Hurricane Katrina - Pearlington, Miss. March 2006

Pearlington March 2006

©Paul Conrad/The Aspen Times - Muddy Mouse: Cracked mud surrounds a child's mouse in a classroom of Charles B. Murphy Elementary school in Pearlington, Miss., during a self-tour on March 5, 2006. I spent about 4 hours walking around the school to see the damage Hurricane Katrina did. I found some incredible stuff.

Pearlington March 2006

©Paul Conrad/The Aspen Times - Larry Nicosia of Pearlington, Miss., installs a floor joist atop new pillars on his Riverside Drive home site Thursday afternoon March 2, 2006. Nicosia said he left for Tallahassee, Fla., when the hurricane reached Category 5. Nicosia said he was rebuilding his home 4 1/2 feet taller than pre-Katrina. He said after the hurricane came ashore he was curious how his home faired. "I looked on the internet to find a way back," he said, "when I came across the Green Bridge, I saw my sofa stuck it it. I knew right there we were in trouble. In a way it was good the hurricane wiped (my home) out completely, it was easier to clean up."

Pearlington March 2006

© Paul Conrad/The Aspen Times - David Lall of Pass Christian, Miss., checks out a trout he caught at the Pass Christian Harbor in early March of 2006 in Pass Christian, Miss. Depsite the heavy damage Hurricane Katrina caused to the harbor, Lall says the fishing had been pretty good. "I've been fishing here most my life," he says "It's been pretty good. Not as bad as people thought."

Pearlington March 2006

©Paul Conrad/The Aspen Times - With her 3-year-old daughter Kaitlin Shelton watching with great interest, Katrina Hart of Pearlington, Miss., checks out clothing at the "Pearl*Mart" at the Charles B. Murphy Elementary School relief center Wednesday afternoon March 1, 2006. "We come about once a month to get things we need," she said.

Pearlington March 2006

©Paul Conrad/The Aspen Times - Pearlington, Miss., resident Bubby Lichtenstein gets an ashen cross placed on his forhead by Father Jim O'Bryan during Sunday morning mass at St. Joseph's Church in Pearlington March 5, 2006. Six months after Hurricane Katrina, the church's community building has been cleaned, is under going repairs, and is being used for services.

Pearlington March 2006

©Paul Conrad/The Aspen Times - Fishing boats in Pass Christian Harbor in Pass Christian, Miss.

Pearlington March 2006

©Paul Conrad/The Aspen Times - Signatures adorn the wall of the Recovery Center at Charles B. Murphy Elementary School in Pearlington, Miss., on March 1, 2006. Residents of the Roaring Fork Valley in Colorado adopted the town in order to focus relief efforts and be more effective.

Pearlington March 2006

©Paul Conrad/The Aspen Times - With the town's main post office destroyed by Hurricane Katrina, Bay St. Louis, Miss., postal worker Clinton Smith delivers the mail to a temporary location in Pearlington, Miss., Wednesday afternoon March 1, 2006. "I'm just a custodian," he says, "but I have to deliver the mail when nobody else wants to."

Pearlington March 2006

©Paul Conrad/The Aspen Times - Larry Nicosia of Pearlington, Miss., installs a floor joist atop new pillars on his Riverside Drive home site Thursday afternoon March 2, 2006. Nicosia said he left for Tallahassee, Fla., when the hurricane reached Category 5. Nicosia said he was rebuilding his home 4 1/2 feet taller than pre-Katrina. He said after the hurricane came ashore he was curious how his home faired. "I looked on the internet to find a way back," he said, "when I came across the Green Bridge, I saw my sofa stuck it it. I knew right there we were in trouble. In a way it was good the hurricane wiped (my home) out completely, it was easier to clean up."

Pearlington March 2006

©Paul Conrad/The Aspen Times - Charles B. Murphy Elementary School second grade student 8-year-old Breashon "Tater Tot" Mons (cq), right, and watches the class "Star Student of the Day" Shayla Lee, 7, do her math lessons at the school's temporary location in Kiln, Miss., early Friday afternoon March 3, 2006. Lee and Mons, both of Pearlington, spend 45 minutes on the bus in the morning and afternoon totalling nearly 10 hours each day at school.

Pearlington March 2006

©Paul Conrad/The Aspen Times - Despite all the noise surrounding her, Pearlington kindergartener Kailey Verdin, 6, snoozes during class at the temporary site of the Charles B. Murphy Elelmentary School in Kiln, Miss. early Friday afternoon March 3, 2006. Children from the Pearlington area are now spending up to 10 hours each weekday at school due to the extended bus trips.

Pearlington March 2006

©Paul Conrad/The Aspen Times - Charles B. Murphy Elementary kindergartner Ashanti Lee, 5, of Pearlington, Miss., works on a class assignment at the school's temporary location in Kiln nearly 20 miles distant from the old location early Friday afternoon March 3, 2006. With time in class and time spent on the bus, the students spend nearly 10 hours each day away from home.

Pearlington March 2006

©Paul Conrad/The Aspen Times - B & W Grocery in Pearlington, Mis., continues to lie in ruins six months after Hurricane Katrina decimated the town.

Pearlington March 2006

©Paul Conrad/The Aspen Times - A riverboat remains where the storm surge from Hurricane Katrina left it along the Pearl River on March 4, 2006. The riverboat destroyed the home when the high winds and storm surge broke it from its mooring over a mile down river.

Pearlington March 2006

©Paul Conrad/The Aspen Times - The storm surge from Hurricane Katrina nearly reached the ceiling as evidenced by the water marks in a classroom of Charles B. Murphy Elementary school in Pearlington, Miss., during a self-tour on March 5, 2006. I spent about 4 hours walking around the school to see the damage Hurricane Katrina did. I found some incredible stuff.

Pearlington March 2006

©Paul Conrad/The Aspen Times - The Pearlington United Methodist Church in Pearlington, Miss., continues to remain in shambles on March 1, 2006, six months after Hurricane Katrina decimated the small coastal town.

Pearlington March 2006

©Paul Conrad/The Aspen Times - A crew works on clearing debris along Route 609 in Pearlington, Miss., in March 1, 2006. Despite the huge efforts by many in the clean-up process, Pearlington is far from being clean.

Pearlington March 2006

©Paul Conrad/The Aspen Times - Camille and Bubby Lichtenstein at their home in Pearlington, Miss. They have rebuilt most of their home and barn.

Pearlington March 2006

©Paul Conrad/The Aspen Times - Taking it easy in a quiet dorm room, volunteer Jeff Schuhrke (cq) of Omaha, Neb., catches up on his reading while off-duty at the hurricane relief center at the Charles B. Murphy Elementary School in Pearlington, Miss., Wednesday afternoon March 1, 2006. Schuhrke's volunteer group Omaha Habitat for Humanity is helping rebuild home in the devastated community.

Pearlington March 2006

©Paul Conrad/The Aspen Times - Charles B. Murphy Elementary School in Pearlington, Miss., is the hub of activity as it is the town's relief center and houses volunteers.

Pearlington March 2006

©Paul Conrad/The Aspen Times -

Pearlington March 2006

©Paul Conrad/The Aspen Times - The EZ Serve gas station in Pearlington, Miss., continues to lie in ruins six months after Hurricane Katrina decimated the town.

Pearlington March 2006

©Paul Conrad/The Aspen Times - Working with a mess of new phone lines, Lamar, Colo., telephone technician Jeff Bankston begins splicing the wires as he works near downtown Pearlington, Miss., Thursday morning March 2, 2006. "We did everything temporary to get some kind of service here." he said, "now we're going through and putting in permanentt service." Bankston says he volunteered with the Army Corps of Engineers one week after Hurricane Katrina came ashore. "It was just chaos when I got here," he said, "the lines were all aerial, that's why service was so easily damaged. Now were putting them underground. "