Jackson Free Press

The Sun-Herald published a desperate editorial Thursday on its Web site.

The coastal communities of South Mississippi are desperately in need of an unprecedented relief effort. We understand that New Orleans also was devastated by Hurricane Katrina, but surely this nation has the resources to rescue both that metropolitan and ours. Whatever plans that were in place to deal with such a natural disaster have proven inadequate. Perhaps destruction on this scale could not have been adequately prepared for.

But now that it has taken place, no effort should be spared to mitigate the hurricane's impact.

The essentials -- ice, gasoline, medicine -- simply are not getting here fast enough.

We are not calling on the nation and the state to make life more comfortable in South Mississippi, we are calling on the nation and the state to make life here possible.

We would bolster our argument with the number of Katrina casualties confirmed thus far, but if there is such a confirmed number, no one is releasing it to the public. This lack of faith in the publics' ability to handle the truth is not sparing anyone's feelings, it is instead fueling terrifying rumors.

While the flow of information is frustratingly difficult, our reporters have yet to find evidence of a coordinated approach to relieve pain and hunger or to secure property and maintain order.

People are hurting and people are being vandalized.

Yet where is the National Guard, why hasn't every able-bodied member of the armed forces in South Mississippi been pressed into service?

On Wednesday reporters listening to horrific stories of death and survival at the Biloxi Junior High School shelter looked north across Irish Hill Road and saw Air Force personnel playing basketball and performing calisthenics.

Playing basketball and performing calisthenics!

When asked why these young men were not being used to help in the recovery effort, our reporters were told that it would be pointless to send military personnel down to the beach to pick up debris.

Litter is the least of our problems. We need the president to back up his declaration of a disaster with a declaration of every man and woman under his command will do whatever is necessary to deal with that disaster.

We need the governor to provide whatever assistance is at his command.

We certainly need our own county and city officials to come together and identify the most pressing needs of their constituents and then allocate resources to meet those needs. We appreciate the stress that theses elected and appointed officials have been under since the weekend but they must do a better job restoring public confidence in their ability to meet this challenge.

This editorial represents the view of the Sun-Herald editorial board: President- Publisher Ricky R. Mathews, Vice President and Executive Editor Stan Tiner, Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Flora S. Point, Opinion Page Editor Marie Harris, and Associate Editor Ed. Tony Biffle.

Previous Comments

ID

70623

Comment

Here's a Sun-Herald news story about the growing frustration with the slow emergency response: Overwhelming need gripped the Mississippi Coast two days after Hurricane Katrina dealt the region a devastating blow. In the hardest hit areas, where hundreds of people lost their homes, cars and everything they own, parents wandered the street Wednesday begging for water for their babies, and local officials grew frustrated at the slow response. "Weíre not getting any help yet," said Biloxi Fire Department Battalion Chief Joe Boney. "We need water. We need ice. Iíve been told itís coming, but weíve got people in shelters who havenít had a drink since the storm." Disaster officials said they were mobilizing the largest aid effort in the nationís history to help the communities hit by Katrina. But with so much destruction along the Gulf Coast, people in South Mississippi feared they were being overshadowed by New Orleans and other areas. Relief agencies are working to get as much help to Southern Mississippi as possible, The Salvation Armyís division commander for the Gulf states said. But the need is beyond anything theyíve experienced. "Iíve never seen devastation so bad," Major Dalton Cunningham said. "Iíve been through Andrew, Hugo, Charley, Ivan ñ this is by far the worst." Residents whoíve lost everything expressed their frustration. Steve Loper of Pascagoula said he hasnít seen anyone from the city or emergency agencies since the storm. "Weíre lost," Loper said. "We have no direction, no leadership. People are in bad trouble."

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2005-08-31T18:05:25-06:00

ID

70624

Comment

It looks like the feds started stepping up to the plate better today, but even Charlie Gibson on ABC remarked that the Homeland Security press conference seems to deal with gas problems before relief efforts. Also, here is a photo of President Bush yesterday that is starting to make the rounds, as frustrations mount over conditions on the Coast and the lack of prompt, and adequate, relief help from the federal government.

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2005-08-31T18:11:33-06:00

ID

70625

Comment

Anger is building on the Coast about the slow response to the crisis there. Right now, the Sun-Herald has this story on the top of their Web site, Death is everywhere in Biloxi's nightmarish landscape: In the hardest hit areas, parents wandered the streets begging for water for their babies. Local officials grew frustrated at the slow relief response and feared that they were being overshadowed by the disaster in New Orleans, where the television networks anchored their broadcasts. "We're lost," said Steve Loper of Pascagoula, lamenting that he hadn't seen any sign of relief. "We have no direction, no leadership. People are in bad trouble." The Salvation Army's office manager in Gulfport lost her own home and has been sleeping in her office since the storm. "Help has to come from the outside because there's nothing here to help people with," Sally Lohrbach said. "We're not getting any help yet," said Biloxi Fire Department Battalion Chief Joe Boney. "We need water. We need ice. I've been told it's coming, but we've got people in shelters who haven't had a drink since the storm." Everywhere there was death. Somebody, help these people.

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2005-08-31T23:55:05-06:00

ID

70626

Comment

The Sun-Herald's Katrina message board can be heartbreaking, with people looking for loved onesóand crying out for media attention to their town's plight: Everyone needs to immediately contact CNN ([email protected]) and NPR (http://www.npr.org/contact/)to urge them to do coverage on Bay St. Louis, which has been nearly forgotten in the media. Bombard them with calls, emails, etc. and urge everyone in your address book to do the same. Then perhaps our people will be saved. FYI- I heard a promising story that some people had been rescued at Dunbar Elementary. Let's hope and pray our loved ones were amongst them. In the meantime, I'm looking for my mom's (Nancy Casama) partner David Keith Brown of Dunbar Ave. Pls. contact me at [email][email protected][/email] if anyone knows his whereabouts. Thx, Cindy

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2005-09-01T03:52:51-06:00

ID

70627

Comment

From new story about devastation in Bay St. Louis just posted on the Clarion-Ledger site: Caked in mud and sweat and almost unrecognizable, 4th District U.S. Rep. Gene Taylor worked the phones Wednesday at a distribution center on U.S. 90, negotiating with the National Guard to fly in planeloads of supplies ó including body bags and a portable morgue. "The problem is there are so many National Guard people in Iraq," Taylor said. He called the magnitude of the devastation "mind boggling. I'm guessing tens of thousands of homes are gone," Taylor said. He included his Bay St. Louis house in the count.

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2005-09-01T04:12:54-06:00

ID

70628

Comment

From the Orlando Sentinel: n downtown Biloxi, Task Force 3, a group of rescue workers from the Tampa area, went from building to building, searching. At each structure, a worker spray-painted on the wall -- or whatever else was left -- a date and time and number in neon orange. The markings indicated to other groups that rescuers already had been there and included a tally for the number of bodies and the word "gas" if there was a leak. The team did find a 75-year-old man who rode out the hurricane in his house, then got trapped by debris. Rescuers were able to get him to a hospital. Meanwhile, other survivors who had stayed behind wandered through the streets, trying to salvage their belongings or merely staring, shellshocked, at the destruction. With no water, power, phone lines, order or semblance of civility, residents spoke of getting lost in their own town, not being able to recognize landmarks, and feeling disoriented and overcome by loss. Now homeless, they scavenged for food or water or resorted to looting. Firefighters and rescue teams said they expected the mood to turn violent in the next few days. These teams were the only noticeable officials in the area. There was no sign of either the Red Cross or the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2005-09-01T04:24:52-06:00

ID

70629

Comment

Sun-Herald is reporting that federal assistance is finally showing the hell up: The death toll continued to rise even as desperate rescue efforts continued, and officials feared a massive public health crisis from poor sanitary conditions -- including tons of spoiling shrimp and chicken strewn through neighborhood streets. President Bush planned a visit to the area today and planned to ask Congress for $10 billion in aid, but it was the Federal Emergency Management Agency trucks full of ice, bottled water and prepared meals that most victims of Hurricane Katrina wanted to see. At some distribution points, people clapped, cheered and yelled, "Thank you, God!" when supply trucks showed up. At others, sheriff's deputies and National Guardsmen had to hold off a rush of people desperate for food and water. A line of cars five miles long waited to get ice and cartons of water at Ocean Springs Middle School. The hard-hit town east of Biloxi hadn't seen any aid until Thursday, officials said. "We've got thousands and thousands of people out here who need help," said Dave Martinez, a part-time Jackson County sheriff's deputy. The middle school, supposed to be a staging point for police, had been pressed into service as a shelter for more than 200 people who had nowhere else to go, including many elderly people in need of medical assistance. "We weren't turning anyone away," Martinez said. Wednesday night, the city's mayor and police chief sent an officer to the emergency operations center in neighboring Harrison County to beg for supplies until FEMA arrived. Help didn't reach everyone, especially in small communities such as the village of Lakeshore in far southwestern Mississippi.

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2005-09-01T21:48:31-06:00

ID

70630

Comment

Dallas Morning News today: FEMA's director acknowledged that the federal government's response might not have been top-notch, saying it did not expect the logistical problems. Across the hurricane-ravaged region, the criticism was unrelenting. In Mississippi, the Sun Herald of Biloxi published an editorial blasting relief efforts and the lack of assistance from the National Guard. And White House press secretary Scott McClellan, in a briefing, faced questions about whether the Bush administration had diverted too much money to the war on terrorism rather than focusing on emergency preparedness at home. In Washington, President Bush acknowledged the frustration of people who need food, water and shelter. "I fully understand people wanting things to have happened yesterday," he said in an interview at the White House with ABC's Good Morning America. "I understand the anxiety of people on the ground. ... So there is frustration. But I want people to know there's a lot of help coming. I don't think anyone anticipated the breach of the levees." Interesting quote by Bush, considering that AP itself was reporting last weekend that the levees would likely breach (remember the "Atlantis" references?). Oh, that's right, Bush doesn't read the papers.

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2005-09-01T21:51:43-06:00

ID

70631

Comment

Urgent Request for information, from Mosspoint & Pascagoula for family members from Morehouse, Louisiana the names are Lonnie Richardson, Latricia Richardson(sister and brother), siblings Diamond, Kentravius, Treasure, Heaven and one other sibling child a toddler. Please contact: [email][email protected][/email] Prophet To clarify the Richardsons are originally from Morehouse, but now live in Pascagoula/Mosspoint area. Thanks again!

Author

Prophet

Date

2005-09-02T00:00:33-06:00