Excerpts from an address by Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour

Just over six weeks ago, Hurricane Katrina, the worst natural disaster in American history, struck our Gulf Coast and South Mississippi a grievous blow. In her wake, Katrina left literally tens of thousands of uninhabitable, often obliterated homes; thousands of small businesses in shambles; dozens of schools and public buildings ruined and unusable; highways and ports and railroads, water and sewer systems, all destroyed.

The Commission has organized the “Mississippi Renewal Forum.” Teams of highly qualified local and out-of-state professionals will work with community leaders to design and plan for the Gulf Coast. These teams will work with county officials, municipal officials and others with the intention to create a bigger and better Mississippi Gulf Coast that we all love so dearly.

It is important to emphasize that these tools and designs will be made available to the citizens of the Coast, but not forced upon you. The people of the Coast will make the decisions - we only want to provide good ideas and resources that can help us move together beyond the rubble to a bright new future that's in our grasp.

In the coming weeks the Commission will address the needs of the entire affected area with a series of public, town hall-type meetings to encourage broad participation in our planning efforts. These meetings will begin in late October and help set the tone of our renewal plans.

This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to rebuild the right way and make the Coast bigger and better than ever. What we do now will decide what the Coast will look like in 10 years, 20 years and beyond.