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Just got this in...
As the first blush of a new day dawned today, the Pine Belt got its first real glimpse of the wreckage and ruin of Hurricne Katrina that smashed the area like a punch to the gut.
Trees were snapped like toothpicks or ripped entirely from the ground by their roots, billboards collapsed and shattered on the ground and signs and light stands crumpled under the 100 mph-plus winds.
Many Hattiesburg area homes and businesses were destroyed by the powerful hurricane that came ashore near New Orleans just after sunup on Monday and then mowed through the heart of Mississippi, leaving a wide path of destruction.
“I have never lived through anything like this before,” said Joseph Oliver of Hattiesburg as he surveyed damage to his West Fourth Street home early today.
“I was here with Camille and lived in Florida when Andrew hit and nothing compares to this. This is an absolute nightmare.”
Katrina was the worst storm to hit the Pine Belt since Hurricane Camille in 1969.
Hardy Street, one of Hattiesburg’s main thoroughfares, looked as if Katrina had flicked her hand across the road and brushed aside trees, signs and power lines like an angry child flinging her toys.
The storm took no pity. Only the homes and businesses fortunate enough to have generators had power. Officials said it could be weeks before power is fully restored. Water, telephone, cable, Internet and natural gas services were mostly gone.
There were no confirmed reports of deaths or major injuries in the Pine Belt, but Gov. Haley Barbour said unconfirmed reports put the death toll at up to 80 in Harrison County – which includes Biloxi and Gulfport. Barbour said the death toll could climb.
Hattiesburg, Petal and Forrest County officials ordered a dusk-to-dawn curfew Monday and today.
This gives me some hope that everybody is okay...
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