Reeves, Wicker visit Ocean Springs and remember Katrina as all eyes are on the tropics
On a hot, sunny day — unlike the day 17 years ago when Hurricane Katrina roared ashore in South Mississippi — Gov. Tate Reeves and U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker remembered, saluted progress and looked ahead.
Standing high above the water Monday at Fort Maurepas, Ocean Springs Mayor Kenny Holloway told the crowd of local officials, community members and school children that during Katrina’s storm surge, “Where you’re sitting today would be underwater.”
He spent Katrina at Biloxi City Hall, where his late brother A.J. Holloway was mayor, awaiting the storm.
“And all of a sudden we’d get this notice that Jim Cantore (from The Weather Channel) was in town,” Holloway said. They looked at each other, he said, and knew that couldn’t be good.
On the 17th anniversary, Holloway and Cantore were watching four tropical disturbances the National Hurricane Center is tracking.
“It looks like a bowling alley right now,” Holloway said. Ocean Springs is good and ready if a tropical storm comes to South Mississippi or, “As good as we can be,” he said.
Where were you during Katrina?
Everyone has a Katrina story and the other two speakers also shared where they were during Katrina.
Wicker said shingles blew off his house hundreds of miles away in northern Mississippi, and a few days after the hurricane he and his wife, Gayle, brought an 18-wheeler full of donated supplies to the Coast.
Wicker became a U.S. Senator two years later and said, “I made my maiden speech about the aftermath of the wind versus water.”
Reeves was in Jackson, where the power was out for a week, he recalled, in his second year of his first term as state treasurer.
“Interestingly enough, much of my work took place in the conference room in the governor’s mansion over those seven days,” He said. It’s the same place where on Monday morning he was doing an interview with Fox News about the major flooding happening in Jackson.
“There’s no doubt that Hurricane Katrina was one of the worst natural disasters in the history of America,” Reeves said. “In fact, when you look at total amount dollar amount of damage, it was actually five times larger than any natural disaster in the history of America.”
Katrina lessons learned
Wicker reiterated the 12 lessons learned from Katrina that he first read on the 10th anniversary of the storm. Number five, which he quipped was there in Proverbs, is “The wise man reveals his house according to code. Number six if you can smell salt water from your property you need flood insurance,’ he said.
Reeves said the lessons he learned from Katrina served him well as during his first 14 months as governor, when COVID was one of 14 disasters he and his staff had to deal with.
He remembered the more than 200 people in Mississippi who died during Katrina, and also the million volunteers who came to help.
South Mississippi has seen new businesses and jobs come to the area since Katrina, Reeves said, small businesses rebuild and the tourism industry grow.
Reeves said he believes the federal dollars that came to Mississippi after Hurricane Katrina, were well spent.
He and Wicker said they are watching to see the additional money from the oil spill and COVID recovery are helping the Coast and Wicker said there will be accountability for how the money is spent.
“We will continue to ensure that every dollar meant for the Mississippi Gulf Coast goes to the Mississippi Gulf Coast because these communities along the coasts deserve nothing less,” Reeves said.
‘Coolest downtown’ in MS
Ocean Springs has thrived in the aftermath of Katrina, Holloway said.
“Downtown Ocean Springs was fortunate, mostly spared,” Holloway said, and city leaders took the opportunity to invigorate the downtown.
“Now our downtown is known as the coolest downtown in the state,” Holloway said. “That’s not my word, that’s Southern Living,” he added.
“The city continues to grow 17 years later and we’re still seeing progress,” he said. Two weeks ago the city demolished the seafood facility on the beach that was destroyed during Katrina to prepare for a new Ocean Springs park, he said.
This story was originally published August 29, 2022 at 3:52 PM.
