Published April 10, 2006
GULFPORT, Miss. (AP) - Joe Spraggins knows it will take stockpiles of food, water and fuel and better evacuation routes to survive if the Gulf Coast gets hit by another monster storm this coming hurricane season.
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What the Harrison County emergency management director cannot fully plan for is the psychological toll another hurricane could exact on residents struggling to rebuild their lives after Katrina.
"They're already at the point of breaking," he said. "If we have another storm of any size this summer, mental health is going to be a huge issue."
Katrina laid waste to tens of thousands of homes and businesses and killed more than 1,300 people in Louisiana and Mississippi. Now, less than two months before the next hurricane season starts June 1, overworked officials and frazzled homeowners are bracing for the possibility of another killer storm in a region where thousands still live in government-issued trailers or under blue tarps.
This hurricane season could be more brutal than last year's, when a record-setting 27 storms, including 15 hurricanes, churned in the Atlantic Ocean. Forecasters say the Atlantic is in a period of increased hurricane activity that could last another a decade or longer.
Even a weaker storm than Katrina could be devastating, wiping out much of the modest progress that has been made and sweeping away the little trailers.
Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour calls this a "critical period of vulnerability."
"We're going to pray for the best but prepare for the worst," he said.
Spraggins, whose territory includes Katrina-battered Gulfport and Biloxi, said the county is devising a new emergency plan to replace the old one.
Katrina made a mockery out of federal, state and local emergency plans. Evacuation routes were clogged, communications were spotty, and emergency supplies were not positioned to arrive quickly in the areas of greatest need.
"We will never be prepared to take a Katrina, but we will be prepared to do a lot better than we did the last time," Spraggins said.
In Mississippi, about 99,000 people are living in more than 36,000 FEMA trailers and mobile homes. In Louisiana, more than 51,000 trailers dot the landscape.
