Cleaning Up the Beach

When I first made it down to the beach in Gulfport back in November, I wondered how it was ever going to be cleaned up. Hurricane Katrina left if a big mess. Contents of containers from the port were all over the place. Debris from homes, trees, and boats littered the sand.



Shirts from a container dot the sand close to the Grand Casino in Gulfport. There were also packages of pineapple, bags that had once contained bananas, and other assorted goodies. The Port of Gulfport can be seen in the background.





This stretch of beach is also in Gulfport. It is east of the port. The debris here is mostly from homes, businesses, and churches.




I wanted to organize some volunteers to start cleaning but Harrison County's beach director had a more realistic solution for the beaches. There are machines that can sift the sand and get rid of the debris. WLOX has a news report that shows the machines in action. When I went to Long Beach last weekend, these machines were busy and the debris piles of the sifted sands were two stories high. All 26 miles of beaches will be cleaned by these wonderful machines. The only remaining problem is that so far there, is no solution for the debris in the water.




The waters east of the port. Miles and miles are like this.






Biloxi - Some of the debris in the water around the remains of the Porter Ave pier.






A pelican in Gulfport makes good use of an overturned boat.




The beach is just a minor story along the Mississippi Gulf Coast. The remains of the smashed houses, cars, and businesses in the wastelands left by Katrina are the real story. Some parts of the coast have not yet been touched by the bulldozers, backhoes, and other heavy equipment needed to clean up the monumental mess.





Biloxi - The Bombay Bicycle Club




The task of cleaning up the mess is proceeding but some stretches along Hwy 90 look like they haven't been touched except for the highway being cleared.