MS Coast--1 year later
The below pictures are two homes on the MS Coast--The one that held up under the storm of Katrina but needed repair and painted and is renewed was the former home of my husband's grandparents before they died. The second, the home of Jefferson Davis--a historical landmark that went from a beautiful home to what you see now. A smaller home that could be repaired for a few thousand dollars to the landmark that will take millions to get renovated. One that a family lived in until the storm and was displaced for a while to one that was important to our state's heritage and it's history. Katrina didn't think about its' direction--she hit the rich, the poor, the landmarks, hotels, places to eat, casinos. She wiped out houses, apartments, churches, offices, banks and anything in her path.
Our trip this past weekend was our first since February. The debris, in most cases, was cleaned up. The only things being built on the beach area were a few condos and a few small hotels. For 20 + miles we saw only homes in disaray, the churches were still standing but gutted and where were the Sunday morning church services? No gas stations or places to eat until you got 5 miles inland. The realization that I had, was that of a death of a community that once thrived, was noisy with cars, and where people wondered the beach having fun with their families. One day this will all be back, but for now, God has other plans for these families and for this place known as the MS Gulf Coast.