Bill Lundberg
09-01-2005, 03:31 PM
Email from a friend of mine:
This email is from one of my Dad's Marine Corp. veterans from his WWII squadron who obviously has seen it all in his 80 or so years on this earth. It is pretty detailed but of course it would be - this man has lived in this area of the country for most of his life and recalls what is supposed to be where. Tells a pretty vivid picture. He is still an active pilot and passed along these notes to Dad after he and his son flew their plane down to check out the house from overhead and damage to their family property and surrounding area.
Hi Don
I just got back from a 3.5 hour flight over the Mississippi Gulf Coast from
Bay St. Louis to Pascagoula with Eric.
I have no words--I'm not sure there ARE words--for what I just saw. I am in
shock. The destruction of the Gulf Coast was of a level that Hurricane
Camille only began to approach.
Personal. Janet's and my house is gone. An oak tree from the east side is
lying on top of what looks like a section of the roof. Whatever else is
left is in a pile of debris at the CSX railroad tracks to the north, along
with every other house in the neighborhood, save the one house next door
(Archie & Margaret's). Theirs is a spanish-southwestern style built in 1925,
and it used to stand out against all the other homes. Now it IS the only
other home. The windows are all out, and it looks pretty bad. Grasslawn, an
antibellum home on the other side, is gone.
Going down the coast from east to west...Ocean Springs has heavy damage
along the beach. I don't know how far back it goes.
Biloxi. Point Cadet is gone. The Hwy 90 bridge is gone. The old hwy
bridge is gone. The railroad bridge is gone. All spans are down--every
last one of them--except for the drawbridge in the middle. The Biloxi
Casinos are mostly standing, but the barge from the Grand is north of hwy 90
now. Mary Mahoney's Restaurant is standing, but most of the surrounding
buildings are gone. The Seashore Manor Methodist retirement home is the only
structure standing on that stretch of beach. The windows are even unbroken.
The Broadwater Marina is gone. What's left of the President Casino barge is north and
west, and across Hwy 90. Edgewater Mall is standing, but it has large
holes in the structure, high, all along the south side. Edgewater Village
strip mall is gone. Everything south of the railroad tracks has severe
damage, if it's still standing. I didn't see the Back Bay area.
Gulfport. The Legacy Condominiums are standing, and apparently did quite
well. Nearly everything around them is gone. The VA hospital complex did
well. Most of the homes on either side of it are gone. The water went
beyond the railroad tracks in multiple places near there. There is a
continuous debris pile pushed up against the tracks all along what used to
be Second Street. Almost every house there is gone. Downtown is mostly
standing, but there has been water up to the tracks. The roofs of most of
the buildings have visible damage. The Hancock Bank building and the MS
Power Co building seem to have fared the best. The Baptist and Presbyterian
churches looked good. I couldn't see the GPT Methodist church. The new
courthouse appears to be undamaged, including the windows. The harbor is
mostly gone. The roof of Marine Life is down. The shipping terminal
warehouses are there, but they have debris on the roofs, indicating that
they were underwater. The Grand Casino hotel (and Oasis) did very well, but
the casino barge is blocking Hwy 90 to the west. The homes in West Gulfport
did better than on the east side, but only for a space. Approaching Long
Beach it gets worse quickly.
Keesler AFB and the Gulfport CBC. One hangar at Keesler looks bad. The
rest of those structures look intact from where we were flying.
Long Beach. Everything from about 1000' south of the RR tracks is gone.
The Baptist Church is standing, but gutted. St. Thomas has parts standing,
but it is mostly gone. USM Gulf park looks pretty good, and it is the only
structure on that section of Beach. The Methodist Church is standing, and
the New Life Center looks good. The roofs look good. Water came up as high
as the house next door to the Associate Pastor's parsonage. Everything
south of Magnolia Street is gone. North of Magnolia Street, there is heavy
damage up to about 1000' of the tracks. On my old street of Buena Vista
Dr., my old house is the first one standing. It appears from the air to
have had water up to the second story. The High School, Middle School, and
Reeves Middle School appear undamaged. Harper McCaughan is hurt, but I
couldn't see how bad. It probably had water, and it is about at where the
survival line forms. North LB did much better, but there was lots of roof
damage. Pecan Park seems to have fared the best. The Wolf River is flooded
so badly I couldn't see any structures above water. It is up to within a
couple of feet of the I-10 bridge--enough that I worry for the integrity of
the bridge. The harbor is gone. Every structure in the vicinity of the
harbor is gone.
Pass Christian. The Wal Mart is standing, but it has been underwater. Some
Downtown buildings are standing. St Anne's is there, but it has had water
over it. From the LB line westward, everything south of Second Street is
gone. The only exception was Scenic Drive, where about half of the houses
are standing. From Downtown west I saw nothing standing anywhere in Pass
Christian. The only houses I saw standing in West Pass were the newer ones
on the North Side, near the Bay of St. Louis, and those two new millionaire
acres-looking houses on the beach about halfway to Pass Marianne. The Du
Pont site is there, but we didn't fly north far enough to assess.
The Hwy 90 bridge over the Bay of St. Louis is down. Every span. The
railroad bridge is down. Every span.
Bay St. Louis appears to have had water in the downtown area. Most of the
buildings are standing, but most have roof damage. All the homes southwest
of the downtown area, along the beach road, are gone. The homes west of the
beach road had the heaviest roof damage I saw anywhere except in East
Biloxi.
Waveland. We didn't fly all the way to Waveland, but I could see down the
beach road quite a ways, and I saw nothing standing.
Other. Hwy 90 is washed out in sections all along the coast, from Biloxi to
Bay St. Louis. Huge sand drifts obscure many more sections of pavement.
There is a lot more natural sand along the beach, maybe another 500-1000'.
Ship Island is mostly gone. There is a clump of trees on a sand bar on the
east, and there is a sand bar on the west. Fort Massachusetts is there, but
has sand berms about 15' high along the southwest side. Cat Island has a
new shape. It doesn't have "fingers" any more. It is just a continuous
stretch, like Ship Island used to be, only with trees.
My estimates. Based on the debris lines and what I know of the geography of
the MS Gulf Coast, the tides were indeed in the 30-foot range, all the way
from Bay St. Louis to Biloxi. Based on the damage I saw to roofs, and to
structures unaffected by water, the winds would have had to be greater than
100 knots, possibly as great as 140 knots. I couldn't see looting/looters,
but I could see the opportunity for it. The casualty numbers, when they
come in, will be staggering.
In closing. I have never seen any manner of destruction like this. It is
bad in Biloxi and Gulfport...as bad as anything I saw after Hurricane
Camille in 1969. The devastation of Pass Christian is indescribable. The
news reporting only scratches the surface. In my opinion, based on my
considerable life experience, the federal government should declare martial
law, and rush every possible measure of aid to this area.
This email is from one of my Dad's Marine Corp. veterans from his WWII squadron who obviously has seen it all in his 80 or so years on this earth. It is pretty detailed but of course it would be - this man has lived in this area of the country for most of his life and recalls what is supposed to be where. Tells a pretty vivid picture. He is still an active pilot and passed along these notes to Dad after he and his son flew their plane down to check out the house from overhead and damage to their family property and surrounding area.
Hi Don
I just got back from a 3.5 hour flight over the Mississippi Gulf Coast from
Bay St. Louis to Pascagoula with Eric.
I have no words--I'm not sure there ARE words--for what I just saw. I am in
shock. The destruction of the Gulf Coast was of a level that Hurricane
Camille only began to approach.
Personal. Janet's and my house is gone. An oak tree from the east side is
lying on top of what looks like a section of the roof. Whatever else is
left is in a pile of debris at the CSX railroad tracks to the north, along
with every other house in the neighborhood, save the one house next door
(Archie & Margaret's). Theirs is a spanish-southwestern style built in 1925,
and it used to stand out against all the other homes. Now it IS the only
other home. The windows are all out, and it looks pretty bad. Grasslawn, an
antibellum home on the other side, is gone.
Going down the coast from east to west...Ocean Springs has heavy damage
along the beach. I don't know how far back it goes.
Biloxi. Point Cadet is gone. The Hwy 90 bridge is gone. The old hwy
bridge is gone. The railroad bridge is gone. All spans are down--every
last one of them--except for the drawbridge in the middle. The Biloxi
Casinos are mostly standing, but the barge from the Grand is north of hwy 90
now. Mary Mahoney's Restaurant is standing, but most of the surrounding
buildings are gone. The Seashore Manor Methodist retirement home is the only
structure standing on that stretch of beach. The windows are even unbroken.
The Broadwater Marina is gone. What's left of the President Casino barge is north and
west, and across Hwy 90. Edgewater Mall is standing, but it has large
holes in the structure, high, all along the south side. Edgewater Village
strip mall is gone. Everything south of the railroad tracks has severe
damage, if it's still standing. I didn't see the Back Bay area.
Gulfport. The Legacy Condominiums are standing, and apparently did quite
well. Nearly everything around them is gone. The VA hospital complex did
well. Most of the homes on either side of it are gone. The water went
beyond the railroad tracks in multiple places near there. There is a
continuous debris pile pushed up against the tracks all along what used to
be Second Street. Almost every house there is gone. Downtown is mostly
standing, but there has been water up to the tracks. The roofs of most of
the buildings have visible damage. The Hancock Bank building and the MS
Power Co building seem to have fared the best. The Baptist and Presbyterian
churches looked good. I couldn't see the GPT Methodist church. The new
courthouse appears to be undamaged, including the windows. The harbor is
mostly gone. The roof of Marine Life is down. The shipping terminal
warehouses are there, but they have debris on the roofs, indicating that
they were underwater. The Grand Casino hotel (and Oasis) did very well, but
the casino barge is blocking Hwy 90 to the west. The homes in West Gulfport
did better than on the east side, but only for a space. Approaching Long
Beach it gets worse quickly.
Keesler AFB and the Gulfport CBC. One hangar at Keesler looks bad. The
rest of those structures look intact from where we were flying.
Long Beach. Everything from about 1000' south of the RR tracks is gone.
The Baptist Church is standing, but gutted. St. Thomas has parts standing,
but it is mostly gone. USM Gulf park looks pretty good, and it is the only
structure on that section of Beach. The Methodist Church is standing, and
the New Life Center looks good. The roofs look good. Water came up as high
as the house next door to the Associate Pastor's parsonage. Everything
south of Magnolia Street is gone. North of Magnolia Street, there is heavy
damage up to about 1000' of the tracks. On my old street of Buena Vista
Dr., my old house is the first one standing. It appears from the air to
have had water up to the second story. The High School, Middle School, and
Reeves Middle School appear undamaged. Harper McCaughan is hurt, but I
couldn't see how bad. It probably had water, and it is about at where the
survival line forms. North LB did much better, but there was lots of roof
damage. Pecan Park seems to have fared the best. The Wolf River is flooded
so badly I couldn't see any structures above water. It is up to within a
couple of feet of the I-10 bridge--enough that I worry for the integrity of
the bridge. The harbor is gone. Every structure in the vicinity of the
harbor is gone.
Pass Christian. The Wal Mart is standing, but it has been underwater. Some
Downtown buildings are standing. St Anne's is there, but it has had water
over it. From the LB line westward, everything south of Second Street is
gone. The only exception was Scenic Drive, where about half of the houses
are standing. From Downtown west I saw nothing standing anywhere in Pass
Christian. The only houses I saw standing in West Pass were the newer ones
on the North Side, near the Bay of St. Louis, and those two new millionaire
acres-looking houses on the beach about halfway to Pass Marianne. The Du
Pont site is there, but we didn't fly north far enough to assess.
The Hwy 90 bridge over the Bay of St. Louis is down. Every span. The
railroad bridge is down. Every span.
Bay St. Louis appears to have had water in the downtown area. Most of the
buildings are standing, but most have roof damage. All the homes southwest
of the downtown area, along the beach road, are gone. The homes west of the
beach road had the heaviest roof damage I saw anywhere except in East
Biloxi.
Waveland. We didn't fly all the way to Waveland, but I could see down the
beach road quite a ways, and I saw nothing standing.
Other. Hwy 90 is washed out in sections all along the coast, from Biloxi to
Bay St. Louis. Huge sand drifts obscure many more sections of pavement.
There is a lot more natural sand along the beach, maybe another 500-1000'.
Ship Island is mostly gone. There is a clump of trees on a sand bar on the
east, and there is a sand bar on the west. Fort Massachusetts is there, but
has sand berms about 15' high along the southwest side. Cat Island has a
new shape. It doesn't have "fingers" any more. It is just a continuous
stretch, like Ship Island used to be, only with trees.
My estimates. Based on the debris lines and what I know of the geography of
the MS Gulf Coast, the tides were indeed in the 30-foot range, all the way
from Bay St. Louis to Biloxi. Based on the damage I saw to roofs, and to
structures unaffected by water, the winds would have had to be greater than
100 knots, possibly as great as 140 knots. I couldn't see looting/looters,
but I could see the opportunity for it. The casualty numbers, when they
come in, will be staggering.
In closing. I have never seen any manner of destruction like this. It is
bad in Biloxi and Gulfport...as bad as anything I saw after Hurricane
Camille in 1969. The devastation of Pass Christian is indescribable. The
news reporting only scratches the surface. In my opinion, based on my
considerable life experience, the federal government should declare martial
law, and rush every possible measure of aid to this area.