Bay St. Louis, MS and the Devastation from Katrina
Today we spent all afternoon hearing about the small town of Bay St. Louis and the changes in the town since Hurricane Katrina. Change
is not a strong enough word to describe the devastation that the surrounding community has experienced in the last two years, as this town barely exists anymore. We got a tour of many neighborhoods in Hancock County and most houses had been completely demolished by the storm. We drove around and basically only saw the foundations of the homes… at one point we saw a couple steps that led to the previously existing house and an oven that the hurricane had left behind. We drove around the small town for over an hour but I feel like we saw nothing; probably because there was nothing to see. It looked like there never was civilization in some areas, I could barely believe a natural disaster could be so destructive. Having no control over such a major change in one’s life must be incredibly discomforting and traumatizing. Tomorrow we are going to record the oral histories of several members of this community, so hopefully all of this will feel more real after that.