TRYING TO MAKE A NEW LIFE
Remember our sister cities – New Orleans, Biloxi, Gulfport, Bayou La Batre,
Mobile, Lake Charles, Cameron, Pensacola – Summer of ‘05
Hi, Cousin, it’s been a real tragedy down here. Momma and them are building back on high ground this time. We pulled through by the skin of our teeth.
We’d like to say, “You-all come,” but you might want to postpone your visit for a bit unless you get word we are ready for company. We have to tidy up and refurbish our part of the world.
It was torn to smithereens last summer. We’re trying to make a new life.
It’s like this. Everyone seemed to have a plan, but no one was stepping up front with a plan that was accountable all across the Gulf coastal area. We realize that our part of the world is far more inclusive than just the coastal zone from Apalachicola, Florida to Galveston Bay, Texas. It is dangerous to omit any portion of our area - the river systems, the hills and flat lands, the towns and cities, and the roads and bridges to and from them. We love our homes and families, so we are taking action to make sure we don’t get caught napping again. We’re taking every precaution.
We have lots of valuable resources. We don’t dare waste them because many of these like oil, gas, iron, limestone and coal will run out before we do. Our scientists better come up with substitutes real quick. We have plenty of water, but it keeps getting messed up. We can’t swim in it, fish in it, or drink it – even up-river. Some places the air was so smelly and smoggy that we got sick and couldn’t breathe right.
This time, we put some real thinking into action. We must fix a lot of things that are broken while we are at it – our homes, our businesses and our lives. It’s a little slow this way, but we’re doing it right:
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The first big job was getting those environmental folks together to set new rules and regulations for our health and safety. All these new game rules are real important because they cover our homes, land, air, and the rivers, bays and Gulf of Mexico.
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We also had to hunt better ways to fix up our towns and cities and rebuild our businesses and industries. We wanted nice, safe communities where we can bring up our kids and get them a good education.
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We lost parts of our beautiful beaches. Now we have to try to get all of them salvaged and protected, especially these little offshore islands, coastal wetlands, barrier reefs, and sand dunes. Maybe our seafood industry can get going again soon.
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Then our food chain can be restored and we will be safe from pollution and hazardous waste, and can produce healthy food from our land. Even our wildlife will be coming back since we found out how to rebuild and protect their territory.
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Some of our precious history, parks and landmarks were ruined. Never you mind, we are working on those also. While we are at it, we’re cleaning it all up and saving some public places for all us folks to have some space preserved so we can enjoy our coast.
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We’re protecting those watersheds and preserving the swampy areas, bayous, deltas and grass beds. Our land will be safer and our fishing industry will come back. No more bad chemicals can get in our bay. We opened up the clogged channels, you see, and the whole thing has been flushed out. Wait’ll you see.
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Those folks that want to do business here are going to have to mind what we say. No more building in floodplains or on sand dunes. All the industries are going to have to behave themselves and clean up their own acts. That is for certain.
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By the way, we’ve put that whole bay and the shores under a brand new Coastal Management Team. It has big teeth to be sure it stays that way.
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Our growing pains added to the misery of starting over. With all these new folks coming here, our public officials are learning new ways to provide the services we need. We’ve even buried all the power lines. We have to apply high standards and hold to them. No hanky-panky. New rules.
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You wouldn’t believe how we’ve stuck together. There were a bunch of folks we had to run off because they were money-scheming and reckless
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We’ve grown too big for our roads, not that we can afford gasoline, but we do have to get to our jobs. That problem we hit head on from the first, because another hurricane season is around the corner. We’d be trapped for sure. It took a heap of doing, but we finally talked our legislature into fixing it where we could tend to our own business, and they could tend to theirs better. We can get most nearly anywhere now, and the cost is not bad.
Mom always said to use what you’ve got, plan ahead, do your best, if you mess up you clean up, obey the rules, and mind your manners. She made it sound so easy, but just try doing it with the pressure we’ve been under. But we did her one better. We have been helping our neighboring communities do the same things we are.
You name it, we learned our lesson. You’ll see what we’ve done when you get here. The oyster beds are doing fine, the water is clean now. I’ll be calling you soon.
Give the kids a hug, love you, Cousin John
These are thoughts from one of the lucky ones. Read it and weep, or read it and make sure you have done your part, and then some.
Jeanne Lacey
League of Women Voters of Baldwin County.
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