Hattiesburg American - Hattiesburg American on Rt. 90

Hattiesburg American - www.hattiesburgamerican.com - Hattiesburg, Miss.:

"The first jarring surprise was that the rec complex was full. The fields where our kids had played were covered from end to end with the dull olive of National Guard tents, housing recovery personnel.

Still, the home damage in this area wasn't as bad as we'd expected. We saw a lot of the familiar blue roofs, a lot of FEMA traliers and a few tent cities.

Then we passed the railroad tracks and approached Beach Boulevard. A block from the beach, we started seeing the empty slabs that had once been the foundations of homes.

Even so, I wasn't ready for what I saw once we made it unimpeded onto Highway 90. More to the point, I wasn't ready for what I didn't see."

It is unbelieveable. It is so so sad. I will vouch for him, I didn't see the same things he didn't see.

His ending, unfortunaltely, also probably true:

"Hurricane Katrina did more than just destroy homes and take lives. It wiped out an entire community, one of the most unique in America.

Even if the Gulf Coast rebuilds -and I believe it will eventually recover, somewhat - it won't be the same. The old Gulf Coast is gone forever, and we are all a little poorer because of it."