Latest From Waveland, MS

Wednesday, July 19, 2006
Email from Kathy Pinn
City of Waveland
335 Coleman Avenue
Waveland, MS 39576
228-467-4134

Hello,
For some of you, it's been a while since you've heard from us and for others, you have been very persistent in helping and just don't stop calling!!! We appreciate it. Some of you may even have called and not gotten your calls returned. We apologize.

Yes, we are still here. Click here for a summary of how things are here. Ten-and-a-half months after the storm in some ways seems harder than those first few weeks. We are all getting a little weary – not weary enough to give up – just weary enough to not be as efficient as we'd like.

A lot of people have asked us for a needs list. Right now as you'll read our goal is to get people back.

At first, personally, I was energetic to help, then totally optimistic, then it dawned on me the daunting task ahead of us. A lot of you knew, and a lot of you have helped and we appreciate all that you've done. It would be very helpful just to let people know that we are still here. That we are rebuilding and that things are not happening fast---how could they?

God bless all of you,
Kathy Pinn

Summary Report
From Waveland, July 19, 2006

Rebuild Waveland

The People

A Dr. Kevin Becker, psychologist and director of the Institute for Trauma and Crisis at Harvard Medical School held a workshop here last week and said that after a disaster people recover in stages. First, there is the survival mode and then the hero mode, where people are so busy helping others that they put aside their own needs and then there is the disillusionment stage. And that’s where he thinks most of the people affected by Katrina are right now.

I couldn’t agree more. It is now 10-½ months after the storm. Still some are without homes; many are living in FEMA trailers outside their gutted houses with no means of repairing their mortgaged living space. Either they don’t have the expertise or the money or both.

I’m not talking about people who were on welfare or people without jobs before the storm. Although we do have people like that in our community who have to be taken care of, too. We have elderly people who lived in a modest home that they owned on a limited income. We have young families with children, some where both parents had to work, with a mortgaged home, maybe one or both parents have lost their job and now they are living in a cramped trailer on their home site everyday seeing the destruction around them. We have single moms trying to make ends meet.

Life in general has always been a challenge. Just imagine throwing Katrina into the mix of your everyday life. Everything gone. Starting over.

The debris removers have cleaned up whatever could be brought to the road. Huge trees and stumps that could not be removed are still the responsibility of the homeowner. And then the big holes left by removed stumps have to be filled with dirt. Then there’s the dirt where grass once stood and kids having to play outside because inside is too crowded.

And then the frustration when accidents occur---water pipes being broken by debris removers, ditches flooding with water that becomes stagnant because city workers have so much of this to repair they can’t get to it right away.

Now not everyone is laden with this scenario, there are the people around who have an entrepreneurial spirit and find this challenging and some have some resources to begin building, but for most of the people here the challenge is daunting. Thank God, so many volunteers have come to help us. Each day homes are being gutted, cleaned-up, and restored. There is still so much to do.

And then there are the glimmers of hope that are now turning into small tragedies. The promise of funds for families who owned their homes and did not live in a flood zone and were not required to have flood insurance. Newspapers announced that these monies were appropriated and were to be distributed quickly to help people get back on their feet. This money brought hope to many. They planned their reconstruction. Some even got loans or paid for supplies on credit cards. The money has not arrived and now some are faced with debtors calling for their money. They did what they had to attain some sense of normalcy for themselves and their children. Also, the SBA process is very slow for most people. These monies are not given to people, they are loaned to people. It has to be paid back. The benefit is the low interest rate.

And there are the people who lived in zones which have changed and require new methods of construction. Most people want to build back, but the infrastructure is still too compromised in some areas to allow building to begin.

City Government

Nearly everyone currently working for the City has been here since days after the storm. Most experienced firsthand the wrath of Hurricane Katrina. A lot of our employees were here when the hurricane blasted our town. What makes everything so difficult as emotions wear thin is that everyone who works for the City also lost their homes. The jobs that they once mastered with ease now have become more difficult. Some city employees have found the stress along with meeting their family’s needs too overwhelming and have had to leave.

Can you imagine working in the Public Works department where everyday pumps go down, waterlines all over the city are broken, new potholes are formed in streets caused by construction trucks and the massive trucks used to carry out debris, and downed trees in everyone’s yards. Many people have not begun the task of rebuilding and there are still some houses that are condemned, but haven’t been removed yet.

Or how about being in the building department where everyday people come in who are frustrated because they can’t build yet, they are confused about what they can build and many have no funds to begin to rebuild. Where zoning officials are burdened with the task of saying no to people who want permanent trailers where their homes once stood. Imagine the enormous task of trying to preserve our identity and dealing with the needs of our residents.

Not a day goes by that someone doesn’t say to me, “I don’t know how the Mayor can cope with all this! It’s not exactly the job he signed up for.” A small town usually has small town problems. We are now faced with “world class problems.” We are faced with the tremendous task of rebuilding an entire city from the ground up!

Here We Are

When you grow up in America, you are taught to be independent, to be strong, to carry your own weight, etc., etc. And being optimistic, you also, can never imagine yourself being in the midst of the nation’s worst disaster. You never imagine yourself being in the position of needing help, much less having to ask for it. As Americans, even Southern Americans, we just are not brought up that way.

Some say…why do you choose to live in a place that puts you at such a risk? If we had ever imagined something like this, we certainly would have chosen a different place to live. However, every area has its own environmental disasters---floods, droughts, snowstorms, tornadoes, fires, whiteouts, blackouts, overpopulation, traffic, etc., etc.

When we first thought of moving here, we drove up and down the coastline and marveled at all the beautiful homes that have been here for hundreds of years. We heard about hurricanes. In fact, we knew about Camille and Betsy and some of the others, but here were homes, families and a lifestyle that has existed since the coastline was discovered and developed. We even bought a building that had survived Hurricane Camille, the worst disaster to hit this area. So we felt relatively safe. We took hurricane precautions and began our lives. We loved our life! Days were usually sunny and except for the gnats life was marvelous. Anyone who has visited Mississippi at certain times of the year knows about the gnats. They are those tiny bugs that you can’t see, but you feel their body-chilling sting. They have a very distinctive, “drive-you-crazy” king of sting…and there are so many of them. (By the way, if it weren’t for the gnats, I’m convinced the coast of Mississippi would be very overcrowded. They tend to thin out the population because only the stout-hearted and strong can persevere the dreaded gnat!)

Another great leveler of the population is our sweltering summer heat. It’s a hot, humid, right in your face kind of heat. It makes for great excuses to do nothing! It’s a great excuse to pack up and spend the day at the beach. It’s a great excuse for no meaningful work to be done. For a day spent lollygagging on the porch, sipping lemonade or something a little more spirited, or having an outdoor shrimp boil, and just talking or visiting with family and friends. What northerners may consider “unproductive time” is actually something we must do to endure our environment. Something every Southerner knows is a survival skill. So see, we aren’t being lazy or nice on purpose, we are ‘just survivin’, honey!’

The First Goal – People Back

Because so many wonderful people all over the world have seen our plight and understand who we are and where we are in our fight against what Mother Nature has delivered us, we are optimistic. Many have already come to our aid. Many have been here since the very beginning, at first, with food, supplies and survival needs. Then workers and volunteers came who have been going into people’s homes gutting, cleaning and rebuilding. We have dedicated people who look at our dilemma and understand our need. There are people here since days after the storm who have given up their personal lives to help.

The first goal is, and has to be, helping people get back into their homes. Through faith-based organizations and other volunteer organizations, “people-power” has been a driving force in this effort. Support to these organizations is critical. They supply housing, food, and supplies to workers for families in need.

We need our citizens to come back, if we are going to retain our community with any resemblance of what it was before.

What Do We Do?

City Needs:

Help in Rebuilding

Everyday I hear about grants, FEMA funding, state funds, CDBG monies, MDA funding, donations, the list goes on. What we need now is to see some of these monies reaching the City.

We know what has to be rebuilt:
Infrastructure – water, sewer and gas lines
Roads – even roads that were not slated for improvement now need it because of debris removal and construction activities
City Hall and the Annex Building
Police Station and Court House
Fire Station (Main and Auxiliary)
Civic Center (the old school – only remaining historic building in Waveland)
Library
Schools
Beachfront - The City Pier and Monument Area
Parks

All of these projects have PW’s – project worksheets developed with estimated costs.

The City has held meetings with federal, state and local authorities. The Governor’s Commission planning process for recovery, rebuilding and renewal has gone almost full circle with design charrettes and planning meetings.

I know that planning is critical to the process and it has been almost a year. It is now time to start funneling some of the funds to us so that the process of rebuilding can happen. The City is charged with coming up with matching funds.

One of the dilemmas is that we need to know what governmental agencies are going to give us. Are we going to have to rebuild some of the buildings that were already outdated and small, or can we have additional funds to rebuild structures to service our current needs?

I believe the City is very close to having these questions answered. I believe we are inline to start the process. It becomes frustrating, but when you think about taking a year to plan the rebuilding of a City, it’s not really a very long time.

Needs List

Many people have asked for our needs list.

For Citizens:

To help Volunteers help families:

Monetary Donations:

For the City of Waveland: Matching funds to begin rebuilding.

City of Waveland, P. O. Box 335, Waveland, MS 39576
Designate use:
For example: To Rebuild City Hall

For the library or schools, please make donation to:
Hancock County Public Library
Bay-Waveland School District