Trying My Best

I am trying my best to forget that this is the third month since Hurricane Katrina destroyed my Mississippi Gulf Coast. But it is futile. The 29th of any month for now will always bring me back to August 29. I have been through two major hurricanes before, Frederick in 1979 and Elena in 1985. I have been through Georges. Yet none of these come close to searing in my brain the awesome power of nature. Until Katrina hit, I can honestly say that I had never been terrified before, scared yes, terrified no and there is a difference. Three months on and I can still hear the howling of the winds and see the debris flying in the air and the terror of wondering if the roof was going to come off.

The scenes of destruction in the places I love are printed indelibly in my mind. I don't need pictures to recall what the streets looked like as I made my way home from the shelter of my sisters house. The downed power lines, the trees all over the place, the houses so terribly damaged, the dazed looks of people coming out of their homes, the circuitous route I had to take, the fear of what I would find when I did get home, the worry about my son, all of these things are freeze framed in my mind.

Time has not stood still as one might expect. I have found strengths that I never knew I had. I have found the courage to face my demons and what I am most fearful of, the loss of my job. Though the first few weeks were in doubt, my job was in intact at very reduced hours. I had hoped to be able to post some pictures yesterday on the start of construction on the plant, but like all things down here, time has a different meaning. But I'll leave you with a sequence of pictures showing the progress that has been made.




The plant the Saturday before Katrina struck


August 29, 2005, Central Ave, the road leading to the offices and plant, courtesy of J.D.



The plant days after Katrina struck, courtesy of J.D.



The plant a week after Kartina struck




The plant last month, all the scrap metal has been cleared and the slab awaits it's new building







Progress is being made. Slow though it is at times. The memories of that day are still as fresh as recalling what I had for breakfast a little over an hour ago. You learn to cope with the phone service that is still messed up, the problems with banking that are still ongoing, the mail delivery service still being hit and miss, the traffic lights that suddenly stop working for a couple of days, the long, long lines anywhere you go, and the traffic jams. You learn a lot about patience. You cope by having a sense of humor. Like the other day, I was at an old bridge that is now used as a fishing pier to take some pictures. I couldn't take any though because I was laughing too hard. You see, a fisherman that was there had positioned himself under some power lines. These power lines held dozens upon dozens of commerants and the inevitable happened. One had a call of nature and it landed on the hapless fisherman's head. He was laughing just as hard as I while doing all sorts of contortions to clean himself off.