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Chevron and its employees partnering to rebuild Mississippi.

On this edition of Beyond Katrina, residents deal with the stress of another hurricane season.

Congressman Gene Taylor gives an update on his coastal district.

Agencies offer advice on preparing for possible evacuation this summer, when pool insurance rat increases may affect your bottom line, and life is a picnic for some Mississippians.

Living in New York.

Hello, I'm John Johnson, and this is beyond Katrina.

Well, recover following a hurricane involves far more than bricks and mortar.

It goes to the very heart of personal well-being.

Families struggle with substance abuse, a sense of loss, and feelings of dread and hopelessness.

Janet Parker shows us ho many wonder if things will ever return to normal.

I thought, you know.

Oh, man, this storm's bad.

But when I climbed out of that tre and set my feet back on ground, I thought for sure the storm's over.

I had no idea of all this other stuff was going to fall over.

There's so much hurt still here in the state of Mississippi.

South Mississippi.

Hopelessness.

Confusion.

It's very easy when everything around you is shaken up and not there.

It's hard to make decisions, just basic decisions.

It was weeks and even months.

Even this day.

Nine months later, some people are still trying to say, what am I going to do next?

Now, out of survival mode, people of the coast have time to reflect on what's happened.

And the emotion are running stronger than ever.

Sleepless nights, appetite changes, uncontrollable emotions, those types of things.

We're seeing more problems now, that are more serious in that are than they were in the early days when people were just trying to get a place to live.

And, now it's like they have tim to stop and the emotional issues are starting to creep in.

We don't really think we've hit the peak yet.

Like I said, I spend a lot of a lot of days just sitting and crying.

You know, you stop and think about what you had before and what you have now.

And, just how are you going to deal with it?

A lot of the neighborhoods as ours, we all kind of get together.

We have dinner and stuff together and it helps.

It helps pull us together, and we can share and yell if we want.

It just.

That's all we have.

Laughter.

We're seeing a lot of middle income, upper middle income folks trying to get used to living like poo people have always had to live, and it's a very difficult transition for them.

You get up in the morning in a FEMA trailer, you get your cup of coffee and the sights around you're still the same.

There's not a whole lot of there's some debris going, but there's still so much damage that left, that's left.

And for the people that live in this area, it's not fast enough.

It's not fast enough.

People seem to be surprised, including myself, at how long the recovery cycle o a psychological level is taking.

I really think you know, along with the physical devastation on the coast, it was a parallel change in what you could call a psychological landscape.

Generally, throughout the population is increased substance abuse, alcoholism, increased domestic violence.

Okay.

Increased incidence of a child abuse.

And, so these are in addition to the things that you would traditionally see, post-traumatic stress disorder, depression and anxiety.

And we're right back into the storm season again.

We know that after a trauma like this, many people just need to tell their story.

They won't be long term mental health patients, but they do need to talk to someone about what happened to them.

The water just was flowing steadily, kept for maybe 8 or 9ft of water.

Then after that, I could see that the water beginning to, swirl and recede, giving people an opportunity to get what happened to them off their chest to unload.

If I could use that term, because they've got to like this gentleman.

It's been an hour and a half in a tre with flood water all around him.

He's lucky to be alive, and that's trauma.

And they needed the chance to unload it.

And that's what we do with Project Recovery.

Our crisis counselors are in the field.

We have over 400 crisis counseling.

They're going go door to door, to see if people need to talk.

If they need more than just talking.

Some of them will need treatment through the regular mental health service system.

And then they give them resources that they might need in the community, but it's one on one that people need.

That's one of the things with our church members specifically that have been helping others.

They seem to be more emotionally stabl now that they're helping others than they were before they were able to do that.

People that I've seen who have been sort of isolate themselves from everyone else.

They're the ones who are having the most difficulty.

It's normal to to react to abnormal circumstance like we've had with this storm.

It's normal to feel some depression and anxiety is not necessarily a sign of weakness or a mental illness.

But there's also nothing wrong with getting some help having somebody to talk t about what you're going through.

Because I hate these feelings.

I'm tired of them.

I don't like them because it's just hard to deal with.

They're hard to get satisfaction back from.

For Beyond Katrina.

I'm Janet Parker.

In the wake of a natural disaster, people often worry about the most vulnerable among us children and the elderly.

Not surprisingly, they can sometimes be the most resilient in times of stress.

Walt Grayson and Patti Davis bring us the stories of how young and old on the coast, a finding strength in a variety of ways.

We recently visited with three families in Christiana, whose homes were either heavily damaged or completely destroyed by Hurricane Katrina.

Green spaces and parks lik these are few and far between.

Life has definitely changed for these kids on the coast.

Just playing in the yard, with the glass and nails and splinters and things like that.

Snakes under just about everything.

And, so it's really limited, where they're playing now.

The FEMA trailer may b on a slab that's got all kind of debris still on it, so it's just real difficult.

Didn't go on the beach and play in the sand, but you can't swim in the water because there's stuff.

Yeah, I used to go deep.

So my kids told me to go over in the shallow.

Sometimes we had to wear beaches, but it's okay.

So we went to have to get anything in the water and I my stuff in there.

I feel, that there's not safe places for them to ride bikes.

There's no playgrounds.

There's no safe areas for them to go.

So again, you know, if you look at the hierarchy of needs in this situation, we first have to provide our children and families with safe places.

You know, and affordable housing is a number one priority.

Affordable safe, permanent housing has to be in place right no before we start thinking about any other issues that these children and families have.

The Jenkins family and their relatives had 11 homes in Pass Christian before the storm.

Ten of them were destroyed.

And now most of the families are living in FEMA trailers or small one room buildings.

The kids have turned the slab of their former home into their playground of necessity.

I was on the, on Wanda, slab, and I, slipped and I cut on the open.

Everything's more aggravating to them.

Everything's, more difficult.

They don't have their own space anymore.

It's pretty difficul because you're all crammed up, and my sisters are almost everywhere.

Just one of my sister are living in the same trailer, but my other one is living somewhere up to my other one is living in another trailer.

You know, they're going from livin from living in a home to living in very cramped quarters in a FEMA trailer.

They're going some living, with family to living with multi families, you know, people that they weren't used to living with.

So there's a lot of adjustment issues that kids are dealing with.

So lots of things that we're they're not used to dealing with they're having to deal with now.

But it's okay if you live in that trailer.

That's where I had to liv till you get your house fixed.

The Sanders family lost two homes to Katrina, but they were lucky enough to avoid FEMA trailer time.

But the hurricane definitely had an impact on the kids.

It's the innocence and it's the joy.

I mean, I don't think it's quite the same.

You know, it's, And I don't think, yo know, you have a grow out of it.

I think it's something.

It's like a scar that stays with you forever.

The first day that I dropped Kelly off at school, I went and started taking in the rumble because I kne whatever I could find, you know, whatever it was, I was, I was going to get it.

And Kelly called me that day.

My little girl called me from school, and her I am, you know, sitting on the in the slab trying to get stuff out.

And she said, I just I just have to be near you.

You have to please come get me and hug me, you know?

And so there's a sense of insecurity that was never there before.

The Campbell home took on eight feet of water during the hurricane.

Today they're back in their home trying to find things to help keep the kids occupied.

I think that the more that, they participate in helping it, it's healing.

So they go to their grandmothers and their aunts and uncles house to help out what they can.

And, number one, take your mind off of it.

And number two, you know, gives you, just a joy for knowing that you've reached out and help somebody.

But some people just want t keep on going instead of quit.

Like when it's getting fixed.

Children mirror what adults in their lives are feeling and doing most of the time.

Thus, we weren't surprised when kids told us what they wish for.

Most of all, to reverse it and.

Have Katrina be on.

I would wish for everybody to be happy and everybody to have a house.

And the research indicates that kids are very resilient.

You know, we need to keep an eye on it.

We certainly need to be awar that that some issues may come up for them.

But again, I think for the most part, they're going to be okay for beyond Katrina.

I'm Walt Grayson.

Trees down in some oak trees.

And Katrina survivor J.D.

Gauci has seen tough times before.

I came back from not dissimilar.

I wouldn't allow him to kill me.

I would die on that death march.

I would die in the prison camp.

I was coming home.

Now home is this FEMA trailer he shares with his wife.

I said, you got me and I got you.

I really just start.

Start all over.

It's kind of.

It's kind of late to start all over, but you have to do what you have to do.

They'd have to start from scratch.

They.

Everything was gone.

Everything.

But the real things that matter are not gone.

We still have all our children and our grandchildren.

And those were just things.

Jon and Ev Switzer share their sentiments.

When we got damage, we had flood insurance.

We got family.

We didn't lose any of our family at all.

But it took days to learn everyone's fate.

One son stayed at their house, sitting on the top step, watching the water come in.

The phone last at that long and the message on there was.

Mom, dad!

I'm alive.

Come home.

It's bad.

They dug into the damage and repaired their home.

We are both too old to move away from our family.

Mark Seymore didn't have flood insurance on his downstairs apartment where his daughter and grandson lived.

I feel real lucky because I can still walk.

If I wasn't working, didn't have any income.

I've been in bad shape one.

So security now we won't be able to insure his lower level.

Now, FEMA's coming back with new maps.

They can show new elevations when you start raising the elevations on going all these high retired people and then they can't afford it.

They cannot afford to build up like tha because it costs more to go up.

Eleanor Pauley is hoping to replace her Biloxi home.

A neighbor watched the tornado tear it apart.

And he said it was hours before the water came that the tornado had come through.

Still, insurance isn't paying.

State farm refused me, saying that it was not on.

If I get any money from FEMA, I'm going to build me up.

If not, I'll get slashed for growing it.

These days she does her laundry in a shed behind her FEMA trailer.

Retired fighter pilot Richar Breslin was one of the volunteer builders.

We've literally done everything from from paint and touch up to rebuild from the ground level up.

Well, it's reall been a very rewarding, effort.

This part of his retirement has turned out a little different than planned.

Instead of fishing, he's been working.

First time the fish was about six weeks ago.

Since August the 29th.

Dealing with storm damage insurance and an uncertain future can be difficult at times.

But as these seniors say, they've just lost stuff.

The bricks and mortar of their lives.

As they turn the corner on their emotional recovery.

They say they have their own way of coping.

No counseling.

Just just between God and us and our family.

The Lord always looks out for me anyway.

He's been good.

If you give up, you're not going to accomplish it.

Then you'd probably end up sleeping on the end of a bridge somewhere.

You have to have faith.

I thin God has a plan for each of us.

It's these peopl who have a faith who are from a from a more traditional era, and they're so strong.

Strong enough to plan for the future.

And then I'm going to get my peer fixed back and, so I can go out there and fish for beyond Katrina.

I'm Patti Davis.

Again, we will remind yo that you can access information on help dealing with stress by visiting our website at MPB online.org.

Please take a few moments to visit the site after the program.

And as always we invite you to post your story ideas and comments coming later.

We'll give you important information on ho to put together a disaster kit.

Make sure you have pencil and paper handy.

Recently, Jean Edwards sat down with Congressman Jean Taylor on the Hattiesburg campus of USM.

The university suffered over $200 million in damage at all its facilities.

Another of the many things on the congressman's plate, as he worries about the residents in his South Mississippi district.

But we're here on the first day of June, first day of hurricane season on the USM campus, wher they are still repairing things.

Folks out there around the rest of the country, this familiar theme.

Still don't think we're still think everything's okay now.

It's amazing when I go, on weekly basis back to Washington and people say everything's normal again, just to know when you lose 40,000 homes overnight, when your coastal home builder were building about 2000 homes a year, when another ten to 20 to 30,000 homes need to be fixed?

Things not all right.

I guess the good news is that a lot of the homes that could be repaired have been repaired.

But as far as the reconstruction data, it is painfully slow.

Just hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of thousands spread out there.

Tens of thousands of slabs still down there.

For a number of reasons.

The insurance industry has just been horrible.

They are a bunch of thieves in my book.

When we use that word.

My opinion, take people's premiums for decades.

When it came time to pay the claims, they didn't pay the claims.

They used bogus adjusters.

They assigned all of the blame to the water and made the taxpayer pay what they should have been paying.

Thousands of South Mississippians, including myself, Senator, lot of us federal Judge Corolla are having to sue their insurance companies to get any kind of justice so that slowing things down if those claims had been paid.

And then it's it is a small town environment.

That's one of the great things we know our plumber, we know our electrician, we know our carpenter.

That's the guy you want to do business with.

And he's really busy and he's going to be busy for a while.

So you wait in line to he can get to you or you do it yourself.

So a number of things have, have slowed down.

The recovery is what's happening down there.

Criminal.

In the case of the insurance companies, I do think it's criminal.

And I'm going to call for in the next coming weeks.

The, National Flood Insuranc bill will come before the House, and I'm going to call for an inspector general's investigation of what the insurance companies have done.

The, federal flood insurance, federally backed private insurance company State Farm Allstate, nationwide and others.

The way it works, though, is that a employee of one of these companies is the one who goes out and is not only writes the policy, but decides where to cast the blame for the storm.

In almost every instance where they could be assigned all the blame to the taxpaye funded flood insurance program and none of the blam to the private, industry funded wind policy that happened to me happen to Senator Lott, federal judge Corolla, thousands of other Mississippians.

So, number one, when they said there's no wind damage, they screwed the individual, but they also turned around and stuck it to the taxpayer because the only bill they go paid was paid by the taxpayer, not State Farm, Allstate, nationwide.

What you're saying is, because we got screwed this time, a lot o people are reluctant to rebuild anywhere near the size house they had before.

And I can think of a bank vice president.

I can think of a guy who owns his own construction company and several others who were rebuilding something much smaller than what they had, for fear that if it gets blown away, what are the chances they don't get paid for it either?

One of the things we continue to read in in the newspapers around the country is this this whole business of the Pork Busters going after the, the money that, Senator Cochran and several others, attempted to get.

And it's still in negotiation.

Is this is this pork going on down there the moving of the railroad, the the construction of a Marina the in the case of the railroad is probabl a good idea if it's done right.

As a former city councilman, I have great respect for those guys jurisdiction.

But you're going to need the city council.

Biloxi.

Gulfport, probably Long Beach, probably pass Christian to pass a resolution saying if we're going to move the road, it' got to be a limited access road.

If you're going to move the railroad to d nothing more than build two more for two lane streets with one four lane street and have a traffic light at every corner, and you've got nothing more than another pass road and pass road and Hardy Avenue.

In my opinion, the two most aggravating street in South Mississippi to draft.

So if you if you're going to do it, do it right.

And if you're not going to do it right, don't do it.

How are you?

Okay.

I mean, it's how do you do it every day?

Well, it's been an interesting year.

I feel like I've really earned my pay.

And I felt like, it was, you know, if it had to happen.

I'm very fortunate that it happened in my 16th year and not my first year, that after 16 year of getting to know the generals and the admirals and having just traveled to Iraq with the chief of the National Guard Bureau, I was very comfortable call in general.

Bloem general, this is really terrible.

I really need your help.

This is not an exaggeration.

I need Marines made water, I need hospitals, I need generators and I need them all right now.

Knew the guy well enough.

The way that stuff was flowing immediately, he would have called Admiral Mullen the chief of naval operations.

Same sort of deal had known him for years.

Admiral, this is terrible.

My hometown hospital is gone.

We need some way of getting the ship off shore to where we can fly helicopters out to there.

Should there be a heart attack in Hancock County.

And.

And he made it happen.

I think by Thursda the storm hit Monday afternoon.

By Thursday, he had a amphibious assault ship off a ship island.

He had the hospital ship comfort down in Pascagoula shortly thereafter, five years before that.

So you know, it was again, maybe I'd been training for this.

And my years in the Coast Guard paid off.

And what they really told me was a sense of urgency.

Don't worry about who's going to pay for it.

Don't worry about the the contracts get, you know, save the person's life right now.

Do what has to be done t prevent further loss right now.

Worry about the details later.

Are you able to sleep at night now or are you?

How scared are you?

Oh, it's, I guess I was luckier than most.

I never actually saw a dead body.

My son and I were out on the Jordan River.

That afternoon.

Monday afternoon was the only way we launched.

About a half a mile from the Jordan River.

We took a boat down highway 603, passed between houses.

So a floating pool table with the ball still in the rack passed between rooftops.

It was a lot like wha I imagine the Great Mississippi River float of 28 looked like, couches, cars, furniture, pieces of houses, all floating in thi floated down the Jordan River, went underneath the Jordan River.

The interstate bridge in the Jordan River and the Bay of Saint Louis wa all the way to the interstate.

Normally there was no river.

Was all the ocean here very disorienting.

I went down and got all the way to where the Bay Saint Louis Bridge had bee before we realized it was gone, and then look back to the right, to the street I lived on for, you know, 28 years and just realize that Basil House is gone.

Tanner's house is gone.

The Egan's house is gone.

Chamberlain's house is gone.

Our brother's house is gone.

Our house is gone.

As a matter of fact, everybody's house has gone to one.

It was a remnant of a guy named Harry.

Chapman's house was still there.

But other than that, there's, you know, see you.

Mobile City Council ward.

His god is, you know, ward Ward one two.

Basically Lewis and I, you could see way back int subdivisions a half mile inland and see that those houses were built to smell the rain.

So here's a and again, you know, I think, I think most people it very well it was obviously a very trying time for the first, for the first week or so, almost every woman you ran into was crying half the guys.

And these are tough guys, trappers, loggers.

You know, the thought that they'd lost so much.

But but again, we were lucky that most all of us, no immediate family members, no one in my family was even injured.

We did lose stuff.

But that's the only way to look at it.

And I remember finding out the Saturday after the storm that we lost the National Guardsman.

A guy named Josh Russell hit died while tryin to rescue his own grandparents.

And that really set me back because I didn't.

Up until then, I didn't think we lost any first responders, but it also helpe put it in perspective and then, you know, just kept repeating myself, I was stuff that lady lost her husband.

Those kids lost their dad, the moms and dads lost their son.

And, you know, compared to losing a family member, this is enough.

So it's, it's it's going to be a challenge.

It certainly be something that I remember enough to come aboard fishing just the other day, and we saw the remnants of the Oak Island lighthouse that had been destroyed in a previous storm.

And we will laugh here.

So maybe we ought to ge the message of this lighthouse destroyed by a hurricane in in the distance, you see basically a little bridge destroyed by a hurricane, our house destroyed by a hurricane.

But at the end of the day, there's no place I'd rather live.

That's my little sliver of land, for 28 years to get to look out and see the Pelicans.

See the Dolphins got to go floundering in front of my house, told my kids water ski in front of my house.

But they sailed out in front of the house.

And so if it's once ever 28 years, I can live with that.

If it's more often than that, I may have second thoughts.

Gentlemen.

Thank you.

My pleasure.

Thank you.

It is also worthy of not that the entire Mississippi Gulf Coast has been added to the list of the 11 most endangered Places in America by the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

The trust was founded in 1949 to provide resources to protect the treasured places that tell America's story.

You can find a link to the complete list by visiting our website at MPB online.org.

Still to come on Beyond Katrina, a look at whether the dairy industry in Mississippi has mad a comeback and a status report on possible rate increase in your homeowner's insurance.

Hurricane season is upon us once again, and many coastal residents are living in very temporary housing.

What should you do if you live in a FEMA trailer and an evacuation is ordered?

Well, Theresa Colley of MPB news has the answer.

Well, the first thing you need to do is plan well in advance of the state of emergency.

We're going to definitely.

We always leave for the storms.

We don't stay here just in case.

Right now, you need to be thinking about those things.

You need to be thinking about.

Where am I going to go?

You certainly don't need to plan to stay in a travel trailer.

They're not designed as as permanent housing.

More than 38,000 FEMA trailers are now scattered across south Mississippi.

While these trailers provide a temporary shelter, they're not able to withstand strong winds.

As a result, residents are urged to evacuate these trailers even when severe thunderstorms are predicted.

Because those FEMA trailers are not all that stable.

Hurricane season is coming, and it's predicted to be a bad season this time.

Some people are very concerned.

Even a tropical storm in the coast area would would cause a lot of evacuations.

So now we're doing a lot of, reassuring people and getting them to write a plan.

An emergency plan.

We're giving brochures and materials to give them to be prepared.

And we're doing a lot of counseling about how to be prepared and what to do and what to take with you and where to go.

But we always go out with warnings to people in travel trailers and mobile homes.

Even during normal severe thunderstorm warnings.

So it's it's very prudent just to go ahead if you know that there's going to be the possibility of severe weather.

Go ahead and get into a safe structure.

Jackson County doesn't have at the moment an evacuation, shelter.

And the storm's right now.

You know, a thunderstorm i considered basically a category one hurricane for people living in these small FEMA trailers.

The Mississippi Emergency Management Agency is urging residents not to try and take trailers with them while evacuating.

Moving FEMA trailers is dangerous and could get you in trouble with the law.

It's against the law, both on the federal level and on the state level.

They're not licensed to be pulled on the roads.

Therefore, you're breaking state law when you do it.

And it's part of the, lease agreement that people sign when they get into the trailers, that they understand that they belong to FEMA, not to the individuals, and they're not to be moved.

They've even got tie down straps.

And the straps are, you know, they won't hold up to a strong wind, but they're intended to help discourage people from pulling the trailers off themselves.

That was another thing you all told me about the FEMA trailer Don't stay in the FEMA trailer.

And, of course, that's that's good advice because there really isn't much protection there.

The frame is anchored down.

But not that, not the trailer itself.

Right before the need to evacuate wait arises.

Make certain you have a pla to help the process go quickly.

I will take as much as I can, because the last time we all went to, like, two sets of clothes.

But I did take my pictures and all my albums off.

That's the first thing I think, that you cannot replace with pictures.

And, because I have so many pictures, grandbabies and all that, but I would definitely take that for sure.

That's the first thing goes in the car and more clothes this time for Beyond Katrina, I'm Theresa Collier.

Well, Chris Adams is with us from the American Red Cross of central Mississippi with some information on assembling a disaster preparedness kit.

This is just one step of a five step plan.

Tell us about that.

The five step plan that we recommend for everyon is, first of all, make a plan.

You do not know how you're going to evacuate.

Whether it's just if your house burned down or you have to evacuate your entire community, where would you go?

And all the family member should know what that plan is.

Then you need to build yourself a kit, including all of the members of the family in the planning of that kit, and maybe some comfort items for each one of them as well.

You also need to get trained.

A good first aid kit is not as useful in the hands of someone who hasn't been trained to provide first aid care.

You need to give blood.

We can make our community stronger by having a good blood supply, and we can also make our community stronger with the fifth step, which is volunteer.

Tell us what's in that kit.

You need to have water first and foremost.

We can't survive for very long without it.

And we tend to think of just small bottles, but we need at least a gallon per day per person, and you ought to have at least a three day supply on hand.

You also need food.

Yeah.

You.

I think a combination of ideas with food.

There are a number of ready made packets.

Heater meals, these eight pack people, they can supply these self-heating meals.

They're like MRE that they use in the military.

But I think also, for most of us, a combination of things makes sense.

You say you need first aid also first aid kit.

Yes.

A good first aid kit that includes lots of, sterile bandaging material and knowing how to use drugs.

Yes, drugs, both non-prescription and a good supply of your prescription medications that you really need.

Things like insulin and heart medications and high blood pressure medications in particular, you ought to have a two week supply of but nonprescription drugs as well.

Aspirin and not aspirin.

Pain relievers, antiviral medications, laxatives, antacids also sirup of ipecac and activated charcoal.

Certain things called special needs items.

Special needs items.

If you have a baby, you need to plan for baby.

If you have an older person, they might have special medications you might need to keep thei eyeglass prescription on file.

Two A number of tools can be very useful.

We all know duct tape comes in handy, but some plastic sheeting, a good multi-tool.

Light sticks flashlights, radios, a whistle.

Often very important for getting attention.

If you need sanitation needs, you need to have not only toilet paper on supply, but if you need to improvise something, plastic bucket or the tight fitting lid.

Sanitary hand wipes, that kind of thing.

Bleach.

Always handy clothes and bedding.

Yes, everybody need at least one change of clothes in the family, including a pair of hardwearing, pants and a good, sturdy pair of boots.

You say?

Important documents.

Also important documents.

If you have to leave your home, whether it's for a fire or hurricane, it things you can't easil duplicate social Security cards, driver's license, wills, insurance documents, deeds, all of those things.

Finally, don't forget cash is king.

You need cash, and cash is the only thing you can count on.

Oh, this is a building kit before one step of a five step plan.

And we thank you very much for being with us.

Thank you John.

Be sure to check our websit at MPB online.org to find links and additional information on the stories we feature on Beyond Katrina, including instructions for preparing a readiness kit for your family.

There is also a link for a hurricane evacuation guide offered by M Dot, with detailed instruction on the best evacuation routes.

Important phone numbers and the radio frequencies for Mississippi Public Broadcasting radio.

Just go to MPB online.org an click on the Beyond Katrina tab.

Later in the program, we'll visit the Big Apple for some catfish and fellowship with Katrina volunteers.

But first, June brings anxiety for homeowners wondering what Katrina is goin to do to the cost of insurance.

Mississippi insurance Commissioner George Dale gave the public a chance to weigh in on the inevitable increase.

MPB news reporter Scott Phillips was at the hearing.

The public has been invited to attend a hearing hosted by Insurance Commissioner George Dale.

Raising homeowners windfall insurance rates will no doubt place a hardshi on families, possibly statewide.

One thing is for certain Commissioner Dale has a very difficult decision to make.

This is a serious issue that could have dramatic effects across the entire state, which is the reason the hearing was held here and not on the coast.

This is a state issue, not one limited just to the coast residents.

As a direct result of Hurricane Katrina.

The Mississippi Wind Pool has paid out over $700 million in claims, and has already assessed the safety insurance companies throughout the state.

Over $545 million to pay those outstanding claims on the coast.

The rate increase filing is not to cover.

Hurricane Katrina claims.

It is instead to cover the $42 million cost for $375 million worth of reinsurance to go forward.

I can assure you, all member of the Whimple board are here, the executive staff and Wemple is here.

And I can tell you having worked with these people for many years, not a single one of them is happy making this request.

The women who has lost $590 million, that Wemple is not designed to be a profit making organization.

It is not like an insurance company is not in to making a profit.

It's designed by the statute to break even.

The rate increase that we're here about today is driven by the increase in reinsurance costs.

The reinsurance cost for the Wemple is up over 500%.

They have the privilege of doing business in Mississippi, of enjoying the process of selling policies through their agents and making a lot of money.

They do not like the fact that the legislature said, by law, you have to be a member of this association.

This is a forced participation.

That's a good thing in the sens that that helps make insurance available to people on the coast.

That's a bad thing for them and their mind because they're having to maybe write some business and participate some offices.

They don't want any part of tha to go with this rate increase.

And you allow this reinsurance to happen.

I can guarantee you that place is going to dry up and blow away.

My name is Joe Budd right now, and I live in a motor home in Long Beach.

I did live on the beach i Long Beach, but I'm history now.

This dark cloud hanging over with this ungodly interest rate has put a severe dampener on any consideration for rebuilding on the coast.

And I submit to you that if that is the case, then the economic impact that that would have, as opposed to this insuranc hassle is going to be placed up.

I'm telling you that when the actuaria is started putting it together, there was a Katrina in that equation.

But you know what?

It was a Katrina that was in the equation that would hit a mor populated area than what it hit.

So this is no surprise to the insurance industry.

This is a money grab.

Mr. Cohen, was there ever a year that, there was a surplus?

Was there has ever been a year that the rates have gone down?

I just questions for that.

All right.

And if there wasn't, why why don't we have a coalition of all states that have coastal counties on this?

If you're going to ride in my state on, then you can write.

All of you can write my coastal counties.

Then do you not hav their attention at that point?

Now we we're not just Mississippi.

Then.

We all have something in common.

What we're trying to do is the same old thing that the insurance industry has done, and that is to conquer and divide.

That needs to be corrected, and it should have been corrected a long time ago.

Now, what are we going to be doing about it now?

I can't answer that, but I can tell you that you can follow tha coast up if this goes through.

I'm just begging for help for those people down there who are wanting to.

They are all trying to clean out their houses, get ready to start building, and then they find out that their insurance, that was $2,000 a year is going to be 8000, or if it was 5000, it's going to be 20,000 just to win.

And then they have to pay for flood insurance, and then they have to have a homeowner's policy.

I can't believe that that can't be spread around.

The Mississippi coast is a special place.

We have a very tiny littl coastline, and it was a jewel.

I'm just saying, don't let this happen.

You don't want the Mississipp coast to be nothing but casinos.

Las Vegas has that.

We as an insurance company have to protect our company and make sure that is financially stable for the future, to protect our policyholders.

We have approximatel a half a million policyholders spread through Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, and we are concerned about our Mississippi citizens and protecting them and having money to pay when we do have another catastrophe happen, whether it be in Mississippi, Alabama or Georgia.

I do appreciat having an opportunity to visit with you today and agai to support the right increase.

Some storms you know, you just can't plan for.

Katrina was one of them.

This really caught us off guard, and I don't know if there have been a way to adequately prepare, but knowing what we know now, I think we're better prepared to move forward.

But at the same time we're still looking for answers.

We have to look at what's happened with other states.

Katrina brought us all togethe in ways that are unprecedented.

But to say that one part of the state is carrying another part of the state are subsidizing one is just not exactly true.

There are never any easy answers.

But I tell you, an exorbitant rate increase on our citizens is going to choke to death.

I don't like the rate increase.

I've publicly stated that I'm opposed to the rate increase, so I will take this information today.

But the information that's available to me and try to make the best decisions I can for the entire state of Mississippi.

I want to thank you for coming.

This hearing is closed.

While this hearing was not well attended, policyholders will no doubt have a few choice words when their next premium arrives in the mail.

For NPR news, I'm Scott Phillips.

Ten days afte the public hearing in Jackson, Governor Haley Barbour and Insurance Commissioner George Dales said the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has given its blessing to help policyholders across the state.

Marcia Hill of Wlox news was there when they made the announcement.

The federal money will go toward paying off the $42 million bank loan the wind pool has already received.

We'll still pay more for coverage.

But insurance Commissioner George Dale says the government's bailout cushions the increase of $42 million.

You subtract the 30 million from the 42.

You're talking about about $12 million that will be needed in the wind pool.

It will result in a considerably less premium request in the wind pool than we initially thought.

Governor Haley Barbour says the government is giving policyholders a big break.

I suspect there will be some increases, but nothing like what was going to be done because the federal government has allowed us, is allowing us to use some of these funds for this purpose.

The governor says this is an immediate solution in response to Hurricane Katrina.

Barbour says he's not thinkin about another storm right now.

This $50 million will help immensely in keeping insurance rates affordable for the next couple of years.

Base on what happened with Katrina.

If we have another really bad hurricane and we'll have to go back and look at it again.

Dale says the federal bucks buys the state some time, but he says changes need to be made to the wind pool.

And he's asked for a joint legislative committee to help to look at all facets of the wind pool, to see if there's some changes that need to be made to the wind pool.

Because we don't we can't continue after every storm to run to Washington to try to get somethin to bail us out of the problems we have here.

Dale is expected to make a final decision on the amount of the wind poo increase in the next few days.

You can find a link to th Mississippi Insurance Department by visiting our website at MPB online.org.

Well, first though, times were tough enough for dairy producers before Hurricane Katrina, before barns were destroyed, fences down and thousands of gallons of milk poured down the drain.

With long term losses figured at nearly $140,000 per farm.

Brian Utley reports.

The state's dairy industry is clinging to survival.

I don't know that we have ever missed a milking.

This interview with David Magee was videotape shortly after Hurricane Katrina, during a time when dairy farmers, in all honesty were at a loss as to what to do without electricity, passable roads, and in many cases, without generators.

Almost all aspects of normal dairy production ceased.

This included the routine milking and feeding of cows, as well as the deliver of milk stored in their tanks.

The result?

Cattle with altere production cycles and disgusted farmers watching their milk go down the drain.

It shows up immediately when you miss a milking.

Just one milking.

But like you said, the long term effects some of the things we're not even going to be.

We're not even going to be aware of for the next several months.

Unfortunately, in the aftermath of Katrina, a 90 day drough proved to further stress cattle and disrupt milk production while delaying the eve important planting of ryegrass.

These events combined with rising fuel cost and the drastic drop of milk prices.

And many dairy men simply couldn't afford to stay in business.

Including David McGee.

McGee isn't alone in his misfortune, though stories similar to his can be found throughout the dairies in southwest Mississippi and eastern Louisiana.

In 1990, there was a little over 100, I think 103 or 105 dairies.

And that was 16 years ago.

Now Walton County has 30 news.

Matt Connolly is familiar with the plight of the dairy farmer, as he's experienced firsthand the fallout from Hurricane Katrina.

The storm wreaked havo on several of Connolly's barns, disrupted his milking schedules, and resulted in the pouring out of over 30,000 gallons of milk.

But as Mack explains, this was only the first phase o a series of devastating events that drove many other state dairymen out of business.

Sure, we've had people that have had to get out of their pockets just aren't deep enough to to repair and maintai what we had prior to the storm.

Not only did the hurricane really ties up, but after the hurricane, there was a drought here for 90 days.

Plus, after the storm, in our part of the state, we didn't get a drop of rain, which, had a lot of hot and dry weather that further stress those cattle and more importantly, our producers were not able to plant ryegrass in a timely fashion.

So certainly a lot of lost production from that lack of forage because of the drought.

From a financial standpoint being able to make these dairy farms cash flow, their producers are certainly, finding themselves in one of the most critical conditions they've been in in quite a while.

$12.72 per hundre is what we were paid last month.

And about a dollar gallon is what we get out of it.

So the consumer can do the math.

If it's $3 and something in the store.

The dair farmer is only getting a dollar.

Speaking of the consumer, Matt Connolly feels the general public doesn't recognize the dire condition of the Mississippi dairy industry, nor did the realize how much they need it.

Hopefully, the consumer who goes to the grocery store and picks up a gallon of milk wants to know why this milk is not lasting as long.

Used to.

We could get a gallon of milk would stay two weeks at the house.

Now it won't last at long in the refrigerator.

Why?

The answer is actually pretty easy to understand.

With the Mississippi dairy industry in decline.

Milk has to be trucked in from West Texas or eastern New Mexico, making the shelf life that much shorter.

I think if the consumer was informed, they would understan that we do need a viable dairy industry in the southeast and drink more milk from Tyler Town.

I'm Brian Utley, reporting.

Well, immediately following Hurricane Katrina, many Mississippians relocate to points all over the country, creating a deep sense of homesickness.

But for those who choose to live elsewhere, I have a personal reasons.

Separations from familiar surroundings can still be a problem.

To help maintain a sense of place, specia gatherings have been organized to bring displaced Mississippians together.

NBC's Kevin Ferrell has the story.

For 27 years, Mississippians have been gathering in New York's Central Park for a reunion picnic of catfish Hushpuppies.

Blues music and watermelon seed spitting are all a part of this annual get together.

This year's event proved to be just as much fun for visiting New Yorkers as it was for native Mississippians, from humble beginnings.

It's grown into a treasured affair.

Well, I think in the original days, we created the picnic for people to find other Mississippians in the greater metropolitan New York area because they were homesick.

Also, to do a little network.

And my personal agenda back then was to help promot this great state of Mississippi, all its culture and its heritage.

The first year was word of mouth.

People we knew who went to Millsaps.

Southern Ole Miss, people we knew where in New York.

We just wanted all the Mississippians just to gather for a picnic.

And there were about 503 to 500 that first year.

Now, the second year, we got a little bit wiser and called the universities and got their alumni list.

And, it got to be, our, broader base.

So now we have over 3000 people on the mailing list all the way up north and Mississippi.

Picnic is a joy for all who attend.

In years past, many famous Mississippians have joined this event with an underlying theme of fun, food, frolic, and friendship.

This year's picnic honore the memory of Congressman Sonny Montgomery, a generous supporter of the picnic.

Governor Haley Barbour took this opportunity to recogniz not only Congressman Montgomery, but also the selfless effort of many New York area residents who volunteere in the relief effort following Hurricane Katrina's devastatio of the Mississippi Gulf Coast.

This picnic for 27 years has been great fun.

It's been good for our state.

It's been good for our economy.

It's been great fun.

But this year, specia because today we have with us.

Scores of volunteers from this part of the country who have come down and volunteered to work on the coast in the wake of Katrina.

There are very special gifts.

Volunteers came from as far away as Connecticut and southern new Jersey, as well as New York.

They came from private universities, from faith based and secular organizations, and as individuals.

While everyone agreed it was a life changing experience, each had their own reasons for volunteering.

Well, I think mainly because my daughter lived in Manhattan during 911 and it was very frustrating.

And I just wanted to hel and I just thought this would be a good opportunity.

I was really looking for something, and it turned out to be a gift of a lifetime.

There were 17 of us at the caravan from new Jersey down to the Gulf Gulf Coast.

It took us two days to get down there.

We left early on a Saturday morning, stopped in Tennessee and stayed overnight and, and then finished up and got to we actually stayed in a Coalville United Methodist Church.

We got there Sunday afternoon and Monday morning we were we started to work.

Yep.

730 in the morning.

We really got to feel like part of the community.

Every day we got back from like 5:00 from working, and you got right down to the beach, and we just see people every day, like, walk along the beach.

So it's so hard to goodby because we felt like they really let us into their community and meet us part of it.

And they would tell us how their day was, was.

And I think things are in the area.

So we really got to connect with them where they're these volunteer groups and individuals provided much needed relief to the victims of Hurricane Katrina.

Their message was clear.

To help their fellow man regardless of race or religion, Islamic Relief sent over $2 million of work for Katrina relief, and that includes working in, Mississippi, Louisiana, as well as Texas for the evacuees over there.

In Mississippi, we've done, housing projects in, Jackson, as wel as mainly working out of Biloxi, rebuilding a clinic that was destroyed.

Actually, we purchased the mobile home, converted into a clinic, and supplied medical, medical supplies as well as exam tables and so forth, be distributed hygiene kits, cleaning kits, tents, food, and other supplies as well.

All those invited to attend the 27th annua picnic were treated to A taste of the Blues a taste of southern hospitality and a taste of southern cuisine.

But how were the catfish and hushpuppies received?

Well, some people, it's kind of a, I guess a weird feeling to them.

But as far as the taste, I haven't found anybody yet that doesn't like it.

I had, I had catfish, she had her first half as my first fish.

Any type of fish, there's really good.

Many Mississippians look forward to the way up North and Mississippi picnic every year.

It satisfies a longing for home, family and friends.

The picnic also serves as a ambassador for the entire state to bring a taste of of our great state to New York and to help educate, the entire New York area about what a great state Mississippi is, and to encourage them to travel there and even retire there.

Mississippi continue to be a desirable place to live and love.

It has suffered a great loss due to Hurricane Katrina, but with the help of generous volunteers, it will recover and becom an even greater place to live.

Until that time, these volunteers have a messag of hope for all Mississippians.

You tell them we're coming back and we're going to kee coming back for beyond Katrina.

This is Kevin Farrell reporting.

Be sure to join us for the next episode of Beyond Katrina, as we take a look at the state of health care on the coast.

You have just a short time left to visit a fascinating exhibit of artworks created by Mississippi's children following Hurricane Katrina.

The works are part of a collection on display at the USM Art Gallery on the Hattiesburg campus.

You can find information on the exhibit and everything else featured on this episode by visiting our website at MPB online.org.

We leave you tonight with a look at some of these amazing drawings for Beyond Katrina.

I'm John Johnson.

Good night.

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