I remember in August 1969 when Hurricane Camille struck the Mississippi Gulf Coast. I was an eight year-old child. It was an event seared in my memory. A few weeks after Camille’s devastating winds and storm surge hit, our family traveled to the coast to see first hand the devastation and destruction. It left me with a sense of being in an alien and surreal landscape. I remember the sea of debris. I remember the plague of flies.
A few days after Katrina ravaged the gulf coast in 2005, I was driving a load of relief supplies to Biloxi. Having passed through Hattiesburg as I drove south on Highway 49, I began to see the tell-tale signs of Katrina’s rampage. Until that day I thought Camille would remain as the thousand year storm; the “high-water” mark so to speak. I was wrong.
This year has already established itself as memorable in terms of weather. It appears last week’s devastating outbreak of tornadoes and other severe weather events will be second only to the great outbreak of 1974.
For Mississippi and the Deep South it will be a greater event. It will be greater for two reasons. First, the number of fatalities. This outbreak took the lives of our families and friends. If not mistaken, it took their lives in greater numbers. Second, it began here in our backyard. Alabama bore the brunt of what manifested here in Mississippi.
Mississippi is now poised for another epic event. The Mississippi River is now forecast to reach record levels. In some places it is forecast to crest above the record 1927 flood. Levees are built. Even with the levee system, the backwater flooding will displace untold numbers and cause massive loss of property.
I recall my mother sharing stories about her days in World War II with my niece. Her stories were not an academic recall of facts about that great war. She shared the things that impacted her world the most. She shared how the war caused them to alter their lives. She eluded to how the war made her feel and think. She gave a peek into the emotions the war evoked. For those who listened she bridged a gap from historical fact to personal history.
I wonder how the present epic events will be woven into the tapestry of our personal history?
A few days after Katrina ravaged the gulf coast in 2005, I was driving a load of relief supplies to Biloxi. Having passed through Hattiesburg as I drove south on Highway 49, I began to see the tell-tale signs of Katrina’s rampage. Until that day I thought Camille would remain as the thousand year storm; the “high-water” mark so to speak. I was wrong.
This year has already established itself as memorable in terms of weather. It appears last week’s devastating outbreak of tornadoes and other severe weather events will be second only to the great outbreak of 1974.
For Mississippi and the Deep South it will be a greater event. It will be greater for two reasons. First, the number of fatalities. This outbreak took the lives of our families and friends. If not mistaken, it took their lives in greater numbers. Second, it began here in our backyard. Alabama bore the brunt of what manifested here in Mississippi.
Mississippi is now poised for another epic event. The Mississippi River is now forecast to reach record levels. In some places it is forecast to crest above the record 1927 flood. Levees are built. Even with the levee system, the backwater flooding will displace untold numbers and cause massive loss of property.
I recall my mother sharing stories about her days in World War II with my niece. Her stories were not an academic recall of facts about that great war. She shared the things that impacted her world the most. She shared how the war caused them to alter their lives. She eluded to how the war made her feel and think. She gave a peek into the emotions the war evoked. For those who listened she bridged a gap from historical fact to personal history.
I wonder how the present epic events will be woven into the tapestry of our personal history?
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