Remembering the ‘mother of all storms’

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August 29, 2010

By Fredie Carmichael / Executive Editor The Meridian Star The Meridian Star Sun Aug 29, 2010, 08:30 AM CDT

MERIDIAN — It’s hard to believe five years have passed. Most of the pine trees have begun to grow back; homes have been repaired.

   Still, the memory of Hurricane Katrina — and the destruction she brought — remain.

   As Brian Livingston wrote in his main story of today’s paper, people in East Mississippi have vastly different ways in which they remember the mother of all storms. For some, it was a time of grief. For others, it was a time of neighborly love. Regardless, it was a time that won’t be forgotten for many of us.

   I wrote about my Katrina experience the week after I returned as editor of The Meridian Star back in August of 2006. It was a year after I had worked as a reporter for the Pensacola News Journal and covered the storm for Gannett.

   It’s been five years since I slept inside a muggy tent outside of Pass Christian, waiting to cover the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

   There was no way to mentally prepare myself for what I was about to see in the days ahead. It was one day after the massive hurricane struck the Gulf Coast. I missed most of the initial media coverage because I covered the storm’s approach in Pensacola, Fla.

   I didn’t know what to expect along the Mississippi Gulf Coast. It was dark by the time our news team, another reporter, a photographer — and —myself arrived on the outskirts of Pass Christian.

   There was no cell phone coverage, spotty radio reception, and no way to find out just how bad the damage was. I also had no idea just how bad the storm — much like Hurricane Ivan the year before — had damaged my hometown of Meridian.

   The early-morning sunlight was my first opportunity to see the massive devastation of our coast. I saw dead bodies stacked on the side of the road, family photos covered in insulation and strewn about the debris-cluttered landscape, and concrete slabs wiped clean.

   I also saw residents that rode out the storm in their homes — most of whom were elderly — walking the streets in a daze. They had a glazed look in their eyes as they surveyed the damage. I felt like I was in a movie about the aftermath of some war.

   Those are memories I won’t soon forget. At the end of the day, I felt numb.

   It was hard to complain about returning to my apartment in Pensacola and suffering through a few weeks without power. I felt lucky.

   It wasn’t until nearly a week after the storm that I learned of the devastation to Meridian. It was hard to believe just how bad it got here. I never imagined a hurricane could do as much damage this far inland. The damage caused by Ivan a year earlier could never be matched — or so I thought.

   This week, as I read back over stories in the days that followed the storm, I realized that Meridian took a major blow. We also were the recipients of many coastal residents who fled to our city for refuge.

   This past week, I’ve heard many stories of how neighbors helped neighbors and how local organizations came together to help those in need (many of those stories can be read on the next page).

   The bottom line: Hurricane Katrina will be something most of us won’t forget. We’ll likely be telling the stories of the storm for years to come.

   In some ways, the story hasn’t ended. For some, the impact of Hurricane Katrina will be felt for years to come.

   Regardless, it is likely that we will forever think in terms of “Before Katrina” and “After Katrina.”

   Fredie Carmichael is executive editor of The Meridian Star. E-mail him at editor@themeridianstar.com.

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