by Hunter Dawkins, Publisher/Owner – thegazebogazette@gmail.com or hdawkins@supertalk.fm
Since the 1969 devastation from Hurricane Camille to the Mississippi Gulf Coast, there have been numerous storms and an attempt to create safer roads for residents to leave. The Mississippi Department of Transportation (MDOT) began providing local newspapers throughout the state with evacuation routes for readers to vacate their residence in an emergency situation.
Due to Pass Christian residents being hit the hardest by two fatal storms of Camille (1969) and Katrina (2005), The Gazebo Gazette newspaper delivered some extra evacuation maps to city hall and the building code office in May of 2023. After receiving the copies from the local paper, Pass Christian Building Code Officer Mark Savasta connected with the newspaper to get more copies for all of the city residents as a resource to help from any potential problems.
“I came in here one day and this table was packed with volunteers, working all day long, including stamping every resident a mailed letter,” said Pass Christian Mayor Jimmy Rafferty when referring to the city volunteers who helped mail the maps to all the local residents. “I want to thank all of those volunteers and our local newspaper (The Gazebo Gazette) for assisting our local resident’s public safety.”
Mayor Rafferty went further to stress how the community has worked together in providing resources for future storms and unexpected events. The volunteers for the city were Loletta Welch, Mary Bourdin, Patti Ryan, Anita Giani, Maureen Talley, Susan Boudreaux, Kay & Phil Antis.
The Gazebo Gazette delivered at least 50 copies of the MDOT evacuation map to the building code offices of Pass Christian, Long Beach, and Harrison County. If any resident needs a copy, please contact the newspaper at thegazebogazette@gmail.com or (228)224-6781.
