Reflections of Katrina: 9/9/05

Finally! Part 2!

Ashley and I woke up Friday morning around 7:30. She had to call into a radio station for an interview, and I got a shower and dressed. All the other guys also got up, and we all left the house around 9:00.

We filled up in Mobile, grabbed some breakfast and headed back to Biloxi. The Columbus guys went back to Georgia, which means a quicker trip back to Mississippi. We didn't have to follow trucks and trailers, so we made decent time getting back.

We first went to Highway 90 on the eastern side of Biloxi. We shot some more footage where a bunch of houses used to be. There were stairs in several places that should've gone up to front doors. They instead went nowhere. We'd stand on the top and look out over just piles of rubble.

We did some of our on-camera stuff, and went inside one of the houses. As we were coming out, the owner drove up. He told us while the downstairs area was trashed, the upstairs looked untouched. Not even a picture out of place.

We then shot some more in the surrounding neighborhoods, and then peeked over the wall at Keesler AFB. I barely recognized my old stomping ground. New construction was mixed in with total destruction.

The neighborhoods surrounding the base gave a better picture of the damage. We saw signs that read "You loot, we shoot." We also saw a refrigerator covered in rope that ready "Do not open. You will regret it." Red and black X's marked the houses with dead or injured people inside.

We made our way out of Biloxi and into Ocean Springs. Jimmy, one of my best friends since before high school, is with the National Guard unit out of Tallassee, AL. He was deployed down there, so we decided to do some stories.

We drove up to the municipal airport where the NG was set up. Jimmy was working in Vancleave, about 45 minutes northeast of there. We met several soldiers from our viewing area, and then headed to Jimbo's hideout.

We stopped at the Ocean Springs mall where the Phenix City unit was handing out water and ice to a long line of cars. Ashley did a story there, and then we went to Vancleave. It was longer than 45 minutes, I think. :-)

We drive up to the high school, and there's Jimmy guarding the gate. Never in my life did I think our jobs would bring us to the same location in another state. It was awesome to see him and his unit loading food, water and ice. Those people were very grateful, and they even helped the Guardsmen by loading cars and giving them food.

We wrapped up our final story there. We left around 5:00 that afternoon, and headed back to Opelika. We stopped by my house, and Ash went on to Columbus. I got home around 10:00 that night, and that wraps up my Katrina memories.

I described the destruction better in the previous post. It's late, and I don't feel like getting into more detail. Thanks for reading it, though. Once again, here's a link to some pictures from the trip.