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| Home Front: Economy |
| Mississippi running low on fuel and medical personnel |
| 2005-09-04 |
| Mississippi is running dangerously low on fuel and medical personnel, and faces a looming housing crisis for tens of thousands of people, officials said four days after Hurricane Katrina blasted through the state. The state's death toll from the hurricane currently stands at 147, but seems certain to rise as officials widen their focus of attention from larger cities and coastal areas to rural communities further inland. "That number is going to go up," said Gov. Haley Barbour (R), who accompanied President Bush yesterday on a tour of Gulf Coast communities ravaged by the hurricane. "If you see the devastation, you wonder why it didn't kill a million people." Refugees and survivors continued to tell horror stories about looting, terrible sanitation, long lines for gas, a continuing lack of food and water, and a relief operation that has been excruciatingly slow. Government officials, however, painted a very different picture of the relief effort, called for optimism -- and even suggested that difficult experiences were good for people's character. "We're spoiled," said Col. Joe Spraggins, civil defense director of the hard-hit Harrison County. "All these years we've had everything given to us. God gave us this disaster and we've got to live with it. It might bring us back to reality." At a news conference in Jackson yesterday, Barbour and other government officials only mentioned meeting upbeat people during their tour with President Bush. When asked whether he had told the president about the financial needs of the state, Barbour said, "He doesn't need anybody to take him to school on that, he understands that cold." "There are tens of thousands of homes on the coast that are uninhabitable," Barbour said, of the coming housing crisis. And officials had still not gotten a full understanding of the scope of the disaster in many areas: "We went places where the debris is chest deep, head deep." Barbour said fuel shortages were the most immediate issue, and called for people who owned tanker trucks in Mississippi and neighboring states to step forward and help with transporting gasoline. He also put out a call for nurses, healthcare workers and physicians, and said that he was worried about the risk of disease outbreaks. Some 9,000 National Guardsmen, mostly from other states, are expected to be in place by this weekend to help maintain security and assist with relief efforts. In coastal communities, the search operations continued endlessly. Long Beach, Miss., firefighter Christopher Findlay said he had found four bodies since Monday. "It's like reliving 9/11 again, looking through the Pentagon for bodies," said Findlay, 40, who lives in Long Beach, and was formerly a firefighter in Bowie, Md. "Now I'm looking for bodies again, but some of them are in trees." Findlay and other firefighters have been pulling double duty, participating in rescue and relief efforts while also policing badly damaged areas. "Looting is pretty bad," he said. "People are taking clothing, liquor -- things that aren't life-surviving, material items. I don't have a problem if someone is trying to get food or water, but beyond that, we're busting 'em. "What we're getting worried about is people are starting to shoot at us now," he added. "That's the lowest form of human being haunting the Earth." But Findlay acknowledged that even honest people were reaching breaking point. "Everything is just stretched so thin. People's nerves are really agitated," Findlay said. "They want things now, but it's not here. It's coming in. We're only issuing two bags of ice per vehicle. We'd like to give more, but if we did, it'd never last." Officials in Harrison County relaxed the nightly curfew by two hours to 8 p.m., despite increased security fears. The reason, Spraggins said, was to give people more time to venture out for gas and food, errands that now could take all day or longer. Most residents are without electricity, phones and sewage service. Sanitation is a challenge. The Salvation Army is providing 20,000 meals a day for the hungry. By Saturday, the nonprofit group will have a total of 20 canteens operating, serving 30,000 meals a day, Spraggins said. By the end of the weekend, 2,500 portable toilets are expected. One hundred tractor-trailers filled with ice and 500 filled with water are on the way, as well. About 28,000 residents out of 195,000 in southern Mississippi have had their power restored as of Friday, Spraggins said. Fuel supplies are so low that emergency response crews in Long Beach had no gasoline Thursday night. |
| Posted by:Steve White |
| #16 glad to hear you're OK RJ |
| Posted by: Frank G 2005-09-04 23:49 |
| #15 We're fine, except for losing power for three days, no harm to us. Worst is a minor dent in my wife's car hood from a falling branch, not even worth repairing. Things are pretty much back to normal, we got power back wednesday, and except for a huge cleanup of branches and such trash, all is well here, traffic lights are almost all restored, should have all power out areas back by monday or so. Tunnels and both the interstate and Cuseway are open and traffic flowing uninterupted, I-65 is also open and clear. We have lines at gas stations, but it's mostly panic buying, gas is 3 bucks or so a gallon and except for a few with "Out of Gas" signs, gas seems plentiful, and the radio keeps saying supplies are going to be normal by tuesday or so. I'm just not buying any gas and waiting unti later, I shouldn't need any until next friday or so. I see people with trailers full of 5 gallon cans filling up and nobody seems to be restricting quantities (And making a killing at 3 bucks) Traveling on the I-10 I noticed nobody speeding, in fact speeds were closer to 65 than the normal 85 or so, traffic was thick with emergency vehicles going west, Sherriff trucks packed with generators, and tarp covered supplies, many army type vehicles, a series of heavy diesel pickups hauling medium-large travel trailers (All the same, that's why I noticed) and I saw a series of about 12 new semis parked in Pascagoula each with 4 brand-new medium large 4 wheeled gensets on each trailer (Stopped for a break I guess) Pascagoula got it a lot worse than us, passing through around 3 this afternoon the power crews were everywhere, traffic is running smoothly, (I-10 Eastbound is being diverted through Pascagoula) and streeets are blocked off to cross traffic to smooth the overflow. Hwy 90 is a 4-6 and 8 lane renewed road throughout, and they just finished a brand new bridge over the Singing River that was not damaged. As I passed I saw the railroad was out, the railroad has a timber causeway running beside Hwy 90 and several sectioms were missing in the middle, about 200 feet missing estimate, but the basic pilings were still there, this is a major east-west artery and trains run more or less constantly through there, from Pascagoula to Mobile the rails seem intact, it's not near water until you get to Downtown Mobile, I have no idea if the tracks are intact past, or in Mobile, but as the trainyard here regularly floods I doubt it. Biloxi seems pretty well destroyed, I saw none of Biloxi personaly, (Stopped at the destroyed Drawbridge over Biloxi bay)but the sun-Herald pictures show ruin. Having the rails out will certainly hurt. |
| Posted by: Redneck Jim 2005-09-04 21:52 |
| #14 How did you make out RJ? You're in Mobile, right? |
| Posted by: Jackal 2005-09-04 20:17 |
| #13 Dang it, the link didn't work, try again http://www.sunherald.com/mld/sunherald/ |
| Posted by: Redneck Jim 2005-09-04 19:09 |
| #12 Pictures around the Biloxi-Pas Christian area |
| Posted by: Redneck Jim 2005-09-04 19:08 |
| #11 Refugees and survivors continued to tell horror stories about looting, terrible sanitation, long lines for gas, a continuing lack of food and water, and a relief operation that has been excruciatingly slow. God, I hate the press. |
| Posted by: Robert Crawford 2005-09-04 18:57 |
| #10 I just went looking for pictures of Choo Choo Bridges in Mississipi (I only archive Florida Briges of Doom) and stumbled across this note how up to date it is. Don't try peeking up at the index they get angry. |
| Posted by: Mona Gorilla 2005-09-04 18:39 |
| #9 Much wind damage, the railroad bridges are out both at Biloxi and Pascagoula, ther4e won't be any rail traffic for weeks at least ! Those were very serious trussels. |
| Posted by: Mona Gorilla 2005-09-04 18:33 |
| #8 Just got back from the Biloxi area, (checking on my brother) Power is back on in his area, Hwy 90 is open, the interstate is open westward, but two shrimpboats and one construction barge with two big cranes onboard have hit the eastbound span as it crosses near Pascagoula. As I passed the Hwy dept was making a gravel turnout at the bridge approach to turn the eastbound lane into a two-way, currently traffic eastbound is being diverted to hwy 90 and rejoins at the Alabama state line. Much wind damage, the railroad bridges are out both at Biloxi and Pascagoula, ther4e won't be any rail traffic for weeks at least |
| Posted by: Redneck Jim 2005-09-04 18:03 |
| #7 Muck - your Cheney rants are not appropriate for this one....MS is certainly getting the short end of the attention stick, but suffered just as badly and with as many blacks in the population. Bush should make sure that Barbour and MS get everything they need, especially over the whiney Blanco, Mayor dickhead, shooting gangmembers, et al. Not saying LA shouldn't get theirs, just make sure that MS does as well (and Alabama) |
| Posted by: Frank G 2005-09-04 16:54 |
| #6 India offers doctors and medical supplies "Essential medicines that may be required" would be donated, he added. India boasts the largest number of pharmaceutical companies recognized by the US Food and Drug Administration in any country outside the United States. Sen said a medical team from the Indian Army Medical Corps, including a surgeon, an anesthetist, doctors, nurses and para-medics, could fly Sunday to the disaster area in an Indian Air Force aircraft. "The team will have its own medical equipment and stores. It is aimed to complement the efforts of US organizations, will not require any additional logistic support and will not in any manner strain existing resources," he said. In addition, New Delhi has offered large water purification systems for use in households and small communities in the stricken areas, where potable water is a key concern. |
| Posted by: john 2005-09-04 14:53 |
| #5 "Everything is just stretched so thin. People's nerves are really agitated," Findlay said. "They want things now, but it's not here. It's coming in. We're only issuing two bags of ice per vehicle. We'd like to give more, but if we did, it'd never last." My wife and I were in deep conflict over this situation: I didn't want to give a damn thing. She wanted to "help the children". I said I didn't feel obligated to love those kids more than their incompetent parents who thought they were so goddam smart, they could ride out a Cat 5. We reached a Solomonic compromise: we'd just send baby food and diapers. No wipes, since the parents could use those to wipe their own asses. Yeah, I'll do it "for the children". But ONLY "for the children." |
| Posted by: Ptah 2005-09-04 14:35 |
| #4 Yep, its easier to sit on an overpass in NO than to go into the field to see places where Katrina just cleaned the earth of any mark of man. Much easier to manufacture the storyline with powerful closeup shots of faces than it is to actually show the full extent of the devastation. I think the Weather Channel has trumped the MSM in coverage outside NO. |
| Posted by: Angerong Uninelet1441 2005-09-04 09:35 |
| #3 gonna greese sumone mite as well be squeaky. |
| Posted by: Elmert Gresh11784doo 2005-09-04 01:36 |
| #2 With all the blame bullshit eminating out of the Big Easy, Mississippi gets scant attention. A classic case of the squeeky and incompetent wheels getting the grease. |
| Posted by: Captain America 2005-09-04 01:20 |
| #1 thisn jus prove teh chainey is make for levee preperashens of falterin falters of prequalified kandidates bein left outta bidden time. >:( and dubble >:( >:( ! |
| Posted by: Elmert Gresh11784doo 2005-09-04 01:16 |