America's North Shore Journal

Clarion Ledger

BAY ST. LOUIS — Homeowner Elden Thomas said he was told more than a month ago that contractors working for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers would be by to clear debris from his lot so he could put a trailer there.

“They were supposed to do it in 20 days,” he said. “It’s 32 days and it ain’t been nothing yet.”

At Fred Lister’s home, contractors have removed six truckloads of debris from the right of way. But the job still is not done.
“I’ve still got two loads and they haven’t been back,” he said.

The debris removal process on the Mississippi Gulf Coast continues to frustrate residents, and Rocky Pullman, president of the Hancock County Board of Supervisors, is not surprised.

“It’s just a slow process,” Pullman said. “We’re just like everybody else. I guess we’re getting tired.”

Spokesman Frank Worley said the corps has picked up about half of the estimated 23 million cubic yards of debris in the counties and cities under its contract. According to corps figures, the majority of the remaining debris is on private property, which is the next phase of the operation.

Hancock County is one of five counties that contracted out its debris removal from streets as well as private and public property. The Federal Emergency Management Agency is paying the corps.

Sun Herald

For months, William Hayes and his wife have been scrounging for food and sleeping in a tent behind a storm-battered donut shop in Waveland.

Hayes said his wife, who was more than five months pregnant, got sick this week when the temperature dipped into the 30s. Rain poured into their tent, it was cold, and his wife needed a doctor.

The couple was expecting a baby girl, but when Hayes got his wife to the hospital, his nightmare got even worse. The baby was dead. “Nobody cares that we’re living in this mud puddle right here,” he said. “This ain’t living; man, this is one hell of a mess.”

Hayes, currently without work, and a few other families are living in a small lot, behind Daddy O’s , less than 100 yards from FEMA’s Disaster Relief Center, where he often visits to check his trailer application’s status.

The people here are among the dwindling number of Katrina-displaced persons residing in tents, sleeping under wet blankets on South Mississippi soil.

Mobile Register

In Mississippi, FEMA has provided almost $1.3 billion in direct assistance, according to the most recent figures. That includes almost $784 million to individuals and families for housing and other needs and almost $500 million in reimbursements to local governments.

The Small Business Administration, meanwhile, has approved $184.6 million in loans to Mississippi residents and businesses.

FEMA officials said they could not predict how much higher spending will go in the aftermath of America’s costliest natural disaster.

“I have no idea because this is new for everybody. This is a disaster that we’ve never seen on this level,” Hadley said.