In Miss., Hope of Going Home Dwindles

Unlike the devastation of New Orleans, which resulted from the failure of man-made flood walls and levees, the devastation here is viewed more purely as a natural disaster.

So while in New Orleans many vilify the Army Corps of Engineers and other agencies responsible for flood control, many here simply blame themselves for not evacuating.

Counselors at relief organizations say they have dealt with parents who feel guilty for not having evacuated children or other loved ones in the face of the storm.

Now the anniversary is dredging up recollections.

"It's unsettling," said Julian Blunt, the executive director of an arts group here. "You're just remembering everything that happened."

Blunt had persuaded his wife not to evacuate from their home just a few blocks from the Gulf, telling her everything would be fine.

Then in the height of the storm, the columns on the front of their Biloxi home fell down.

"I thought we were done for," he said. "I told my wife, 'Baby, get your shoes on,' because I thought we had to go under the house.

"She looked up at me, and I'll never forget her face. She said, 'I thought you said we would be all right.' "

The event and its effect are now just now finding a place in the local culture and in the things the disaster tourists buy here.

Bay St. Louis artist Vicki Niolet has put together a book of photos of the wreckage with punning captions. A wrecked movie theater is titled "Box Office Hit," while refrigerators beside the side of the road are "White Trash." Niolet is selling copies locally.

Another resident, Solveig Wells, 62, a retiree, has put together quilts made from fabric that was washed out of her home and that she found on the beach months later, faded and marred by Katrina's effects. They are on display at the library.