Gulfport

These are pictures of what used to be a hotel in Gulfport, MS. The 'streamers' are jersey knit tubes that would have ultimately become Hanes t-shirts had their lives not been cut short by the storm. They're actually pretty cool looking in real life as they are pretty much EVERYWHERE for about a 2-mile stretch. The port is just down and across the street and it's the main staging area for the shipping containers that come in. There were thousands of them stacked waiting for transport, and when they were tossed around they dumped their contents over several miles. At least this is the fabric and not the tons of raw chicken and fresh bananas that were piled 20 feet deep in yards. A bunch of the shipping containers themselves wound up out in the Gulf and it looked like some sort of surreal Loch Ness monster with just corners of the containers randomly sticking out of the water. I did retrieve several pieces of the jersey to (maybe) use in a storm quilt one day, if I can ever get to that point in my mind. These are the first pictures I've even been able to post. It's just very hard to comprehend the whole situation.

Anyway, about the fabric (YEAH! The important stuff) it was originally navy blue, and still shows some of the original color where the fabric was tightly twisted and didn't get sun or weather damage, with really strange looking striations on the rest of it. The streaks go from a weird grey to almost white, with some pink and very red splotches on it. The yard or so I have was actually cut from the piece hanging on the wall in the picture. About 20 more yards cut from the trees were sent to the MN exhibit for their debris display section. Even after washing and bleaching and sun exposure there were mildew stains that didn't come out so they have a sort of cool looking speckled pattern to them. I also sent great huge chunks of FEMA tarps, and an assortment of other tarps in greens and blues and greys for them to use. I kept small pieces for myself although I have no idea how or when or if they'll ever wind up in anything I do. I didn't mind sending off all my debris stash either. It's not like I can't just gather up more.


It saddens me to think that the coast has dropped off the media's radar when there is so much left to do. These pictures were taken 3 weeks ago, and this is directly across Beach Blvd from the water.