Current mood:	calm
Current music:	The sounds of a thunderstorm outside
Entry tags:	demon storm, katrina, mississippi gulf coast

The Demon Storm - 2 Years Later
It hits me every time I cut the lawn. I will be somewhere in the middle of that most unpleasant summertime task, dusty and dirty with sweat pouring down my face and grass stuck to my pant legs, when and I will suddenly remember just how insanely lucky we were on August 29th, 2005. It is so surrealistic. Our yard is much the same today as it was in the summer before The Storm. I still have my home and my workshop and things are pretty much back to normal. The horrors of The Demon Storm are beginning to take on an almost legendary feel, more the stuff of fanciful campfire stories or tales told after a few drinks. But they were real, and it all really happened. All I need do is leave my yard and the signs are there. Some of my neighbors are different, homes are different colors now, and there is emptiness. Vast stretches of it, mostly to the south, where the rest of my neighborhood used to lie.

And so it comes. The Day Of Reckoning for all of us with lives along the southern coast of the United States. I think most of us who live here dread the anniversary. It's not like it will never happen again. Monster storms have been battering this part of the world for a long time, way before there were humans to note their visits. Living here is like playing Russian Roulette with a giant, Life Changing Events Machine. Every summer we pull the handle and hope it doesn't land on "Category 5." But it is a risk that all of us knowingly take in order to be a part of it.

I was conscious of the dangers when I bought the home I currently live in. Before I signed any papers, I canvassed the neighborhood seeking out old timers who could tell me how this neighborhood fared during Camille, the devastating 1969 predecessor to The Demon Storm. When I learned that the only damage was to the back bedroom when a nearby tree landed on the house, I snapped it up. I have always known the worst of the storm is the water, and I always felt reasonably safe knowing that the incredible storm surge of Camille had not made it to my yard. The Demon Storm changed all that. Two years ago, the water came closer.

Now I question my safety. Did I underestimate the incredible power of nature to mess up lives? No matter. I am here for the duration now. Awaiting that future time when I feel ready to leave this place and seek an area a little more distant from the water, and from those incredible whirling masses of dirty wet evil that we call hurricanes.

The drive to work is changing and there are good things to report. There are a few more buildings on the beach road to look at now. The Long Beach Marina is being rebuilt, and there is a brand spanking new Waffle House across the street from it. It is not open. It just sits there with the lights on 24/7 and nobody around. The delay in opening is most likely the ongoing infrastructure reconstruction. Because of The Demon Storm, Long Beach is finally getting the basic improvements it has needed for as long as anyone can remember. Westbound Highway 90 has been down to one lane for months as workers installed new water and sewer lines, and rebuild the sidewalks and curb cuts. The concrete is poured now and the turnouts have new asphalt. Supposedly work is set to begin on laying a new surface on Highway 90 in the next few weeks, but not in Long Beach. The plan is to start over 10 miles away, at DeBuys Road, on the border of Biloxi and Gulfport, and work in different directions. The first phase will be Biloxi to Rodenberg Avenue and in Gulfport to Lewis Avenue. Those areas are not the worst of the beach road by a long shot, but that is a more heavily traveled area, so I guess it makes sense that it be done first. That means I will be running my poor car over the rubbing board for at least one more year.

Recently, the Entertainment Mine ran a package on the condition of Highway 90 and, lo and behold through the majik of television, by the following Tuesday the worst of it had been patched. I wish they would get behind the idea of purchasing the CSX Railroad property to make a new East/West route to link the main evacuation roads, but the $700 million that CSX is asking is more that anyone seems willing to spring for. (Looks pleadingly at the Bush Administraton.) Didn't the President apoint the former head of CSX to some cabinet position? See if he can talk to his people over there, George! There are better places to run a train and we need that road!

There are homes being built on Beach Boulevard again, as more and more people find the money and contractors to return. Most of the new homes are large and attractive and tower above the land on concrete block posts. Large homes are also appearing a block back from the beach on Magnolia Street, some of them look to be 14 feet off the ground. This is common all along the coast. I saw a home well off the beach in Gulfport that was so high up, I couldn't see the house in my headlight beams. In the extreme west part of Long Beach, condos that were destroyed by the storm are being rebuilt. Not all of them, but enough to make it look like something is happening in that direction. Wal*Mart is promising to rebuild as well, which may encourage growth once again in Pass Christian.

In Gulfport, the FEMA Trailer Farm on Broad Avenue sits in the shadows of the brand new Island View Casino, birthed by the former owners of the Copa from the remains of the Grand Oasis Hotel. The walk bridge has been remodeled and a complete remodeling of the south hotel is in progress. Unfortunately, the city has been a little slow to react to this new development, so there are still no working street lights and no traffic lights to regulate the flow of traffic on the entrance road to the casino. This results in mass confusion, as pedestrians are often crossing busy Highway 90 at night with no lights and often wearing dark clothing. I drive that road just about every night and, at least once a week, I catch someone driving the wrong direction on Highway 90 because there are no signs posted to warn people of the one-way lane. I presume someone will have to be killed before anyone takes action.

Many of the buildings that were destroyed by The Demon Storm have been removed but some still remain. The twisted shell of Marine Life still litters the Gulfport Harbor and, across the street, the old Best Western Hotel and the former bank building on the corner of Highway 90 and 25th Avenue still linger as gutted and moldy husks. The old Harrison County Library still stands vacant and gutted. Jones Park is mostly unusable.

The hands down winner through all of this has been Biloxi. Fueled by the millions of dollars that the casinos represent, this area of the coast has been rapidly rebuilt to a level that is unprecedented anywhere else in the area. The most recent addition came online when the Hard Rock Casino, which was destroyed by the Demon Storm one week before it was scheduled to open, finally opened the doors to its completely rebuilt facility this past June. The casino industry has completely rebounded, and even more casinos are in the building and planning stages. Jimmy Buffet's "Margaritaville" is currently under construction and their is talk of a billion dollar mega-casino on the site of the old Tivoli hotel. All this money has bought nicely repaved roads, although in fairness I must say that there is still a long way to go. Much of Biloxi beyond the strip still looks like a third world country and many homeowners in the neighborhoods between the casinos struggle.

The worst effect that the Demon Storm has had on me is that so many of my friends had to leave the area after the storm. People from the coast and New Orleans who were driven out when they lost their homes and scattered to the four winds. Some would like to return but the job situation in New Orleans is still pretty bad, so they stay in their far off retreats. Our hearts go out to all of them every day. It was good while it lasted.

But I stress, it is not the negative things I dwell on. In two years, we have come a long way. Pass Christian and Hancock County struggle, but Biloxi is doing well, so it is a mixed bag. Things have definitely improved. The opening of the Bay St. Louis Bridge this past May was a major step forward in our journey to recovery and the Biloxi/Ocean Springs bridge is set to open in November. With the communities of the coast reunited once again, the way can only get easier. I try to remain upbeat. With any luck, another Demon Storm is years, hopefully DECADES, away, and we will all have the opportunity to once again enjoy all that coast living has to offer.