Bay St. Louis, Katrina and Oil

August of 1969 saw Hurricane Camille-I was 7-and until Katrina, it just wasn't part of my mental library.  Camille was the second most intense storm to hit the US. I learned about Camille in the coastal Mississippi town of Bay St. Louis;  the time..a couple months before Katrina.  My husband and I were heading home from a family visit, driving around town dreaming of buying a vacation house there.  Our visit had been so restorative, it was just fabulous; the beach front bars, the buckets of crawfish for 6 bucks, the galleries, the people...everything!  Now, we love Nash Vegas, so moving isn't really happening, but we could sure see spending some time there.  It was also when I got to know this one cousin and that was such a blast that she planned to come our Pig Roast, scheduled for September 3rd, 2005.

As the predictions of Katrina grew more concerning, the Pig Roast approached and our cousin decided to stay home and ride it out.  Katrina hit on August 29th, we heard from Cousin Ellis the next day.  She was thankfully alive and unhurt - but in a kind of shock that shook us to the bone.  We waffled - should the annual party go on, should my husband go to Bay St. Louis?  We ultimately had the party, using it as a way to amass relief supplies for Bo to take when he headed down on Sunday.  What our cousin and her fair town experienced during that storm and the aftermath are chronicled in her book, Under Surge, Under Siege: The Odyssey of Bay St. Louis and Katrina.  No, this really isn't a shameless plug for the book, it's background for what I really want to talk about - oil.


Enter July, 2010 - the month of our 20th wedding anniversary.  Hectic schedules made it challenging to plan something special.  We decided to  head to Bay St. Louis.  Several factors led to this decision:  we hadn't seen Ellis since she left us after Katrina, we wanted to see how the community was doing, we're a beach loving couple who hadn't been to a beach in years, Ellis' book was being released, and we wanted to see first hand how the oil of BP was affectimg this part of the Gulf.  Since it's neither New Orleans, nor Florida, in-person seemed the only way.

The empty beach (with the exception of the neon green vested clean-up workers, sand moving equipment and fences) was in stark contrast to the last time I visited.  We didn't get a real sense of the "oil effect" until we took an excursion to Ship Island.  Ship Island is part of the Gulf Islands Naional Seashore.  It's the home of Fort Massachusetts, with history that includes the War of 1812.

As the excursion boat approaced the island, we saw the expected oil booms, but we didn't see any oil, nor did we see any evidence of BP clean-up crews.  We were informed that the crews come and go before the excursion boats are cleared to leave dock.  We toured the Fort, which was the most fascinating Park Service tour experienced to date, and imagined what it must have been like to be stationed in this uniquely fashioned structure.  After the tour, we meandered to the other side of the island in order to enjoy the "unfrequented beaches, beautiful water and clean gulf air" touted in the brochure.

It didn't take many steps before the sad truth of the oil effect became apparent.  Just as we started to see health warning signs, we noticed a definite acridity to the air.  It wasn't so bad as to make breathing difficult, but it was definitely noticeable.  Then we saw the condtion of the marshes.  I can't put words to the sadness that crept over me as I stood in this beautiful National Park and looked down into the greasy, nasty deposits created by a failing of our consumptive lifestyle.  Since I hadn't seen any oil in the big water, I assumed that this area had been spared.  How is it permeating the interior marshes?
We continued on to the beach.  as we approached, we could see an "oil dust" covering the sand, with still no visible oil in the water.

Swimming in Gulf waters is heavenly.  The water is warm and a clear green that dubbed this area the Emerald Coast.  I have actually always liked the sort of salty feel that you get when you air dry after frolicking.  Since we didn't see any oil in the water, we waded in and played.  The warm water was not as clear, but seemed fine.  It wasn't until we got out, that our skin felt funny - sticky instead of salty.  It took several showers before either of us felt clean.  I don't know if it was broken down oil, or dispersant, or what.  I do know that it certainly was not as it had been before the oil.

Now, we hear that "75 percent of the oil is gone".  "Where has the oil gone?", some ask - well I submit that they simply aren't looking in the right places.  We have no idea what the long term effect of this man-made mess is gonna be.  We have no idea how long real efforts are going to be made by those responsible to track down every drop - on the water surface or otherwise.  We should know that whether or not our leaders choose to lead us down a path that allow us to follow the campers' rule of leaving a site better than we found it, each of us needs to head down that path in order to be truly happy campers.  As I have traveled across this great nation, I continually marvel at the cornucopia of beautiful sights that only God could have put in motion.  While I don't think of myself as a "tree-hugger", I do think that the least we can do, is try to care for this miracle that is our home.  Would I trade taking the shortest route rather than the fastest; or consolidating daily trips into weekly or monthly trips, for never having to feel the bastardiztion of something as wonderful as Gulf water?  You bet your ass I would!

I am truly blessed to have never dealt with a disaster - natural or man-made.  I'd like to think that I'd be strong, focused - a rock.  Who knows..experience has taught me that you never know how you'll react to any situation until you're in the moment.  One thing I do know is that I believe that each of us can do anything - when it really matters to us.  Another thing that I know is whining solves nothing, and self-reliance pays homage to the brains and abilities that God bestowed upon us.  That's what being a Hands On Woman is all about.

During our visit, we heard no whining from the residents, saw great progress in the rebuilding of a area that faced Katrina, Gustav and now BP.  We want to buy a house down there even more now than we did before (can you see the dream bubble above my head?).  In a world that has become increasingly disconnected (I'm sorry, an e-mail or a "poke" is not the same as a hug), community is an overwhelmingly attractive idea to me.  Here's to you, people of Bay St. Louis and surrounding - a hearty Hands On Women  "YOU ROCK"!  The next time you look for some place to go, consider "the Bay", it truly is a place apart.

Special thanks to Alex Demyan for allowing me to use his before and after images of Bay St. Louis
If you're interested in more about "the Bay" and Katrina:  http://katrinapatina.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default