 GCN Recovery News Report This
report will constantly be updated as information becomes available Refrigerators, rail cars-even explosives-have been plucked from the
Mississippi Sound and adjacent waterways in the wake of Hurricane
Katrina, as a $230-million marine debris removal effort cleans both the
coastal waters and inland waterways of the Mississippi Coast. The U.S.
Department of Homeland Security's Federal Emergency Management Agency
(FEMA) oversees the interagency campaign, and hopes to be finished by
the end of January. Inland cleanup in waterways north of Interstate 10
should also be finished by the end of January.
The primary area of saltwater cleanup is a belt of the Sound extending a half mile out and spreading from state line to state line. The removal of debris from deeper waters, extending four miles out, is scheduled to begin in January and may last into the summer. (More Here) Governor Haley Barbour announced, Jan. 24, the state has issued the 10,000th grant in the Homeowner Grant Program. (Click Here for more) In a major development that will help hundreds of families who suffered damages from Hurricane Katrina, but did not receive compensation for insurance claims from State Farm, the company announced a settlement to hundreds of Katrina-related lawsuits. Pascagoula attorney Richard "Dickie" Scruggs has been the key local attorney in dealing with State Farm. In a statement posted on his website, Scruggs said: "Today, we presented a settlement proposal to a Federal Court that could positively impact more than 35,000 families on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. This settlement has the promise to put hundreds of millions of dollars directly into the hands of State Farm policyholders to begin rebuilding their lives, homes and communities. (Click Here for More) The State Farm settlement, while good news for policy holders on the Coast, will mean more paperwork hassles, especially for State Farm policy holders enrolled in the state's Homeowner Grant program. The program requires participants to return grant money received if they get more insurance money. The State Farm case also involves setting up a disbursement program. Some 6,000 homeowners in the state grant program have policies with State Farm. What this all means is further delays in getting money to the ground to make repairs of homes, and greater frustration for all involved. State Farm reportedly wants to have all of the settlement money in the hands of policy owners by....the end of the year. A story published January 17 in the Sun Herald newspaper has all of Waveland talking. The city's mayor is backtracking on his comments of an investigation over the handling of donations the city has received, as well as Waveland city employees being used in an improper effort to obtain records held by Kathleen Johnson, a volunteer helping the area with the Waveland Citizen's Fund. The controversy hangs the Waveland Police Department out as being involved in an improper action, which may not be warranted as the story runs deeper than the facts suggest. The incident was also clearly not an official police action. In the latest development, the Sun Herald reports that Longo is still mincing words over the incident. GCN contacted the president of the Waveland Citizen's Fund, Joan Coleman on January 21. Coleman had been out of town when the controversy erupted. Coleman tells GCN that Johnson has done an "excellent job" with the Waveland Citizen's Fund and will continue working with the group as a volunteer. Coleman said that Johnson does not sign checks and is not on a list of people authorized to sign checks for the Waveland Citizen's Fund. (More Here in this GCN Special Report). Meanwhile, volunteer Kathleen Johnson has updated her personal blog on the Waveland Citizen's Fund website that details her situation. (Click Here) Gulfport Mayor Brent Warr, who traveled to China this past week, is
quoted in an article in the Chinese Press. The story is on a method of
panel construction that could be used to speed housing rebuilding if
adopted in the U.S. (More
Here) A report obtained by the Mississippi Press from the Department of Housing and Urban Development blames the state for the slow progress of the Homeowner Grant program. The newspaper reports that although Gov. Haley Barbour has blamed federal audits for slowing the Homeowner Grant Program, a review of the program by U.S. Housing and Urban Development officials in August 2006 found numerous problems with the way the state was managing the $3 billion program. In the review cited low damage assessments with no follow-up visits, a lack of skill and knowledge by some Mississippi Development Authority employees operating the program and travel expenses incurred by the company hired to administer it. (More Here) While there are few businesses rebuilding south of the railroad tracks in Gulfport and Biloxi, some businesses are moving just inland. One such area is along Courthouse Road in Gulfport north of the RR tracks. New business development is also occurring in D'Ibervile, north of Interstate 10 and on U.S. 49 in Gulfport and near the Woolmarket interchange in Biloxi. Several businesses that were located in Biloxi in downtown have relocated north. Piltz, Williams and LaRosa, a large Biloxi accounting firm, is building a new office at Commerce Park, off of Popps Ferry Road in North Biloxi. GCN has learned that Hancock Bank in Biloxi will not be rebuilding its branch on U.S. 90 but will locate elsewhere near downtown. Region's Bank near Biloxi's City Hall is also not reopening their bank office in downtown Biloxi. There are indications that state officials are becoming aware of a possible sharp loss of income from declining sales taxes. As GCN has been reporting, sales taxes that have risen sharply since Hurricane Katrina represent a spike that may not last much longer into the future. Buried deep in a story on the another subject, the Sun Herald reports that state financial leaders, in a briefing for lawmakers on Jan. 11, said the state economy is pretty good, but the Legislature needs to be "cautious." State economist Phil Pepper told lawmakers that much of the state's recent exploding growth in sales taxes and other revenue is due to Katrina recovery and could be fleeting. State Treasurer Tate Reeves told lawmakers that the state's total bonded indebtedness has grown from $589 million in 1990 to $3.2 billion today. Gulfport residents wondering why it seems that the city is moving slowly on hurricane recovery have a good reason to question what is going on in their city. According to documents obtained by GulfCoastNews.com, Gulfport officials have less than a third of the total value of projects that the city of Biloxi has compiled for reimbursement from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Biloxi officials report that they have over $148 million in total FEMA reimbursement with $75 million going for debris removal and the remainder, about $74 million to help rebuild the city, compared to nearly $25 million for projects in Gulfport. Gulfport shows nearly $100 million for debris removal. (More Here) In a case that may have a bearing on future Katrina-related lawsuits against insurance companies, a federal judge ruled Jan. 11 in favor of a Biloxi homeowner in their lawsuit against State Farm Insurance. Later, a jury awarded $2.5 million in punitive damages to the homeowners. State Farm officials expressed disappointment in the ruling and say they will likely appeal. U.S. District Judge L.T. Senter Jr. ruled that State Farm Fire & Casualty Co. is liable for $223,292 in damage caused by Hurricane Katrina to a Biloxi couple’s home. Some of Senter’s earlier rulings in other Katrina cases have favored the insurance industry, but his decision Thursday could give a boost to other lawsuits that homeowners filed against insurers after the storm. The homeowners claimed that a tornado during the hurricane destroyed their home. State Farm blamed all the damage on Katrina’s storm surge. When State Farm refused pay for the loss, the couple filed suit seeking the full insured value of their home plus $5 million in punitive damages. (More Here) Where is the money? Many people in the Katrina Disaster Zone are wondering where the federal money for the recovery is going as they see progress in the recovery moving so slowly. After nearly a year and a half residents and businesses see the recovery appearing stalled. The answers are not simple. Local governments are busy preparing plans for repairs. Each project has to be researched and plans made then approved. This is a slow process made even more difficult as many local governments do not have the staff to move quickly through the process. Local governments have not been provided with money to pay for additional staffing and experts to move through the process and have to use existing personnel. (More Here) In a move that could result in significant relief for many Coast homeowners that have had insurance difficulties stemming from Katrina, State Farm is reportedly close to settling hundreds of Katrina-related lawsuits. The settlement may also be adopted by other insurance companies. Hundreds of homeowners were denied coverage for damages as a result of the hurricane's storm surge, many didn't have flood insurance and were out of the federal flood zones. Katrina's unusually high storm surge was unprecedented, inundating homes that had never before flooded, even historic homes that had been built over a hundred and fifty years ago. (More Here) Since Hurricane Katrina hit on August 29, 2005, Bay St. Louis Mayor Eddie Farve has worn Bermuda shorts, this is regardless of the season. He has done this as his way of symbolizing the plight of his city. He has even worn shorts when he testified in Congress after the hurricane. In a story in the Sea Coast Echo, Farve says his city's recovery is progressing and he thinks that by next winter, he may be able to wear pants again. Some of the FEMA trailer parks that were established to provide temporary housing for Coast residents after Katrina have become so crime-ridden that nearby residents outside the parks have seen sharp increases in crime. In Gulfport, FEMA is now considering closing one trailer park and relocating residents. But all of the trailer parks are crowded, dusty and suitable only for short-term living, and are law enforcement problems. Efforts by FEMA to build more such parks, are being heavily resisted by city and county officials. One person told GCN that FEMA isn't building trailer parks, but crime scenes. FEMA is not responsible for security at the trailer parks. In addition, FEMA considers information on who is living at the parks confidential and does not provide local police information on who the residents are, or whether they have criminal records. The post-Katrina recovery involves many issues. Among them is repairing water and sewer systems that were damaged by Katrina along the shoreline. Without water and sewer services, homeowners and businesses cannot rebuild. That work is going slowly, especially in the smaller cities, such as Long Beach, Pass Christian, Waveland and Bay St. Louis. But even Gulfport, the state's second largest city, has a challenge. Gulfport's water and sewer system is a hodgepodge of formerly independent utilities that the city has purchased over the years, and as a result of lack of maintenance, many of the city's pipes are leaking. Gulfport's pipes were in bad shape before the hurricane and the city is facing a growing and expensive repair that is not moving quickly. Over the past months, the city has been faced with numerous emergency repairs, boil-water notices, and is conducting smoke tests to find the leaks. The smoke tests also help the city locate homes and businesses that are not on the sewer system. Part of the problem is that Katrina's flood surge created pressures on the land that has shifted and cracked pipes, particularly the older pipes. While FEMA will pay for many of the repairs in the specific areas affected by Katrina, it is unlikely that FEMA money will be available for the city's pre-existing problems, making water and sewer repairs a costly item for the city. As a new year gets underway it is clear that the Coast has made progress in rebuilding its future so devastated by Katrina. That progress though is measured in small steps. The mountains of debris from the storm are mostly gone, but there remains thousands of empty weed-infested lots that mars what was once an attractive place to live. There are also hundreds of businesses that have yet to find a way to rebuild, especially along the shoreline. Biloxi and the cities in Jackson County are doing the best. Biloxi's casinos and an organized and affective city administration have given that city a positive direction that will see many improvements in 2007. While there are plenty of shoreline losses in Jackson County, the county's core cities have largely recovered. Gulfport and the cities west, including Long Beach and Pass Christian still await work to repair their beachfront water and sewer systems. This is work that must be done before houses can be rebuilt. There is also the concern that beachfront property insurance, including land as far back as two blocks, will be too expensive for many former homeowners. The same is true for the many small business and motel owners that lined the beach before the hurricane. Only Waffle House and Vrazel's, have rebuilt to date, though work on a replacement Wendy's is underway near Edgewater Mall. Condo development is clearly part of the Coast's future and many are likely to be built, but it is likely that many of the Condo's proposed are months, if not years away. In addition, condo's are not the housing solution that is so badly needed at the present time. The Coast's transportation infrastructure is still in shambles. MDOT has moved very slowly in doing anything about the Coast's crowded and dilapidated roads. And almost all of the Coast's municipal roads need work. Biloxi says it has a plan in place to repair miles of city roads, but Gulfport, and the rest of Harrison County, have made no such announcements. MDOT has yet to make simple repairs of such things as street lights on the I-110 bridge or on U.S. 90, or remove Katrina debris and the broken sidewalk near the busy Beau Rivage. The street lights controlled by Biloxi were replaced and operating within weeks of the hurricane. Then there are the thousands of people still in FEMA trailers. Replacement housing is not happening. And even for people waiting for Homeowner Grant money to rebuild and repair their existing homes, the program will help but now it is clear that the program will not provide a speedy recovery. What many outsiders don't realize, is that there is no place for visiting contractors and construction workers to live. The lack of housing is a severe issue, affecting both residents, and those who would like to come here to work. In Hancock County, which was so badly damaged by Katrina, the cities and county there are still having much trouble getting back on their feet. Many residents are still gone, and it is looking as many will not be back. While the cleanup that county has largely finished, the scars of Katrina are everywhere. Downtown Bay St. Louis is only a shell of its former self. Work to restore the main road in Old Town is underway, but it will be months before the work is done. Waveland's government is still in trailers and many of the city's residents are still trying to find a way to rebuild. There is a growing feeling among most residents that they are really on their own to recover. That has always been true, the residents here a tough lot with the integrity to know what to do. While it is certainly true that the government doesn't owe people a life, they are responsible for the promises they make and the infrastructure that makes life in cities possible. In many ways, they are failing in this responsibility. Every effort needs to be made to get the federal and state government to do what is best and to stop the bureaucratic delays in distributing the recovery funds approved by Congress. The Sea Coast Echo newspaper in Hancock County reports that a charity group from Maryland, which donated more than $47,000 to assist Hancock County, is asking for the money to be returned because it disagrees with the way Hancock County planned to disperse it. The county plans to disburse the money to employees, but the Maryland group wants to be sure the money is distributed to people that actually need the money. (More Here) A program designed to provide tax incentives to
encourage According to the Mississippi Business Financing Corporation, which is administering the business portion of the Go Zone program in Mississippi, some 135 businesses have signed up for the program with a total incentive valuation exceeding $5 billion. But of the 135 businesses participation in the Go Zone program, only 39 are located within the three Coastal counties and many are from existing operations that are using the program for rebuilding and are familiar names to Coast residents. (Much more Here) According to the Mississippi Press, a contract awarded to two state lawmakers who finalize grants for Hurricane Katrina victims is being investigated by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. HUD officials express concern about the propriety of awarding the contract to Sen. Tommy Robertson, R-Moss Point, and Rep. Jim Beckett, R-Bruce. They hired Rep. Jim Simpson, R-Long-Beach, to help. The contract, funded by money from HUD and worth up to $1.2 million, was signed on July 21 by Robertson and Mississippi Development Authority Executive Director Leland Speed, the report says. Speed has since left the agency. (More Here) Governor Haley Barbour has asked FEMA to extend the time that residents in FEMA trailers have to move out of the temporary homes. The current deadline of February 28 is certainly not feasible as over 31,700 FEMA trailers are still being used. The governor has asked for an extension to February 2008, which is expected to be granted. But there is growing pressure by city and county officials to establish a time that FEMA trailer residents will have to leave. In addition, the smaller travel trailers are becoming more and more a hazard themselves as they were not designed for long-term use. There has been an increase in fires in recent weeks. As of January 16, there has been no word on the extension. As of Jan 8, nearly 83,000 people are still housed in 30,456 FEMA-provided trailers in Mississippi, down from 37,000 last February. FEMA reports that an average of about 250 trailers are turned in each week, but the rate that people are finding real homes is alarming many over the speed of the recovery. For all of these people, and the families they represent, getting into a permanent home will likely take a miracle. (More here in this GCN Special Report) There are still miles of empty lots, lost businesses and no construction in many of the most hard hit areas. Any idea that the Coast has moved quickly toward recovery is misleading. As of January 16, there has not been a single gas station or retail store rebuilt on U.S. 90, the beach highway, from Biloxi to Pass Christian. Lights on U.S. 90 have yet to be replaced in Gulfport, and the Mississippi Department of Transportation has yet to repair the lights on the heavily traveled I-110 bridge or near the Beau Rivage on U.S. 90. In addition, Coast communities are having a very hard time keeping litter and debris off city streets as well as keeping weeds out of the gutters and off sidewalks. The result is the area, even in places where life looks to be relatively back to normal, is trashed and unkempt, which adds to the depressing feelings many Coast residents are experiencing. Meanwhile, residents in the FEMA trailers throughout the area are growing alarmed that an extension of a February 28 deadline to vacate the trailers has yet to be officially announced. Governor Haley Barbour has asked that the deadline be extended but has yet to hear a decision from FEMA. The State of Mississippi will receive more than $280 million under
the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s “This is a giant step forward for Mississippi’s recovery and rebuilding effort,” Senator Lott said, following notification of the award from the Department of Homeland Security. (More Here) While the Katrina cottages will be welcomed by many people now in trailers, the cottages are not expected to be a long term solution for the loss of housing on the Coast. But the cottages could play a role in more permanent housing if the sites they are located are well planned. But crowding them into small permanent versions of trailer parks is not a good plan. Small neighborhood placement, on lots large enough for additions and with streets and sidewalks could provide a better solution. One thing was certain about the Dec. 12, 2006 Gulf Coast Chamber morning call meeting, it was the perfect setting for Senator Trent Lott to feel at ease talking about Katrina recovery and events in Washington. The who's who of the Coast's businesses attend this meeting, the last of the year, and Lott is annually the group's guest. Here, the crowd is friendly and Lott is well-respected. But for someone as powerful in Washington as Lott, his words carry farther than the Coast. Lott spoke of the progress the Coast has made since Hurricane Katrina, but noted that much more needs to be done, and more help will be required. His praised Biloxi's Mayor A.J. Holloway for his care of the City in the light of the Hurricane and for his determination to rebuild. He also thanked the business community for their contributions to the recovery, including Bell South, and Mississippi Power, as well as the meeting's host site, the Beau Rivage Casino and Resort, for their commitment to see the Coast recover. (More Here) In a news conference Dec. 20, at Gulfport City Hall, HUD Secretary
Alphonso Jackson was joined by Governor But on the minds of almost everyone at the news conference was the slow speed of the federal relief, especially the first phase of the Governor's Homeowner Grant program. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's approval of two new components of Mississippi's comprehensive Hurricane Katrina recovery program means additional assistance for potentially thousands of coastal homeowners, businesses and local governments. The second phase of the program will provide grants to low- to moderate-income homeowners whose primary residences suffered flood damage from Katrina. Phase 1 of the program only was for homeowners whose residences were outside the flood zones. Phase II homeowners must have a household income at or below 120 percent of the average median income, or about $63,000 a year for a family of four. Homeowners that applied but were turned down for Phase I have automatically applied for Phase II. (Much more Here)
There is growing resistance by local officials over establishing new FEMA trailer parks to house Katrina survivors who have yet to rebuild or find a permanent home. Many of these families are not property owners but lived in rental homes and apartments. In Hancock County, the Board of Supervisors voted not to allow any additional FEMA trailer parks to be built. There are nearly 31,000 FEMA trailers in use at this time in South Mississippi. The time limit initially set for people to leave the trailers has been February, but that time is surely going to be extended. Biloxi officials hope that the FEMA trailers set up on private property in front of damaged homes will be gone within a year. There is still a serious housing shortage on the Coast and local officials are telling GCN that federal assistance money is still slow to arrive. This is creating problems in restoring public buildings, roads, and many city and county services. While the money has been made available by Congress, the federal and state bureaucracy is reportedly the holdup. One county supervisor told GCN that progress on the housing front could move faster if the money was released directly to the counties. There are some good signs that some businesses that were destroyed by the hurricane are finally working through their insurance issues. Contractors are now restoring the Edgewater Village shopping center in Biloxi and a new beachfront Wendy's Restaurant is under construction also near Edgewater Mall, Biloxi's largest shopping area. But most of the beachfront businesses from Biloxi to Pass Christian remain only empty lots. While a study over whether Waveland and Bay St. Louis should be merged has been shelved, some city officials in Bay St. Louis think the issue of a merger needs to be pursued, reports the Sea Coast Echo. The study by Stennis Institute of Government at Mississippi State University was launched last March. Both Bay St. Louis and Waveland were severely damaged by Katrina and both cities are still struggling with limited finances and resources. The Coast's smaller cities are still dealing financial issues with huge losses in tax revenue and residents are still not rebuilding homes in significant numbers. Higher build and insurance costs, as well as the lack of money to rebuild are keeping people in small FEMA trailers. The Stennis Institute report on the impact of Katrina on the Mississippi Coast examined a range of issues. It can be accessed online HERE. According to the 70-page report Waveland and Bay St. Louis are still "struggling to survive." State Farm has decided to stop writing wind insurance for new
policies in the six southernmost counties of The number of U.S. homeowners who have fallen behind on their mortgage payments is climbing, and the delinquency problem is especially severe in storm-ravaged Mississippi and Louisiana, where many people face the threat of losing the roof over their head from a disaster of a different kind. According to a recent survey. The states with the highest overall delinquency rates in the latest survey were Mississippi at 11.05 percent and Louisiana at 9.5 percent. The good news is that the delinquency rates in these states have dropped markedly since the period immediately after Katrina and Rita, when they skyrocketed to 17.44 percent in Mississippi and 24.63 percent in Louisiana. However, the rates remain elevated from June 2005, when Mississippi's was 8.53 percent and Louisiana's was 6.67 percent, according to MBA's December 2005 delinquency survey. Every since Hurricane Katrina hit August 29, 2005, city officials have been watching carefully the impact of the storm on sales taxes, which reflect the overall economic heath of the area. The State Tax Commission collects sales taxes from business activities across the state and the report for November, which reflects taxes actually collected in September, indicates substantial reductions for some Coast communities that had shown sharp increases after the hurricane. The figures also show that some Coast Communities are slowly recovering, but the overall picture indicates there are problems. Gulfport, D'Iberville, Ocean Springs and Pascagoula showed sharp declines from the 2005 November report. Those communities benefited from the post-Katrina spending as their shops and stores remained after the hurricane and many Coast residents made purchases from those communities. As stores have reopened in Biloxi, Waveland and Bay St. Louis, those cities have experienced increases. The figures from the State Tax Commission for the entire state are also indicating a slowdown in spending statewide with sales tax diversions for November 2006 at $29,595,121.55 compared to 2005 at $32,595,086.66. (More Here) Biloxi officials are backing away from a broad setback ordinance that would help homeowners in East Biloxi rebuild on lots that no meeting current building codes. The City Council is favoring a process that would speed variance requests by property holders instead. Many of the home lots in East Biloxi and on Point Cadet were established before the current building codes and were grandfathered in to the code. But after they were destroyed by Katrina, the lots failed to qualify. The small, narrow lots are considered fire and safety hazards under the current code. The Mississippi Department of Transportation says work on the new Biloxi-Ocean Springs bridge is on schedule according to some media reports. The first two lanes of the huge 10-lane bridge should open by November of 2007 according to a Mississippi Press report that quoted MDOT engineer Kelly Castleberry. The contractor also says the work in on schedule. The bridge is to be finished by April 2008, more than two years after the former bridge was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina on August 29, 2005. Coast area businesses are reeling from sharply higher insurance costs stemming from Hurricane Katrina. A 268 percent hike in commercial insurance rates from the state's high-risk insurance pool is one of the hurdles slowing recovery for small businesses on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. But increases from regular insurers are also having an impact. One example is reported in the Insurance Journal regarding a small shopping plaza in Ocean Springs. The owner of Eagle Plaza reported his insurance premium went from $8,000 a year to $31,000. The shopping plaza only had minor wind damages. Other businesses with larger operations are seeing much higher costs. (More Here) Health officials are concerned about the lingering affects of the damages from Hurricane Katrina on children. Many have seen their whole lives upturned and those living with their parents in tiny FEMA trailers 15 months after the storm are struggling to keep their young lives together. Many are living in crowded, dusty FEMA trailer parks with nothing to do and no place to play. Many of the FEMA parks are crime-ridden and isolated. Their parents are doing what they can, but even 15 months after the storm, they are finding few options on getting out of the trailers. Very few apartments have been rebuilt to house families and there is virtually no public housing. Home costs for available homes is still high and many of the families do not the the financial resources to buy or even rent a home or apartment. A federal judge has ruled that FEMA must reinstate housing supplement payments to Katrina survivors. U.S. District Judge Richard J. Leon's ruled Nov. 29, that the Federal Emergency Management Agency didn't sufficiently explain why it stopped a housing assistance program for people who lost their homes during the 2005 storm. The past spring, FEMA started telling thousands of evacuees that they were no longer eligible for housing reimbursement or that they had to reapply. The judge said the computer-generated letters FEMA sent were too vague and described the application process as "Kafkaesque." Until FEMA explains itself and allows victims to appeal, Leon said the government must keep making housing payments. The increase in sales taxes being generated on the Coast in some cities may be leveling off, and actually decline. As homeowners and businesses complete repairs, and stores in other communities reopen, the sharp increases since Katrina in sales taxes collected from the post-Katrina months is expected to decline in such cities as Gulfport and D'Iberville, though the levels may still be higher than they were before the hurricane. Gulfport and D'Iberville stores, which survived Katrina, found their business activity sharply higher since the hurricane as residents in towns that loss stores switched to shop where stores were open. And as residents complete purchases for repairs and replacement items, those sales will decline to normal or even below normal conditions. Homeowners in the neighborhoods around D'Iberville's shoreline near Back Bay are selling out to casino developers. The area, which included about 500 homes, was flooded by Katrina's storm surge and most of the homes have not been rebuilt. The city recently rezoned the property in the area to include commercial casino development on the request of many of the residents in the area, however some are not happy with what is happening as they feel it makes their future uncertain if they rebuild. There has not been a specific casino announced to date for the area and much of the land sales may only be speculators. Any drive down U.S. 90 along the beach or around the bays in Harrison or Hancock counties still tell a story of destruction that Hurricane Katrina wrought August 29, 2005. With nearly 16 months since, it is evident that the recovery from the hurricane will take time, but how much time? One of the clearest ways to determine the progress of rebuilding since Katrina is through who is receiving electrical service. And the news here indicates that the recovery is nearly stalled. The evidence is clearly seen from the actual number of customers receiving electricity from Mississippi Power, which supplies services to the most populated cities along the Coast. Mississippi Power's customer base is still below pre-Katrina levels. (More here) Biloxi is making progress restoring the city's traffic Among the continuing issues in the Coast's post-Katrina experience concerns the elderly, or rather, the lack of them. Many of the Coast's elderly have left the area. Many lived in the Coast's apartments and in senior retirement homes that have been closed since the hurricane over a year ago. The Coast's elderly also resided in many of the smaller homes that were lost during the storm and have not moved back. Even those with insurance to recover have decided that the risk of future storms are too much for them to bare. In Biloxi, the huge Santa Marie Del Mar Catholic retirement building, a beachfront high rise, has yet to be rebuilt. As rental rates and homes are now more expensive, many of the elderly, who are on fixed retirement incomes, are also finding it too expensive to return to the Coast to live. The Clarion Ledger reports that some area churches have lost as many as 75 percent of their elderly members. (More here) Construction crews working on the Biloxi-Ocean Springs Bridge and the
Bay St. Louis bridge are clearly A new casino group is considering building a resort on Biloxi's Bay View Avenue southeast of Boomtown. The company is eyeing land that is not directly on Biloxi's Back Bay, but just inland-allowable as a result of the new regulation that allows casinos to build within 800 feet of the shoreline. Casinos and land speculators are
buying up
huge swaths of East Biloxi. With land-based casinos now possible, GCN is also seeing that the nation as a whole still does not recognize the level of damage and loss that still exists 16 months after Katrina. Comments from people GCN has spoken to around the nation indicate that people are surprised to learn that the Coast is still having difficulty and that so many people are still in FEMA trailers. Meanwhile, the national news media has moved on again to other subjects. The lack of national reports takes the pressure off of Congress and the President to do more to help the people of the Katrina Disaster Zone in Mississippi and Louisiana. What these people do not realize is that the world is still watching how the United States cares for its own. In October, GCN met several BBC reporters who acknowledged that their news service was still watching and reporting on the U.S. response to Katrina. If people around the world see the U.S. fail to take care of its own people, they may conclude that the U.S. will not act on commitments with their countries either. There are many people in the U.S. that believe market forces will help rebuild the Coast and New Orleans. But business and industry can do little to rebuild homes and neighborhoods, especially for the low and moderate income families that are the majority of families in the region. Homes that cost $150,000 are not "affordable" homes. One of the issues revealed by Katrina was the number of poor and low income families in the region that "market forces" had not risen much out of poverty prior to Katrina. Even for college educated workers in the region, pay is far less than in most other regions of country. The fact that chain store employers pay workers differently around the nation is one cause. For example, why should workers at a Lowe's in California be paid more than a Lowe's worker in Mississippi or Louisiana? That is the reality of "market forces" in this region. The cost of living is not as much an issue as what companies are willing to pay, and get away with. What Katrina has revealed is the failure of market forces capitalism at this point to find a solution to the area's economic and social losses. Sixteen months after Katrina, there is no still central business or industry initiative to help the people and communities within the Katrina Disaster Zone to recover. Issues such as high insurance costs, labor pay, jobs and housing have yet to be successfully addressed. What does seem to be happening is that business and industry are sucking up millions of dollars in federal relief monies with little of it getting to the places where the need is greatest. A recent study found that the Coast lost nearly 10,000 apartment
units from Hurricane Katrina. The units were Harrison County is finalizing their plans to use some $30 million in federal redevelopment funds. The county's plans includes widening Seaway Road in the county's main industrial park in Gulfport, to building a new home for the Harrison County Development Commission, which was once housed in the Hancock Bank tower in Gulfport. The Hancock Bank tower is undergoing a complete renovation after suffering heavy damages from Katrina. The building in downtown Gulfport will not reopen until sometime in the first quarter of next year. The Bank also hopes to complete rebuilding its branches in Bay St. Louis and Pass Christian early in the first quarter of 2007. Biloxi in the past year has seen four times the number of construction permits for new homes and new businesses, and at the same time issued nearly 4,000 permits for storm repairs to existing homes and businesses. And Mayor A.J. Holloway says that as more homeowner grant money finds it way to Biloxi, those numbers are expected to grow even more. Figures released by the city's Community Development Department show that in Fiscal Year 2006 -- from Oct. 1, 2005 to Sept. 30, 2006 -- the city issued 638 permits for new home construction, with a valuation of $80.5 million. In the past 10 years, the city averaged issuing 145 permits for new homes each year. The Community Development Department report also showed that in FY '06, the city issued 312 permits for new commercial construction at a value of $40 million, compared to an average of 80 permits each year over the past 10 years. "What this means is that Biloxians are building back," Holloway said. "And it also means that we're going to see even bigger numbers once the bulk of the finance issues are resolved, such as the homeowners grants checks arriving, or SBA loans and insurance settlements being finalized." Casino industry officials on the Coast are reporting that employment levels at the Coast's casinos have returned to Pre-Katrina levels as of late October. Nearly 13,000 Coast area residents are currently employed at the Coast's casinos. D'Iberville is taking advantage of their destroyed homes to rezone the property to allow for casinos and condominiums. The area include a large portion of D'Iberville's Old Town area east of the I-110 along the waterfront to the St. Martin area. D'Iberville lost nearly 65 percent of its homes from Katrina. The area has been slow to redevelop. Mississippi Power recently received $276 million from a $360 million federal grant to help pay for the company's losses from Hurricane Katrina. But the real beneficiary are the company's customers. Mississippi Power officials say that without the money, the company was going to raise electrical rates by 30 percent. Mississippi Power will use the money to repay a $225 million dollar short term loan it acquired in September 2005 to provide the immediate cash it needed to make the enormous repairs from Katrina. That loan was for three years and now it will be offset by the federal grant. Ferry service between Harrison and Hancock counties began Nov. 1. The free ferry service will help reconnect Bay St. Louis to U.S. Highway 90 just west of Pass Christian. The service does not save people much time from taking the I-10 route, but it does save on fuel. The ferry can carry up to 20 vehicles and takes about 40 minutes to cross the bay and at least another half hour to load and unload. The ferry was established to help keep the communities connected while the Mississippi Department of Transportation builds the replacement bridge across the Bay of St. Louis. Nearly 16 months have gone by since Hurricane Katrina slammed into the
Mississippi Coast destroying almost All along the beach in Biloxi there are towers rising. The huge
concrete structures will easily take the most powerful storms. One of the unfolding tragedies of post-Katrina life includes people that lost their mobile homes in cities within hard hit Hancock County. New flood regulations say that mobile homes that once provided houses to hundreds of residents cannot be replaced. The regulations require more substantial homes, often that are too expensive for property owners to afford. While many of these people are living in FEMA provided trailers, eventually they must move to more permanent homes. Officials in Bay St. Louis and Waveland are trying to find a solution, as are charity groups, but the challenge is great. In Waveland, the city has set up an office to provide help for residents with housing problems at the Waveland Long Term Recovery Office. The office is located in Trailer #8 in the city's Government Complex on Coleman Avenue. Residents having trouble rebuilding are encouraged to fill out the necessary paperwork to receive help. Yes, there is some irony that the help office is in a trailer within a flood zone. But that is the situation as all of Waveland's government offices are in trailers. A regular occurrence for people living on the Coast since Katrina is fixing tires on their cars and trucks. Tire repair shops are still doing a brisk business replacing tires and fixing flats as a result of nails in the roadways. For GCN's two vehicles, we have had nails, usually roofing nails, removed five different times. Once, one tire had two nails embedded in the tread. As we have been reporting, efforts to build modular homes as replacements for FEMA trailers in some Coast communities has gone poorly. Many communities have zoning regulations that see modular homes much like trailers and forbid them. That is the case for the family that won a modular home during the Governor's Rebuilding Expo.Hancock County officials have prevented the family from moving into their new home because it doesn't meet the zoning requirements. Since hurricane Katrina, many of the Coast's cities have ignored enforcing code violations for such things as weed growth and debris on people's property. This has resulted in much of the Coast looking unkempt and in shambles in neighborhoods and even along public roadways. It adds to the depressing look of the area and is demoralizing to the public. Biloxi officials have started to enforce the city's codes in some areas but isn't doing enough. What is disturbing is that even in business areas that were not impacted by the hurricane, grass isn't being cut and trash isn't being picked up. It is as if no one cares about improving the conditions here. Along major roadways, grass and weeds have overtaken sidewalks and is now spilling onto the roads. There are also problems of dead trees. While FEMA will help remove the trees in the flood zones, there are dead trees everywhere, especially pine trees, that are now dead, which threaten people's homes and who cannot afford to have them cut down. These trees, just inside the flood zones are just as much a hazard as those within the flood zones, but there is no help. While the lack of affordable housing is among the most critical
problems slowing rebuilding on the Coast, there is a greater problem
that must be resolved. Katrina's storm surge destroyed large sections of
the water and sewer systems in cities all along Mississippi's nearly 80
miles of shoreline. The costs to re-engineer and rebuild The issue of water and sewer service Coastwide is a key component to the growth and recovery of the Coast from Katrina and for the future. While such services are usually not part of the glamour of a community, or even in the news, without an adequate water and sewer infrastructure, growth can only proceed at a snails pace. Biloxi has continuously added to its water and sewer systems; especially over the last 15 years. The city plans more sewer plants to cover its annexation north of Back Bay into the Woolmarket area. But the other Coast cites are far behind on new sewer plants and water system construction. As a result, they may soon find limits to future development due to their inability to provide an adequate water and sewer service. The most critical need is in Gulfport and D'Iberville. It seems clear that Biloxi has planned best for growth. Just over a year ago, prior to Katrina, Gulfport had considerable difficulty finding the resources to put in water to its park along I-10 for the new Gulf Islands Water Park. The governor signed a bill last April that created a regional water authority made up of six districts in the six southernmost counties as part of a plan that would provide access to nearly $500 million in federal water and sewer funds. While officials work out the details on how the new agency will function and how to get the money, it will take time to implement. GulfCoastNews.com received a prestigious award during the Online News Association annual meeting held in Washington, Oct. 6-8. During award ceremonies Oct. 8, GCN received the ONA Excellence in Service Journalism Award for small websites for its GCN Survivor Connector Database. "This is truly a deep honor," said Keith Burton, GCN's owner and editor. "The GCN database was created to help people that were relocated from evacuations during Hurricane Katrina, but I never realized at the time how it would help so many people." (More Here)
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developers to build new apartments in the Katrina Disaster
Zone in Mississippi is doing little to restore the thousands of lost
apartments on the Coast that were destroyed by Katrina on Aug. 29, 2005.
The Go Zone program was passed by Congress in 2005 shortly after the
hurricane to provide tax incentives for businesses to encourage
redevelopment in the region. In Mississippi, the area included nearly 60
counties, but most of the damages were along the Coastal counties. (
Alternative Housing Pilot Program in support of the “Katrina Cottages”
initiative, which seeks to replace temporary FEMA trailers with more
permanent, safer structures better resembling traditional homes. 
Haley Barbour, U.S. Senator Thad Cochran (R), and Congressman Gene
Taylor (D) in announcing approval of Phase II of the Homeowner
Assistance Program and an economic development component designed to
help local governments rebuild infrastructure and downtowns damaged by
the hurricane.
The City of
Biloxi will
restore the oldest and most storm-ravaged section of one the oldest
landmarks in the city, the Biloxi City Cemetery. The $300,000 project
will see repairs made to more than 200 headstones and 10 tombs in the
beachfront cemetery. Dozens of gravesites, some dating back to the early
1800s, were ravaged by Hurricane Katrina on Aug. 29. The city, which is
awaiting final FEMA approval on the project, has been coordinated with
FEMA, MEMA and with the Mississippi Department of Archives and History.
(
Mississippi, reports the Sun Herald. The company has also stopped
writing property insurance policies within one mile of the coastline in
its Southern Zone states of Mississippi, Alabama and South Carolina.
State Farm's action is among a growing list of insurance companies that
are stopping coverage or are re-examining their coverage along coastal
areas in light of the damages from Katrina. The difficulty and cost of
getting insurance has been one of the major issues in the slow recovery
underway since the hurricane. In the absence of insurance industry
reform, disaster insurance will force many residents to move. The issue
is really one of national importance as other areas of the country that
suffer a major disaster will see what happened here and in Louisiana
repeated in their communities. But there has yet been a real call for
the nation to address the issue. 
2007.
Both bridges tower above the water, much higher than the bridges they
are replacing. Neither will have a draw span and the height is to insure
future hurricanes cannot knock them down. Combined, the bridges total
nearly $700 million dollars in construction costs. Finding the materials
and workers to build the bridges is reportedly a challenge for the
contractors, both companies involved has an incentive measure in their
contracts to finish the bridges on time. MDOT's record on completing
projects on time is notoriously bad. Everyone on the Coast is hopeful
that the work will meet the schedule.
either destroyed or rendered unlivable. This total is nearly 50 percent
greater than a review made earlier by the Gulf Regional Planning
Commission. It also reflects the harsh reality of post-Katrina housing
on the Coast. 
everything along the Beach highway.
But construction of new high rise condominiums is moving rapidly,
changing forever the look and feel of the area.
the systems
will take tens of millions of dollars. In Waveland alone, estimates for
the rebuilding of their water and sewer system top nearly $22 million
and over $36 million for Bay St. Louis. While the costs vary by city, it will take millions more to return the
system to working order, and this must happen before homes and
businesses can be rebuilt in the hardest hit areas. More than a year has
gone by since Katrina, and it will take at least a year, to two years
more, before many areas will be back in service. And then there are the
issues of how the water and sewer systems should be rebuilt. FEMA will
help finance much of the repairs, but that is to restore the systems to
their former service condition, which was largely supporting residential
and small business needs. With the high post-Katrina insurance costs and
new build height requirements, most area planners see the Coast
rebuilding with larger structures, such as condominiums and higher
density apartments. This would necessitate a different water and
sewer system, which may not entirely be supported by FEMA grants and
require additional local contributions, money that some of the smaller
Coast communities do not have. (