Heart to Heart

PASCAGOULA, Miss. - Life after Hurricane Katrina is one big line. Long lines for gasoline are ubiquitous in coastal Louisiana and Mississippi. It's nothing to see dozens of cars bumper-to-bumper at any station that's open and has gas, as well as some that don't. But fuel is just the most obvious part of the Big Wait.

Storm victims stand in one line for free ice and a different line for water, sometimes miles apart in temperatures reaching the mid-90s. The few reopened stores have people queuing out the doors for diapers, cleaning supplies, chain saws and lumber.

There are lines to file insurance claims, too, often formed at RVs parked in lots outside bombed-out buildings. There was even a line of a dozen people waiting for a table at a Waffle House, a restaurant known for nothing if not quick service.

All the lines disappear as if by magic at 6 p.m. when daily curfews kick in. But people reappear shortly after the curfew is lifted at 6 a.m. to begin another day of waiting.

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Relief Effort Information Links
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