on August 29th 2005 Hurricane Katrina
pounded the Gulf Coast in some areas
storm surges nearly three stories high
wreaked havoc on coastal and inland
communities alike whole towns were
devastated some nearly wiped off the map
in New Orleans a levee breach sent water
flowing into much of the city leaving
tens of thousands homeless many stranded
in their homes for days in economic
terms
Katrina was the most destructive storm
to ever strike the United States it was
the costliest and among the most deadly
official estimates list total deaths
from the hurricane and its aftermath at
over 1,800 and while Katrina’s effect on
New Orleans remains etched in our minds
the hurricane storm surge by far reached
its highest levels in Mississippi
Gulfport a storm surge at about 28 feet
all along the coast
block after block of homes and
businesses destroyed some swept away by
the water
Katrina’s I focused on the Louisiana
Mississippi border with the storms
stronger East Point lashing
Mississippi’s Coast with 120 mile per
hour winds and an unimaginable mountain
of a storm surge the Coast has yet to
recover fully
the campus of the University of Southern
Mississippi Gulf Coast is located on
Beach Boulevard in Long Beach
Mississippi some of its buildings date
back more than 80 years the seaside
location is inviting to prospective
students but with storm surges at
upwards of twenty eight feet at Long
Beach the campus was covered by the Gulf
waters about 12 feet of water swept over
the place washed out to the bottom floor
of every building on the front part of
the campus the old buildings that
survived from the 1920s were all
severely damaged even five years later
those buildings remain unusable and
unrestored Hardy Hall was an
administrative building with a large
conference center that once served as a
ballroom it was actually a grand old
building my office was was upstairs on
the second floor
but while Mother Nature takes away
sometimes she leaves some of her own
creations this is a live oak it’s 500
years old but it survived every storm on
the Mississippi Gulf Coast since
Columbus standing just a few hundred
yards from the Gulf
what is it secret well this is a tree
that has a dome-like structure it was
not a tree planted by modern
civilization and cropped down into a
lollipop shape Native Americans who
camped near here they say didn’t have
the the interest in cropping the tree
off so this tree developed over 500
years with its limbs growing naturally
with no one cutting off branches during
the trees early years their limbs
anchored in the earth providing balance
in high winds and surging tides beyond
Mississippi’s Shores barrier islands
filled with trees might have provided
more protection by slowing wind and
storm surges
but those islands have been shrinking
professor Smith tells how one Island was
once lush with trees and vegetation
during the civil war on Ship Island
federal forces used that as a staging
area this is a fairly small island but
there were 20,000 Union troops staged on
Ship Island for the assault on New
Orleans and they burned everything every
stick wood that was out there today Ship
Island is protected by the federal
government as part of Gulf Islands
National Seashore
but it’s unlikely that larger and lusser
barrier islands could have protected the
mainland from Katrina’s forces
Katrina’s storm surge reached up to 12
miles inland in Mississippi and the area
has still not fully recovered in the
devastation and death brought by this
incredible storm
pounded the Gulf Coast in some areas
storm surges nearly three stories high
wreaked havoc on coastal and inland
communities alike whole towns were
devastated some nearly wiped off the map
in New Orleans a levee breach sent water
flowing into much of the city leaving
tens of thousands homeless many stranded
in their homes for days in economic
terms
Katrina was the most destructive storm
to ever strike the United States it was
the costliest and among the most deadly
official estimates list total deaths
from the hurricane and its aftermath at
over 1,800 and while Katrina’s effect on
New Orleans remains etched in our minds
the hurricane storm surge by far reached
its highest levels in Mississippi
Gulfport a storm surge at about 28 feet
all along the coast
block after block of homes and
businesses destroyed some swept away by
the water
Katrina’s I focused on the Louisiana
Mississippi border with the storms
stronger East Point lashing
Mississippi’s Coast with 120 mile per
hour winds and an unimaginable mountain
of a storm surge the Coast has yet to
recover fully
the campus of the University of Southern
Mississippi Gulf Coast is located on
Beach Boulevard in Long Beach
Mississippi some of its buildings date
back more than 80 years the seaside
location is inviting to prospective
students but with storm surges at
upwards of twenty eight feet at Long
Beach the campus was covered by the Gulf
waters about 12 feet of water swept over
the place washed out to the bottom floor
of every building on the front part of
the campus the old buildings that
survived from the 1920s were all
severely damaged even five years later
those buildings remain unusable and
unrestored Hardy Hall was an
administrative building with a large
conference center that once served as a
ballroom it was actually a grand old
building my office was was upstairs on
the second floor
but while Mother Nature takes away
sometimes she leaves some of her own
creations this is a live oak it’s 500
years old but it survived every storm on
the Mississippi Gulf Coast since
Columbus standing just a few hundred
yards from the Gulf
what is it secret well this is a tree
that has a dome-like structure it was
not a tree planted by modern
civilization and cropped down into a
lollipop shape Native Americans who
camped near here they say didn’t have
the the interest in cropping the tree
off so this tree developed over 500
years with its limbs growing naturally
with no one cutting off branches during
the trees early years their limbs
anchored in the earth providing balance
in high winds and surging tides beyond
Mississippi’s Shores barrier islands
filled with trees might have provided
more protection by slowing wind and
storm surges
but those islands have been shrinking
professor Smith tells how one Island was
once lush with trees and vegetation
during the civil war on Ship Island
federal forces used that as a staging
area this is a fairly small island but
there were 20,000 Union troops staged on
Ship Island for the assault on New
Orleans and they burned everything every
stick wood that was out there today Ship
Island is protected by the federal
government as part of Gulf Islands
National Seashore
but it’s unlikely that larger and lusser
barrier islands could have protected the
mainland from Katrina’s forces
Katrina’s storm surge reached up to 12
miles inland in Mississippi and the area
has still not fully recovered in the
devastation and death brought by this
incredible storm
Please follow and like us: