From a fellow caver who has been working on the Gulf Coast, in response to an email from me 
asking how it was going (his reply is interspersed with my original message):


====
deb: Just been thinking about all the things going on down that way and 
wondering if you are still working down there and going back and forth? 
I have some preservation friends working in Bay St Louis and they have 
been reporting some awesome stories.

DD: Thanks for caring. Yes, I was down there three times so far.  Came home last time on Jan 22. 
Belive it or not, PAYING work ran out for now, on the last visit. Most out of state contractors are 
going home. I got all set up and was semi- primitive camping for over two weeks last time. Have a 
pop up trailer waiting down there near Wiggins out in a pine plantation. I have a bank account and 
post office box set up. All I need is some good paying jobs. I have many leads but about 
everybody is waiting on money. 
DD: They are stuck between the waning clean- up push and the non-beginning of the rebuilding. 
Most of the money made on the clean up was subcontract work for FEMA. I wasn't established 
enough, soon enough, to get in on that. It was highly political and mostly contractors with 
Hurricane cleanup experiance that got in. My plans were to get in on the rebuilding which is a 
slower burn but longer lasting. The cash flow from insurance payments and FEMA recovery grants/ 
loans is about non- existant at this time. 
DD: I spent almost two days out of three Volunteering in Bay St. Louis, another day job hunting/ 
working in Pass Christian/ Longbeach area. That entire area makes New Orleans look "salvagable". 
Think in terms of post nuclear Hiroshima.   I spoke with several people in Bay St.Louis that lost 
everything. The houses were built on 16 - 12"x12" pilings sunk 24 feet deep with a slab poured 
around them. The storm surge went over the roofs of many of the houses.  All that is left on half 
the sites is the stilts. No houses livable. Only some rebuildable. 
DD: The insurance companies are making payments like 15% of property value loss due to wind. 
They refuse to accept that storm surge is wind damage and not flood damage. Expect huge 
statewide class action lawsuits over this in the future. At stake is a large percentage of the 
rebuilding funds. People either couldn't get or afford flood insurance. 
DD: I heard tonight that the city of Biloxi still has not received the $10,000,000 flood check and 
the $20,000,000 wind damage check approved from Loyds of london. If that check hasn't been 
cut, just imagine the wait for most people. The real story is that the insurance companies are 
broke from last years hurricanes and they can't pull too many funds out of the markets without 
causing collapse.  

deb: Several people from here were wondering if there is someone we could 
partner with down there to get the word out about cordwood and other 
salvage materials. One of our supporters is a freecycle specialist in 
Wisconsin and wonders if anyone is freecycling down there - I told him 
you had contacts at some sort of volunteer salvage depot and we would 
like to learn more about this.

DD: The rebuild depo is still getting set up. I may not get along with the Southern Baptists due to 
a misunderstanding with a preacher who is too upset to forget about his hate for Catholics.  Even 
ones who helped him rebuild his church foundation.  I do get along with the United Methodists. 
One of my volunteer projects was to clean up a pile of someones past life, gutted from a 
waterfront house, and haul it to the curb with my Bobcat for FEMA to haul off. 
DD: The amount of everything going to waste along the whole coast is mind boggling. Most is 
being burned and landfilled.  This is a long story.  I have priced hauling firewood by rail to Dayton.  
I have burned some of the over half cord of Pecan and Water Oak wood I brought back. It is 
amazingly dense firewood. I would have brought another cord for myself but I brought the Bobcat 
and treeshear back last trip home.
DD: Everything is way too political down there. Everybody who is affected is  distraught over the 
lack of support from the government and abandonment by insurance companies. The only thing 
going right is the volunteer effort. It's a war zone down there and nobody can move off square one 
to get started rebuilding. Lots of issues of responsability. Nobody even knows what will be allowed 
to be rebuilt, and to what building and zoning code. 

deb: Write or call or stop if you have time.

DD: I just did. LOL  Sorry all the bad news. That's what you get from the heart of worlds most 
extensive and expensive disaster area.  Tell people that George Bush wants the coast to be rebuilt 
by volunteers. He or his insurance company buddies don't want to get their hands dirty or open 
their wallets.  Join the volunteer Army at any about any church.  At least you get free food, water 
and a cold sleeping bag. That's more than many hurricane victims have tonight, or will for some 
time.
DD: This is a sore subject.  I am slowly doing research and active in politics reguarding all of what 
I have seen. Best you can do is to spread the truth which is being hid. I felt afraid to openly take 
pictures- does that tell you something? The politicians are waiting for election day to spend 
money. Time is running out for these people and we will all pay dearly for our neglect. 
DD: Other than the volunteer work, I did a lawn grading patch job near the coast and some fence 
row clearing and wood lot thinning in Wiggins area. Wiggins is getting ready for a building boom 
from settlers coming inland from the coast.  I'm hoping to return in a few weeks if some 
landscapers in Biloxi come thru with jobs. I plan on calling other contractors soon too, to offer 
services. 

 From the Southern battle front,
 DD
=======

--
To terminate puerile preservation prattling among pals and the
uncoffee-ed, or to change your settings, go to:
<http://listserv.icors.org/archives/bullamanka-pinheads.html>