I have many, many relatives in southern Louisiana, Mississippi and in N.O. Last weekend my parents and brother traveled from Dallas to help an uncle, that lives in Chalmette, LA, start regaining his life back. While they were there they took time to travel to a little known speck of a town called Lakeshore, MS (near Waveland). In that small town was piece of property and a summer house, not a fancy house on the coast, but a warm, loving, beloved home rebuilt after Camille by my Grandpa, Grandma and their 11 children. I have spent whole summers in that house and there hasn't been one, single year in my 25 years that I haven't spent at least a few days down in Lakeshore. I wrote a diary on some of those memories
here, but this diary is to share some of the complete devastation visited upon a town that no one will talk about in the media because it hardly existed before the hurricane. The land butts up against marshes and bayous. The Gulf, or rather the sound, is not 1 mile from this town. Below the fold are some of the pictures my Mom took.
The Town
Misissipi Welcome Center just of I10 and 603. Kent and Sue's - the local gas station and convenience store with a fairly decent snowball stand.
St. Johns Catholic Church. On the front of the church used to be a cross with a small metal owl to scare away the birds
Carmels - a local grocery/restaurant/hardware store - just flattened.
Buildings and houses were destroyed everywhere.
Our Home Away From Home
What used to be our family home. By the way the debris covers the yard, my Dad thinks the initial 25-30 ft. storm surge hit with such force that the house literally exploded.
My dad holding a cornbread pan that's two days older than dirt and makes the best darn cornbread ever. It's funny what survived the destruction - they found a beer mug, a full glass bottle of beer, another cornbread pan, a fully intact card table, etc.
My brother in the middle of the destruction.
My dad placing the Virgin Mary back on her pedestal - she and St. Francis made it through the storm with barely a scratch. Kinda spooky for someone like myself who's a lapsed Catholic.
Bordages Fishing Camp
Tommy's (the owner) home completely destroyed.
The brick structure was a live well for bait. The structure in the left background was an office of sorts and it's just gone.
Waveland
90% of city was wiped off the face of the earth.
These are only a few of the pictures, and my Mom, the best amateur photographer I know, is putting more up on our family website everyday. The absolute devastation is hard to comprehend. The town of Lakeshore and all, 100%, of it's businesses are utterly wrecked. Whole houses and buildings were demolished or flattened. I know that my family will rebuild no matter what because this area means so much to everyone of us; however, all of the towns, Clermont Harbor to Waveland to Bay St. Louis; Pass Christian (pronounced Christy Ann) to Gulfport and Biloxi, will take years to recover.