Image hosted by Photobucket.com

Sunday, August 28, 2005

Not Again


Gulfport Beach
Originally uploaded by sanscript.
Hurricane Camille hit the Mississippi Gulf Coast the day between my birthday and my father's birthday in 1969, August 17, I think the last day of Woodstock.

My hometown of Ellisville, MS is 90 miles north of Gulfport. My father and I stayed up late that night, watching the weather. About 2:30 a.m. the next day, the winds died down and the rain quit. The eye had was overhead. Eerie feeling.

We went to Gulfport and Long Beach three days after Camille hit. Barges on the beach, this shrimp boat over the highway (it stayed there and was turned into a gift shop). The beach and the businesses across the highway (including a shopping mall, motels, etc.) were destroyed; completely flattened.

Now Hurricane Katrina ("the second coming of Camille") threatens to do the same. Except now, there is a lot more commercial build-up along the Coast, including casinos, which are closing ahead of the storm. Damn, it must be bad when casinos close. They're taking out the money and the slot machines. Jim Cantore on the Weather Channel Sunday morning said Treasure Bay Casino in Biloxi (the one built like a pirate ship) will probably be destroyed.

The devastation of Camille was sad to see. Things change. Unfortunately, I wish change didn't come in this form.
ZIP Code Maps