Katrina Visits Piedmont; Causes More Damage Than Dennis Or Ivan
When Hurricane Katrina came through Piedmont, there was more damage than that caused by Ivan, but none of it serious. Brief power outages caused by falling trees and limbs, structural damage to a few homes and a major clean-up effort was all that faced this area.
On the Gulf Coast, however, Mayor Charlie Fagan witnessed the devastation. "It's unbelievable, just unbelievable," he said. On Sept. 1, the day after Katrina came through, Fagan left Piedmont, bound for Biloxi, Miss. His father, the late Donald Fagan, had bought a house and was living in Biloxi at the time of his death.
The mayor wanted to salvage and personal belongings from the house. The Donald Fagan residence was located just behind on the Jefferson Davis home on U.S. 90, on the western edge of Biloxi. "There is nothing that can be salvaged from the railroad tracks to the Gulf of Mexico," Fagan said. "Along Highway 90, there are no casinos, no buildings, no homes, no nothing. It's all gone."
He said his father's house appeared to have been washed off its foundations and a van had smashed through an outer wall and into the house.
"You can't imagine it," the mayor continued. "The human mind can't comprehend the devastation. It looked like a war zone with complications."
The mayor said there was one unfortunate familiarity amid the destruction. "When the people down there would look at you, they had a glazed look in their eyes. I saw that same look at Goshen right after the Palm Sunday storm. They were in shock."
Later in the day, Fagan said the shock changed to desperation. "Some of the people down there were realizing they had nothing; no food, no water, no extra clothes, no shelter. I gave some of them water, but others were drinking the contaminated water."
Even those who had shelter were desperate. "Imagine you were in your home, but had no heat, air conditioning, lights water or sewer service," Fagan said.
He predicted that it would be months before power was restored in the Biloxi area. "Along the coast, it may be years before the infrastructure is back to normal," he added.
Locally, City Clerk Bill Fann said city crews worked through the night from Aug. 30-31. When Hurricane Ivan came though Piedmont, the crews were able to keep up with the damage, but that was not the case last week. Fann said there were more trees blown down, and many of them fell across power lines. This added an increased element of danger to the clean-up efforts.
"We don't have a cost figure on the damage yet," said Fann. "We had some damage to one of our (electrical) substations, and that will be expensive."
He predicted that it will take at least another full week before all the debris is removed from city streets.
In the meantime, the storm-related fuel shortage and unprecedented prices may affect city services. "We have put all city departments on notice to curtail all unnecessary driving until further notice." On an ominous note, Fann added, "We may have to cut back on some city services."

Appreciation Day Set For Saturday
The second Piedmont Appreciation Day is set for Saturday at Fagan's Park and will be highlighted by food screenings and attractions.
The event is jointly sponsored by Jacksonville Medical Center and the Piedmont Rescue Squad. Speaking for the squad, Jim Thompson said, "Everyone is invited to come out and enjoy a fun-filled day. The Rescue Squad and Jacksonville Medical Center would like to thank the Piedmont community for all its support."
He said there would be free hot dogs, snow cones, chips, soft drinks, a dunking booth, moon bounces, give-aways, free health screenings and health information booths.
A large crowd attended last year's event, and Thompson said plans have been made to host and even larger crowd Saturday.

Piedmont High Homecoming Ceremonies Set For This Week
This is homecoming week at Piedmont High School and the week-long festivities include a parade of class floats, beautiful young ladies, a bonfire and Bulldog football.
Friday the student body kicked off the celebration when they named their queen and her court.
Leslie Young, selected to be reign queen for this yearıs homecoming, will be crowned during Friday nightıs halftime festivities. The daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Ron Young, she is very active in the band.
A member of the Blue Knights Marching Band for seven years, she has been a majorette for three years. Miss Young is a member of the Teens Need Teens Organization, the Teens Safe Club and the National Honor Society. Leslie has received a number of academic honors at Piedmont High School and is recognized in Whoıs Who Among American Students. She was elected Girlıs State Representative in 2005.
Friday evening, Miss Young will be escorted by her father and her cousin, Allison Ivey, will serve as crown-bearer. Crowning the queen will be Hugh McWhorter, PHS principal.
Chosen as 12th-grade representative was Heather Alisha Simpson, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Greg Simpson. She is a member of TNT and the Teens Safe Club, and has been recognized by her classmates in Whoıs Who Among American students. A member of the PHS Varsity Cheerleaders for four years, she helped her squad win cheer awards at the University of Alabama and Auburn University and a first place at the Cassie Wine Competition in 2004. She will be escorted by her father.
Brandy Athina McDonald is serving as the 11th-grade representative this year. She is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Harold McDonald, is member of the First Baptist Church where she is active in her youth group. She has been a member of the varsity volleyball, basketball, and track teams for three years. In 2005, she and her teammates won a bronze medal at a Middle Tennessee State College competition. Her father will be her escort Friday evening.
The homecoming courtıs 10th grade representative is Andreka Deann Harbour. An active member of the Thankful Baptist Church in Piedmont, She is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Jeffery Harbour. She is active in choir, the Red Circle, and Junior Missions. She is a member of the PHS volleyball, softball and basketball teams. While on the volleyball team, she helped her team win the 2004 Junior High County Championship and was selected for the All-Area team. Miss Harbour has been recognized by her classmates in Who's Who Among American Students. Allen Starr will be her escort.
Representing the ninth grade is Taylor Christine Ford, daughter of Jeff Ford and Sandra Ford of Piedmont. A member of the First Baptist Church, Miss Ford is a member of the First Baptist Youth Group. Her school activities include the Student Government Association where serves as class representative. She is a member of the Future Business Leaders of America, the Teens Sate Club, and the Student Leadership Association and has been a member of the varsity cheerleading squad for three years. She was the only freshman elected UCA All-Star cheerleader in 2005. In 2004 Miss Ford helped her teammates win awards at the University of Alabama and Auburn University and first-place at the Cassie Wine Competition. Her father will serve as her escort.
The annual homecoming parade will begin Thursday at 7 p.m. at the Civic Center and travel west on Ladiga Street to Main Street, where it will turn north proceeding to Piedmont Middle School. At the conclusion of the parade, a bonfire and pep rally will be staged at Piedmont High School.
Each class will construct a float for the parade and the winner will be announced during halftime festivites at Friday's game.

Strictly Personal
The Federal Government Has Failed Its People
I never thought I would write a column saying that our government had completely failed its people, but that was evident in the aftermath of hurricane Katrina.
Over the weekend I watched as those stranded in New Orleans were finally being airlifted from the interstate highway where they had stayed for days. I saw military helicopters finally arriving to take the survivors to transportation that would finally convey them to shelters.
First, let me explain that I have little sympathy for those who were told to leave New Orleans, but chose to stay. Of the thousands, there may have been about 10 percent who really had a problem leaving. For one reason or another, they could not reach a bus or train station. They could not have counted on friends or family for transportation. They did not have any means of transportation, even a bicycle, to get them out of danger. These relatively few people were the victims of a horrible disaster.
Others contributed to their own plight by not making every effort to get out of the city, many of them having no regard for babies and small children. The infants and youngsters were also true victims who played no part in remaining in New Orleans.
We all watched in amazement as looters pillaged stores. There may have been some who honestly needed food, medicine or water. The rest are common criminals. We all saw the looters taking TV sets and other electronics, baskets full of clothes and other items. They were no more than thieves taking advantage of a tragic situation.
The New Orleans police were overwhelmed. A disaster of this magnitude is no job for a municipal police force
After four days, troops began to arrive in sufficient number to be effective. Martial law was not declared by the Louisiana governor. We will always wonder why. On National Guardsman was shot by one of the "refugees" they were sent to help. More of these "refugees" fired at the first helicopters that came to help.
Finally, after days of suffering, the federal government got into action. The president burned up a lot of jet fuel coming to assess the situation, a situation in which his government had already failed. There was no federal presence in New Orleans. Yet he and other federal officials burned the fuel in a purely political visit to the area. Politicians are totally useless in emergencies.
The oil companies are making the most of the situation. For days prior to the hurricane's landfall, we were informed that gas prices would skyrocket and there would be a fuel shortage. It was choreographed all the way. On Wall Street, some investors jumped on the bandwagon to drive oil prices higher.
This all happened before Katrina hit, yet President George W. Bush responded by asking us not to buy fuel unless we needed it and not driving unless it was necessary. The U.S. Government did nothing to impose any controls on gas prices, investigate any alleged shortages or release any of this country's oil reserve to ease the strain. In short, the high gas prices were federally sanctioned price gouging.
Oh, I should mention that the U.S. Secretary of State chose to go to a New York theater rather than monitor the seriousness of the disaster.
Newspapers, including this one, received a press release from U.S. Sen. Richard Shelby praising Bush for making a second trip to Louisiana and the Gulf Coast to make a better assessment of the situation. These were only hollow words from a member of the federal government that had miserably failed its people.
If I'm not mistaken, U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers was in or just returning from Iraq, where his presence was absolutely unnecessary. If the politicians left wars to the military, we wouldn't be fighting them as often.
As to FEMA, what can I say? It's just another ineffective, overstaffed federal bureaucracy that has taken our tax money and wasted it.
Believe it or not, I have heard people seriously discussing the possibility of a revolt in our country. Their reasoning was that the people have had enough of a dysfunctional government that does everything but serve the majority of the people.
When a disaster struck in a foreign land, the U.S. had more presence there than in New Orleans...and the response was faster. This is the portion of our government that deals with foreign policy and foreign relations. Our government has taken our hard-earned tax dollars and supported one dictator or monarch after another, thereby making us the most hated country on the face of the planet.
On internal policies, the middle class has been besieged with taxes to give to the alleged poor while the wealthy remain immune from heavy taxation. The medical costs in this country are the highest in the world and are making medical care unaffordable to many that need it, but there has been nothing done. Even the pharmaceutical companies have elevated their prices to the point that medicines cost more than many can afford...if sold in the U.S. If they are purchased abroad, the price is drastically reduced. There is currently no federal agency to look into the cost of medical care.
The federal war on drugs was lost years ago. Some of this is due to our trying to give criminals the red-carpet treatment, while the victims receive absolutely no consideration.
That brings us to the U.S. Supreme Court. That is the panel that recently ruled in favor of a government taking private property and using it for commercial development by professional developers. As far as the average American is concerned, the high court has lost touch with the spirit of the U.S. Constitution, a document that the court is supposed to uphold.
If memory serves, the only branch of government that has not been specifically mentioned is the Legislative. The Congress is the lawmaking agency that has gotten us into this mess. If you want to point a finger at the source of most of our problems, the Congress is the answer.
Our government has failed, from the people still being rescued in Louisiana to the people in Washington State that are paying obscene prices for gasoline and fuel.
I would never condone open revolt, but I would certainly be interested in seeing a good plan to replace all our elected officials in Washington. It may be that we could re-establish a working government, "of the people by the people and for the people."