With the world’s attention and aid focused on the devastation Hurricane Katrina heaped on New Orleans, it’s essential that relief efforts not overlook victims in Mississippi and, if to a lesser extent, Alabama.
Because of its size, its economic heft and its iconic place in American history and culture, all eyes seem to be focused on New Orleans – and for good reason. The city has been evacuated, its death toll is still rising and it will be years in rebuilding.
At the same time, Katrina wreaked havoc in Mississippi, where Biloxi and neighboring Gulfport look like a wasteland. Some smaller communities were obliterated, with little more than rubble and roadways to mark where they had stood.
Gov. Haley Barbour’s grim statement, “I can only imagine that this is what Hiroshima looked like 60 years ago,” underscores the extent of damage.
Alabama was hit too, but not so hard. Hundreds of homes surrounding Mobile Bay were flooded, and 718,000 homes and businesses lost power for several days. “It was devastating, but in comparison with what they had in southern Mississippi and Louisiana, it kind of pales in comparison,” said Gov. Bob Riley.
As National Guard and federal troops, relief workers and critically short food and water were rushed into New Orleans, The Associated Press reported that desperate residents of demolished Mississippi communities watched convoys pass them by, literally. More than 17,000 Mississippians are still in shelters and at least 160 have died.
Not until Thursday did the first relief shipments reach Biloxi. But other communities short of food and water were still waiting on help from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and other relief organizations.
“There’s no FEMA. No Red Cross. No help,” James Gibson of Lakeshore said.
We hope FEMA and the private relief groups will pay heed. The other gulf states shouldn’t be passed by.
