OceanSprings-MS.com
was the FIRST to report the effects of Hurricane Katrina
on our City of Ocean Springs
Our Message Board was Up
and Running August 29th during the actual landfall of Hurricane
Katrina and recorded OverTwo Thousand Posts ranging
from missing loved ones to viewers around the Nation searching for
news about Ocean Springs!
We were able to update the website OceanSprings-MS.com
on Sept. 4th,
for the first time since Katrina struck, providing vital photographs
of the devastation taken just 2 days after the storm, and have since received a record
breaking 62, 421 unique, 1st time visitors who have viewed
269, 846 pages in just the first 16 days after the storm.
In addition, we have received over 1,500 emails
requesting help finding family members and from people wanting to donate
and help rebuild our wonderful city.
Thank You for Viewing
& Contacting OceanSprings-MS.com
Sincerely, Lonnie D.
Root
Owner/Editor
Click
Here to Read Letters Sent
to OceanSprings-MS
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
From the Editor OceanSprings-MS.com September 4th
As many of our visitors are aware from
the 24 hour television coverage, Hurricane Katrina devastated Ocean
Springs, Mississippi
as well as the entire Gulf Coast.
Slowly we are regaining services such as water/sewer, electricity and
phone lines as well as cellular communications. Many of our smaller
businesses opened in just a matter of days to provide our community
with the basic needs and as of today many of our major stores are
reopening with limited supplies and groceries which will help
tremendously in the recovery of our community. Of course as we
understand with much of the United States, our fuel supply is almost
little of none and is hampering the recovery efforts.
Due to the lost of utilities and the amount of damage in my home
where OceanSprings-MS is privately Owned & Maintained I have not been able
to update the website or answer your emails until today Sunday,
Sept. 4th. Since the storm I've received thousands of emails
from our out of state friends asking us to help locate loved ones
and many emails just asking how they can help our community?
Which I'm in the process of working with City Hall on getting and
answer to the latter question.
Please if you still need assistance write us again with as much
information on the individual you are looking for and we will do our
very best to locate them. Fuel is limited on the coast at this
time but if we have to we will drive to each and everyone's house in
order to get some type of information back to you on missing family
members.
Thank you for your prayers and kindness in
this troubling time.
"FLORIDA KEYS FOR KATRINA RELIEF DAY"
Saturday Jan. 8th 2006
Bo Diddley Plays Relief Concert for Ocean Springs Click Here to read the full
story and how you can help
Our Adopted Sister City of Islamorada Florida
received heavy damage from Hurricane Wilma, yet is going on as
planned with the show to help Ocean Springs.
Please support them towards helping us rebuild by purchasing a
poster.
Chick Here
to Order Your
Print
OceanSprings-MS.Com Hosted
a
Free Book Fair for Children Affected by
Hurricane Katrina With Special Thanks to the
Overwhelming Generosity of the "Society
of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators",
OceanSprings-MS.Com
was able to host a Free Book Fair for the children
affected by Hurricane Katrina, on Saturday & Sunday Nov. 5th & 6th,during the
Peter Anderson Festival.
Originally we had set out to hold the
book fair only on Saturday but due to the rain and abundance of
books that was left over, my wife and I decided to cover everything
up with plastic and camp out in our van so that we would be all set
up and ready to give away books again on Sunday!
Close to 1,000 children show up and was able to pick
out One New Children's
Book to
keep for their own, absolutely free!
Click Here to See Pictures of the
Book Fair
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Hurricane Katrina Report
Katrina made landfall on August 29 as a
Category 4 hurricane with sustained
winds of 145 mph (235 km/h) with higher
gusts, at 6:10 a.m. CDT near
Buras-Triumph, Louisiana. Making its way
up the eastern Louisiana coastline, most
communities in Plaquemines and St.
Bernard Parish, and Slidell in St.
Tammany Parish, were severely damaged by
storm surge and the strong winds of the
eyewall, which also grazed eastern New
Orleans. A few hours later, it made
landfall for a third time near the
Louisiana/Mississippi border with 125
mph (200 km/h) Category 3 sustained
winds. However, because the storm was so
large, extreme damaging eyewall winds
and the strong northeastern quadrant of
the storm, pushing record storm surges
onshore, smashed the entire Mississippi
Gulf Coast, including towns in
Mississippi such as Waveland, Bay St.
Louis, Pass Christian, Long Beach,
Gulfport, Biloxi, Ocean Springs, Gautier
and Pascagoula, and, in Alabama, Bayou
La Batre. As Katrina moved inland
diagonally over Mississippi, high winds
cut a swath of damage that affected
almost the entire state.
Katrina weakened thereafter, losing
hurricane-strength more than 150 miles
(160 km) inland, near Jackson,
Mississippi. It was downgraded to a
tropical depression near Clarksville,
Tennessee and continued to race
northward.
Its lowest minimum pressure at landfall
was 27.108 inches (918 mbar) (hPa),
making it the third strongest hurricane
on record to make landfall on the United
States. A 10 to 30 foot (3 to 10 m)
storm surge came ashore on over 200
continuous miles of coastline, from
southeast Louisiana, including
Mississippi and Alabama, through to the
Florida panhandle. The 30 foot (10 m)
storm surge recorded at Biloxi,
Mississippi is the highest ever observed
in America. Record storm surges that had
not occurred in at least the last 150
years, inundated the entire Mississippi
coastline, destroying many historic
homes.
About 800,000 people suffered power
outages in Mississippi according to the
Clarion-Ledger. By September 10,
Mississippi Power Company officials
reported that power had been restored to
98 percent of its customers in South
Mississippi.
Governor Haley Barbour called the damage
he saw along the coast indescribable,
saying "I can only imagine that this is
what Hiroshima looked like 60 years
ago." According to MSNBC, a 30 ft. storm
surge came ashore, wiping out 90% of
buildings along the Biloxi-Gulfport
coastline. Casino barges in the
Biloxi-Gulfport area were washed ashore,
across beachfront Highway 90. Residents
in some coastal areas had to be rescued
from rooftops.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
~ ~ ~ ~
Rebuild Ocean Springs Fund
The Ocean Springs community
was hit hard by Hurricane Katrina. Thousands of homes were
lost or severely damaged – primarily due to the storm surge.
Most residents who lost their homes did not have flood insurance.
The community has also lost many jobs. Many of the things that
make Ocean Springs so unique were damaged or destroyed – including
beautiful beaches and parks, arts and culture, recreation
facilities, and historic neighborhoods.
However, we were spared the
wholesale devastation of some of our sister cities. Our
schools, public safety facilities and downtown shopping district are
mostly intact. We have water, sewer, electricity, and basic
services. We are poised to rebuild – and poised to be an
anchor for the rest of the Coast as we rebuild together.
To that end we are setting up
the Rebuild Ocean Springs Fund as an Advised Fund with the
Foundation for the Mid South, a fifteen year old community
foundation headquartered in Jackson. The Fund will be
coordinated by a group of community volunteers including elected
officials, business leaders, and representatives from charitable
organizations. This fund has two primary purposes:
1)
Humanitarian assistance to individuals. A portion of the funds
raised will be distributed to individuals to help rebuild their
homes and lives. A committee of volunteers will set criteria,
interview applicants, and help coordinate in-kind assistance.
2) Rebuilding public infrastructure and key institutions. A
portion of the funds raised will be utilized to help rebuild
neighborhoods and town centers, recruit businesses, and invest in
parks, green space, arts and culture, childcare, health and social
services. In order for individuals to recover and thrive,
there must be homes, businesses, services and amenities for them to
depend upon.
Please go to the Foundation
for the MidSouth website to donate now!
www.Fndmidsouth.org
Julia Weaver
Alderman At Large
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
~ ~ ~ ~
Hurricane
Katrina Fast Facts
* Category 4 Hurricane
* Storm Surge is reported to have been 200 miles wide and 29
feet high
* Maximum sustained winds 140mph at landfall (unconfirmed)
* More than 640 people were confirmed dead, mostly in
Louisiana, where there are 423 and Mississippi with 218.
Katrina also caused scattered deaths in Alabama and Florida.
* Some 1 million people were displaced by the storm along the
U.S. Gulf Coast. About half of those are from New Orleans,
where nearly all 450,000 residents were evacuated.
* At least 1,700 children separated from their families after
the storm are listed on the National Center for Missing &
Exploited Children's Web site.
* More than 3,800 animals have been rescued in Louisiana and
Mississippi, the Humane Society said.
* More than 236,000
customers without power.
* The American Red Cross was housing more than 207,000
evacuees in 709 shelters across the country. It has served
over 5.9 million meals and raised over $578 million for
relief.
* Early estimates predict that the cost will easily exceed 200
billion dollars and could approach 300 billion dollars
* Hundreds of waterfront
homes, businesses, community landmarks and condominiums
obliterated.
* The Pentagon said there were 72,614 military troops
providing relief support, 45,871 of them National Guard
* Casinos built on
barges along the coast damaged or destroyed, some floated
across beach onto land. Dozen casinos employed about 14,000
people, generated $2.7 billion in annual revenue.
* 400,000 jobs could be lost, the Congressional Budget Office
said. The Louisiana Labor Department has collected 119,000
unemployment claims in the state and 60,000 collected in other
states.
* More than 1,600
Mississippi National Guardsmen activated.
* Major bridges damaged
in three coastal counties, including those linking Biloxi with
Ocean Springs and the connection to Bay St. Louis.
* Looters picked through
casino slot machines for coins and ransacked other businesses.
* Quote: "It is
indescribable — blocks and blocks and blocks of no houses.
Ninety percent of the structures are gone. I saw Camille and
the aftermath in 1969 and this is worst than Camille." Gov.
Haley Barbour on NBC's "Today." Camille killed 143 and
destroyed 6,000 homes
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
~ ~ ~ ~
Press
Release from Mayor Connie Moran
Received Friday Sept. 16th, 2005
"We are
overwhelmed by the outpouring of support from states near
and far, churches, individuals, and cities who are coming to
our aid. They have provided hurricane relief, food clothing
and supplies, and now are beginning to send the next phase
of support such as police cars, forklifts and expertise in
planning, zoning and funding to direct the growth and
rebuilding of our city as we set the tone for the future.
The city's priorities right now are providing food and
shelter as well as city services for our citizens who have
sustained major losses; interfacing with agencies and
organizations to coordinate the overall relief effort; and
to begin the process of planning for zoning and highest and
best use of our beautiful waterfront community as we
endeavor to rebuild Ocean Springs utilizing the most current
knowledge while retaining the elements of historic
architecture and the quality of life that have made Ocean
Springs such a unique and charming city in which to live."
Mayor Connie
Moran,
City of Ocean Springs
NEW PHOTOS
100 Days After
Updated: Dec. 15th Hurricane Katrina Photos& Slide Shows of Ocean Springs
Click Film Strip Above
For Slide Shows
*Death toll by State: Louisiana: 1,075 Mississippi: 230 Florida: 14
Alabama: 2
Georgia: 2 Total: 1,323
* Media
Releases are not being provide for a true or actual count of deaths.
OS School
District
Looses 873 Students
Magnolia Park: 172
Oak Park: 109
Pecan Park: 121
Taconi: 88
OS Middle School: 217
OS High School: 166
Source:
Ocean Springs Record Oct. 13th Edition
