When Hurricane Katrina roared toward the Gulf Coast in late August 2005, like so many others, Tyrone Davis thought he knew what he was dealing with.

He had grown up in the South, remembered Hurricane Camille from 1969, and had already weathered a few tropical storms. But nothing could prepare him for what he saw when Katrina struck Gulfport.

Davis had moved from Memphis to Gulfport the year before, in 2004, for a radio job. He was doing the afternoon drive shift, building a new life on the coast. His house sat near Carroll and Lorain Road, close to a small bayou that emptied straight into the Gulf.

“It’s no longer standing,” Davis recalled, his voice steady but reflective. “Katrina destroyed it. Eight feet of water came inside. If I had stayed, I probably wouldn’t be here.”

We can’t st

See Full Page