Who are these people?By STAN TINER
[email protected]-- Who are these people, these South Mississippians?
I have seen them in the crucible of their great loss, pain and suffering and I can bear witness to their dignity, strength and resolve.
They are the heirs of Camille, and the survivors of Katrina, so the straightness of their spines comes from the legacy of standing up again and again from all the mean seasons of time on these shores.
I would say they are stoic, yet there is a warmth of humanity that breaks through the mask of that façade. Their faces are streaked with the trails of many tears, and their smile lines are evidence of their humor, even in the hard times.
"Resilient" is the word spoken most of them, yet it has been devalued in the lengthening months since Katrina, as it simply does not do justice to them. Of course they are resilient, but there is not enough power in that word to honor their example
On that awful day they saw their world destroyed; their homes, the artifacts of time and family and so many of their treasures were lost. But the day did not claim their spirit, which has shone like a lighthouse beacon for all to see.
It broke my heart to see it then, but from that day I have seen a comeback that is the stuff of legend.
They are an army of one, united by the common ground of their loss.
They are the old breed, those of a certain age who have done this before and who are doing it again with all the creakiness of age and infirmity, and they have passed along the torch to the new breed in whose DNA the capacity for survival is so exceptional. Oh, the young, grown quickly older, showing mettle that stirs their elders with so much pride and belief in the future.
Almost all of those who could come home after the hurricane have done so, almost all of the rest will do so when the roadblocks have been flattened and when the housing is built.
Coming home to what, you may ask? To the world they are building and the dreams they are staking in the new world that stretches from the most western boundary of Hancock County to the eastern reaches of Jackson County and on every inch between on Mississippi's Coast.
These are grateful people, whose memories of debts owed and thanks given go from that August to this one. They will never, ever forget those who came and helped, including the thousands who remain and toil daily in their cause.
The true stories of their bravery and nobility are little known, and perhaps never will be known, because they number in the thousands, and in the march of time and circumstance they are lost in the pace of American life, with its fast-food appetites and attraction to news of the rich and famous.
It may just be they will never be known to the larger world, but they will live forever in the generations who flow from their mighty bloodline. For them that may be all that matters, for they are a humble, hardworking, fun-loving and purposeful people, to whom fame or glory means little.
Yet they deserve both, and to these people I offer the tribute of these meager words, for I am in awe of them - these South Mississippians - my friends and neighbors, and my heroes.
http://www.sunherald.com/278/story/130114.html On August 29, 2005, almost 80 miles of Mississippi were devastated, entire towns and cities and communities destroyed in a matter of hours.
The above is the opinion Stan Tiner, the executive editor for The Sun Herald, coastal Mississippi's newspaper. The comments made by bloggers at the end of the article in that same paper entitled
Where Did the Money Go give you a sense of the frustration on the Mississippi Coast.
http://pod01.prospero.com/n/pfx/forum.aspx?msg=501&nav=messages&webtag=kr-sunheraldtmNew Orleans was not the lone city destroyed by Katrina, she was one of several cities, she may have been the most well known and the largest, but she was not the only one. She is the Anna Nicole of Katrina, so much focus on her tragedy, yet her tragedy is not much different from those not as well known.
The cities of Pearlington, Picyuane, Clermont Harbor, Waveland, Bay St. Louis, Kiln, Pass Christian, Long Beach, Gulfport, Biloxi, D’Iberville, St. Martin, Pascagoula, Ocean Springs, Moss Point, Gautier, and Escatawpa, and the unincorporated areas in the three coastal counties of Hancock, Harrison and Jackson Counties all were devastated or adversely affected by the storm. The stats I heard this morning had 17,000 fema trailers still in use in Mississippi. One of those is my trailer.
New Orleans' damage came mostly from the flood waters, not the winds, the rains, the storm surge and the tornadoes that were Katrina. Mississippi was Katrina'd and almost all of coast line was practically wiped off the face of the earth, almost eighty (80) miles from state line to state line and more than ten (10) miles inland felt her most intense wrath. Forty-seven (47) of the eight-two (82) Mississippi Counties were declared disaster zones.
So, when you remember this anniversary, please don't forget the people of Mississippi and those cities in Louisiana that surround New Orleans. I would venture to guess that some in Alabama are still struggling too. Yes, NOLA needs help, but NOLA is not the only victim of Katrina and the government's failed policies and exhausting red tape.
Please don't forget the Rita and Wilma survivors in Louisiana and Texas and don't forget that despite what the MSM tells ya, not everything is great for everyone else outside of NOLA that have had their lives forever changed by the natural disasters of 2005.
And if you can give of your time and volunteer to help the Katrina survivors, please do so. It has been the volunteers and not the federal government that have helped us along and made it possible for many of us to not loose hope and to survive.
Keep those healing energies, wishes of well being and strength, prayers of courage and healing coming this way. We have a long way to go.
thanks for all the support and caring
:patriot:
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