Erik S. Lesser for The New York Times The U.S. 90 bridge spanning Biloxi Bay from Biloxi and Ocean Springs, Miss., was knocked out, as was part of the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway.
Posted on 08/31/2005 2:11:38 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
Heaviest loss of life appears to be from Biloxi building collapse
GULFPORT, MISS. - Stunned residents emerged from shelters and homes Tuesday to start assessing the massive damage left by Hurricane Katrina as rescuers pulled bodies from crushed homes and apartments near the coast.
The death toll in this hard-hit county rose to more than 100, but officials believe that number will rise. "There's so much rubble, we won't know for a while. But I fully expect the number to be in the hundreds," said Jason Green, assistant to the Harrison County coroner.
In an auxiliary morgue downtown, hearses unloaded bodies uncovered by search-and-rescue teams.
"Several families have brought in their dead," Green said.
County Supervisor Connie Rockco said it appears the heaviest loss of life was in east Biloxi, where an apartment building collapsed and killed 30 people.
"But there are fatalities from one end of the county to the other," Rockco said.
Gulfport Fire Chief Pat Sullivan said most of those who died in Gulfport perished in the zone of the storm surge, which pushed up to a set of railroad tracks about six blocks from the beach.
"We begged, we pleaded, we demanded. We told them they had a good chance of dying if they didn't leave. But there's only so much government can do to protect people," Sullivan said. "Too many people tried to ride it out. We can't regulate good sense."
Thought they were safe
Sullivan said many homes that survived the catastrophic Hurricane Camille in 1969 were washed away by Katrina.
"People in them thought they were safe, that lightning doesn't strike twice in the same place," he said.
In Biloxi, at the Quiet Water Beach apartments, at least 30 people died when the two-story building crumbled in the storm Monday. One resident, Joy Schovest, told the Associated Press she swam for her life.
"We grabbed a lady and pulled her out the window and then we swam with the current," said Schovest, 55, breaking into tears. "It was terrifying. You should have seen the cars floating around us. We had to push them away when we were trying to swim."
All that remained of the apartment complex was a concrete slab surrounded by a heap of red bricks that were once the building's walls. A crushed red toy wagon, jewelry, clothing and twisted boards were mixed in with the debris.
Gulfport Police Lt. Michael Shaw said he and others in his search crew carried bodies across stretches of rubble that ran blocks from the beach.
"I've lived here all my life, and in some places we were, I couldn't recognize where I was," Shaw said.
The central part of the city, near the coast, looked as though it had been rocked by an explosion. At the waterfront, the blocklong floating Copa Casino had been heaved about 200 yards onto the shore. Its sides were blown to tatters, especially on the lower levels of the roughly six-floor structure.
The floating Grand Casino also was pushed aground and came to rest several blocks west of its former location.
On the beachfront U.S. 90, near the center of town, Hugh Keting surveyed where his law office used to be. The two-story stucco house had been scraped off its foundation, although a huge live oak next to it remained with hardly a damaged branch.
Dwight Harper's workplace was all but gone, too. He works for Dole, which runs a shipping operation on the docks. Some of the facility's two-story-tall unloaders and other heavy equipment were tossed about the edge of downtown.
Inside First Presbyterian Church, which faces the water about a block from the shore, waves had pounded away the plaster up to a line about 6 feet high across the entire back wall. The floor was covered with 3 inches of sand.
Gulfport Mayor Brent Warr said the beachfront shopping center that he and his father owned was destroyed, as were their homes.
Warr and his city staff met in the largely undamaged City Hall on Tuesday morning to choose locations for distribution points for the aid they expect to come in. He said he expected it to begin arriving early today.
"We understand the military trying to reach us was bogged down on U.S. 49," Warr said, referring to the main north-south highway into Gulfport. "I was told there were more than 100 big pines across the road in a two-mile stretch in the DeSoto (National) Forest."
City officials said they could not immediately re-establish water or sewer services. All land phone lines and most cell phone communications were out of service, they said, and crews were trying to repair a major gas leak downtown.
Tons of chicken parts, which had been stored for shipping in the port area, ended up scattered across dozens of blocks west of the city.
"That's going to become a biohazard in no time," said Sullivan, the fire chief. "We'll need fast help with that, too."
Police Chief Steve Barnes said there was an immediate need for portable toilets. "There's not one left standing along the whole (Mississippi) coast," he said.
Katrina's destruction was so widespread, Barnes said, that "all the emergency resources we need are being stretched."
Marine life facility gone
After several drug and grocery stores opened late in the day, lines quickly formed and parking lots filled. Some residents, including 67-year-old Norman Vancourt, said they were planning to leave the coast until basic services are restored. "I'll go as far north as it takes to get a hot cup of coffee," he said.
His house in Long Beach, a town of about 17,000 just west of Gulfport, was demolished. "In a storm like this, you don't even board it up," he said.
Six bottlenose dolphins from Marine Life Oceanarium that rode out the storm in two motel pools will leave town soon, too.
"We were totally destroyed," said Moby Solangi, the aquarium's president. "We're planning to put them in another facility until we can rebuild."
Three of Solangi's sea lions that ended up in neighborhoods were recovered alive, he said.
"The birds and fish, they're free now," Solangi said, describing how the storm crushed several 30-foot-tall tanks.
thomas.korosec@chron.com
President Bush had to call the governess Sunday morning to ask her to make the evacuation mandatory at the last minute. She was sitting there paralyzed like Hillary in the Capitol on 9/11.
Please freepmail me your address, so I can forward the specimen bottle...(g)
You need to put up the /sarcasm sign.
It's late and I had a feeling of hopeful Christian optmism for a second before my cynical core realized you weren't serious.
Most are living on crdeit cards ... And the wonderful new federal bankruptcy laws go into effect in seven weeks. October 17th. A triple whammy.
Okay, you're on. I'm betting you're wrong and the figure is under 25,000, actually under 10,000.
Loser donates the amount to the Salvation Army??
And if we are both wrong, between 10,000 and 25,000 dead, then we both have to donate to the relief effort.
Is it a bet?
Deal.
I've already donated, but I'll do it again.
I was trying to figure out if I could get down there in time with my boat to help the rescue ops, but I'm afraid I'd get there too late to do any good.
Me, too.
And no, you wouldn't be too late.
They are going to be ferrying refugees around for weeks.
I'm to lazy to frown or to crack a smile.
Diamondhead helped me load my gun.
I'm composing a letter to family and friends telling them that we're going to spend our Christmas budget funds to help the victims of Katrina and ask that they send any money they would have spent on us to them too.
My folks in BR are trying to get ahold of someone in the LaEMA office to tell me if I would be of some help.
My boat is hooked to the truck, fueled, with 50 gallons of extra fuel ready to go.
I'll head south after work this afternoon from Atlanta if the State wants my help. I could be there by dark, I think.
Just so long as it's loaded.... :)
Let them loot they have nothing and it seems they are not being helped fast enough. We are a rich country this is pathetic. Freep me if you must!
....please, do this far enough from the danger zone with so much of hurricane season still to come.
Another hurricane hitting them in refugee camps is one of those, "what's the worst thing that can happen" thoughts.
The women with children, the elderly & infirm could be relocated to a safety zone in the west or midwest. The Salvation Army could take charge because they are compassionate and trustworthy. The evacuees need shelter & food and just as important, they need access to information about what is happening back home. Not knowing what is happening is crushing. There should be daily news feeds directly from the city leaders updating them and some typw of communication set-up for families.
This time, "Mother Nature" has shown us that a crisis can be worse than we imagined.
My folks in BR are trying to get ahold of someone in the LaEMA office to tell me if I would be of some help.
My boat is hooked to the truck, fueled, with 50 gallons of extra fuel ready to go.
I'll head south after work this afternoon from Atlanta if the State wants my help. I could be there by dark, I think.
A little advice ...
I used to go to hurracanes and tornados, Hugo was my last.
I loaded up my truck and crew, gas,chainsaws,plastic,plywood,water,generator.
Drove anout 500 miles, got there as the sun was coming up.
We spent the first couple of days clearing roads and helping get emergincy servisis up and roads open to populated areas. We were welcomed with open arms, there was no place "off limits" no "curfew" for us. We were the knights on the white horse.We made several trips back and forth for supplies.
A week later we had people throwing rocks at us because we had out of county tags on the truck.
The hype about people coming to "gouge" the citizens was all over the radio.
The local government had found a good"scape goat" to get the attention off them selves.
I swore I'd never lift a finger agin.
Let them dig themselves out.
If you do go , promise that you will let us all know how it goes for you.
Thanks for a great idea!
Thanks for the tips... I'll keep them in mind.
I'll update as soon as I know if I'm going.
Truer words have never been said.
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