Hurricane Katrina & Beauvoir

Today was mostly a tourist day. I first visited the small Hurricane Katrina Memorial located just one block off the beach. Dozens of names were listed as deceased or missing, and the high water mark of 22' above mean sea level was shown by the granite topping--waves were reported in excess of 34'. Katrina's (Aug. 2005) tide surge was almost four feet above that of Camille (Aug. 1969). Driving a few miles to the west I visited Beauvoir, the last home of Confederate President Jefferson Davis. It was a beautiful house located on 160 of the original 600 acres with nice grounds and well worth the stop. During Hurricane Katrina massive damage was done

to the main house even though it was built substantially above grade; the tour guide said that eighteen inches of water flowed through the house for eight hours. It took five years and $5.5 million to restore/reopen the house.