Conquering Katrina's rage

submitted photo In 2005 Hurricane Katrina left this now spotless home, owned by an 80-year woman in Pass Christian, Miss., with the windows blown out and full of mud. Mike Turnbull helped with the initial clean-up of this house during the months following Katrina. The total renovation of the home, including new furniture was done by the Billy Graham Foundation, which refused to take any money from the owner for the work. Turnbull said the owner is so grateful for their assistance that each month, after she pays for her medicine and other necessities from her Social Security check, she sends a small donation to the foundation. At right, Turnbull on the right, takes a moment to rest with an unidentified member of the family, in 2005.

Much evidence of Hurricane Katrina's devastating visit remains, but residents of Pass Christian, Miss., continue to persevere, reclaiming their community bit by bit.

It has been two years since Hurricane Katrina roared ashore at the crack of dawn on Aug. 29, 2005, its 120 mph winds and 29-foot storm surge destroying or severely damaging everything that happened to be in its path along the Louisiana and Mississippi coast.

While New Orleans received most of the media attention, the towns of Bay St. Louis, Waveland and Pass Christian, Miss., were in the bull's-eye on the map for Katrina's eyewall and storm surge; and in the months that followed, volunteers from all over the country poured in to help with the recovery.

When Nevada resident Mike Turnbull saw what was happening in the area, he decided he had to go and help. Along with a friend and business partner, a retired police officer from New York, he packed up and headed for the Mississippi Gulf Coast to see what could be done to help, ending up in Pass Christian, Miss. Little did they know that they would spend several months there serving meals, hauling supplies, mucking out houses filled with mud and doing whatever else they could to help.

Turnbull said that he gained a new extended family through the effort, some of whom he keeps in regular contact with and last visited in July.

"I had planned to go to Pass Christian for the two-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, but one of my friends there died in July and I had to go then for his funeral." he said,

Turnbull said that with every trip he makes to Pass Christian he can see changes that have occurred.

"It's still bad, but it's so much better," Turnbull said, reflecting on the changes that have occurred in Pass Christian over the past two years, which Turnbull refers to by the local name of "The Pass."

Interstate 10, which is a scenic highway running right along the Gulf Coast has been repaired and the bridge over the bay between The Pass and Bay St. Louis to the west has been replaced, he said.

Katrina completely removed the concrete deck on the bridge over the bay.

"Highway crews are planting palm trees and doing landscaping along the highway. It's beautiful," Turnbull said.

"Slowly you see homes being replaced and torn down. A lot of the cleanup is done. They just have a long way to go," he said.

It will be interesting to see what they do in the long run, he said.

Since Katrina destroyed much of the beach front town of 6,400 people the estimated 3,200 people who are left are having to start from the beginning to rebuild their town and their lives.

A lot of people have not come back and the real estate is not cheap. There is very limited housing available, he said.

"Twenty-four months later and there are still people living in FEMA trailers," he said.

A lot of the people have rebuilt or repaired their homes and are getting their lives back in order.

"There are others who are just sitting in their FEMA trailer without a job and making no plans for their future," he said.

Turnbull said that the Federal Emergency Management Agency is currently trying to help residents who did not have any insurance coverage by giving them a one-time $150,000 grant.

They can use the money from the grants for anything they want.

The one stipulation is that if another hurricane comes along the government will not help them again.

"The people and their leaders have the say-so on how they want the community rebuilt, largely because they are starting from scratch," Turnbull said.

They will have to decide if they want to keep their beautiful beachfront community or build it up and change it for the future, he said.

It would be nice if the town could afford to hire a community planner to help with designing their new town, he said.

The problem is that the town does not have any money to work with.

"There is no revenue being generated. The Wal-Mart was washed away and although they have made a commitment to rebuild, it hasn't happened yet," he said.

The Wal-Mart was located right on the Gulf Coast and took the brunt of the hurricane winds and the storm surge.

All that is left is an immaculate vacant lot, he said.

Further inland along Interstate 95 there are new businesses opening, but not in Pass Christian, he said.

All of the clean-up of hurricane debris left an unexpected impression on Turnbull.

All of the landmarks that he became accustomed to while working there, like an upside-down Ford Escort are no longer there.

Turnbull said that he would like to go back to Pass Christian for the third anniversary of Hurricane Katrina and make it into a celebration --maybe have a barbecue, maybe see if the Seabees, who have helped with a lot of the clean-up there, could set up a tent for the event.