OpEdNews - Article: Hidden in the Bayous

Along the Gulf Coast, Post Katrina, Part 2: Ocean Springs, Mississippi

Katrina damaged or destroyed thousands of trees, including in Ocean Springs

Last Friday morning, April 13, I started driving west through Gautier, Mississippi with the planned itinerary of hitting Ocean Springs, then Biloxi, and on into Louisiana and New Orleans as I continued to survey the state of reconstruction along the Gulf Coast after the horrific 2005 hurricane season. After reaching the city limits of Ocean Springs, I found myself slowly meandering south, stopping to take shots along Beachview Drive as I headed toward the nearby Gulf of Mexico, then wandering southwest along Lake Mars Avenue and Seacliff Boulevard, roughly paralleling the coastline as I went. Looking at my watch, it became obvious to me that, if I was going to do justice to New Orleans, which I definitely had to reach this same day, I would not have time to explore Biloxi too, so Biloxi, scene of the hurled-like-toothpicks floating casinos, is on the list for my next trip. It also became apparent to me, as I drove, that in a lot of these towns and cities along the Gulf Coast, the casual observer or tourist is actually not going to see a lot of the hurricane damage simply because it is hidden from view. The layout of Ocean Springs itself interweaves between the coastline and the bayous, with much of the lingering damage obscured by treelines, swamps and winding roads. So you have to take the time to look, which I did in my own small way in. If I had spent the whole day exploring Ocean Springs and interviewing people, who knows what else I would have come across. Perhaps some of our OpEdNews.com readers who live in this area will have their own stories to tell in the comments section after they look at my brief photos.

So I cordially invite you to take a look at my second photo album in this series under "Mac's Slide Show" (click on)

Below are several more photos from this series:

You start to run into debris all over the place along the backroads

Only the foundation and pillars remain of a house near the Gulf Coast

***** Part 3 of my series will begin the tour of New Orleans, where it gets really rough, starting with Orleans Street outside the French Quarter. Stay tuned.