Anyone see the local NEWS..WLOX? Katrina WINDS in Jackson co

[rtd2]

The local govt. in Jackson county unveiled a monument dedicated to the anniversary of Katrina and its victims. What caught my eye was the fact they listed 137MPH winds in Jackson county from Katrina! Not to debate this cause its likely a Gust and Seeing my childhood home and parents home in Jackson county damaged nearly 80% I believe it..makes me wonder what the monuments in Harrison county and Hancock county may read?

[timNms]

In my opinion, Katrina was stronger than the officials have said.

[rtd2]

In my opinion, Katrina was stronger than the officials have said.

I agree and I think the fact that Katrina was so strong especially its surge that when the media reported NOLA had dodged a bullet by mid day Monday then later the levees broke the mood shifted to this was the BIG one for NOLA when we know that's NOT the case. NOLA was hit hard but it could have been hit MUCH worse(direct hit) so to save face the Media/Govt. had to down play the storm Quickly after it hit Even before the reports of total devastation were made known here on the coast. This was a Sincere effort (Down grading)so when the Next Big one threatens NOLA can be better prepared in case of a Direct hit next time. As for Mississippi....This was Mississippi's Big one!

PS I watched the Documentary "Katrina Anatomy of a Killer" on Discovery the other night for the second time and it stood out to me how the NWS said Katrina was a Cat 4 at her 2nd landfall and they had Never seen an Eyewall hold together so well! Katrina's eyewall Holding together is still evident in the destruction on the Miss coast!

[Lindaloo]

New Orleans was devastated by levees not holding up. Most if not all the real damage came from that, anyway. MS and AL were a direct affect from Katrina storm surge. All I have read about today is New Orleans.

[timNms]

In my opinion, Katrina was stronger than the officials have said.

I agree and I think the fact that Katrina was so strong and the water (surge) was so great that when the media reported NOLA had dodged a bullet then later the levies broke the mood shifted to the was the BIG one for NOLA when we know thats NOT the case NOLA was hit hard but it could have been hit MUCH worse and to save face the Media/Govt. had to down play the storm Quickly after it hit so when the Nect Big one threatens they can be prepared.
This was Mississippi's Big one!

You got that right![/b]

[Ixolib]

New Orleans was devastated by levees not holding up. Most if not all the real damage came from that, anyway. MS and AL were a direct affect from Katrina storm surge. All I have read about today is New Orleans.

Heard Dat!! It's driving my wife crazy - all the N.O. stuff. No matter, though. WE KNOW what we went through both during the storm and in the year since.

What a year it has been!! In all my 49 years, there is NO OTHER that comes even close in comparison...

And you are right. The N.O. disaster was the fault of the levees - a sort of "by-product" of the storm. Our disaster on the MS coast was a direct result of Katrina. Not that it really matters, I guess. But it would be nice if the rest of the world could come even close to understanding what happened in and to Mississippi.

[timNms]

I truly understand that New Orleans was dealt a blow. And I understand that it deserves the attention of the media and the nation. However, Mississippi was delt a severe blow as well, yet there is not as much written or televised about it. Perhaps the nation doesn't realize that MS residents who once called the coast their homes are hurting just as bad as those in NO?

I saw today on TWC that 100% of the homes in Waveland, MS were uninhabitable after Katrina. After having visited the place a few wks after Kat, I agree with that statement. Although the most visible signs of the surge were along the coastline up to the tracks, areas north of the tracks were flooded as well.

What really ticked me off today was the Oprah show. She's a Mississippi girl, by the way. The show was about her "Building houses" for Katrina victims. She donated (according to her) 10 million of her own money. I was thinking "Wow, this is going to be great. She's going to help some of her ''home folks" and some of the folks from New Orleans to rebuild their homes and get on with their lives. I was very wrong. What she did was to build 30 or 40 houses in HOUSTON for the people who left New Orleans. While I think it's great she helped some people, what I would have done with that money would have been to use some of it to clean up their old neighborhoods so that they could return HOME. I'd also have helped some of my fellow Mississippians. She never made mention of MS....

My wife was telling me about a lady that started working at the local hospital recently as a ward clerk. She is from New Orleans' 9th ward. She had about 8 feet of water in her home and lost all of her belongings. She had evacuated and returned about 4 months later. She said she had to put on protective clothing to enter the home, then leave the things she wore there before leaving. She got no help from anyone...couldn't even get food stamps here after the 2 month issuance ran out. STINKS that people who are trying to work and make a living can't get help, but some who scream "help us" and aren't willing to try to help themselves can get the world handed to them on a silver platter.

steppin' down from my soap box now.

[Audrey2Katrina]

The only thing I'm sorry to see is that folks are so concerned with who's getting what coverage, and in the process whether wittingly or not, somehow or other implying that because or how/why one area suffered is all that significant. Actually three states, from SE Louisiana to Mississippi to Alabama had massive damage from this event--how that damage came about, IMO should not be that much of a consideration. I've seen PLENTY of coverage on Mississippi in several places; and to their credit it's mostly been a positive testimony to their resilience, stronger leadership, and determination to come back. New Orleans, the first truly major city to lay in near total ruin since the San Francisco Earthquake of a century ago--I would think that would command a lot of attention, and sadly, their leaders aren't a patch on the (well you know) of those in Mississippi, so the city languishes. If any folks have a real GRIPE about lack of coverage it is 1.) Those folks in St. Bernard where of 23,000 homes only THREE in the entire parish avoided significant to total damage. 2.) Those in Plaquemines Parish which was quite literally "ground zero" where this storm hit first (and IMO as every bit of a a four--not to open old wounds, it IS my opinion--and that of some pro-mets as well, and I'll always stick to it. and 3.) Those poor folks in SW La. and SE Texas who were RAVAGED by Rita, and all but forgotten in the wake of Katrina. IMO, now THOSE folks have a legitimate gripe.

Yes the levees failed; but let's make no mistake about it. I have photographic evidence that the MRGO levees were OVERTOPPED before they "breached"... you had something of a 20 foot surge funnelling down that hurricane corridor, so whether one wants to split hairs about just how "directly" storm related a catastrophe is or is not, I just don't see the significance. 1800 dead and counting is horrendous, and the bottom line is that if you take Katrina out of the picture--those people are alive.

/soap box

A2K

[Lindaloo]

Sorry if I offended you or anyone else Don. I should know better because of how the media is anyway. I only have the internet at work to use. Everywhere I went on the internet that day was all about New Orleans, I mean everywhere I went. lol. Now that I think about it, it was about African Americans only. Like they were the only ones to suffer that day. **sigh** Why does everything in the media have to be black and white? But anyway, I shoulda known better!

[alicia-w]

I wish I could find it again, but in last weekend's paper here, there were several short essays written by various folks throughout the region, and not just N.O. I'll have to try to find them.

[Audrey2Katrina]

Naahhh, Linda, you didn't offend me. I do know where your heart is and that's in the right place . And we all know how "selective" press coverage can be at some times--won't pursue that any further; but we do know! I guess I just read a bit too much into the gist of some posts and what with how things are going in my own little area of the Katrina Krater, I sometimes tend to be hyper-sensitive--like it's still a very sore spot. I swear I think this whole disaster has truly made me a bit bi-polar. Sometimes I find myself in an upswing mood, hopeful, almost cheerful; and within a few hours I'm back in the doldrums almost maudlin about prospects for my area and city. I honestly DO wish we had the kind of leaders you folks have had, congrats on what is, at least, a tribute to your own comeback, and here's hoping that the same can be said--SOME day, for my own.

A2K

[timNms]

The local govt. in Jackson county unveiled a monument dedicated to the anniversary of Katrina and its victims. What caught my eye was the fact they listed 137MPH winds in Jackson county from Katrina! Not to debate this cause its likely a Gust and Seeing my childhood home and parents home in Jackson county damaged nearly 80% I believe it..makes me wonder what the monuments in Harrison county and Hancock county may read?

Local newspaper is saying Covington County had 100 mph sustained winds with gusts to 150. (The southern most part of the county is about 90 miles north of Gulfport).

[artist]

on Fox news they mentioned what a good job the other areas were doing trying to rebuild, saying they had been as devastated, if not more, in some ways.

[Audrey2Katrina]

if not more, in some ways.

That is a VERY relative statement. (Not from you--from them). Certainly one could validly state that those homes across the Mississippi Coastline (and more than just a few even in Alabama, and those in SW La. were utterly destroyed for some distance in from the coastlines. That said, the overall scope of the damage and death is undoubtedly that which New Orleans and St. Bernard received. In St. Bernard over 99% of ALL the homes were cataclysmically damaged, some 250,000 homes in the city of New Orleans alone... these, by sheer numbers amount to an unbelievable amount of damage in dollars, cents, and tragically, some 85% of all the deaths occured in Louisiana as well. This in no way diminishes the tragedy of any lost life whether it be one of the 1577 in Louisiana, 283 in Mississippi, or the dozen or so others in states like Florida, or Georgia from this monster. The scope of damage is always the worst in the eyes of those that the damage hit home to--and that was a LOT of people no matter where they were.

A2K

[Lindaloo]

on Fox news they mentioned what a good job the other areas were doing trying to rebuild, saying they had been as devastated, if not more, in some ways.

And that is exactly what I would like to see in the media. I want them to show the folks of New Orleans that are not from the 9th ward who are rebuilding without complaining or asking anyone for a handout. I know here in Pascagoula, 95% was flooded. Homes, businesses, churches, daycares, schools. We got this city cleaned up. Homes are being rebuilt. Schools are being totally remodeled. Businesses are coming back. Normal is good, at least for me it is!


I want to know WHY Nagin has not cleaned up the 9th ward. I want to know why he is blaming everybody else for the poverty down there. He had buses he could have used to get those folks out. He runs that city. He is supposed to know what is going on ALL over the city. Why didn't he help those people even before Katrina? Why? This is what I want to hear from the media! I do not want to hear all this racial mumbo jumbo. Nor do I want to watch that garbage from Spike Lee whose only intention was to make money off their misfortunes. The Mayor should put in place a plan to put those people to work so they will not have anyone to blame. I mean, this is getting downright ridiculous!

[NFLDART]

I rode this storm out in Moss Point and was on the ground working by 3:00 that afternoon. I know what damage was done to MS. I do think too much attention has been given to New Orleans. Not to minimize anyones plight. But the outer areas sustained just as much catastrophic damage.

[Audrey2Katrina]

If just ONE person, loses practically everything they had, home, job, car, memories, in any particular storm--even be they the ONLY ones who lost it all, make no mistake that said event, in their eyes, will have been the worst catastrophe they have ever witnessed. To wax with bromides: Beauty AND ugliness, are both in the eyes of the beholder, and as far as damage and destruction, Katrina was very much an equal opportunity disaster!

A2K

[timNms]

I think what most people are tired of seeing is those people who are constantly looking to place the blame on someone for their ignorance, be it the president, national government, state government, or local government. I also believe that one is as poor as they choose to be. Take my family for example. When my wife and I married 23 yrs ago, we didn't have a place to call home. We stayed with her parents for a while until we could afford a place of our own. Over the years, both of us earned a college degree while raising our children. We're not rich, by any stretch of the imagination, but we make enough money to pay our bills on time and have enough left over to go to Walmart and just spend a little when we want to If some of these whinners would get up off of their lazy butts and get a JOB, they could have some of the things they want handed to them for free on a silver platter.

I also blame the media for the mess we keep seeing and hearing about New Orleans. Just once, I'd like to see a report from that area showing the "good" that is going on there, not some lazy butt woman with curlers in her hair complaining that the government didn't give her a welfare check so she can feed her kids, grandkids, and the neighbors' kids she's claiming as her own! I know progress has to be happening, but I've yet to see a report on it.

[Audrey2Katrina]

That is absolutely correct. Each of us, in varying degrees, is
A.) Tired of hearing all the race-baiting from folks like Spike Lee and those who feed/profit from such exploitation.
B.) Tired of hearing that the "give-a-ment" isn't handing out enough to this or that one who won't get off their healthy enough duff to earn it.
C.) Tired of hearing about "all the crime".
D.) Tired of hearing that it's (insert your fav/least-fav politician's name here) fault.
E.) Tired of hearing that the government WANTED this calamity to happed.
F.) Tired of hearing that the government is deliberately TRYING to prevent folks from coming back.
and:
G.) Tired of hearing sad story after sad story after sad store--negative, negative, negative: endless tirades of guilt trip after guilt trip.
Where does "Personal Responsibility" enter this picture
And Heaven knows it isn't because people don't have a heart, or compassion for people who truly need it; it's only that when they read case after case, after case of how that compassion is being exploited by ready-and-willing leeches who will exploit tragedy to empower their own lust for doing nothing BUT living off of others, well, then they find it strange to find that the "well" has run dry? People are sick and tired of being taken advantage of too.

As for me, my own pet-peeve, of late, is that I, for one, am SICK of hearing about "it's all New Orleans!" when unless you're watching very limited sources I just don't ever watch, there's plenty coverage on other areas (with the exception of SW La. and St. Bernard/Plaquemines--who, were they to gripe, would have a legitimate one!). Lord knows Shephard Smith who's been milking this story for everything it's worth is on the Gulf Coast almost every other day--and yes I know he's also in New Orleans betimes, well it WAS the hub city of the entire area, AND one with worldwide name recognition--duh!.
Question: Hypothetically, strictly hypothetically, TRY to open your mind enough and imagine a Hurricane named Andrew being about four times the size it actually was...taking essentially the same path it did--and, again--hypothetically, let's just assume that there wasn't the kind of inundation protection (natural and man-made) for the area that it has, and "suppose" that enough of a storm surge came in to inundate 75% of that entire Miami metro area...NOT wind damage..."FLOOD" damage. The actual swath of max winds remains the same--Homestead, God Bless 'em, still gets utterly hammered, but MIAMI is totally inundated and over 1.5 million folks are forced to become evacuees living in God-only knows what areas, for months before returning to what is essentially a city in ruin. Now bear in mind all that devastation SOUTH of Miami, where the strongest winds by far inflicted much heavier devastation--is still THERE. Just ask yourself this question: WHAT would we be seeing in the news day-in, and day-out? Do you think it would be all that havoc in Homestead? I'd be willing to bet dollars to doughnuts day-in and day-out all we'd be seeing and hearing about would be Miami, Miami, Miami. It's all about name recognition and marketing as far as the national media go--tragic and despite what they may claim not even a "fair" representation of the facts; but that IS the REALITY of where the overwhelming majority of coverage would go. It does NOT make it right! Let me make that clear--it's just that THAT is how it would be. This is what we're witnessing with all the Katrina coverage. A world reknowned city with a history and culture the likes of which few in this hemisphere know, has been left utterly decimated, and the press has latched onto it like stink on --uh...something stinky , and they ARE going to milk it for as LONG as they can. I don't like it any more than anyone else, it's MY city!! And yes it has had its problems--LONG before Katrina got here. Katrina EXPOSED those problems for all the world to see and it's NOT pretty, nor is it fun looking at them--in fact it often causes revulsion and disgust, and what hurts me most is that it makes some people who might otherwise empathize want to turn away IN that disgust and want to wash their hands of this city. In a way I can't blame them because they've had it rammed down their throats on a daily basis--along with story after story about abuse, corruption, and hideous levels of crime. Is it any wonder so many are taking such a cynical view of this city? So there IS one place we can point a finger of blame, not with broad brushstrokes--for some things NEEDED to be said; but with a fine stroke because they are simply EXPLOITING human tragedy... and that is at the MEDIA. They have fed on this catastrophe just as surely as maggots on a rotting carcass. And it's become positively sickening!

It is TIME to get past all the things we hear EVERY friggin' day: Yes, we do have problems in the city of New Orleans, crime and corruption being unquestionably numbers one and two respectively. YES, there should have been more coverage of the HORRIBLE destruction along the erstwhile beautiful beaches and miles and miles of historic, well-kept properties along the entire LENGTH of the Mississippi Sound. YES there should have been a LOT more attention paid to what havoc has been wrought in St. Bernard, Plaquemines, and those almost completely forgotten folks in SW La, and SE Texas devastated by Rita. YES, we're ALL sick to no end of hearing the ENDLESS whining about "How am I going to feed all my ....." coming from perfectly healthy, able-bodied individuals living in an area that is BEGGING for people to come WORK for them. And Last but NOT least, we are equally tired of hearing those who, like the WORST of parasites, want to make political hay out of human misery and exploit it to their advantage by doing some of the most despicable of all actions--blame it on a political opponent--turn what was most decidedly NOT a race issue into just that by race-baiting!--Beyond despicable IMO.

Hey, here's a new twist--how about some GOOD news for a change?

The only GOOD news I see on the Media seems to be about the Mississippi Coast. (And I applaud them for it...but believe it or not there actually IS some good going on here in New Orleans that's either minimally, or just plain NOT being covered!) For one thing, in doing MY share of at least TRYING to help my home city, I've joined on with teach New Orleans, and will be working at one of the many charter schools for the areas left in ruin by the flooding, and guess what? They actually have people with genuinely POSITIVE attitudes--how's that for a shocker? They come in all colors, genders, and political affiliations with one common goal: Let's do something constructive, to actually HELP the area. They've done some incredible work under some God-awful conditions to turn many a sow's ear into a silk purse and NOBODY is hearing about that! Why?...(rhetorical)... Because BAD NEWS SELLS!!!

Here's my wish list for what I'd like to see a LOT more of in the news, fully in the knowledge that with few exceptions it ain't gonna happen:

A.) More coverage of the areas OUTSIDE of the French Quarter and CBD that ARE coming back--slowly but surely.
B.) More coverage on the plight of folks OUTSIDE of New Orleans, and their efforts at recovery, focusing on the POSITIVE.
C.) More PRESSURE on those who have a say in pro-active measures to restore the wetland areas that once protected this area from the kind of devastation this storm has wrought! Issues such as closing that god-forsaken MRGO, rerouting of tons upon thousands of tons of silt BACK into areas that much of the shipping industry has deprived those areas of so they CAN be restored. All of this is decidedly DOABLE.
D.) Just for a change some GOOD news coming from the New Orleans area, God knows we've had more than a belly-ful of the bad!
E.) A trend in coverage from the negatives to the POSITIVES! I honestly feel all the negativisim is only nurturing much of the depression people in this area are already dealing with. The last thing someone who is sick needs, is to hear endless stories of the hopelessness of their illness, (ever hear of biofeedback?). What they need is to hear some OPTIMISM...something shedding a ray of hope in their direction, and this is what we're getting precious LITTLE of.

Finally: (Yeah, I know, another long-winded sermon!) People DO need to pick themselves UP by the bootstraps, STOP looking for someone ELSE to blame for their plight and just flata$$ look for ways THEY can be the masters of their own ship of destiny. Whining and complaining may get you a few seconds of fame by the parasites in the media--but when the cameras leave, you're no better off than you were before. The solution to the problems rests with YOU and how YOU intend to deal with resolving them. Take the danged bull by the horns and DO something instead of complain, gripe, and point your finger! Find employment... clean out the area, decide that once and for all you're going to see something GOOD come out of something bad and MAKE IT HAPPEN. Then you can do some positive finger pointing by thumbing your own chest and saying "Look what I helped bring about."

It's a tough long road we have to toe... and unless people are willing to take that first step in that proverbial trip of a thousand miles--they WILL get nowhere. It's high time to step up to the plate and DO something pro-active instead of waiting for others to do it for you!

/long-winded rant.

A2K