James Williams and family
Sun Herald reporter Tom Wilemon ran into Sondria Chappel, who is looking for Navy non-commissioned officer James Williams and family. They lived in an apartment complex behind church in the neighborhood of Keesler AFB. Anyone with information, call (903) 824-0385.
Church services scheduled
Sun Herald feature writer Kat Bergeron has compiled a short list of church services taking place over the weekend.
Saturday
Sunday
We should all give thanks! --Sara Greer
Still looking for Sun Herald employees
There are still 28 Sun Herald employees we're looking for. If you're out there, or if somebody is certain of their whereabouts, please call (228) 860-6524 or (228) 896-2432 or e-mail us here.
Phyllis Brown
Michael Carter
Yashika Clark
Paul Conrad
Keith Cummings
Willie Cunningham
Craig Favre
Naydine Gillum
Gary Holland
Mary Hurley
Susan Hurt
Charlie James
Hui Kang
Matthew Lacy
Ladarius Leggett
Ginger Lusardi
Alma Magee
Brett McCulloch
Mark Mills
Felecia Moore
James Ratliff
Denise Skrmetti
Stephon Smith
Robert Southerland
Beverly Strickland
William Sykes
Cheryl Twiner
Kelley Walkinshaw
Our paper is full of essential vitamins?
Mike Burbach also ran into a guy in Biloxi who was happy to get a copy of Friday's Sun Herald. It arrived at our plant from Columbus, Ga., about 8 a.m. and he wasn't too far east of the plant passing them out. "Gotta have a paper, man," the guy said. "We need something to eat when the food runs out."
Looking for 5-year-old Zachary Phelps
Mike Burbach, who is working for the Sun Herald from the Akron Beacon-Journal, ran into John Underwood in Biloxi. He's looking for his 5-year-old son Zachary Phelps. Zachary lived with his mom Deborah Phelps, who worked at the Isle of Capri. Call Rachel Ponthieux, 669-1101.
Looking for David Cedotal and baby
Our reporters are getting stopped by a lot of folks who are looking for family and friends. Sun Herald features editor Scott Hawkins talked with Biloxi's Amber Kirkman, who is searching for her 1-year-old baby, who is believed to be with his dad, David Cedotal. She wants them to get in touch with them at her home in Biloxi or call (918) 865-4548.
Helping those helping us
Sun Herald sports writer Brandon Bickerstaff found a local volunteer who had a beef with those who were being helped by people from out of town:
Biloxi's Tina Irwin said she didn't have anything better to do because Treasure Bay casino had been knocked out by Katrina. So, she volunteered at the Wal-Mart at the intersection of Pass Road and Popp's Ferry in Biloxi, where a water and ice distribution point had been set up. She was annoyed with the folks waiting in line, though.
"Everybody's been fussing at the police who've been helping, but they don't realize that the officers are doing what they can," Irwin said. "These people didn't have to come help us but they are here, and as long as they're here, I'm going to help."
Domino's has jobs for its employees
Local Domino's Pizza stores are trying to dig out from Katrina, but Glenn Mueller said 60 of his company's 139 stores were closed by the storm. Some of them, like in Pass Christian and at Broad Avenue in Gulfport, are nothing but slabs. Others, like Keesler AFB, Pascagoula and Picayune could be open today with generators.
Mueller, president of RPM Pizza Inc., said that if the employees report to any Domino's store, they will have jobs and more. "We will find food, clothing and housing," he said, adding that 10 people had already been housed. Paychecks have been distributed electronically.
For any employees who have evacuated, they can report to the local Domino's and they'll be given information on how to be helped. They can call (800) 622-6000.
There is high demand for their product, with many kitchens knocked out by the storm. Domino's is also setting up at the Harrison County courthouse to feed workers, joining Outback Steakhouse in an impromptu food court for volunteers from throughout the country.
Please use the message boards
We're still getting many e-mails with requests about individual people and specific locations. Please, please, please use the message boards. It now has sections for looking for friends and family, damage reports, offers of housing for evacuees and one for you to share your experiences.
Message for postal employees
The Postal Service is trying to get a message to its employees:
Like many businesses with buildings damaged, destroyed, or isolated by the devastating effects of Hurricane Katrina -- and workers cut off from their homes and their workplace -- the Postal Service is reaching out to reconnect with its employees through a toll-free number. First, to make sure the employee is safe; second, to establish contact for future communications.
The toll-free number postal employees can call to notify the Postal Service of their current situation is 1-877-477-3273. This is the number for "PostalEase." Employees in a work location that is closed due to Hurricane Katrina will receive a prompt to connect with a USPS Call Center agent, who will collect the employee’s information.
Postal employees are encouraged to call the "PostalEase" number so they can receive important job-related information and, if they receive paper payroll checks rather than electronic deposits, so they can be paid.
Friends, neighbors, and family members who are in contact with a postal employee displaced by Katrina are asked to have that employee call the toll-free "PostalEase" number.
Medical clinic set up at Biloxi VA
A medical clinic on wheels has arrived at the Biloxi VA, 400 Veterans Ave., to provide medical assistance to VA hospital patients and hurricane victims. The mobile hospital has a surgical bay and medical and dental facilities, as well as satellite phone communications for the VA hospital. The van arrived around 10 a.m. this morning and is now taking patients and distributing supplies.
Diamondhead first-person report
Here is Jimmie Brewer's first-person account of his exploration of Diamondhead:
The gated community of close to 9,000 residents is a scene of almost complete devastation.
Neighbors are sharing generators, accounting for people and belongings as they can.
Through the heart of the north side, previously unnoticed sloughs and drains carried storm surge from the Jourdan River into houses thought safe from Mother Nature's fury. They weren't.
Not a building stands in that area. Clothes are hung, seemingly to dry, in the top of what is left of once-towering trees. Appliances, furniture and other household belongings are scattered here and yon.
Watermarks on the few remaining structures show a surge light higher than the doorways.
To the south, a sheriff's department employee told me about pullng 15 bodies from homes on the south side of I-10.
Waves crashed over the interstate, destroying almost everything in their path. To the north of the highway, Ramada Inn is heavily damaged, but people are still in it.
The yacht club looks like a gazebo.
At the Holiday Inn on Highway 603, people are still on the second floor. The water reached that floor. On the first floor, people had to break windows to remove occupants trapped as water curled carpets against doors.
A man, who declined to give his name, who lives about a mile from the inn, left his house by boat. He and his sone dragged nine people with them to higher ground.
He got to the KMart parking lot across the street from the Holiday Inn on 5-foot seas. He didn't realize until the next day that there were cars in the parking lot. He unloaded his passengers on the second-floor balcony of the motel.
The opposite side of U.S. 90 is a tent city. People need medicine and are desparate for information. There are dozens of shoeless children standing about.
At least a half dozen of the people I talked to were cloaked in mud from head to toe. They didn't ask for water, or food, or anything other than a Sun Herald.
One woman along 603 had a small dog in one and and a Wal-Mart bag in the other with what appeared to be all her belongings in it. She just stood there crying. It is an image I'll carry with me forever.
Brewer is a past director of Diamondhead Business and Professional Association. He works in Special Projects for the Sun Herald.
East Jackson County damage report
I stayed with family on Holder Road in Vancleave during the storm and, after emerging Monday afternoon and Tuesday morning, I saw countless trees and power lines down over the roads, but very few damaged homes, at least along Holder, Mt. Pleasant and Wade-Vancleave roads. Same for Highway 63 from the George County line south to Pascagoula. The Cedar Creek area in Wade sustained heavy damage to homes from falling trees and now must contend with the rising Pascagoula River, which is at flood stage in the area. I also traveled to southeast Pascagoula where family lives off of Orchard Road near the Pascagoula Soccer Complex. They got 3 to 5 feet of water in their homes in that area with power lines and trees down all over the place. In the Kreole area of Moss Point there was similar wind damage as well as the combination of a rising Escatawpa River and storm surge from the Sound. Structurally, homes were mostly okay, but most all of them had some level of flooding.
-Sara
Hancock County info
We'll be bringing you more from Jimmie Brewer's trip to Hancock County, but one thing we've gotten ready is a list of names of folks he saw over there. Here it is (we're not going to waste time double-checking spelling for speed's sake):
Donnie Martin
Bohn Hall
JOhnny and Kelly Muniz
Emmit Hotard
Jacqueline Daigle
Bob Carver
Tom Enders
Mary Kraft
Henry and Alice Burkhardt
Jeff Jasby
Brenda Smith
Mark Derussy
Russel Jones
Harrison County EOC update
Emergency Management Director Col. Joe Spraggins has passed along some information to media on the progress of emergency operations in Harrison County:
The broadcast was interrupted at this point: President Bush has landed at Keesler Air Force Base right here in Biloxi. -Sara
Hard Rock looking for employees, assessing damage
The casino, which was supposed to open soon, is trying to trackd down its employees:
Hard Rock International, owner and operator of the Hard Rock Cafe locations in New Orleans and Biloxi, and Premier Entertainment Biloxi LLC, owner and operator of the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino property in Biloxi today announced that they are currently assessing the damage caused by Hurricane Katrina, which struck the Gulf Coast area on Monday, August 29, 2005.
All Hard Rock hotel, casino and cafe employees in Biloxi and New Orleans are encouraged to call 1-888-886-0920 for further details as they become available.
"Our thoughts and concerns are with our employees and the members of our communities, many whose lives have been devastated by this unprecedented storm," said Hamish Dodds, president and CEO, Hard Rock International.
"Right now our primary concern is for the safety and well being of our employees and neighbors on the Gulf Coast," said Joseph Billhimer, chief operating officer, Hard Rock Hotel and Casino Biloxi. "We are committed to the region and encourage our staff to contact us for more information."
Searching for nursing home, hospice info
M-D Medical Services in Jackson is concerned about its clients in the area:
If anyone has any information about any of the following nursing homes and hospices please e-mail and let us know if there is anything we can do. We are extremely concerned about our neighbors and friends who have been struck by this horrible catastrophe. The following is a list of facilities that we supply to and would like any information anyone can offer:
Azalea Gardens Nursing Center
530 Hall Street
Wiggins, MS 39577
Billdora Nursing Home
314 Enochs Street
Tylertown, MS 39667
Driftwood Nursing Center
1500 Broad Ave
Gulfport, MS 39501
Jones County Nursing Home
683 County Home Rd
Ellisville, MS 39437
Lakeview Nursing Center
16411 Robinson Rd
Gulfport, MS 39503
Poplar Springs Nursing Center
6615 poplar Springs Dr
Meridian, MS 39305
Seyah Hospice - Laurel
1104 West First St
Laurel, MS 39440
Wilkinson County Nursing Center
116 South Lafayette St.
Centerville, MS 39631
NRL Stennis help line
Naval Research Laboratory Stennis Space Center (NRLSSC) employees please call 1-866-598-8762 and let NRL know you're OK. You can also go to the NRL Web site for more info.
Stone County update
From a Sun Herald employee in Stone County:
Wal-Mart in Wiggins is planning to be open from noon to 4 p.m. if they get generators. They do not have gas, but they may be open.
Stone County Fire Department cannot make calls out but they can receive calls if there is an emergency: (601) 528-9444.
The sheriff's and fire departments are running out of gas. They have very little gas left for an ambulance and are asking for anyone who can get them gas to please help.
There will be water and ice at the Stone County Fairgrounds at 9 a.m.
-Sara
Extensive Hancock County update coming
Sun Herald marketing consultant Jimmie Brewer has just gotten back from Hancock County. He's pretty shaken up by the devastation. We're letting him collect himself and then we're going to debrief him and get the information posted as soon as we can.
"I've hugged more people that's lost everything," said Brewer.
The Sea Coast Echo, a Bay St. Louis paper, is gone as are its archives. We'll be working with them and hope to put out a Sea Coast Echo page in our paper daily.
Hancock County reaching out
Bay St. Louis Mayor Eddie Favre just talked to a WLOX reporter about post-storm evacuation plans to reach those residents who don't have the transportation to get to shelters and distribution sites. Emergency officials are stocking up on ice, water and MREs and passing it out to people as they enter neighborhoods. They've also been able to transport people by school buses to shelters. Favre said there are still neighborhoods they haven't been able to reach, like the Cedar Point area, but they are working diligently to do so.
-Sara
Stennis working toward limited operations
According to U.S. Navy Captain Peter W. Furze, commanding officer of Stennis Space Center:
Our thoughts and prayers go out to the community at large. Navy commands at Stennis Space Center are currently in the recovery phase and are working toward limited operations. All Navy personnel, both military and DoD civilian, are directed to contact (831) 656-4327 at their earliest opportunity. If unable to make contact, please report in person to the Naval Oceanographic Office Main Building at Stennis Space Center.
-SG
More distribution sites
WLOX reports:
Pearl River County
Jackson County
Mobile feeding kitchens
The Southern Baptist Convention is providing mobile kitchens for fixed feeding sites at First Baptist Church on Popps Ferry Road in Biloxi and the Baptist Church in Picayune. They can cook 20,000 hot meals each day.
Red Cross shelters consolidate
In what's being called the American Red Cross' largest national disaster response ever, it has supported more than 100 shelters in the state that have served 13,000 people.
There will be some consolidation of shelters to help efficiency in the system:
-- North Woolmarket Elementary will move to D'Iberville High School.
-- Bert Jenkins Gym and West Elementary will move to Gulfport Central Elementary.
-- Orange Grove Elementary will move to Harrison Central Elementary.
-- Harrison Central High School will move to Bel Aire Elementary.
Mississippi Power update
Electrical service has been restored to its strategic gasoline pipeline customers, according to the company's 9 a.m. release. It has restored power to approximately 28,000 of 195,000 customers. It is focusing on hospitals, city water facilities and public safety organizations.
"By the end of the day Thursday, we wer able to energize 19 of our 56 substations in the Hattiesburg and Coast regions and will pick up more today," Mississippi Power spokesperson Kurt Braughtigam said in a press release. "That will allow us to begin re-energizing our distribution lnes today which provide service to the main arteries of many of the towns we serve."
New assements indicate more than 750 miles of line are on the ground in the company's system. Nearly 5,000 poles will be replace, and thousands more repaired. They continue to ask people to stay off the roads to help work crews get the job done.
Dolphin news
Good friend Sara Skinner says this moved on the Associated Press wire on the dolphins:
Six bottlenose dolphins that had been evacuated to swimming pools at two Mississippi hotels when Hurricane Katrina threatened Marine Life Park in Gulfport, Miss., and nine sea lions from the park were adjusting well Thursday to their new homes in Florida.
The dolphins were sent to The Gulfarium in Fort Walton Beach and the sea lions to Sea World in Orlando.
"Everybody's doing fine, everybody's eating, everybody's doing well," said Ron Hardy, general manager of Gulf World Marine Park in Panama City, who participated in the relocation Wednesday.
Hardy was headed back to Gulfport on Thursday to retrieve another nine sea lions that will be relocated to the three Florida parks.
Zoo question
Deanna F. Clingerman sends:
I have been trying to find out if your zoo managed to say above the flood. How extensive is the damage/How are the animals?
The closest thing we had to a zoo was Marine Life, which had a lot of dolphins and a couple of sea lions as the large animals. The structures down there are gone. A few of the dolphins were evacuated to hotel pools before the storm, but I'm not sure the status now.
Blog relief and distribution sites
Don's been sent some help to keep the blog rolling. I'll be passing along helpful information that perhaps those of you reading from out of the area can pass along to loved ones here, or at least that's what we're hoping. For instance, here are some Red Cross distribution sites for supplies, like water, ice and food, which we hope will be trickling in more and more over the coming days.
Biloxi
D'Iberville
Gulfport
Long Beach
Harrison County
Hancock County (according to WLOX reports)
I'll be back with more as they come in. Posted by Sara Greer
Flying people out
T. Childers from New York sends:
I've been glued to your blog and CNN since Katrina came ashore. From all accounts it seems help isn't arriving fast enough and the two states (Dallas and Arkansas) that have offered their help won't be able to handle all the people that need help. I've noticed that the Jackson airport is functionable. Is is possible to start getting people to Jackson and start flying large groups of people out of the disaster area? Obviously, Atlanta, Orlando, Jacksonville just to name a few can accommodate hurricane refugees.
More people must get involved. This is more than our Federal Government can handle alone. I wish Rudi Guliani (former mayor of NYC) would get involved. He seems to know what to do in the face of true adversity.
My love and heart is with you all.
I think we're really going to start seeing stuff be supplied here in a continuous stream, hopefully today. Once they get the infrastructure set up, I'd like to think there's enough stuff in the pipeline to keep us going for a while.
As far as a Rudy G. figure, this is a lot different situation than 9/11, which happened in New York City, Washington, D.C., and over in Pennsylvania. There are dozens of municipalities that each have their own governments to get their own cities up and going (five towns plus the unincorporated areas in Harrison County alone), so I think that kind of iconic figure isn't likely to develop here.
Sherry Migues checks in
Sun Herald financial office employee Sherry Migues sends:
During a crisis the best and the worst come out in people. My husband, Bobby and I are currently at my daughter's home in Evans, GA. Our home on Holley Street in Biloxi was completely destroyed. We were at a local store getting some clothes to wear and my cell phone rang-it was a call from Bobby's daughter whom he had not spoken to since the storm hit. It was a tearful call to say the least. A woman standing nearby heard the conversation. When Bobby finished talking to his daughter the woman handed him money to help. She would not take no for an answer. In talking to her we found out that she was fighting cancer. With all her problems she still wanted to help us. One of my daughter's friends gave us some money also. Her husband has been out of work for six weeks. When I told her that we were ok, she told me to pass it on to someone in need in Biloxi.
We are hearing all the horrible stories coming out of New Orleans but I want everyone to know that most people are good and caring. And Bobby and I have met several here in Evans, GA.
Great to hear from you, Sherry. We're still trying to get in touch with 62 Sun Herald employees. For those outside the are who can't call, e-mail me here or call (305) 740-4222.
Hibernia National Bank employees
Hibernia Corporation is requesting that all of its employees who live in areas impacted by the storm call the following toll-free number: (800) 707-0489. Identify yourself as a Hibernia employee when you call, and if you need help they will put you in touch with the right resources.
Waking up
Folks are waking up here at the paper. We'll be back in business on the blog here shortly. One things to pass along quickly: Our "I'm OK Line" is a legitimate resourse. It's frequently busy, but we're printing that in the paper. So, keep trying to call (866) 453-1925.
Thursday, September 01, 2005
Diamondhead update
From Adonahoe:
We have heard word of a few very brief calls from family that weathered the storm in Diamondhead. They went to check on their house which is in North Diamondhead (Ahihi place) and thankfully, with the exception of a lot of debris, things were intact and safe. I'm not sure about damage to the rest of that neighborhood, but it doesn't sound like the water got that far.
Get out the tissues
Former Sun Herald reporter Louise Red Corn sends:
It is sunny in Tulsa, Oklahoma; Katrina sucked the humidity and heat from us after she ravaged you. But calm weather here hasn't eased the trauma, for us or for you. As a longtime Sun Herald reporter formerly known as Louise Taylor, now Louise Red Corn, as the mother of Vincent Creel's lone son, I have been in tears when I press the elevator button to leave work, in tears when the name of someone I know pops up in the news, in tears when I come across yet another name I know on a missing list, in tears without any provocation whatsover.
Damn, David Venus was "buckling down" his house on the bayou in Ocean Springs when I called him Sunday night. I should have told him that I loved him. Instead I made a jest about him buckling down his pants.
The thoughts that haunt us, out here, are so many. When Vincent's name was absent for the first 36 hours, I feared him dead. I tried to figure whether AJ Holloway's comment about this being our tsunami might have been penned by Vincent. At first I sent calm emails, and called his cell every hour. But I became screamingly strident: VINCENT!!!!!!!! NATALIE!!!!! Redial. Redial. Against all hope, hit redial again.
The relief for me, for his son and for my husband came when The Sun Herald posted that video. If he was taking video, he was all right WLOX said Natalie was OK. But Grandma? Grandpa? Great grandma? (We could see the slab where her house used to be on the Point.) Cousins Jared and Jeffrey? Uncle Pat? Uncle Nicky? Kuzy? And so many others; I could see who was kicking at The Sun Herald, but nowhere else. Anita got out one email. She was OK.
Soon after the video, Matt Daily of Reuters was the first to quote Vincent; it went out in 100,000 copies all over the world. I dashed out another email, this time to Daily. He replied on a text phone, I guess a satellite one. Another 36 hours, Thursday morning, a few hours ago, the short but good news came: Relatives all OK.
I left a message for our son at his school. I now have a good answer for his simple question: "Are they dead?"
I never would have thought that Vincent's mother, who used to used her car keys to rap annoyingly on the glass door of my house on Seal Ave, would inspire me to cry gallons of tears. But she did. And I love her too.
The greatest lesson in all of this, to me, is the obvious one: life. 10 years ago, I fled Biloxi -- the best place I ever lived -- for Detroit, to rid myself of a man. Over the years, 99 percent of my resentment has dispersed.
Now it all has. Nothing like that matters.
And Vincent, if you need to send anyone up here for refuge, we have room and will welcome them.
And Jedediah sends you his love.
"I don't know," he said late last night as I put him to bed, "what I would do if Daddy died."
That's enough. Probably one more post for tonight before I take some mental health time off.
Dupont question
Prestina Stainton asks:
I have no way of contacting anyone in Mississippi and I need to know if anyone can tell me if the DuPont Plant in DeLisle is still standing. I have contacted radio stations but no one can seem to help me. Any info you can provide is greatly appreciated.
We're going to check some aerial stuff we still sorting through, but Dupont said it would be closed down for the forseeable future. I'll update you if we get more info.
America is responding
The Huey Family offers:
Willing to house hurricane victims for free. Will provide free food and board. We can house 1 or 2 small families. We live in Douglas, Georgia. Our phone number is (912) 383-4602.
Remember ...
Remember Jack Spurlock? One of the first posts where we introduced the "I'm OK Line" had him in it, and we've gotten a follow-up from John Downer:
We have found Jack Spurlock! Incredibly, he stayed in his house on Davis Avenue in Moss Point and actually claims to have electricity with his generator! And, this man is 81 years old with Parkinson's! Anyway, he was staying in Mobile and he is safe. Thank you so much for you help and good luck with what I know will be the most trying time of your life!
Great news. Hopefully there are hundreds of such reunions going on right now, because each one means one less dagger in South Mississippi's heart.
Messages from residents
Sun Herald features editor filed these vignettes today:
Communications system failures in the wake of Katrina left everyone looking for loved ones or trying to let loved ones know they're all right.
People waiting in line for ice and water at the Wal-Mart on Pass Road in Biloxi asked to pass along the following messages:
Amber Parks of the Summerfield Apartments in Gulfport is looking for neighbor Kizzy Palmer, who evacuated Sunday night.
Ken and Roma Clark of Long Beach are looking for Ken's parents, Kimberly and Dylan Clark, who sought refuge in a motel in Diamondhead.
Lori Rhoda of Biloxi wanted her parents and loved ones to know she is OK.
Keri Campbell of 1749 James Buchanan is looking for 11 family members from Pass Christian, including Phil and Dot Mansfield and Ginger and Ben Brill.
Joslyn Ratcliff, from The City Paper in Nashville, a free weekly newspaper, e-mails:
First, I offer my deepest condolences, prayers and thoughts to all affected by the storm. In response to our coverage of the tragedy, several of our readers here at The City Paper in Nashville, TN have contacted us with offers of housing for those displaced by the storm. We are verifying the offers and posting them on our Web site and will also publish them in our classifieds free of charge. We are updating the online list as offers are received and are also keeping a running list of services, etc. that Nashville businesses and organizations are offering to families and individuals.
I just wanted to let you know in case you wanted to let your readers know.
Satellite imagery
Vicki Murrell of Memphis e-mails:
You may have this posted already, but NOAA has taken and uploaded satellite images of the devestated areas. I hope that these may be helpful for anyone who has web access and may be able to determine what's left.
Thank you for being an information source for those of us who have family on the coast. I know you each have your own personal crises with which to deal.
A perfect e-mail
Rebecca Crandall e-mails:
I’m not sure how much this helps, but I thought I’d share how my relatives faired so that others worrying about nearby places might be able to have a feel for a couple of places. My brother live just south of East Pass Road in Gulfport, MS. He and his house are “okay.” My aunt and uncle just a block or two off of N. Beach Blvd in Bay Saint Louis, MS. They weathered the hurricane in Picayune (some trees down and other wind damage, but mostly fine) and went back to their property. Their house was completely gone. They are staying with friends in Waveland whose house is unharmed. I’m not sure where the friends lived. (My aunt called my dad while they were getting supplies in Pensacola.)
If anybody else has similar anecdotes, please share them. This greatly helps build the knowledge base. Great job Rebecca, I'm just sorry you didn't have better news to share.
How to: Money to Laurel and Jackson
hlperry77 e-mails:
I have family members in Laurel and in Jackson who I would like to help. Does anyone have any idea about how I can get money directly to them? Are the post office or Western Union viable options considering power outages throughout the area? I would greatly appreciate suggestions from anyone in that area or from anyone who has the same problem."
Keesler AFB
We couldn't get on Keesler AFB today, but have arranged a visit there tomorrow. We'll be trying to get that information up as soon as possible.
Housing in the Panhandle
From Connie R. Lewis:
Housing is available for victims of Hurricane Katrina in the Northwest Florida area through JME Management. Condo rentals are available for long term rentals in Pensacola Beach, Destin and Navarre Beach, Florida. For more information call 1-800-242-3224.
Thoughts from Paris
Yes, that Paris. A local gone Continental named Gerald Holt:
I was born at Gulfport Memorial, grew up in Long Beach, where I went to Jeff Davis Elementary and Long Beach High School. My grandparents are buried in Biloxi. I have been living in Paris, France for many years now, but when something like this happens, it brings everything back -- crabbing all summer on the 'rockpile' in Long Beach (the marina was still years away), the fishing rodeo in July, picking blackberries in the bushes along the Old Pass Road -- and always taking a stick in case there were snakes.
I have been watching every scrap of news I can get over the internet, as well as CNN and BBC World on cable, and of course the local French news reports which are shocked and aghast at all that has happened. To see citizens of 'the most powerful country in the world' on their knees, people crying and begging just like all of the news reports they have seen in the past of disasters in Indonesia or Bangladesh or Somalia, not to mention Iraq, is beyond belief. The scenes of looting and violence defy description. The US has helped so many other places over the years, and in Europe, they find it terrible to see the US in need and help not arriving fast enough.
I really hope that the US will not be too proud to accept the offers of help that European and other countries have given. There is no shame in taking a helping had that is held out to you, and the French will never forget the help they received when they needed it.
Police officer goes through heck
Robin Fitzgerald made the rounds on her cops beat today and reported this vignette:
Paul Merritt, a former Tifton, Ga., has decided he doesn't want to be a Biloxi police officer or risk the lives of his wife and baby.
The Biloxi Police Department was processing his paperwork, said Merritt, when Hurricane Katrina hit. Merritt stayed at his Irish Hill Drive apartment, one block off the Biloxi beach.
He and his wife, Carla, and 3-month-old son, Brandon, stayed at their apartment, Woodland Towns, for the storm. Then the storm surge came. They ran to an upstairs apartment until the hurricane had passed.
The couple lost all their belongings, as did many of their neighbors. They and other survivors "took over" vacant apartments that had minimal damages until public safety crews began to check the streets.
Merritt reported his wallet missing. It had all his cash. His wallet turned up in Gulfport. The couple, with no baby formula or diapers, and Merritt with no shoes, used his last bit of gas to drive his mud-covered vehicle to the Gulfport Police Department to retrieve his wallet. Police gave them baby supplies someone had donated. They waited this morning for family from Georgia to come pick them up.
"This was beginning to feel like home," Merritt said, "but I can't put my wife and baby through this again. I've seen a lot of things as a police officer. But I've never seen anything as horrible as this."
Menge Ave. info
Jim Mashek has just returned from waiting out the storm in Florida, and he files a report on his return to his home.
It came in stages. The destruction. The emptiness. The folks going on with their daily lives, dealing with Hurricane Katrina on their own terms.
I left the sleepy town of Chipley, Fla., at about 9 o'clock on Thursday, more than three full days after the killer storm changed life as we know it, while ending thousands of lives in Mississippi, Louisiana and Alabama.
I knew what to expect, or should I say, I thought I knew what to expect. Sometimes, you didn't even recognize the place. It was a sci-fi movie, a ghost town, whatever cliche you want to use.
Ninety minutes after crossing the Alabama/Mississippi state line, I took a careful left turn onto Menge Ave. All the power lines, dangling or down. Oak trees, destroyed. A sign that read, "Friends and family only. Trespassers will be shot."
Figured it was no time to join the Welcome Wagon.
One destroyed building after another. I figured my place was gone.
I figured right. The little Pass Christian House in which I have lived for 10 months or so was blown off its cinder block foundation. My neighbor, John, said the house survived Hurricane Camille.
It had no chance against this sucker.
It took some effort, but I got inside. Retrieved a few personal items. Might be able to get some more, if I can find my desk.
Maybe this weekend.
Nice to be back with y'all. Now, we start over.
Greg Roth from the American Chamber of Commerce Executive writes in:
I know you're flooded with requests, but on the small chance that this one can be printed or answered, my organization and I are looking for informationon the Mississippi Gulf Coast Chamber of Commerce in Gulfport (1401 20th Avenue) and the Biloxi Chamber of Commerce in Biloxi. We are currently setting up relief funds for them through our membership, but have been unable to get into contact with any members of the staff or get any update on their buildings (we're assuming those have been leveled). I've checked every news outlet I can fin andd haven't come across anything. If you have any information on either the people of the chamber or the buildings themselves, please let us know. We hope to get moving helping them rebuild (and from there, rebuild the business communities) just as soon as humanly possible.
Ocean Springs update
The Sun Herald's Quincy Collins reports from Ocean Springs:
In Ocean Springs and St. Martin, damage to homes and businesses between Beach Street and U.S. 90 and along the bayou suffered severe damage. Katrina's wind and surged also crushed waterfront homes in Gulf Hills.
At the reserve apartments, roofs, walls and siding were peeled off buildings.
Power crews and emergency responders have been busy clearing the community since Tuesday.
In historic Ocean Sprngs many hames and businesses weathered the storm, but others suffered severe damage from fallen trees and debrise. Hancock Bank on Washington Avenue has been opened.
U.S. 90 between Ocean Springs and Pascagoula is open.
Ocean Springs update coming shortly
We had a snafu and lost an attempted Ocean Springs update. My apologies. Give us 15 minutes or so, and we'll have it back up. I'm terribly sorry.
Ohr-O'Keefe Museum update
From Marjie Gowdy, the museum's executive director:
Unfortunately, I don't know very much. We are trying to find out if the library building is still standing solid; I am trying to reach Judy Steckler and other board members including Jerry O'Keefe, Paula April, Jim Brashier and Lyle Page (through this email).
I was in the storm but my son was able to get us out to Tallahasssee Tuesday night.
I do believe the pots may be okay. I know that a casino is sitting on top of part of the new museum, and that the Reed House is gone, as are the homes of many of our staff members and board members, and we are all so very, very sorry about this.
I also believe in the spirit of the people of the Coast and that we will all rebuild, though it may take time and tears for awhile. We are all courageous, and we will all survive!
I am going to try my darndest to get back to Biloxi by the end of next week. Holly Zinner, director of operations, is in town (Ocean Springs) at the home of Earl Denham and is going by to check on the buildings as she can.
Any information will be most appreciated!
Remember: George's PotOhre burned to the ground in 1894. He not only rebuilt but after that made the finest pottery ever made by the hands of man!
My prayers go out to everyone and their families. We will lock arms and get through this together.
Many thanks.
Many thanks to you and good luck.
Gulfport mayor Q&A
City Editor Kate Magandy does a Q&A with Gulfport Mayor Brent Warr:
Q: How are you and your family?
A: Everyone is fine. We're in good shape. Laura and the children went to Destin, Fla.
Q: And your home? (Warr was renovating a house on Beach Boulevard east of the Armed Forces Retirement Home.)
A: It's not going to make it. We're going to have start over.
Q: What has struck you about the damage?
A: Just how widespread it it is -- it's complete devesatation. I did a flyover in a military helicopter and from Slidell to Gautier, it's all the same. It's such horrendous problems. The feds are going to have to help us. No single municipality is going to be able to handle this.
Q: What has struck you the most about the reaction of residents?
A: The amount of surprise. For all of us. So many times, we've filled our hurricane baskets and prepared for storms and thought we were prepared. But nothing could have prepared us for this. This one sucker-punched us and made Camille look like a thunderstorm.
Gulfport Admirals basketball history safe
From Sun Herald sportswriter Doug Barber:
While so much of the Gulf Coast was wiped out by Hurricane Katrina, at least the memorabilia of the past glories of Gulfport High basketball were still intact. The jersey of Chris Jackson, a Parade All-American, and a star guard at LSU and the NBA still remains behind glass at Bert Jenkins Gymnasium. Also remaining are the numerous Gulfport trophies, including those of the eight state championships.
Bert Jenkins Gym was used as an emergency center in Gulfport and many of the refugees were there Thursday, enjoying some water and food that was being distributed.
Present Harrison Central football coach Ronnie Cuevas said in a phone conversation Thursday that Mississippi Hall of Fame football coach Lindy Callahan of Gulfport had survived the hurricane. Inquiries had been made at the Sun Herald on how Callahan, former Gulfport coach Bert Jenkins and former Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College coach George Sekul -- all in the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame -- had fared.
US 90 update
From Melissa Scallan, a Sun Herald reporter who rode along U.S. 90, the beach boulevard:
The devastation is nearly impossible to describe. Landmarks that helped identify our coastline are gone, including Marine Life, the Chimney's Restaurant and First Baptist Church in Gulfport. Debris and sand cover the road, and police are patrolling, shooing sightseers away from the debris and destruction.
Housing offers
Linda sends:
I just wanted to pass along this website. Many people are posting offerings for housing and assistance to the hurricane survivors. Please help pass this list to the people who need the help!
Thanks.
Coastal Flooding in Northern Kentucky, an essay
Gene Gunn Oswalt is coping with this stuff from Park Hills, Ky. Katrina's got a huge chunk of the U.S. soaked and scared. Here's his essay:
There are flood watches in effect in the Ohio and Miami River Valleys, not just from the remains of Katrina. I weep for you, my Gulf Coast, with unending tears. When people ask, "Is that a faint southern accent? You aren't from here, are you?" The answer is always proudly the same, "I'm from the Mississippi Coast."
My husband and I live in Park Hills, Kentucky, just 2 miles shy of downtown Cincinnati. Although I've been away from Mississippi for many years, Home is the coast. After all, Home is where you are From. I grew up in Moss Point with parents who were from Biloxi; my grandparents were in Ocean Springs, and I had aunts and uncles in Biloxi and Gulfport. Where is Home? For me, it is the whole coast.
When we go Home, there is always a certain routine, particularly eating: McElroy's for fried shrimp and seafood platters; the place that used to be Rosetti's, where you could still get a po-boy (dressed or undressed) and a Barq’s in a bottle; gumbo at Mary Mahoney's; chilicheeseburgers at Edd's in Pascagoula. The routine always includes time for a walk along the water–a visit to the small craft harbor—either in Biloxi or Ocean Springs, and time to sit and watch the shrimp boats as they return for the day.
As coast natives, we seem to measure time by storms. I was 8 when Camille hit, on my parents' 25th anniversary. I remember countless tropical storms that blew in, the depressions and "little" hurricanes that made us somehow more resilient, or at least resistant to yard work. I started college the day Frederic landed, and saw a friend's picture amid devastation on the front of the New York Times—the first version of that paper I had ever seen. My husband and I bought our first home on the South Carolina coast, and had Hugo hit shortly thereafter. Even after all that, I know little of the pain you are going through.
Today communications are scarce. As each hour passes by, we cling to the latest Internet images—waiting to see one more picture of our Coast. I see the pictures you cannot, hear the news, and feel helpless. I see the devastation, and can do nothing but weep. I weep for my brother who has lost his home in Ocean Springs, for my aunt and uncle who spent years renovating an old mansion in Long Beach, and for my best friend from high school who lived around the corner from them. I see the aerial pictures, and pray that you are elsewhere -- alive.
I weep for great memories, of playing on the beach, of running down the pier at the old Biloxi Yacht Club; of caroling along the big beach houses with my cousins. I weep for the summer days my mother would suggest, "Want to go for a ride down the Coast?" That meant we visited my Biloxi or Gulfport cousins, had something great to eat, walked along the beach and stopped by my grandparents for a "Co-Cola" on the way home. I weep for po-boys, and walks amid the boats, and most of all, I weep with all of you for the Coast we all love.
My Midwestern colleagues are sympathetic, but they just don’t understand.
Thank you.
Updated NRL number
From the Naval Research Labratory in Washington:
In light of the communications difficulties created by the Hurricane Katrina, Naval Research Laboratory Stennis Space Center (NRLSSC) employees and contractors in southern Mississippi and southeast Louisiana are asked to contact the Naval Research Laboratory Employee Help Line at 1-866-598-8762. This toll-free help line is staffed by Naval Research Laboratory Human Resources staff who can provide updated information to NRLSSC employees.
Russ Bates writes:
I didn't see this information posted and wanted to pass it on for any of your readers that it may pertain to as this website is an awesome source of information for those outside of Gulfport.
Any active duty Navy personnel assigned to CBC Gulfport that is currently displaced, evacuated, or on leave should call the following number 757-462-7500 or 877-414-5358. By calling this number, they can provide their current status, location, recall and any other pertinent information about themselves or fellow Shipmates. Please get this word out.
I thought we had this a couple days ago, but I probably had more than three brain cells left, too. It's still good to get it back to the top.
More Waveland/BSL
From pbynum:
To all Waveland and Bay St. Louis searchers. This is Deanna McCarthy Lutz. Myself, daughter, and parents evacuated. Alot of people know me or my husband Keith, the jeweler in Waveland. I found this website which shows the devastating views of Bay St. Louis and Waveland. There is nothing left in Clermont Harbor, my home is totally missing! Gulfview school is gone. Everything is gone. You can see the video at http://www.wlbt.com/ and click on Skycopter Gulf Coast Damage: 3rd trip. It is unbelievable. My love and prayers for all of us right now. I am still trying to get my sister out who stayed in Ocean Springs. She is alive. Also, Keith stayed, he was rescued yesterday. Noone expected it to be this bad and I hope you all find your loved ones as I have found my sister and husband. Many more are missing. If anyone knows where Mrs. Cecil Johnston or Sammy Perniciaro or Jennifer and Ben Avery is please email me at laladylutz@aol.com or if anyone was looking for us and wants to email me please do. I will check my mail tomorrow. God Bless. By the way in the video you can only see the steeple to Christ Church. Everything west of the Bay including Waveland, Lakeshore, Clermont is still under 7 foot of water and I am so sorry for us all...there is nothing...I am in grief....
Another insurance answer, TImberidge info
Warren B. Mueller e-mails:
Someone asked about Timber Ridge in the Pass. I am/was located next door at Pass Isles. I just saw video from WLBT in Jackson and I am sorry to report it is pretty grim.
Somekone asked if they have to say put to file an insurance claim. I am with State Farm and I called mine in. My agent in the Pass is not available so I called an agent in Pennsylvania where I am right now. You need your policy numbers and address.
Aerial photos, video of BSL
Hank Hammett sends:
I am from Waveland. Great job you are doing. The Seacoastecho has announced a link to an aerial photo of much of Bay St. Louis with detail views of post-Katrina situation.By zooming in (double-click image) you may even find your own home or buiness.
They also have a link to aerial video by chopper of Bay St. Louis and Waveland. Go to the Skycopter Gulf Coast Damage 3rd trip.
Insurance info
Paul Huval, an agent from Denver, gives us this info about claims:
Insurance: State Farm told my mom and aunt that claims would not adjusted on a "first come" basis. Just file the claim by phone with their 800 number and an adjuster is sent based on amt. of damage or as adjusters get to that area of town.
You might stress to folks that they do not have to contact their agent. Most insurance carriers have 800 numbers to file claims that are answered by call centers in other areas of the country. Many of those lines are open 24 hour, especially for catastrophes.
Pass Christian question
Beth Vice writes:
I am from Pass Christian and would appreciate any info on the Timberidge subdivision off Henderson Rd. I am in Monroe, La right now and am desperate to find information on my home in Timberidge. Any info would be greatly appreciated!
Timberidge was an area that rescue efforts were being specifically concentrated on because it's so low-lying. The obvious implication was that there's lots of damage there, but I don't have any house-by-house info.
Laurel news
Shari Salters Jones for West Chester, Ohio:
I have family in Laurel and the word is that it looks as if a dozen tornadoes have come through. Most if not all the power lines are down and there are numerous trees down as well as damaged homes. The sad part is that most people do not realize how bad it is because they are unable to leave their houses and/or no communication devices.
I am a native of Ocean Springs but live in Ohio and 90% of my family live in the Biloxi/Ocean Springs area. I have heard from several people not everyone, but it is very bad beyond belief. I have been able to watch CNN, read The Sun Herald online and visit WLOX.com and see some of the disaster, but the people that can't see this have no idea the extent of destruction on the gulf coast. My thoughts and prayers go out to the people of the Mississippi Gulf Coast. Just know that people are coming together from all over even in my community and even my workplace to help right now. Efforts have already started all over the United States. AS I have often said, I am so proud of our country for pulling together.
Text messaging
Randy Perry e-mails:
I just text messaged my friend who is in Ocean Springs and it worked. I live in Washington state. I have Verizon Wireless and I am not sure what he has but the first three number along with the area code of 228 are 324. Please get this out there so other people know about it. I have left a message on the message board also.
I also have been receiving text messages, but haven't been able to get any out. Good point.
Ellisville update
My great friend Caroline Kelly just called from Ellisville, where she's a professor at Jones County Junior College. She used to live here on the Coast.
"It looks like a war zone in Ellisville," she said. "I'm sure it's nothing compared to down there ..."
She said trees are down everywhere and that the interstate was clogged with them. Power lines are down all over the place, although she said they had water in Ellisville.
"All the community is out cutting trees, brining water and helping each other out," she said.
More from the coroner
More from Harrison County's Gary Hargrove:
Crews are recovering bodies from under and on top of debris and in waterways. The rumor of large number of dead at St. Charles Apartment is not true. He said there have been no large masses of bodies as of today in Harrison and Hancock counties. They are finding some families together, but mostly scattered in an area.
If people find a body, don't try to move it because of health risk and decomposition issues. Alert local police, fire or rescue personnel to it.
Coroner's update
Harrison County coroner Gary Hargrove said the following locations have been set up for people to check on relatives:
-- In Harrison County, at the county courthouse in downtown Gulfport, where his main office is set up.
-- In Biloxi, at the Public Safety Center, Porter Avenue, there will be a table set up.
-- In Hancock County, a table will be set up at the county emergency operations center at Dunbar and US 90.
Mississippi Power update
Mississippi Power energized an esential 50-mile section of transmission lines that serve the southern portions of our area Wednesday, according to a press release. Power has been restored to about 14,000 of the company's 195,000 customers, mainly in Meridian and Laurel.
More than 4,000 workers are here, with another 1,000 to arrive shortly. More than 700 miles of lines are on the ground. At least 4,500 poles need replacing and thousands more need reparing. Estimates are that nearly 70 percent of the company's facilities suffered significant damage, especially in the Coastal and Pine Belt region.
They request folks stay off the road to help repair crews be able to get around.
Customers who see dangerous situations should call (800) ITS-DARK (800-487-3275).
Hancock Bank branches
Hancock Bank has branches open now:
Cowan Road at Pass Road, Gulfport
Crossroads at I-10/US 49, Gulfport
Downtown Ocean Springs
East Pacagoula on Highway 90
Diamondhead
They say they have ample cash and tellers, but won't have ATMs for a while.
Peoples Bank
Outsiders, please help us get information to us Coastians. We post this knowing that nobody's got internet access here, but if friends or family call you, you can relay this stuff back in. Calls go out, but they can't get in. (Sounds like a Raid commercial, eh?)
This one's about Peoples Bank. It will be open today, noon-4 p.m. and again Friday, 9 a.m.-4 p.m. They hope to resume normal hours Tuesday, and they're accepting deposits and cashing checks only.
The following locations are open:
WEst Biloxi Branch on Pass Road, Biloxi
Cedar Lake Branch on Popps Ferry Road, Biloxi
Main Office on Lameuse Street, downtown Biloxi
Other branchss will open when they can.
All employees who haven't contacted the bank are urged to do so. Call Jackie Henson (435-8205) or the employee hotline (435-8419). If you can't do that, contact a co-worker and pass the word along.
Fatality update
According to Joe Spraggins, Harrison County's Emeregency Management director, here is an update on fatalities in the area:
Harrison County: 56 (as of 7 p.m. Wednesday)
Hancock County: 17
Jackson County: 10 (Communications shaky, tentative number)
Pearl River County: 17 (Communications shaky, tentative number)
News blurbs
As of 10 a.m. from WLOX and radio reports:
-- Gulf Coast Rescue Mission, one block north of WLOX and the Sun Herald on DeBuys Road, has clothing to give our. They have a walk-in freezer and can hold perishable items for people. They are receiving food (canned and perishable) and money to hand out.
-- Humane Society is under water. Animals are crowded in the ruins and need food and water. The new shelter on US 49 looks good, although it's not been completed yet. They may move some animals there. They need volunteers.
-- Stennis Space Center personnel call (831) 656-4327. If you can't, report to the Naval Oceanographic Office.
-- Rich Westfall from the Isle of Capri Casino says the first priority for employees is to take care of youself. There's extensive damage throughout the property, but it's one of the few that stayed in place. Call (800) 843-4753 for updates.
NOLA rescue idea
David Walbridge in St. Paul writes:
Watching the news reports, there seems to be quite few people on rooftops and balconies who still need transport out of flooded/ devastated areas. ( Likely in excess of 25,000) They need to either get supplies or to dry land in the next 3-5 days.
I'd like to suggest that the some group ( Coast Guard? Red Cross? Sheriff?) recruit local a group of volunteer fishermen & pleasure boat owners from the area and to drive supplies IN while taking people OUT. The idea is this -- a boat brings in a load of food and water to group A, drops it off and picks up a second group "B" of people to bring out. Twice as many people get help and it doesn't tie up rescue boats or personnel. If you would like to see my ideas on how to organize the logistics and get help in fast, please contacts me ( David) .
Please forward this idea to any other appropriate people -- I hope someone can implement this idea fast and save lives.
Good idea, although I don't know if areas in New Orleans could be navigated safely. Consider your idea forwarded.
Insurance claims question
Patrick Macken from Atlanta:
I'm one of the lucky persons who have heard from my Mom. Although her house in Long Beach was leveled, she and her close freinds who rode out the storm near I-10 are ok. However, the reason she is still staying in Gulfport and has not left yet is she thinks (and says she has been told, but by who I do not know) that she needs to stay there until she can get her insurance claim filed and that if she leaves, she will be at the back of the line as far as processing claims.
Have you heard anything about this? I can't imagine that it is true. In case it is not I want to get the right information out to others who may still be staying in the area for no reason or who may be heading back into harms way for the same reason.
I'm giving this question to our editors as a story idea. Can anybody out there help with the information?
Keesler excercising?
Kevin H. Vogel sends:
The base needs to open its facilities to aid in the recovery of the coast. The Airman that are presently assigned need to help provide security and any supplies possible to the community. The base Gym and dorms can be utilized for shelter as well as using the hospital staff to render aid. Reading that the Airman are doing calistinics instead of delivering aid to the community hurts my heart as a former military member.
I was disturbed by this when I heard it. I'm sure that will be fixed in short order.
Blimps and planes?
RBurgwin writes:
Why can't they use the blimps that can have messages on the sides of them and planes that drag signs to let people know what's going on...that help is on the way...where to go for water, etc?
Maybe somebody will see this and figure out a way to do it. Thanks.
Pass Road apartments
From Greg McClain:
Thanks for the Katrina blog, wealth of information for individuals who left the area...Do you have any information on the Oak View Apts in Gulfport on Pass Road...? Did flooding reach that far back and are the apts still standing...?? Any info will be great...
Damage on Pass Road is related to wind and fallen trees. The storm surge didn't reach that far back. I can't remember which apartment those are specifically, so I can't help you out further.
NRL at Stennis check-in number
From the folks at the Naval Research Laboratory in Washington:
In light of the communications difficulties created by the Hurricane Katrina, Naval Research Laboratory Stennis Space Center (NRLSSC) employees and contractors in southern Mississippi and southeast Louisiana are asked to contact the Naval Research Laboratory Employee Help Line at 1-800-386-3801. This toll-free help line is staffed by Naval Research Laboratory Human Resources staff who can provide updated information to NRLSSC employees.
Diamondhead request
We'd like to hear something from those out in Diamondhead, too:
Hi, We have close friends (elderly) @ 7724 Laie Place in Diamond Head. I can't seem to find out how bad the damage is there and of course I can't reach them by phone. Any information you could give me would be greatly appreciated. Thank you for your time and all your efforts!
Debbie Lee
From Bitsy Black
She writes:
As for my family (4 sisters and 2 brothers), they survived the storm. The 4 along the coast have lost everything. But thank God, I got to here my younger brothers' voice yesterday and it was so sweet. To all of you out on the Gulf Coast, my heart is with you, be paitient, help is coming. Watch out for each other, love each other. God Bless You all.
The Virgils from Biloxi
Checking in:
My name is Nina Virgil and just wanted to say that we are fine. Floyd Virgil, Dominic Virgil and Floyd Junior. Floyd senior Dominic and my self are now in Florida at ( uncle Mikes) house. Floyd junior is in Louisiana working, I would like information about my granddaughter Elizabeth Virgil. She lives with her mother and stepfather Ben and Shasity Bond. Today is her 6th birthday and my 51st. I ask for prayers of comfort and strength. Most of all prayers for the Bond family's for safety. I can receive text messages at 228-326-8081 or 228-324-2419. Please send me any information that you can. Or I can be reached at BiloxiLday46@aol.com
May God continue to Bless everyone in the States of Mississippi and Louisiana.
She wants some action
Sweetiepie_C sends:
Could someone please go and see what the north end of Hancock Co looks like and give others info(that means above I-10) ... I hate to sound crude but most people including the people that run the county don't think anyone lives up that way.. well I am here to inform you there are thousands even more than live in Waveland and Bay St. Louis combined up north of I-10. If we could still look at the county voter records people would see that most of the people live north of I-10.
Also what kind of condition are the schools in? Are we gonna be the last to get aid like with Camille.. Oh yes I remember that one. The north end of the county got everything last and then it was a lot of politics on who got what.
We have reporters heading north into Hancock county as we try to expand the areas we're covering. The problem has been access. We can only get to the places where the engineers have gotten roads cleared. We're trying to get news from all over to help as many places as possible.
Info on leaving the area
Lynn Stover from Missouri e-mails:
My daughter and father are in Biloxi, all is ok but they want to come to MIssouri.Is that possible?I can't find any road info dealing with leaving the area. Thank you for any help,I realize we are lucky that they are all OK, but my dad needs to get out there for awhile,he is 78 and has some health problems.
I'm sure they'll have no problem from law enforcement once they tell them they're leaving the area. Pass Road is passible, as is I-10 to get to U.S. 49, which is open heading up. Anticipate it to take longer than normal, so factor that into the gas calculations.
Security assistance offer
Hal Lowder, Jr., from Eagle Watch Investigations in Georgia:
We here in Georgia send you our sympathy…..we provide physical security and consulting for businesses during these types of crises. We have worked such storms as Hugo, the South Georgia floods, and numerous tornado incidents. If any of your businesses/hotels/hospitals in the Gulf area need consulting or physical security to assist in minimizing the damages to their properties, please put them in contact w/ us. We can deploy w/ short notice. Thank you in advance, please accept our prayers as well. (my personal cell is 678-936-0824 ( we carry full insurance/ licensing and have reciprocity with Ms and LA).
M. Puckett sends the following e-mail:
BLESS you with this info. line! As a family member starved for info. on my lifetime of family and friends we are frantic for any info. I want any info. about travel in the area as I need to evacuate my elderly mom. She is a hospice patient currently in the hospital. She is an evacuee and NOT a patient there. I would like to get her OUT of the way as she requires full care. Do you know HOW we can get 'permission' to come in and evacuate her? Any info. would sure help. Your work is reaching and comforting millions! May our positive prayers lift you to continue your work!
We're under the impression that just about everybody is being turned away from the area. There are a lot of people that in your situation, and it looks like the only thing we can tell you is to be patient. A lot of people here are taking care of as many people as they can, so trust that the best is being done for her. I know it's not much, but it's all we can do.
Imperial Palace query
Paula Pender from Warner Robins, Ga., e-mails:
My husband and I have been coming to Biloxi for about 5 years, several times each year. We always stayed at Imperial Palace and over the time, became acquainted with so many of Imperial's employees. Our thoughts and prayers are with everyone in Biloxi and the surrounding areas and we will do what we can to help in anyway we can. In watching all of the news since this terrible tragedy happened, we have heard nothing about Imperial Palace or that side of Biloxi. If you can, please tell me how this particular hotel and side of town fared. I know some of the people we dealt with on all of our visits must have lost their homes and livelihood as well and I know there are other things more important than this particular e-mail. But I am worried about these people and am anxious to find out something about Imperial Palace.
Thanks for your e-mail. Imperial Palace is still in the East Biloxi part of town that was severely damaged. I saw some aerial shots of the IP that showed some damage, but I'm not sure that we have gotten specifics from there. Keep checking our Web site for our best information.
From Killeen, Texas
Susan Davis e-mails:
I just want to say a big THANK YOU to all the Sun Herald staffers who have risked their lives to keep us up to date on what is happening back home. This is such a godsend to all of us who have left and want to return. Any bit of information is appreciated. Depsite all that has happened, I can't wait to get home.
We left Orange Grove on Saturday, and are now in Killeen TX. We are going to try to make the drive home on Saturday to salvage what we can. Any one reading this, we are looking for info on Robinson Rd & the Pass. Any info is appreciated.
THE SUN HERALD IS THE BEST!!!
Thanks for the well-wishes.
Laurel question
Patsy Dean e-mails:
Can you give me any information on damage in Laurel? I have friends who have family that were going there from Pascagoula.
We haven't gotten information from Laurel, but we'd like to. If anybody can help, let us know. Also check our message boards for the exchange of information there.
Hattiesburg being left behind?
Elizabeth Garrett from Williamsburg, Va.,:
I keep hearing lots about the cost of Mississippi, but I have family in Forrest Co., I have spent 3 days on the phone with Jackson Highway Patrol and just yesterday got to speak with Emergency Management Services for Forrest Co. and Forrest Co. Sheriff's Office. They are all short staffed and over worked. The really interesting part is that they stated that there is NO assistance there - No Red Cross, No FEMA - NO ONE TO HELP THEM!!!! Is there anything that can be done to get them some help also? GOD BLESS FORREST CO. VOLUNTEER FIRE DEPT! They were the only ones who could get to my family and help them. My Grandfather is on 7 machines that keep him alive and they got to him just before his generator ran out of gas. I will always be truly indebted to them - they saved his life! Now, someone needs to get them all help so that more lives can be saved!
Thanks for the information from an area we haven't been able to get much from. I'm glad your father has been saved.
The Swiss send their best
Remo Gubler Strassmann from Lucerne, Switzerland e-mails:
Maybe it won't help you, but I wish you strength and force to overcome this. We had a similar natural disaster here a week ago, similar in terms of financial costs, but not victims. Come on, you will overcome this.
I know we'll overcome this. It'll be a long, hard slog but we'll make it. Thanks for your message.
Satellite images
Dave Harless from California sends the following:
I've got family from Ocean Springs, MS who evacuated north to West Point, MS and are safe but have been wondering what's left of their house. National Geodetic Survery (NGS)/NOAA just posted images of the Gulf Coast, taken after Katrina, on their site and it reveals in detail the damage done along the coast. Readers with internet access can get an idea of how their home/neighborhood fared – especially valuable since many neighborhoods are inaccessible. I hope you would be able to print nearly full page pictures of each of these images in your paper as soon as possible so that locals can see their neighborhoods.
These are not rotated/aligned – but you can compare sat. images with the maps & archive satellite photos available on maps.google.com.
Dave, thanks for that information. We're a little limited in our Internet access, but I'm sure others will find this informative.
Linda Duggins sends the following e-mail:
Millions of people are homeless due to Hurricane Katrina. Some had insurance to cover loss many did not. Renters in the effect area have lost everything. We are offering a room in our home to help an individual or a small family. I urge others to do the same. Please help us to spread the word and to help others.
I posted this on the internet at a few websites and people are responding back who want to help also. The Red Cross told us to contact churches in the effected area and in Houston because they are taking people to the Astro Dome. The Red Cross does not refer people to private resources. We want to help. There are people from Oregon to Kentucky who want to help. Please help us to reach out to the people and offer a place for them to stay while their community is being rebuilt. If for some reason you are not able to then pass this email on to others who can. Thank you and may you be blessed abundantly for your assistance.
Thanks. Consider the word passed.
Back up
I just rolled off the sleeping bag behind my desk that my good friend Lou Connelly left with me yesterday. It's amazing how thankful you can be for little things.
Let's get back to work.
Generator crashed, now I will
Our generator went down, but senior maintenance technician Chris Aubry, and distribution center supervisor Leroy Yarborough and system specialist Buster Collins got it back up in short order. I'm going to log off now, but will return after working on a story tomorrow (today ... ouch) morning. Please remember to check out our messsage boards and post there to get and give information about the area.
Wednesday, August 31, 2005
Glowing words
Lisa Stroup in Western Kentucky e-mails:
To Sun Herald staff:
I cannot thank you enough; I am tired of CNN but still glued. I finally found your web postings and doubt I will ever sleep tonight. We have friends that we cannot reach; an elderly couple in Gulfport and this is our only hope to date. Praying that someone will tell us they know them and that they are safe.
My family made our first trip to Gulfport and Biloxi Memorial Day 2004; your paper featured my dad and Mr. Hunter on the anniversary of D-Day. They were reuniting for the first time since WWII. I took my father and 7 yr old son and took in the wonderful sights of your area. Stayed at the fine little Biloxi Beach Motel, climbed in the branches of the Friendship Oak, watched the bananas being loaded while at the dolphin show, even had a comp dinner at the Grand Casino. Our memories will last a lifetime. My little boy has kept you all in his prayers this week, from our friends to the residents we don't know, to the owners of the Olive Garden we ate at, to the dolphins that he thinks swam free during the storm.
My prayers are with you all; what fine people and deserving of God's grace and mercy.
Thank you to the staff of the Sun Herald for providing us all across the country to feel connected to you there. Wish we could do more to help.
I'm speechless.
Pearlington isn't forgotten
Ben Caruso in Houston, Texas, e-mails:
You guys at the Sun Herald are awesome. Amazing tenacity to get the news out. Any ideas on how I can get information on Pearlington? Every area local news station from the Coast to Jackson to national news have bypassed coverage on Pearlington. I know it's not a metropolis, but I've seen quite a few inquiries on other blogs, but no results. Any ideas? MS DOT tells me I can't enter the area for another 1 or 2 weeks. I've even given CNN a story idea for the forgotten little town in Hancock County.
Thanks for the kind words. I can assure you we haven't forgotten about Pearlington. We're trying to expand our coverage areas every day, moving out as recovery crews keep expanding their reach by clearing the way. I know it's frustrating for people, but we won't forget about anybody. Please bear with us and we'll do our best.
Returning to work
Todd writes from Columbus, Ga., where he and his family evacuated to before the storm:
It's heartbreaking to see what the Coast is going through, but I'm so glad you guys are posting online, so those of us who did leave can keep up with what's happening on the Coast.
Question: My mother works for Memorial Hospital and my brother works for Wal-Mart in Pass Chritian. I know that both places have sustained heavy damage. I was wondering if there was a number that they could call to let their respective businesses know where they're at and when they need to report for work.
Thank you for all that you're doing and keep up the great work!
For Memorial Hospital, I'd keep trying to call their numbers until phone service returns. We don't know for sure when that will be, but let them know periodically.
For Wal-Mart, I'd recommend going to the Wal-Mart in your area and asking for a manager. See if perhaps there's a corporate headquarters phone number you can call to see what they might have set up.
Wanting to help
Tony Munoz in Wyoming, Mich., represents the efforts of a church there wanting to bring supplies to the Coast. Wednesday, Harrison County officials asked that you contact them first before coming down, because there may be advantages to stretching out delivery of supplies. If you remember after 9/11, there were a lot of supplies that went bad because they couldn't be used, but would have been better put to use in the following weeks. They want you to call (228) 865-4002. That number won't work right now, probably, but keep trying periodically and let them know what you'd like to do. You should also not forget about Hancock and Jackson counties either, and they should be able to direct you to help out there.
We all appreciate it.
I'm OK Line online
Eric and Melissa Istre ask if our "I'm OK Line" lists are online. That was originally the idea, but it looks like it's not happening. We'll get that fixed as soon as we can.
Where to post your search requests
The next couple of e-mails are ones I'm sure we'll be getting lots of in the coming hours and days. We've got a request from Larry Cotton in Lawton, Okla., for Robert Bass and family to contact him at (580) 284-0388, and one from John Downer, looking for information on Harold (Jack) Spurlock from Moss Point, who may be at the Moss Point High School shelter. John says our "I'm OK Line" has been busy all day, which is to be expected given the massive scope of this disaster.
The Sun Herald has a message board for folks to post this sort of information. I'm just now seeing it, and it looks like an amazing tool for you to use with lots of activity. Wow. Great job, folks. This is doing a much faster job of anything I could ever hope to do, especially on a slow dial-up connection.
(One other tip for Jack: Check with your local American Red Cross chapter, and see if you can send a health and welfare request to that shelter through them. They may have ways to get information from that shelter through other channels, like amateur radio operators.)
Historic first post back
This is historic on so many levels. After being offline for 30-something hours, the first e-mail we got is from Ken in Ocean Springs:
I'm not sure if this is the avenue for this but, I need you to hold delivery of my paper until further notice. I am at (house number deleted to protect privacy) Woody Circle in Ocean Springs.
Thank you,
Ken
I know this is completely inappropriate, but as someone who's also lost a home, I found one of my first laughs in a couple days because of this post. I hadn't thought to have my delivery service suspended; it just never occured to me.
Don't worry, Ken. We won't be delivering until we can get around a litle easier. I'll pass along your info to our circulation department just to make sure. Thanks for subscribing, and we'll be ready to give you your papers on your front yard when you are.
Here we go
OK, you can look to the right to see the new e-mail address. It's KatrinaSunHerald@aol.com. Remember, we encourage you to use our toll-free "I'm OK Line" at (866) 453-1925 to track relatives and loved ones. You can leave a message and we'll run them each day in our paper. Our Wednesday paper arrived at about noon and we distributed 20,000 copies by a variety of means. Employees from every part of our paper -- circulation, pressmen, advertising, operations, business office and newsroom -- were handing out papers at the water giveaways, cantinas, shelters, intersections and even the old fashioned way, throwing them on yards, all for free.
Thursday, we'll be distributing 25,000 by all those methods, plus others, including through the American Red Cross to their shelters and support sites.
Friends point out my cynicism at times, but I've never been prouder to work at the Sun Herald than right now. We've done great work, and the support we've gotten from the Miami Herald, Charlotte Observer, Macon (Ga.) Telegraph, St. Paul (Minn.) Pioneer Press, Bradenton (Fla.) Herald and the San Jose (Calif.) Mercury News has helped us put out two of the best papers you'll ever see. More help is on the way from our Knight-Ridder sister papers, and we'll keep trying our best. You deserve it.
Back online
This is Don Hammack at the Sun Herald offices on the Gulfport/Biloxi border. Our landlines have just come back on, although we are only able to dial outside the 228 area code. We're dialed up through an AOL number in Starkville. Stand by for an updated e-mail address to send comments or information to. My work account was forwarded to a local ISP, and it's not showing up on the Internet anymore.
Bear with us, and we'll be back soon.
The Bloginator
Tuesday, August 30, 2005
Communications are down
Communications to the Biloxi area are down -- phone, e-mail, Internet .... These connectivity issues are what have kept Don Hammack and Geoff Pender from updating this blog.
If you work for The Sun Herald, please contact the paper to let us know where you are.
As we know the news, we will post it to SunHerald.com. We're in this with you for the long haul.
Fatalities
From Sun Herald reporter Margaret Baker:
Maj. Rodney McGilverry of Biloxi PD said early Tuesday that between 35 and 40 people are believed to have died in that city, with the number expected to rise as search efforts continue. He said the real search and rescue efforts started today because there wasn't much sunlight left after the storm subsided Monday afternoon.
The east end of the city has suffered massive damage, with almost total devastation reported primarily south of the railroad tracks near Lee Street, Point Cadet and Casino Row.
McGilverry debunked reports of 30 deaths at a single apartment complex in Biloxi. He said initial reports that included successful rescues were merged with actual fatalities.
Working on aerial photos
We're trying to get aerial photos of the Coast and areas inland to show people the damage. At the moment, airspace is restricted because of ongoing rescue operations, but we are trying to get those done soon.
Our main Katrina story
By ANITA LEE,
DON HAMMACK
AND SCOTT DODD
BILOXI - The Gulf Coast woke this morning to devastation not seen since Camille 36 years ago. Hurricane Katrina, a massive Category 4 storm, trashed entire cities and left hundreds missing or dead.
South Mississippi bore the brunt of the powerful lashing, which shattered multi-million dollar casinos, buried Biloxi's beach highway and killed at least 50 people in Harrison County alone.
"This," said Biloxi Mayor A.J. Holloway, "is our tsunami."
Gov. Haley Barbour said on TV this morning that the death toll in Harrison might be as high as 80.
Many died on Point Cadet, at the southeastern tip of Biloxi's peninsula, officials said. Bodies were being recovered late into the night, and a portable morgue was being brought in to handle the dead. Authorities feared some may have been washed away, never to be found.
"We'll be trying to determine a total fatality count," weary Assistant Police Chief Rodney McGilvary said early this morning, "if we ever have one."
Mississippi fared so badly because it stood east of Katrina's eyewall, in the segment of the storm that packs the most powerful gusts and raging waves. With phones out, power gone and roads demolished, even emergency officials could get only a rough look at the devastation.
But it was clear as the sun came up today that southern Mississippi had suffered billions of dollars in damage and would take months, if not years, to recover.
Katrina's tidal surge - over 30 feet in spots -- demolished major bridges to three coastal counties, including those linking Biloxi with Ocean Springs and the connection to Bay St. Louis. The storm swept sailboats onto city streets in Gulfport and obliterated hundreds of waterfront homes, businesses, community landmarks and
condominiums.
The concrete Eight Flags display marking the Gulfport-Biloxi boundary -- a signature of both coastal communities -- was gone.
Hancock and Jackson counties fared no better. A foot of water swamped the emergency operations center at the Hancock County courthouse -- which sits 30 feet above sea level. The back of the courthouse collapsed under the onslaught.
"Thirty-five people swam out of their emergency operations center with life jackets on," neighboring Harrison County emergency medical services director Christopher Cirillo said Monday. "We haven't heard from them."
Jackson County's emergency operations center also disintegrated as Katrina raged ashore. The roof was peeling off by 7:30 a.m., forcing officials to evacuate to the courthouse across the street.
Hundreds of Katrina's victims needed medical attention, but it was hard to give. Cirillo said three local hospitals could accept only the worst emergency patients, so officials set up medical triage stations at the Biloxi High School, a fire station on Pass Road and other spots. They urged the walking wounded to go there.
Memorial Hospital suffered some damage, but no injuries to patients or staff. It and Biloxi Regional had the only functional emergency rooms in Harrison County.
Cirillo said they had seen lots of cuts, broken bones, electrocution from downed power lines and breathing difficulties from the stifling heat.
Looting was already a major problem as the wind subsided and darkness fell Monday. A furious Harrison County Sheriff George Payne was heard on the police scanner telling his deputies to make room in the jail
for thieves.
They scoured broken homes and businesses for cars, radios, liquor, furniture, generators and anything else they could find.
Officials sent two hundred military police from Camp Shelby to help maintain order and enforce curfews, which remain in effect in most coastal communities.
Georgia, Alabama, Texas and Florida sent 35 ambulances to help, more than doubling American Medical Response's normal fleet of 32 - seven of which were lost in the storm.
Katrina will forever be compared to Hurricane Camille, the powerful Aug. 17, 1969, storm that cost the Mississippi Coast 144 lives and more than $6.5 billion in property damage in today's dollars.
A revitalized and growing Mississippi Coast had even more to lose. In Biloxi, the mayor said, the storm's surge put at least five casinos out of commission.
Grand Casino Biloxi washed across U.S. 90. Treasure Bay's pirate ship was beached. Beau Rivage still stood, while Hard Rock Casino -- scheduled to open in early September - was half destroyed. Hard Rock's signature guitar, touted as the world's largest, survived the lashing.
In Gulfport, the Copa Casino barge sat on land next to the Grand Casino parking garage. The western Grand Casino barge, containing Kid's Quest, was swept around the west side of the hotel and now blocks U.S. 90.
Katrina shattered high-water marks set by Camille, pushing surf, sand and debris higher than anyone alive today can remember. In Gulfport, water washed over the CSX railroad tracks, a line old-timers say Camille did not
cross.
U.S. 90, the main road through all the coast's oceanfront communities, was buried under inches and even feet of sand in some sections, leaving questions about how the region's road network will recover.
"Highway 90 is destroyed, " said Holloway, Biloxi's mayor. "I saw a disaster. Water did not get this high for Camille."
Stories of narrow survival were everywhere. Jean Jenkins of Moss Point spent nearly seven hours crouched in her small attic with her husband, two dogs and a cat before her son-in-law could rescue her. He had to come by boat.
"It was horrible," Jenkins said. "Horrible, horrible, horrible."
Jenkins said she's lived in her house for 29 years. She didn't evacuate because she'd never seen the water rise so high.
Monday morning, it came in fast and furious as Katrina raged ashore, giving Jenkins and her husband no escape but the attic.
When she finally embraced her daughter after the long ordeal, Jenkins said she'd lost everything. "We've got nothing left."
"You've got you," daughter Bonnie Cothran replied.
In neighborhoods throughout Biloxi and Gulfport, shell-shocked residents burst into tears and embraced, consoling one another over the devastation. Brothers Jesus and David Diaz walked up Biloxi's St. Charles Avenue in a daze.
"What are you looking for?" they were asked.
One brother replied: "Our house."
Like many others, they may never find it again.
STAFF WRITERS JOSHUA NORMAN AND MARGARET BAKER AND KNIGHT RIDDER STAFF
WRITERS BRYAN MONROE AND MIKE McQUEEN CONTRIBUTED TO THIS REPORT.
Keesler AFB/Seabee base updates
Lt. Shinka, the Seabee base representative at Harrison County's EOC, said there was some damage on the base, but nothing significant. Fences were down, and there was some water damage. Something like 6-8 buildings had roofing damage. They're on backup generators.
Biloxi mayor A.J. Holloway said yesterday afternoon that Keesler looked like it was in pretty good shape on his drive-thru to get west to us. Nothing more specific, but no news is definitely good news in this case.
Bay St. Louis and Waveland
Pearl P. writes:
I'm in Dallas, but I talked to my daughter who is there. Total destruction from the Bay Bridge to St. Stanislaus. She also said Coleman Ave. and Nicholson Ave. suffered mass destruction. Lost communication, but this is the last I heard. Our prayers are with everyone back home. Haven't heard from daughters, Melanie D. or Donna B. Please contact us if at all possible.
I'm OK Line
The Sun Herald is setting up an "I'm OK Line" for folks who left the area to phone in and let their relatives know where they evacuated to. It's a toll free number and the information will be printed in the paper and posted online. You can call (866) 453-1925.
Requests and what we can give
We're still receiving massive amounts of e-mails from folks looking for information on very specific locations, people, etc. We will struggle to do this because of manpower limitiations, but we will try to paint broad pictures for you.
We're getting lots of requests for Long Beach and Pass Christian information. Here's what I've got right now, and it's not much because there's no communication there and emergency personnel haven't been able to make their way very far into Pass Christian. Hancock County is largely unknown ground at this point. I've posted stuff from the first foray by National Guardsmen into Pass Christian.
The southern area of Diamondhead below Interstate 10 has been heavily damaged.
Long Beach/Pass Christian
By DON HAMMACK
SUN HERALD
Staff Sgt. John Freeman led his detachment of the 890th Engineering Battalion in an effort to get into Pass Christian once the storm subsided Monday afternoon.
He wasn’t sure exactly where he was going, with the Purvis residence not having much local knowledge.
"We’ve just got a county map," Freeman said. "We hunt-and-peck until we get there."
They made it down Railroad Street in Long Beach, turning up Beatline Road through some localized flooding at the 90-degree turn. They went up to the Industrial Park, cut across to Espy Avenue and started back south.
They made it to Second Street, where they found a house in the middle of the road. They didn’t make it far down the road when the were flagged down by folks directing them to two American Medical Response EMTs.
They’d lost their vehicle to the water and were walking out when they ran into a rescue opportunity. A man jumped out of his second-story, but was trapped by his house when it collapsed.
The EMTs got the man out, took him to a neighbor’s house and treated him for a collapsed lung.
The Guard realized they weren’t going to get much farther with darkness setting in, so they packed up the patient and EMTs and met up with another ambulance to get the patient evacuated.
"We’re going back in there with the big equipment today," said Freeman.
Monday, August 29, 2005
Main Katrina story for tomorrow
By ANITA LEE, DON HAMMACK, JOSHUA NORMAN, AND MARGARET BAKER
SUN HERALD
BILOXI — Hurricane Katrina devastated the Mississippi Coast Monday with a force not seen since Camille 36 years ago, sweeping aside multimillion-dollar casinos, burying the beach highway and killing at least 50 people in Harrison County.
“This,” said Biloxi Mayor A.J. Holloway, “is our tsunami. “
At least 50 people are confirmed dead in Gulfport and Biloxi.
Katrina raged ashore in Mississippi at dawn and terrorized the Coast until winds subsided after 3 p.m., leaving
massive damage in her wake.
Monday night, communications were down and transportation systems demolished. Katrina also crippled medical
services.
Beleaguered emergency personnel awaited reinforcements from the federal government and other states to shore up
assistance.
“We are still in the search and rescue mode,” Holloway said. It will be days before the costs of Katrina, in lives and property, are known.
Katrina’s tidal surge swept away bridges that had linked the three Coast counties.
Along the waterfront, the storm surge obliterated businesses, homes, community landmarks and condominiums. It swept away the concrete Eight Flags display marking the Gulfport-Biloxi boundary on the beach.
Countless treasures washed from homes joining streams of debris that settled 5 feet high on residential streets off the beach.
New sets of stairs to nowhere joined those Camille left when she washed away waterfront mansions on Aug. 17, 1969. Katrina will forever be compared to Camille in many ways. Camille cost the Coast 144 lives and over $6.5 billion in property damage in current dollars..
A revitalized and growing Mississippi Coast had even more to lose. In Biloxi, Holloway said at least five casinos are out of commission.
Grand Casino Biloxi washed across U.S. 90 to the west. Treasure Bay’s pirate ship was beached. At least three other casinos were out of commission, Holloway said.
Beau Rivage still stood, while Hard Rock Casino, scheduled to open in early September, suffered 50 percent damages. The signature guitar, said to be the world’s largest, still stood.
“Highway 90 is destroyed, “ said Biloxi Mayor A.J. Holloway. . “It’s something like I’ve never seen before. I saw a disaster. Water did not get this high for Camille.”
Most of the residents who lost their lives were on Point Cadet, at the southeastern tip of Biloxi’s peninsula.
In Gulfport, the storm surge crossed the CSX railroad tracks, a line oldtimers say Camille did not cross.
Hancock and Jackson counties didn’t fare any better. Communications were all but severed during Katrina.
Before telephone contact was lost Monday morning, Hancock County officials reported that a foot of water swamped their Emergency Operations Center, which sits 30 feet above sea level. The back of the Hancock County courthouse, where the center is located, gave way.
“Thirty-five people swam out of their Emergency Operations Center with life jackets on,” said Christopher
Cirillo, Harrison County’s Emergency Medical Services director. “We haven’t heard from them. The only person we can raise on the radio is the sheriff in his car.”
Jackson County’s Emergency Operations Center also began to disintegrate shortly after Katrina raged ashore. The roof was peeling off by 7:30 a.m., forcing officials to evacuate to the courthouse across the street.
As soon as the wind subsided, looters struck. They stole cars, radios, liquor, furniture, generators and anything else they could fine.
A furious Harrison County sheriff, George Payne, was heard on the police scanner telling his deputies to make room in the jail.
In neighborhoods, shell-shocked residents burst into tears and embraced, consoling one another over the devastation.
The atmosphere, at times, was surreal.
Brothers Jesus and David Diaz walked up Biloxi’s St. Charles Avenue in a daze.
“What are you looking for?” they were asked.
One of them said, “Our house.”
A survivor's tale
A story I wrote for tomorrow:
By DON HAMMACK
dthammack@sunherald.com
GULFPORT – It must have seemed a completely plausible plan at the time to Mike Petro and his family.
They lived at 1514 18th Avenue, just east of downtown, just off the beach, just south of the railroad tracks, right off Second Street. He and his wife Andrea, his 30-year-old son, twin 13-year-old daughters, a 6-year-old daughter, a dachshund and a cat thought they’d be able to beat Hurricane Katrina and leave town early Monday morning.
Having disregarded mandatory evacuation orders, it nearly proved a fatal mistake in a neighborhood where a similar mistake was likely punished with death.
When Katrina slammed into the Central Gulf Coast in the early morning hours, ruining what we like to call our little slice of heaven, the Petros’ power went out, interrupting their last-minute packing scheme. Then they heard the water, a strange rumbling train sound.
Their house, more than 100 years old and not built on the cheap like modern ones, this one a good tongue-and-groove carpentry, began to be ripped apart at the seams.
The family began to move for shelter, angling across the intersection one house north of their lot.
Petro got knocked down by a piece of his house. It plunked him down on a slab of something, he said, while his wife and kids were being herded up the street by the storm surge.
The rest of the family wound up pushed to another house on the east side of 18th. Mike Petro’s slab helped him make it up and across 18th Street, and he need the help. He’d had hip replacement surgery recently and he moved with a noticeable limp.
"I was afraid for the kids," said Petro, his voice cracking for the first time. "You can beat the hell outta me…"
As he stood on the listing porch that was two houses north of the intersection of 18th Avenue and Second Street, he nearly apologized for setting up shop in a neighbor’s severely damaged house, using a piece of debris as a cane. He said he was going to leave them a note of thanks.
"I was scared to death by the end," he said. "But they weren’t," meaning the dachshund, which they’d managed to keep with them, and a cat that they hoped would be back after expending one-ninth of its allotment of good fortune.
His wife joined him after he was interviewed, having crossed the street. Mike Petro sitting on the threshold to the borrowed house, she squatting in front of him. They grasped each other’s faces with two hands, sharing a moment they nearly robbed themselves of by poor decision making the night before.
Around him, even as the back end of Katrina’s feeder bands continued to hack at the coastline, recovery had already begun. Two young Seabee who lived in the brick house just south of the railroad tracks were climbing over the piles of debris on 18th.
There was a lot of debris, including a mess of maroon upholstered pews and the organ from St. Peter’s By the Sea was instead by the railroad tracks. The Episcopal church moved east several years ago when the Grand Casino purchased the old church proper with enough slot machine coin to build a beautiful new building, one that’s apparently been demolished.
Also among the debris was the house just north of the Petro’s, and in it, apparently an 85-year-old woman and a younger man. They were in the house Sunday night, neighbors said, and Monday morning there was evidence of what had been, but only if you knew what there was when it started out.
There was a perfectly clean, silver oxygen bottle, the green paint on it not so much as smudged as it lay among the pickup sticks wreckage underneath it, but with no hose to lead back to a possible victim.
The Seabees crawled all over the place, hollering for survivors. They’d survived Katrina, with water up to their waists in the first floor of their brick rental.
Petty Officer Third Class Jesse Good said he’d been the target of an insurgent mortar attack while stationed in the Middle East with NMCB 7.
"I haven’t seen nothing like that in Iraq," said Good, 22.
It didn’t appear there was much for them to hope for in their search.
There was an ironic sign of hope among the wreckage. Lying on a sidewalk north of where the debris field began trailing off, lay a brightly colored, hand-painted, thin wooden plaque.
It certainly had been attached to some kitchen wall someplace just 24 hours earlier.
"If you’re lucky enough to live by the beach you’re lucky enough."
It just didn’t seem too lucky Monday morning for the vast majority of South Mississippians.
Mike Petro and his clan found a sliver, but there wasn’t much else.
Back online
After being away from the Internet because of an almost total lost communications to the outside world, I'm back at the Sun Herald offices on the Gulfport-Biloxi border. Things are very bad here. I've gotten several hundred specific queries about friends, families and neighborhoods. I've told several people that it is easier to list the things that are undamaged than those that have been pounded. That's the honest truth.
We've got significant loss of life, with around 40 dead in Biloxi alone. We're trying to glean other information from Coast municipalities and counties, but communications are brutal here at the moment. Shortly, we'll be posting some stories that will be appearing in tomorrow's edition, which will be printed in Columbus, Ga., and flown by helicopter for distribution as best we can in the area.
Please bear with us while we try to pick ourselves up the mat.
Don't come back yet
This from staff writer Geoff Pender, who is calling in reports from Hattiesburg. If you are thinking about getting in the car and coming back to South Mississippi, don't. The Mississippi Emergency Management Agency is telling people who have evacuated to stay away until the roads have been cleared and the National Guard is in place. If we get word when that happens, we'll pass it along.
On a different note, we have a report that portions of U.S. 90 are under seven feet of water.
Eye on Katrina front page
Putting it all together
BY GEOFF PENDER
and MICHAEL NEWSOME
THE SUN HERALD
Hurricane Katrina brought catastrophic damage from the Coast to Hattiesburg. Gulfport Fire Chief Pat Sullivan said downtown buildings were ‘imploding’ or collapsing, particularly in the 19th street area.
Coastwide there were reports of homes and buildings knocked off their foundations by storm surges as high as 28 feet.
As of Monday afternoon, no fatalities had been reported in Mississippi, but even emergency communications were sporadic at best. Harrison County Civil Defense's command post lost power and communications early Monday, and emergency operations centers in Hancock and Jackson counties had to be evacuated and moved to higher ground.
There were numerous reports of people stranded in attics or on roofs as the tidal surge and floowaters rose. At times, emergency crews were unable to go out in the heavy winds. Hospitals in the three Coast counties reported damage and problems in operations. Memorial Hospital at Gulfport reported major damage.
The first floor of the Armed Forces Retirement Home in Gulfport was flooded Monday morning and workers scrambled to move medicine and equipment to higher floors. There were reports of boats blown north of U.S. 90 in Gulfport.
Numerous tornadoes were reported across South Mississippi. Beau Rivage reportedly has water up to its second floor. There was no word from the other casinos.
Gov. Haley Barbour urged people to stay put during heavy winds and flooding, and until emergency officials give the all clear.
“This is not a small storm, we have catastrophic damage on all levels.” he said. “Don't go running out into flood zones and getting bitten by snakes or wading through floodwaters that might be covering utility lines. Use good judgement in the aftermath.”
Barbour said search and rescue operations are the first priority as Katrina subsides.
Barbour and other officials had a harsh warning for those thinking of looting.
“I've urged the highway patrol and national guard to treat looters ruthlessly,” Barbour said, “The rules of engagement will be as ruthless as the law allows.”
Eye on Katrina front page
Latest information
According to Staff Writer Geoff Pender, a number of businesses and homes have been damaged in the Hattiesburg area. The heavy winds are starting to hit there. U.S. 49 and Highway 11 are shut down.
Also, Memorial Hospital at Gulfport has been heavily damaged. There are reports that all the hospitals in the Coast counties are reporting major difficulties.
Gov. Haley Barbour and other officials have warned that looters will not be tolerated. "If you are in the business of theft, this might not be the time to play your trade," according to Harold Cross of the Mississippi National Guard. So far, there have been no confirmed reports of casualties.
More than 180,000 people in South Mississippi are without power.
Eye on Katrina front page
Interstate 10 impassable
The Biloxi River is flowing over the bridge on Interstate 10, to what one observer guessed was perhaps 6 feet. There are also reports of containers from the Fayard moving company littering in the interstate just east of the I-10/U.S. 49 junction in Gulfport.
Eye on Katrina front page
HC 9th Grade damage
Reports from Harrison Central 9th Grade School in North Gulfport are that three of four walls there have collapsed. Rescue efforts are in progress. There were about 100 people sheltered there.
Eye on Katrina front page
Hancock County
This is not much, but the latest we've heard on Hancock:
Major flooding all around St. Louis Bay.
Eye on Katrina front page
Casinos
Do you have any information on the condition of the casinos on the Gulf in Biloxi and Gulfport? My husband and I were consultants to one of the casino a few years back and the area holds a special place in our heart. We send our thoughts and prayers to our old friends and the community.
Lydia in Annapolis
Lydia, our last reports were not good... see below about Beau Rivage. Huge storm surge. Now 100 mph winds continuing.
Eye on Katrina front page
Anything on Bay St Louis lately? Mom in a shelter there.
Thank you for doing such a wonderful reporting job. You have been the only place I have been able to get up to date information.
Thank you,
Debbie
Debbie, not much coming out of Bay/Hancock right now. As of about 11:30, we heard a report that they were getting clobbered by eye-wall winds. We'll update as soon as we hear anything.
Eye on Katrina front page
Bay?
I am hearing a lot of reports from Harrison County but not much from Hancock. Does anyone know anything about the damage to Bay St. Louis, Diamondhead, and other Hancock County areas? kbj
Eye on Katrina front page
From Florida
Greetings from South Florida ... Katrina just missed a direct hit to Pompano Beach but decided to head south through Miami. Our administrative offices are here in Pompano, but our warehouse is Pearlington, MS (Port and Harbor Drive). Is there any information on that general area?
My prayers are with all of you.
Susan Creed
Global Sourcing & Design
Eye on Katrina front page
Baker Street?
I have family that lives on Baker St. in Biloxi and they chose to stay home hoping that the storm would pass and not be so bad.Well their home is a mobile home and I was trying to call them but can not get thru so I was wonering if the phones lines was down in that part of Biloxi.
Thank You
Katie B
Eye on Katrina front page
Waveland?
I am in Jacksonville FL, and although my family has evacuated their home it is a few houses up from the water in Waveland. Do you have any updates from that area? Any information would be helpful. My thoughts are with all of you.
God Speed,
Brittany M. Ellis, Esq.
Eye on Katrina front page
Before the power goes again, I'm trying to rapid fire posts. Forgive
the sloppiness
Thanks for the update on the Suburban Lodge - my dad is the General Manager of that hotel, I was able to call him from Va Beach, VA, to let him know what was going on. Ya'll are doing a great job - be safe & my prayers are with you!
Theresa
Eye on Katrina front page
Beau Rivage?
Any word on the Beau Rivage area and the that strip of Beach Blvd near 110?
RT
Last report we heard, Beau Rivage had water into the first two floors,
but that report was a few hours ago. Extensive flooding still in
East Biloxi.
Biloxi PD just reported it has no officers out on street patrol right now,
but some workign rescue. Sorry, RT, that's about the best I can tell you right now.... Geoff
Eye on Katrina front page
Help needed
If anyone receives this email, My name is Elliott Quave and I live in Sacramento, CA
My Family lives at 315 Nixon St. Biloxi
My number is 916-686-3361, Cell 916 804-5203
My Family is very old, they are at the above residence, last I heard from them, they had water in the house, and it DID NOT sound good.
This Email is our only form communication between California and the Mississippi Gulf Coast.
COULD SOMEONE PLEASE GO CHECK THEM FOR US, PLEASE
Elliott, I don't have any phone communication right now. Law enforcement is having trouble getting out and NO ONE ELSE SHOULD TRY TO GET OUT AND ABOUT RIGHT NOW! But I'm posting it for you, and if I can get through to any emergency workers, I'll pass it on as well. You're in our prayers
Eye on Katrina front page
General update
We got knocked off the air for a while, but, unbelievably, the power came back on. Things are looking bad here in hattiesbug. I think we're about to see the eye wall stuff coming in. Here's a general update Michael Newsom and I gathered from various sources:
Porteaux Bay - four people are trapped on a roof, wearing lifejackets
They couldn't get through to 911, but got on WLOX, asking for help
100mph wind gusts in Wiggins (11 a.m.)
About 180k people are without power, Coast Electrict and Miss Power
Report
With current conditions, law enforcement is having trouble getting out.
You may have to just sit tight. Stay indoors.
Geoff and Micheal
Eye on Katrina front page
Gulfport FD buildings taking beating
At least three firehouses in Gulfport have taken significant damage. The company at Station 8 in Lyman was involved in a rescue operation of some sort, one spokesman said he thought it was an apartment complex. It could be the Lyman Elementary evacuation noted previously, just piecing things together.
Eye on Katrina front page
Shelters damaged in Harrison Co.; no injuries reported
Red Cross official said virtually all their shelters have received some sort of damage, including broken windows, leaky windows, no power and the like, but there have been no injuries. The most significant damage was at Lyman Elementary, where they lost two buildings. People were moved to another building on campus safely.
At Woolmarket Elementary, they lost the roof. West Wortham Elementary has signficant roof damage.
Again, no injuries have been reported, but communications have been spotty for some time.
Eye on Katrina front page
More from Slippery Rock
From Del Oehms Hamilton:
It sounds so bad what we are hearing. It sounds like life as it has been on the Gulf Coast will be no more. I can not believe it as each report you post sinks in. Thanks again for keeping us informed. My nephew has been managing calls out from Jackson County but we can get no calls in. He reports major trees down and water rising in his subdivision off Rose Farm Road.
Eye on Katrina front page
Anxious Air Force mom
This is an anxious Air Force mom in Connecticut, praying for all of you and wondering if anyone knows conditions on the AFB?, Martha Ahlquist
Martha, as far as we've heard the AFB is OK. Those folks know how to ride out a storm, so don't worry too much.
Eye on Katrina front page
More requests
We're getting lots of specific requests about damage reports. We aren't able to do anything like that at this point. I'm posting all I hear about, though. My apologies to Lacy Williams asking about Bay St. Louis, Carlos Medina asking about about Jeff Davis campus and Laura Luke asking about College Park. Keep checking in.
Eye on Katrina front page
Biloxi query
From Carol S. Lafleur:
Our 2 sons are in Biloxi and we are not able to reach them by phone. I know the power went out around 4 am this morning and I was having a hard time reaching them on cell phone because the connection kept dropping off. Any one know anything about the conditions at Acadian Court, located about almost directly behind the President Broadwater Golf Club between Pass Road and "the back bay". From what I understand, it's about midway between Pass Rd and the Back Bay.
Eye on Katrina front page
Memorial Hospital report
From Greig:
Sending this email from Tampa, FL. All my family is from Pass Christian. Our prayers are with you guys. Just got off the phone with my brother, Glyn, he works security at Memorial Hospital. His opinion is that it will need to be rebuilt after the hurricane. Windows are out on the bottom two floors, most of the roof is gone and they are losing doors from the wind blowing in. The top floor has been evac'd due to water coming through the roof. He also told me of an employee of the hospital who had to walk to work from almost in Long Beach. He walked to Memorial along the tracks in waist deep water. Not looking too good for Gulfport. Anyone out there with updates from Pass Christian?
Thanks for the info.
Eye on Katrina front page
Prayers from Athens
As a native Mississippian (Yazoo City), now living in Athens, Georgia, who
absolutely loves visiting the Gulf Coast and New Orleans - and has family
and friends (including Sun Herald Sports Reporter Brandon Bickerstaff)
that lives in both areas, I just want to let you know that I am praying
for God's protection for all of you from the dangers Hurricane Katrina
will be sending your way. I will be waiting and watching for updates on
conditions in the area.
Elmyra H. Jemison
(Hammer got this one out to me. Thanks, Don, if you can still read this, be careful.
I thought turkeys could fly, too... Geoff)
General Update
Biloxi 66mph winds with 89-mph gusts at 10:30
Pascagoula, 64mph with 86mph gusts 10:30
A tornado was spotted near Poplarville at 10:20
a.m. (Mon)
Tornado warnings in Harrison, Hancock Perry, Stone, George, Pearl River, and Forrest counties.
Flash flood warnings in ALL south Mississippi counties
Major flooding at Gulfport Armed Forced Retirement Home,
they're moving medicine, equipment, wheelchairs, etc. being
moved up as high in the building as they can get it. Whole first floor
is under water
84 mph winds in downtown Mobile
D'Iberville flooding
A Harrison County sheriff's official said a deputy reported 5.5 feet of water at Suburban Lodge on Automall Parkway in D'Iberville.
Anyone got Porteaux info?
Any word on the Porteaux Bay area? I hate to bother y'all, but it is hard waiting and wondering from Crestview, FL, where we evacuated to my sister's house. We have only been back in our home for three months after having it completely redone from the flood we had April 1. I can only pray we'll be spared this time. Thanks for any info you guys have.
AB
2nd Street info
Sally sends this SEcond Street info, and it doesn't sound too good. Thanks, Sally
FYI. My parents on second street in GUlfport have 5 feet of water inside their house. they are in the attic.
sally cassady lyon
center for the study of southern culture
university of mississippi
Cellular South info
Don, Geoff:
Thought you might want to put this in your blog in case anyone needed a number to call. This lets people know about the storm and what percentage of the Cellular South wireless network is up in specific geographic areas. This will be important as people try to contact family and friends.
Tanya Rankin (601.573.7134) is the contact at Cellular South. It will be important for people to use text messaging as much as possible instead of voice to help the network. Tanya can provide additional information.
Water north of the railroad at Kelly Ave.
The fire station just north of the railroad tracks on Kelly Ave. just east of downtown Gulfport is taking on water. People on Second Street are calling to be evacuated from their attics.
General update
Michael Newsome and I are holed up in Hattiesburg and,
unbelievably, we still have power. Much of the Hub City
doesn't from what we've heard. Here's a round-robin
update from TV, radio, a couple of e-mails and what
little phone communication we're able to get:
911 is still working, people can call, but emergency workers
are having trouble getting out right now.
Hancock County and Jaxco counties EOCs have had to evacuate
their headquarters because of water and have relocated
Wolf River is 23 feet, the highest it's ever been
The tidal surge is 28 feet, and has been taking some homes
off their slabs.
There are reports of some people being trapped in their attics/
on their roofs.
At Biloxi Station 3 fire house, there have been reports of
refrigerators floating, 3-4 feet of water inside and firemen
are trying to get their computers on top of their lockers
The storm is only moving at 15 to 18 mph, so we are going to be socked
in for a while
--Geoff
Downtown Gulfport
It's still blowing hard down here, from an old wind gage that probably hasn't been calibrated in a while, we're seeing 65-70 knot sustained winds with gusts up to 90. I've never seen so many frustrated firemen, standing in the lobby waiting to get out to do their jobs. It's just too dangerous now.
More 2nd Street concerns
I retreated to Jackson for the storm and hope and pray that everyone in Gulfport is safe. Up here there is a light rain falling; the news predicts 80-90 mph winds later this evening. Has anyone given any reports regarding the status of water on Second Street in Gulfport? I live there as do several family members and friends and was wondering what the water level
reports are in that area.
Any info you can provide will be much appreciated. Take care.
-Michael Hewes
Michael, all I can tell you is, my last report was water breaking north of 90
in many areas of Gulfport. If anyone out there knows about 2nd street and can get
through, e-mail to capitalbureau@aol.com
Questions from Oxford
I'm at Ole Miss reading the blog. Since there is water in the gulfport library, any idea what's happening on Second Street? i cant get through on phones to my family there.... Is the worst still to come or is it happening now? Thanks for the posts and the vigilance. We're praying for everyone down there. your blog is the only thing i can find on line that has real-time updates and i thank you for it. You are the only link.... s. lyon in Oxford.
I don't have any specific report from 2nd street, and pretty much all phone communication is off for us too. But the worst is not over. I'll try to get more specific info for you soon. - geoff
Thanks
Keep up the good work! From a former newspaper reporter here in Florida who is friends with former Sun Herald reporter Kristi Ruggles, I have checked out many many blogs today and you guys are doing the best!!!
Don't want to clog up the lines since you have much more important things going on, but had to say GOOD JOB!
I know you all are in the thoughts of a LOT of Floridians today.
Regards,
Stephanie Doyle
Many requesting evacuation
The Harrison County Emergency Management Agency is getting a lot of phone calls from folks asking to be evacuated. They're being told in so many words that they missed the boat and to get as high in their houses or a neighbor's house as possible and hold on. It's still too dangerous to launch rescue operations.
BSL police trapped
We have reports of a group of Bay St. Louis police officers trapped in the first floor of the Bay View Apartments.
More prayers
From Kristi Ruggles (former Sun Herald education reporter)
I've promised myself all morning I wasn't going to add to the deluge of folks who are pounding you with questions and emotional appeals and well wishes and blahblahblah, but I can't resist.
First, I hope y'all are hanging in there. I'm throwing my prayers your way. And then, did Lisa Monti evacuate? I haven't been able to reach her, and now phone lines are down, which means, I suspect, you'll get this some time in September.
Thinking of all of you.
Thanks, Kristi. I don't have any info on Lisa right now, but the phone lines and towers are bad. If I hear, I'll post --Geoff
Wind shift in Long Beach
From Don Hammack in Gulfport:
A ham radio operator in Long Beach has reported the winds have shifted there, which would indicate the passing of the eye.
Message for Blake
I hate to have to do this here, but phones are too squirelly. Blake Kaplan, can you get me a land-line No. for where you guys are, since cells aren't working very well? If you can't reach me by phone, try e-mailing it to me.
Geoff
Greetings from Crowley
This is from another former Sun Herald staffer:
Hello, Sun Herald family...I'm in Crowley, La., at a hotel with a ton of New Orleanians and their pets - La Quinta means "we don't mind the dogs" in Spanish (big smile). Had to leave on Saturday for a close relative's funeral on Sunday. I'm here with my parents, who recently bought a home in Pass Christian. I'm wondering how things are there in the Pass. The news here is good, but focused mostly on New Orleans. Also please post whatever information you can get about how Wiggins is faring in the storm. Please stay safe and know that you are in my prayers. Don't eat too much junk food while you're holed up there at the office.
Much love,
Jessica Potts
Duelling bloggers
Hammack and I (this is Geoff) will both be posting, as we each keep losing/regaining power. I just spoke with him by phone and he gave this report: Emergency people are receiving many, many calls from people who are seeing the water rise and calling for someone to come get them. But in most cases, there's nothing the emergency workers can do right now. There has been a report that some Biloxi firefighters on the East End are stranded in their station because of water.
Any info appreciated
From masha-m@cableone.net
Thank you for keeping this blog! It provided "news from home" during our evacuation due to Ivan last year and we can't stop checking on it this time.
There is a lot of coverage about New Orleans and Mobile on TV but not much info about Mississippi coast. Whoever is in the broadcasting range of public radio, please, please, post any info you hear about the small coastal towns: Waveland, Bay St. Louis, Pass Christian, Long Beach etc as Katrina makes its landing. We already found out from your blog that our house is in the water. Any info about closed roads and inaccessible areas would be greatly appreciated by everyone who is away from home right now. Thank you again for providing such a valuable service during hard times.
You're certainly welcome -- GP
Prayers from Nashville
From Laura Spence:
Hello from Nashville coming from a former Air Nat'l Guardsman of the 255th at the Gulfport Air Nat'l Guard base. My thoughts and prayers are with you all! Hang in there and be safe not only during the storm but in the days to come while cleaning up. It can be alot more dangerous than people think. Use common sense and keep safety foremost in your thoughts. Hello to the 255th and Gulfport ANG TRNG site and all those who come in from other areas to help. I know you are all doing that stuff that no one sees but helps so many behind the scenes.
Credit Loriann Zello
She posted the info from Keesler earlier. WE're losing power here.
Back up in Gulfport
This is Don Hammack, and we're back up on commercial power at the Harrison County Courthouse after about an hour without after the generator crapped out. Here's a bunch of bullet points of interest recently.
-- The Hancock County Emergency Operations Center has evacuated because their building had gotten unsafe.
-- Gulf Coast Medical Center in Biloxi lost its generator.
-- Memorial Hospital in Gulfport has lost two floors worth of windows.
These reports will become more staccato because of uncertainty in the connectivity situation.
From Hammer, Jaxco report
Hammack was able to call out from Civil Defense with this report from Jackson County: The roof was ripped off the St. Martin High Gym, but that doesn't affect people sheltering at the high school, because they are not in the gym. Jackson County EOC is having to evacuate. Emergency operations are being moved across the street to the courthouse.
Harrowing reports
This is coming in fast and sporadic, as I gain and lose phone contact with Josh, who is in contact with Chief Sullivan:
Sullivan says some buildings downtown are starting to ''implode''. He said some buildings are collapsing in the 19th Street area.
There is water up to the service road at the Armed Forces home.
Chief Sullivan had to rush off, to respond to reports of people trapped who need to be evacuated... no further details on that one.
Gulfport update
This is the latest from Chief Pat Sullivan in Gulfport, reported by Sun Herald staffer Josh Norman: A tornado was reported in North Gulfport this morning -- no further info right now.
The Gaston Hewes Recreation Center is partially collapsed.
There is water in buildings all over Gulfport Business District (downtown), and glass has been blown out of many buildings.
Waves are breaking NORTH of U.S. 90 in many areas in Gulfport.
A few boats are floating NORTH of U.S. 90 in a couple of areas.
There is water in the Downtown Library.
Good luck, Hammack; stay safe
Hello, this is Geoff Pender again. Hammack and Harco Civil Defense are without power, so I'll try to fill his unfillable shoes on this blog, as long as I have power!?!
I think there may be some problems with our URL, so maybe try to send to me at
capitalburea@aol.com. Good luck, and Godspeed Hammer. As usual, you've done a heck of a job.
Hancock County addendum
One thing forgotten from the earlier post. Dee Lumpkin said she was unable to give a windspeed, as their anemometer on the mast on top of their building had broken.
Jackson update
Tim Magandy, part of the famous Magandy clan of Long Beach and brother of Sun Herald city editor Kate Magandy, sends from Jackson, Miss.:
At 0730 we have some light showers and some moderate winds. I will check in later.
Stand by, Tim. It'll get ugly up there eventually, too. They've just zipped up the last open door to the courthouse here.
First-person account from Keesler AFB
We got an e-mail from somebody who says they are stationed out at Keesler Air Force Base. I'm trying to get a name to properly credit them, but this is what they say:
First off, I just wanted to address the concerns that were posted in Keesler kin checking in. I'm sheltering at the med center and we're all safe and relatively comfortable. The power is still up and the med center personell is going above and beyond to ensure our safety. No worries here. I personally feel like this is the safest place I can be with my kids.
Also, I was wondering if there's anyone out there who might have some insight on how this storm could affect Ocean Springs as far as damage to property goes.
Thanks and God bless, and STAY SAFE.
Hancock County update
Dee Lumpkin, the deputy director of Hancock County Civil Defense, took a quick minute for an update. It's getting ugly over there.
They've got 9 feet of water in Waveland. She thinks they've lost part of the back of the courthouse over there. There are houses in Bay St. Louis that don't normally flood that have water up to the doorknobs.
From the Sun Herald's offices
Sun Herald reporter Josh Norman files the following from the paper's offices on DeBuys Road on the Gulfport-Biloxi city line about four blocks off the beach:
The wind is whipping now. The roof on the building is creaking. You can hear the building's joints straining.
Pat Sullivan called at 6:15 to ask if I wanted to go for a ride with him. I took one look outside and said, "nope."
Anita felt brave briefly and thought she'd give it a go. Then she saw the winds. Pat pulled up, in a sedan I'd like to note, and said it was getting too rough and that he was heading back. I also just heard him over the scanner saying that he had succesfully extracted a woman and her 4 kids from their apartment after the roof ripped off.
Lots of people still in their homes now and the shelters were pretty much all at capacity last night.
I can't believe the complacency of people down here.
There was a seagull in the parking lot, desperately clinging to life this morning. It was amazing that the thing held on in some of these gusts. It managed to find a slightly less windy spot behind a tire. Just hope the car stays there.
I just saw Jim Cantore say he didn't know how much longer he was going to be able to broadcast from Gulfport. Uh oh.
On the upside, the SunHerald's showers are lovely. And those windows in the conference room are providing a great view.
Time to settle in and be prepared to run upstairs since the surge is now up over 90.
Starting to get ugly in Gulfport
Jack O'Brien with the Gulfport Fire Department just gave me a rundown on what he saw in his efforts to survey the area in the past couple of hours. He made it between 20th and 34 avenues in the downtown area, with both lanes of U.S. 90 underwater.
There are two sailboats in the intersection of U.S. 90 and 25th Avenue, and multiple boats in Jones Park, where the water is to the bottom of the oak trees. Water is getting into First Baptist Church, and it's in the parking lot at the Gulfport Library. O'Brien was out with two other firemen in a GFD pickup truck, and they said water was getting into the elevator lobby of the Grand Casino hotel south of 90 and they thought it was getting into the gambling barge's first floor. At the Oasis, north of the highway, there were trees down.
O'Brien many windows in the downtown area were busted out by the east wind. They treated a man and his daughter who were weathering the storm in The Palace Restaurant (25th Ave. south of the railroad) when a plate glass window broke. They were taken to a hospital for further treatment.
Keesler kin checking in
From Cyndy Woller:
For posting the information about Keesler. Our son and daughter-in-law are sheltering there. Our first granddaughter is due anytime now. We had plans to come down this week. I guess that is on hold. My family vacationed several times in Biloxi when I was a child. Pre- and post-Camille. I remember the damage. My thoughts and prayers are with everyone there.
Water rising
A Gulfport fireman just came in the EOC and said the water has risen substantially down by the Sound. It's up to the Gulfport Library, which sits relatively high just across Highway 90 from the Small Craft Harbor. Wind gusts here are up to 50 mph or so.
Back up in dark Gulfport
I've had to switch to the dreaded dial-up after a series of Katrina-induced glitches. A timeline:
About 5:50 -- I started noticing trouble with the internet connection the great folks here at the Harrison County Emergency Management Agency has made available to the Sun Herald. Their network runs through a connection over in Biloxi in a building they were worried about keeping power available in. They've been working on getting the backbone routed through this building, which has dependable generators, but it didn't get done in time.
About 6:00 -- All the TVs blasting Jim Cantore, Carrie Duncan or whatever weather-predictor they were switched to started blasting static. The cable went down.
A minute later -- Going to the front door, we can see what's a contributing factor to the cable: No power in downtown Gulfport. The big red "Hancock Bank" sign on the tall building downtown is dark, with the only lights anywhere the red ones atop towers to warn away airplanes. Don't think they'll have anybody to warn off anytime soon.
At the same time -- Funny how when the TVs went out, looking outdoors suddenly became more entertaining. The only doorway here in the courthouse that's not shuttered suddenly became much more interesting. Go figure, actual real-time data right through the old eyeballs.
Harrison Central HS loses power
There are about 350 evacuees in the dark at Harrison Central High School, as that shelter has lost power. Saucier Elementary also lost power a couple of hours ago.
Another Sun Herald alum
Former Sun Herald copy desker Willie Jefferson, now living in the desert west:
What up? Man, Katrina looks like she's for real ... Mr. Benson said he wanted to move his Saints ... looks like Katrina's gonna send them to San Antonio!
Be safe and please give a message to my folks, Willie and Rosan Jefferson, that they should go to Starkville, hang with my sister, Nikki, and avoid this mean woman's wrath ... They refuse to listen to me ... but I think most parents never listen to their children. Ha ha!
Chasing tumbleweeds and road runners,
WILLIE J
Sun Herald alumni
Consider it done, Big Will.
Returning home, then this
From Warren Mueller:
Gosh, we just came back to the Pass after several years of roaming around for work. Was hoping to relax for awhile. Spent several nights last week watching the beautiful sunsets at Henderson Point. Will have to hold on to those memories as we all struggle through the muck and mess. God bless all ... Deaconsailorman
It was weird driving around last night knowing that the next time you saw the Coast, things could be radically different.
Harrison County shelter update
Here are the last round of numbers for shelters in Harrison County, which figures to be close to peak with the storm being this close:
-- North Bay Elementary, Biloxi: 497 (capacity: 360)
-- Gulfport Central Elementary: 289 (cap: 1,085)
-- Bel-Aire Elementary, Gulfport: 113 (cap: 375)
-- Harrison Central Elementary, Gulfport: 228 (cap: 455)
-- Harrison Central 9th Grade, Gulfport: 120 (cap: 645)
-- Harrison Central High School, Lyman: 350 (cap: 1710)
-- Lizana Elementary, Gulfport: 350 (cap: 550)
-- Lyman Elementary, Lyman: 350 (cap: 550)
-- North Woolmarket Elementary, Biloxi: 234 (cap: 1,200)
-- Orange Grove Elementary, Gulfport: 223 (cap: 810)
-- Saucier Elementary, Saucier: 210 (cap: 480)
-- Three Rivers Elementary, Gulfport: 122 (cap: 950)
-- West Wortham Elementary, Saucier: 330 (cap: 1,225)
-- Woolmarket Elementary, Biloxi: 137 (cap: 555)
-- West Elementary, Gulfport: 124 (cap: 790)
-- North Gulfport 7th and 8th Grade, Gulfport: 72
-- Good Deeds, Gulfport: 118 (cap: 600)
-- Quarles Elementary, Long Beach: 120
Wake up, and what do I find?
I grabbed about an hour's nap, and awoke to find the storm had taken a little turn to the northeast, it looks like from the radar loop. At this point, it's very difficult to figure out what the heck we're supposed to hope for. That turn to the east is probably really good news for New Orleans, not so great news for us.
Also, looking at the National Data Buoy Center (headquartered at Stennis Space Center just on this side of the Louisiana state line right where it will hit), the peak winds from the network of data buoys is about 90 knots (104 mph) and that's a gust. It'd be nice if this thing petered out a little bit here at the threshold.
A boy can hope ...
Sunday, August 28, 2005
It's not a Sun Herald storm blog ...
... until former copy editor Kevin Hecteman checks in:
Y'know, we really need to stop meeting like this.
I was out of town most of the weekend and managed to not find out about the Category 5 hurricane steaming straight for the mouth of the Mississippi till early Sunday afternoon. "Yikes" doesn't even begin to cover it.
Watching the veritable parade of hurricanes over the past year has made me realize how fortunate I was while I was living there (November 1999 to July 2002). I don't think *any* hurricanes came the Coast's way during that time -- the worst I can think of was the remnants of Tropical Storm Allison, and I think I actually slept through that morning storm.
Godspeed to all of you. I enjoyed reading Mash's column. I recognized the names of all four of the "road warriors" in Columbus. Take care. Remind me to write some time when there's no hurricane churning in the Gulf.
Y'all get earthquakes; we get hurricanes. Which would I prefer ...
Interesting
Not sure exactly who this is, other than it's somebody apparently from Montana who goes by Sweet4NonU:
Hi Everyone,Especially David!
I moved back to Montana last winter, but I'll be back! Hurricane or not. It's Mississippi or bust! Hope you're doing okay David. I'm sure you are busy evacuating the veterans. Wish I was there to help. Wish I could send all of you some of this HOT, EXTREMELY DRY weather we have here. If I had to choose a way to go, I'd choose a wet hurricane over burning up in a range, or forest fire any day.
Downtown Gulfport snapshot
Another look outside shows the rain in starting to fall harder. We're getting a little more wind, enough to make the rain start to fall in sheets. It's enough to shake a stop sign, but not enough for the real spastic shaking that I'm sure will come later. The wind still has a component from the north here.
Some diversionary thoughts
From a fellow Long Beach High School alum, Raj Sabharwal, who is now living in Washington, D.C.:
Just wanted to send my best wishes to everyone in Long Beach and the rest of the coast. Your blog is great way for us coast brats who've moved away to stay informed. Dad's safe in Richmond right now, but we are all worried about our friends and extended family back home. Stay safe and hunker down.
For a little diversion in this stressful time, here are some random thoughts:
1) When this is over, someone please tell Tucker Carlson and the other national newscasters that "St. Louis" is in Missouri, and we call our town "Bay St. Louis". Hope they don't try to pronounce Pascagoula, Gautier, or Delisle.
That's the only good thing about seeing your hometown on TV, is to laugh at outsiders trying to figure things out.
2) How bout them Bearcats! Good to see the football team win the first game of the year. I'm thinking playoffs.....
Be happy with a victory to open the season, but don't bank on the postseason just yet.
3)Tell Jim Mashek that the Nationals fans in DC still have some hope, but we desperately need some offense to get back in the wildcard race. Its been great having a baseball team in DC this year and the best part is that I only live a few blocks from the stadium. Nothing beats walking to a baseball game on a summer night. Well, except of course for a fall Saturday night in Tiger Stadium, Geaux Tigers!
That editor's note was from me. I caught a couple of Nats games in DC this summer, and have become a fan of the team from afar. It's been a good ride.
Our thoughts and prayers are with everyone back home.
Thanks, Raj.
Downtown Gulfport snapshot
We're starting to get steady rain in downtown Gulfport, but at the moment the wind, what there is of it, is from the north. It's not very significant ... at the moment.
From Georgia
Judy Gex, of Drowning Creek Studio in Commerce, Ga., writes:
Thanks to all of you Sun Herald peeps for keeping me & other ex-Coast residents up-to-date.
Be safe, all of you.....
We do our best. Thanks for checking in.
Shout out to NOLA peeps
Just got off the phone with former Sun Herald employee Richard Meeks and former compatriot on the Saints beat, Jeff Duncan. They're two of about 200 people bunkered down at The Times-Picayune's plant in New Orleans. Hats off to them for sticking around. They're on the third floor, which means they just might be above sea level. Here's hoping all the NOLA's-a-swimming-pool talk is just that.
Good luck to those guys.
Biloxi mayor Q&A
Biloxi mayor A.J. Holloway did this Q&A for the city's Web site at 8:45 tonight:
Q. What is the status of things in Biloxi at the moment?
A. We have a fire department of about 200 firefighters, and two-thirds of those people -- two of our three shifts -- are on duty now, and our police department has also ramped up, and we have plenty of officers patrolling the streets.
There's going to come a point in time when we'll have to pull our people off the streets.
With the 9 p.m. curfew, we don't expect to see anyone on the streets, and our police will be stopping and questioning any one they come across. This curfew is in effect until further notice, because the latest reports we have are to expect winds at 75 mph starting around 6 Monday morning in Biloxi, and gradually increasing to as high as 140 mph. The storm surge would be as high as 24 to 28 feet, the forcasters are saying.
Q. What has been one of the most important messages you've been communicating to Biloxi residents?
A. We've worked throughout the day today doing the things we needed to be doing -- staying on message and warning people to evacuate, and making sure they knew the severity of this storm. We actually started this process years ago with our annual storm preparedness mailouts.
Biloxi has been through hurricanes through the years. How is this threat different?
We're facing the worst case of a worst case scenario. We went through Camille 36 years ago this month, but we have so much more to lose these days -- $5 billion worth of investment along our waterfront, 15,000 new jobs since 1992, and growing numbers of visitors each year. In fact, we've seen the number of visitors to our city grow from a million a year to between 10 and 12 million a year now.
At the same time, we are better prepared today to deal with storms than at any other time in our history.
Q. How do you think the floating casino barges will fair along Biloxi's shoreline?
A. Casino mooring systems are designed to withstand winds of 155 and a tidal surge of 15 feet, so this will be a huge test, considering we're now being told winds could get as high as 140 mph sometime Monday and a storm surge as high as 28 feet.
Q. What happens next?
A. Right now, we're doing what we can on the streets, and we're also looking to the next step, and that's the aftermath. Heavy equipment has been pre-positioned around the city to have it ready to clear streets.
We worked with FEMA a few months ago and we already have a debris-removal contactor in place, and we expect him to hit the ground running once this storm passes.
We expect major damage. We expect power to be interrupted. We expect to have a lot of challenges, but we also expect -- and we know -- that the people of Biloxi have been survivors for 300 years now and we're going to survive this.
Three public shelters are operating in Biloxi at this time -- at public schools. About 1,100 people are in those shelters, and one of the locations, Biloxi Junior High School, has room for a few hundred more, so we're OK as far as capacity.
People need to stay where they are at this point, and continue to monitor the news reports. We're going to get through this.
Multiple means of protection
From city editor Kate Magandy:
Most people in Long Beach know who Father Louie Lohan is (for those outside Long Beach, he's the pastor of St. Thomas the Apostle Catholic Church in Long Beach).
Father Louie, Father Cleary and another friend of theirs, Bill, joined several of us hunkered down at Elvis Gates' house in Long Beach. With the rectory for the church right on the beach, they couldn't stay there.
The way I figure it, we can't lose with two Irish Catholic priests staying with us. Besides, Elvis, who's a State Farm agent, has built himself a REALLY secure house, hence the reason for the big campout at Camp Gates.
Hopefully, all will go well.
Harrison County shelters update
A breakdown of people at shelters in Harrison County, as provided by the Harrison County Emergency Management Agency:
BILOXI:
-- North Bay Elementary: FULL
-- Biloxi Junior High School: OPEN, *number of occupants unknown
-- Popps Ferry Elementary: FULL
GULFPORT:
-- Gulfport Central Elementary School: 220, Capacity 1085
-- West Elementary School: 198, Capacity 790
-- Good Deeds Community Center: 96, Capacity 600
LONG BEACH:
-- W.J. Quarles Elementary School: OPEN*
PASS CHRISTIAN:
-- Delisle Elementary School: RELOCATED, CLOSED
HARRISON COUNTY:
-- Harrison Central Elementary School: 225, Capacity 455
-- Harrison Central High School: 370, Capacity 1710
-- Harrison Central Ninth Grade School: 112, Capacity 645
-- Lizana Elementary School: 285, Capacity 550
-- North Gulfport Eighth Grade School: 45
-- North Woolmarket Elementary: 231, Capacity 1200
-- Orange Grove Elementary: 140, Capacity 810
-- Pineville Elementary School: RELOCATED, CLOSED
-- Saucier Elementary: 202, Capacity 480
-- Three Rivers Elementary: 125, Capacity 950
-- West Wortham Elementary: 330, Capacity 1225
-- D’Iberville High School: OPEN*
-- Lyman Elementary: 94, Capacity 750
-- Woolmarket Elementary: 330, Capacity 555
-- Bel-Aire Elementary: 94, Capacity 375
Hancock County update
Just got off the phone with Hancock County Civil Defense deputy director Dee Lumpkin who said the winds are picking up over there, but things remain relatively quiet. (For those checking in unfamiliar with our area, Hancock County is the western-most of the three coastal counties in Mississippi, the one that butts up against Louisiana.)
"We're just holed up here and waiting," Lumpkin said.
Their lone shelter has been filled since 2:30 p.m., and she said that two or three shelters in Pearl River County (one county north) are full of evacuees from Hancock County. They moved their special needs shelter from Bay St. Louis to the north end of the county to make it safer, but the new location lost power once already. Coast Electric crews quickly got power restored, however.
Three state agencies have pulled their manpower from the county, retreating from the storm and hoping they'll be able to quickly get back after it passes. The 890th Engineering Battalion detachment has gone back to Picayune, where it is normally stationed. Mississippi Emergency Management Agency and Mississippi Department of Health personnel have also left the county.
Hattiesburg sorority hanging out
Megan Sheets of Long Beach writes from the Southern Miss campus in Hattiesburg:
Libby Gantt from Andalusia, Ala.; Sarah Young from Oak Grove; Wren Ward from Little Rock, Ark.; Kim Belsom from Kenner, La.; Ashley Cangelosi from Mandeville, La, and I are at the Panhellenic dorm.
Right now Libby, Sarah, Megan, and Wren are all playing on computers. Wren is setting up an AIM account for Libby. Kim is sitting in the room with us just chatting and Ashley is working on some online homework. We just got our food the school, so we're prepared for tomorrow. We're also watching a movie on TV.
We all decided to stay together because we are the only Chi Omega's left at school besides our resident adviser, Erica. In the beginning we had plans to go to Alabama to Libby's house, but we just decided to stick it out in H'Burg, so that we could stay together. So, we all went to church at Sacred Heart and then went to Lenny's, a sub shop, to get dinner before we had to go to a meeting in the dorm at 7 p.m.
The hall director had to inform us on all of the precautions, like closing our windows and moving our stuff off the floor and away from the windows. There's a curfew from 6 a.m. Monday to 6 a.m. Tuesday. And from 6-11 a.m. tomorrow we have to be on the first or second floors (we live on the very top on the 8th floor).
Due to boredom, we've also decided to explore Panhellenic. There are rumors that there are ghosts upstairs, so we've been trying to freak everybody out!
Sarah and Megan were the only brave ladies that would go upstairs to explore. Ashley and Wren are way freaked out by the whole thing.
As promised ... Mash
Sun Herald sports columnist Jim Mashek has made his way to safety, but we haven't had time to tell the folks over in the east that they need to get safe from him. Here's his dispatch, which he has headlined "Yeah, I'm still a little scared, but hey, we'll be back."
By Jim Mashek
Sun Herald
Spanish Fort, Ala. -- Longest five-hour drive of my life. Bar none.
I knew it was going to take some time. I knew there might be a couple detours along the way. But I made it. Hopefully, out of harm?s way.
Hurricane Katrina is still churning in the Gulf of Mexico, and it's already scared the hell out of me.
I got to the Sun Herald at about 10 this morning, and helped interim sports editor Doug Barber and Mike Woten, the Biloxi High baseball team's man about town and Sun Herald sportswriter, get out an early edition of the paper's sports section. Got out of there a little after lunchtime.
My mind was racing by the time I got to my little house in Pass Christian. Thankfully, I no longer drive the go-cart -- Sun Herald readers might remember I took that beat up '95 Honda del Sol into three feet of water last year during Tropical Storm Matthew -- but I had to evaluate what went in the car and what would have to stay behind.
First off, load the cooler. Some soft drinks. Some typical bachelor pad left-overs. A six-pack of Miller Lite. Ice 'er down.
(To the tune of Larry The Cable Guy's, "Get 'Er Done.")
Then, peruse the closets. Get plenty of clothes, certainly all the nice stuff my mom or somebody with actual taste actually purchased. Grabbed some stuff for the cooler months, too. As the immortal Fred G. Sanford once said, "This is the big one."
Looked for as many pictures and keepsakes as I could find. Pictures of my nieces and nephews. The photo album I put together about 20 years ago. My high school football team picture. All the essentials.
(One thing I couldn't overlook was a framed full-page ad from the New York Times, in which my dad is featured in an advertisement for his former employer, U.S. News & World Report. The headline reads, "Newsbuff." Dad's seated in his office at U.S. News, and, as an aside to my fellow Sun Herald employees, his desk was as cluttered as mine has ever been.)
Loaded the Accord with all the essentials. Some compact discs and worn-down paperbacks. The Panama hat. My lacrosse sticks and favorite softball bat.
Time to rock 'n roll.
I've made the trip to Baldwin County countless times for the Senior Bowl or the obligatory getaway to Gulf Shores. Usually a breezy drive. Not this time.
I got on the road at about 3:30 Sunday afternoon. Turned onto I-10 at Menge Ave., and got off two exits later.
Doubled back to U.S. 90. Made a quick stop at the paper. The newsroom was deserted, but there were some pressmen in the building. One last delivery truck was about to leave the plant. Got back in my ride.
Time to head east. (There was a Boston knock-off band by the same name in the late '70s; their big splash was an album called "Flat as a Pancake.")
Got back on U.S. 90. Drove past the deserted casinos, the same ones doing bustling business on Saturday night. Got over the bridge to Ocean Springs, at which point traffic started to slow down.
And then come to a crawl. It started raining between Ocean Springs and Gautier.
Drivers were courteous, however. Helpful even. If you wanted to change lanes, they'd let you. People were driving carefully. Yeah, I spent some time on my cell phone, but I wasn't rocking out to Little Feat or Stevie Ray Vaughan or anything.
My car was tuned to WWL Radio, and, on occasion, WTNI-AM in Biloxi. They did a good job of keeping drivers informed.
Everybody forged ahead.
It took me about 45 minutes or so to traverse a couple miles in Pascagoula, but to my surprise, a Chevron station on the eastbound side of the road was open. Figured I'd top off my tank. The girl behind the counter said they'd be open another 30 minutes, max.
Got back on the road.
Thought about jumping on I-10 at the Alabama state line, where you can see the traffic on the interstate. Intuition told me to stay on U.S. 90. Even though it was soon going from four lanes to two.
Got through Grand Bay and stopped at a Sonic. Made my way through Mobile, and was amazed at all the restaurants and gas stations actually open.
It was dark by now, but the end was in sight. Former Sun Herald colleague Steve Wiseman called from Columbia, S.C. Talked to Ron Higgins from the Memphis Commercial Appeal. We had hoped to see his son, Carl, play in Southeastern Louisiana's football opener on Thursday night in Hammond. Figure that's a wash.
Spent a few minutes on the horn with my mom and dad, who were calling from Washington, D.C. (Wished I was actually there, watching a Nationals game in the left-field bleachers.) [Editor's note: The Nats lost again today, 6-0 to the Cards. It's been a good ride the first season there, but they don't have enough in the tank to catch the Braves or the wild-card, dangit.]
The last few miles were the longest, but I got to my friend's house at about 9 o'clock. Her directions were flawless. My driving was OK. Good enough for government work.
The rain's falling harder now. They're watching a movie and I'm hacking away.
I'm thinking about my Sun Herald colleagues now, guys like Doug Barber, aka The Captain, hunkering down at Scott Hawkins' crib. Melissa Scallan and Tracy Dash and Robin Fitzgerald, who are still on the Coast somewhere. Getting the story.
Don Hammack, who is hunkered down at Civil Defense in the Harrison County Courthouse, and Geoff Pender, who singlehandedly forms the Sun Herald's Hattiesburg bureau. Those guys are bustin' a hump.
I hope my neighbor John's all right. I hope they got the elderly are safe. I saw lots of dogs in the back of trucks on U.S. 90. They're wet, no doubt, but they're away from the brunt of the storm.
Ah, the storm. Emphasis on the word, 'the,' from what they're telling us.
It's just a matter of time before the TV is back on the Weather Channel or CNN, but it's a nice break. It's going to be a long night.
I've called South Mississippi home since 1994. Its greatest strength is its people. I know it's tough, real tough, right now. All we can think about is what's happening, and how helpless we are against forces of nature.
For the moment.
When this sucker passes, we'll be back.
No two ways about it.
Two Harrison Co. shelters to relocate
People in shelters at Pineville and Delisle elementary schools in West Harrison County will be relocated because officials are concerned about the Wolf River. It's already risen above flood stage and officials believe it could crest tomorrow morning at a record 23 feet. The evacuees will be bused to other county shelters.
Ride around
Just got back from a ride around Gulfport with fire chief Pat Sullivan. After helping get a homeless person to a shelter, and taking two people from one shelter to another to get away from some friction, we took a tour of Gulfport.
It's terribly cliche', but it was definately the calm before the storm. Outside of a intense little downpour at the start, it didn't do much other than sprinkle the rest of the time we were out. Winds weren't up significantly more than a normal afternoon thunderstorm, but the Mississippi Sound is churning pretty good. In some places, it's about halfway up the beach.
In Gulfport's Small Craft Harbor, water was just about up to the piers at 8:15 p.m. Ducks were bedding down just at the water's edge next to the bait shops on the north part of the harbor, although I'm sure they were going to have to move further up into Jones Park shortly thereafter. There were about 10 people hanging out at the end of Urie Pier, but a Gulfport police officer was running them off with only 30 minutes remaining until the curfew went into effect.
Around 9 p.m., Sullivan rousted three kids from hanging out at Combs Pier, then turned away a line of kids in pickup trucks at the traffic light there, telling them to get to the house.
The rest of the uneventful ride took us to DeBuys Road, up to Pass Road and back to downtown Gulfport. It's always spooky just how deserted the city can feel like, and just as spooky to wonder why folks are still driving around.
Keesler AFB question
From Chris McCandlish:
Good evening. I've just returned to Ohio from vacation that took us to a girfriend of mine at Keesler AFB. We went to New Orleans as well, but thankfully her senior officer called her vacation short on Saturday and saved us all from today's traffic. However, I am deeply concerned for her safety on the base. The student population is being sheltered on the base while most of the remaining base population has been evacuated. Is she safe on the base shelter? It's a very short distance from the ocean and not too much higher than sea level. If anybody is familiar with base please let us know. She is very close to my heart right now. All who are on the coast are close to all of the nation's hearts.
Thanks for the question. We get this question just about every storm, but there are places at Kessler built as bomb shelters to withstand a storm. They also are confident there's enough elevation there to protect against storm surge.
A view from the Hub City
From Geoff Pender:
In a tireless effort to provide its viewers the vital, potentially life-saving information they need, WDAM in Hattiesburg is airing ... The Eagles, in concert! Instead of mundane warnings about the 115-mph winds about to hit, you get Joe Walsh and the gang. I'll never complain about WLOX again!
To our readers
The Sun Herald produced Monday's edition on Sunday afternoon and then sent the staff off to deal with their personal situations. Most, like the rest of our neighbors in South Mississippi took off for various points away from the coast, though a great many are riding out Katrina at their homes. The Tiners are in the latter category staying in Orange Grove on relatively high ground about ten miles from the coast.
A group of reporters are staying in the newspaper riding out the storm at our newsroom on DeBuys Road.
A team of editors was dispatched to our sister paper, the Columbus (Ga.) Ledger-Inquirer where they will be prepared to put together Tuesday's Sun Herald. The road warriors are Blake Kaplan, Paul Hampton, Jared Head and Rudy Nowak. They will put together our first draft of the history of Katrina's most unwelcome visit in Georgia and it will be delivered on Tuesday afternoon at shelters and other locations across coast as a free newspaper.
Meanwhile our staff is prepared to go to work as soon as humanly possible to bring you the images and stories of this incredible event in the life and times of South Mississippi. It may very well be a news event on an order equal to that other defining storm here, Camille.
A number of our colleagues from other Knight Ridder newspapers are being pre-positioned to join our team in that important post-storm reporting. These include editors, reporters and photographers from papers as distant as the San Jose Mercury News, Charlotte Observer, Miami Herald, Macon (Ga.) Telegraph and those friends at the Ledger-Inquirer who are hosting our storm team.
Our thoughts are with all of you as we await the challenge of the next couple of days. Our thoughts and prayers are with all of you and we very much appreciate all of the similar expressions of solidarity you have sent to us.
Stan Tiner
Executive Editor
Sun Herald
Wolf River residents leave now
Harrison County officials are begging people living near the Wolf River to leave now, that if they wait until Monday morning it will be too late because of the rising river.
They expect the river to rise above 8 feet (flood stage) by 9 p.m. Sunday and be at a staggering 23 feet by 11 a.m. Monday. For perspective, the highest recorded level is 16 feet.
At 15 feet, several homes on Magnolia Drive and businesses along Menge Avenue will be under water. The Menge Avenue Bridge will go under later, along with several homes on Bells Ferry Road. Even the road will become too dangerous to travel because of fast-moving water.
Ohio well-wishes
Lois from Ohio sends:
Spent a few vacations in Biloxi. Loved the people and area. Was going to return this Oct. ... maybe not. God be with all of you ... you are in our prayers.
And Montana again
From Bitsy (Herman) Black, in Fairfield, Mont.:
Hello, my thought and prayers are with you all in the deep south. I grew up in Gulfport and remember Camille, as well as other storms.I now reside in Montana, but most of my siblings still remain on the coast and are riding it out. My younger brother is a police officer for the city of Gulfport. He will be on duty at 7:00 am and yes I am worried. He is very special to me, so if you see Officer Greg Herman, give him my love and tell him my prayers are with him. To all of my family stay safe, and know my thoughts are there. Take care and God bless you all.
If I see Officer Herman, I'll pass along your thoughts. Thanks.
Montana checking in
From Michael King:
I lived in Gulfport from 1973-80. I went thru Frederic and David in '79. Have never forgot what that was like. Grew up in Oklahoma and Kansas in tornado alley. Still doesn't compare to Gulf Coast storms. My heart goes out to those in the path of Katrina. I live in Montana, but not so far away that I can't pray for those in harm's way.
Thanks |
