Katrina: The Aftermath T+3 weeks (Waveland, MS)

On the way home on Sunday, we went to Waveland, MS to attend sacrament meeting with a friend. Waveland is closer to the coast and much of it was reportedly in matchsticks, if that. We didn't have the opportunity to stop and take pictures so these are taken from a moving vehicle. I did the best I could...

This house has an "X" on it. I've heard diffenent stories about what it means. Some say it means there is someone dead inside, some say it means they've checked the house and it's empty, some say it's ready to be torn down. I don't know. Either way it was interesting to see how primitive, I guess, the marking system was.

Everything people owned would be out on the side of the street as it all took water damage and was rotten now. You can kind of see the mold on the brown dresser towards the bottom left.
People wrote there addresses and other information right on their homes. This one tells us that they have State Farm insurance and gives their contact numbers if an agent were to come by and not find them there.
A little red house just picked up and dropped on it's side somewhere else...
Everything has to be gutted. With the wind damage and the water damage, everything pretty much has to be destroyed.
--More information written directly on the homes. --A taped up ice box. I guess they decided to put it out taped up rather than clean it out. --Martial law. The miliary was there keeping order, directing traffic, what-have-you. --This one is not real clear but it was supposed to show you the water line on the trees by the trash that's still stuck there. --Billboards that don't exist anymore. --The dried, cracked mud that exist everywhere now (driving in, the whole state smells like dead aquatic life). --Cars that floated away and were deposited on the side of the road somewhere (just one example). --Boats on top of boats.
The church building in Waveland took at least a foot of water. This is the removed sheet rock, insulation and other debris from the building. I don't know where they put the carpet but it's gone too. Still... the building was being used as a command center for the area. The second picture only starts to show the amount of stuff there. They had family kits with a tent, sleeping bags, water containers and food. Also cots, clothes, chainsaws, cleaning supplies, water, food, and other aid products. Anything I could think of was there.
They say that all the active memebers of the church in that area had actually moved away before the hurricane hit. A bishop there said it a wake up call for him to reactivate the numerous members who were not coming to church. I don't know if it's spiritual or temporal help they are looking for but people are returning to church there.