Posted on 11/20/2005 4:56:23 PM PST by caryatid
GULFPORT, Miss. --Gulfport and its neighboring towns -- from Waveland in the west to Pascagoula in the east -- were epicenters of destruction when Katrina came ashore Aug. 29. But more than two months later, with the reconstruction in full swing, Gulfport has the feel of a latter-day frontier boomtown.
At night, restaurants ... are packed, with hourlong waits for tables and a lively, manly bar scene....
Gulfport has a semi-intact infrastructure of motels, restaurants and retail stores ... shakily supporting the migrants who have flocked here to help rebuild and make a buck.
About a quarter of the city's 26,000 housing units were destroyed ... by Katrina. The pre-storm population was 72,000, but officials have no idea how many people are living in the city now. ...
"People who work long, hard shifts, they get out, they want to let off a little steam," said Gulfport Police Capt. Pat Pope, ... "It's the Wild West, Tombstone. ... The streets are safe, things aren't out of control, but we do have a drug problem."
Money is fueling the activity. Insurance settlements and cash payments from FEMA and the Red Cross have many locals feeling flush. Workers labor from dawn to dusk six or seven days a week and have money burning in their pockets.
[T]hree men [who] work in a Florida junkyard [were] [a]sked what kind of work they would seek in Gulfport, [and] responded: "Anything that pays good."
Law enforcement officials blame newcomers for a surge in drinking and drug offenses.
And while each day brings recovery another day closer, everyone acknowledges it will be months -- if not years -- before Gulfport returns to its relatively placid pre-storm pace.
(Copyright 2005 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
(Excerpt) Read more at wwltv.com ...
"Manly bar scene"???
"Manly bar scene"???
"Arrrrgggh matey, send the wench with some grog!"
LOL
Because of all the construction in the area, apparently the male/female ration is so heavily male that even homely girls are looking good to the men! In the article one waitress/barmaid said she had been getting guys' phone numbers scribbled on credit card receipts for weeks ... she said they are "all either married or lying" ... LOL
You know...Monty Python's, I'm a Lumberjack song..."I'm a lumberjack...." :D
"Now, men, I run a mans' ship. I will run it in a manful and masculine way! I will tolerate no men under my command who act in such a way so as to discredit their manhood and manliness! Do I make myself clear?"
http://snltranscripts.jt.org/78/78rcowperthwaite.phtml
Nice to see Bea Arthur getting some work.
Ping.
Gulfport and its neighboring towns -- from Waveland in the west to Pascagoula in the east -- were epicenters of destruction when Katrina came ashore Aug. 29. But more than two months later, with the reconstruction in full swing, Gulfport has the feel of a latter-day frontier boomtown.
----Great for them. See, NO, thats all it takes is hard work. ( and this is not directed at the people in La that are hard workers anyway) Just the ones that haven't tried to even better themselves in the almost three monthes since.
And it will happen again. And when it does, just like right now, the federal government will tax you to pay to rebuild it.
...said Gulfport Police Capt. Pat Pope, ... "It's the Wild West, Tombstone. ... The streets are safe, things aren't out of control, but we do have a drug problem."
Doesn't seem to be such great news...
Huh?
The good news ... for Mississippi ... and for the rest of the country ... is that Mississippi is rebuilding itself ... and started doing it from the moment the hurricane struck.
Unlike Louisiana and New Orleans, Mississippians and their terrific Republican Governor Haley Barbour, and other officials, got the ball rolling immediately to rebuild their own towns and state ... without the hysterical whining and demanding behaviour, or any of the other truly loathsome things we have seen going on in New Orleans and Louisiana.
Three Cheers for Mississippi.
Mississippi ping -LibLieSlayer
and still no mention of the 800 bodies PING
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