This Day in History, August 29, 2005.
https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/hurricane-katrina-slams-into-gulf-coast
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The Interstate 90 bridge over St. Louis Bay in Pass Christian, Mississippi, is folded and destroyed from the high wind and waves of Hurricane Katrina, Aug. 30, 2005. Construction crews worked on the bridge around the clock with bright lights reflecting off the murky Gulf waters at night. When a major thoroughfare like I-90 goes down, you spare no expense to get it operational as quickly as possible.
We (my kids and I) went down to Bay St. Louis Mississippi during Thanksgiving week of 2005. We went along with some friends and fellow church people from Ascension Episcopal in Pueblo. This was a few months after Katrina hit. We stayed in travel trailers that had been set up next to Our Lady of the Gulf Catholic Church. OLG sits right on the shoreline in Bay St. Louis. The walls of the church were all still standing after Katrina, but half the roof was blown off and much of the church’s contents – including most of the pews – were washed out to sea in the storm surge.
The parish priest was our host. In fact, he lived in a trailer next to us since the rectory had been totally destroyed. We went with him to Mass every morning along with about a dozen or so faithful regulars from OLG. I remember his remarkable daily sermons – each just one sentence long – he also wrote a daily blog post where he was slightly less laconic. How that man held it together during the recovery and rebuilding of OLG which took several years to complete – I have no idea. But I do know that the one-sentence sermons, served with a hearty breakfast each day, definitely helped bolster attendance.
There were also lots of kids in school uniforms coming to the OLG-affiliated parochial school next door every day, despite the fact that 90% of Bay St. Louis had been leveled by Katrina. The school was in fact the very first institution in Bay St. Louis to get back up and running after Katrina. By that point, a few months on, reconstruction on most residences and businesses had barely begun.
We helped with cleanup on the church grounds. We also did demolition of nearby houses that had been ruined but were still standing. I remember that the priest at OLG let us use his washing machine, a most welcome amenity since, by the end of each day, we were utterly filthy. (I have found that in times of disaster, having clean clothes and a place to shower is an especially big deal.) The priest also gave communion to us – Episcopalians, remember – at morning Mass. In other times and in other places a Catholic priest giving communion to non-Catholics would be a big no-no. But under these circumstances, it seemed like the most natural thing in the world. (I do hope he didn’t get in hot water with his Bishop!)
There were big busloads of mostly Catholic youths from parishes mostly in Louisiana and Texas who came and worked alongside us. Many of them made multiple trips, working on cleanup for a week at a time. We and others around town all ate together each evening downtown in a big tent. Dinner was served to hundreds of volunteers from all over the country. Despite the grim circumstances, the atmosphere was almost festive. The food was all donated; the cooking all done by volunteers. On Thanksgiving the Mayor of Bay St. Louis, Eddie Farve (yes, a relative of Brett) carved the turkey and served us all personally. The spirit of joy, compassion, and camaraderie I witnessed there was nothing short of extraordinary. It’s not something you see every day.
A lot has been written about post-Katrina looting and gunfire, even murders, in New Orleans. How much was written about what my kids and I saw in Bay St. Louis? A lot less. But we were there; we saw it first hand; and I for one will never forget. News producers have a vested interest in shocking people and grabbing attention, probably because people sitting on their couches watching TV or reading papers or surfing the Internet are easily bored. So, naturally, the media want to give their audience the deepest, darkest dirt. Don’t get me wrong: I know plenty of bad stuff happens in this world, no doubt. But it would be a mistake to think that bad stuff is the majority of what happened, even in a place like the Gulf Coast after Katrina, even as bad as things were.
https://olgchurch.net/
More photos, here.