Tuesday, October 03, 2006
I had some church business to attend to in Diamondhead today, and since I was so close, I decided to drive the few miles over to Waveland to have my first look since Katrina.
Hurricane Katrina destroyed so many cities that it would be irresponsible to highlight one city as the “worst,” but if one were forced to pick, I’ve heard that Waveland would win that dubious distinction. And what I witnessed today, some 13+ months after the storm, did nothing to destroy that notion.
There was sparse traffic on the road that meanders along the Gulf of Mexico beachfront, and the little traffic that was evident consisted mostly of heavy equipment. In terms of housing, there was mile after mile of nothing but slabs where beautiful beach houses once stood, speckled with tiny FEMA trailers. This was true from the beachfront to the railroad tracks, hundreds of yards inland. It was a completely clean sweep of nearly an entire city.
There were several signs that caught my attention:
* The unofficial State Farm advertisement pictured above
* A Catholic parish’s sign that “Katrina was big, but God is bigger”
* A trash can decorated with Brett Favre’s name and number, with the obligatory “Go Packers!” cheer here in Favre territory
* A spray-painted mobile home with eerie words from over a year ago pleading, “FEMA, please help us”
When will Katrina be over? I know “never” is the appropriate answer, but I’m convinced there will come a day when she will substantively exist only as memories and stories. When will that day come? The answer will be given in years, but I’m clueless as how to guess the number. Five? Ten? More?
A drive to Waveland reveals that it will be a while.
