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Hurricane
Katrina Disaster Recovery
Mississippi
Gulf Coast
Sparks Engineering, Inc. has been involved
in the recovery efforts in Mississippi since
the week of September 19th, 2005. We have
contributed pro bono services to
Mississippi Heritage Trust, the Mississippi
Department of Archives & History, and the
Mississippi Main Street, as well as numerous
municipalities and individuals. In October
2005, Patrick Sparks, the firm's president,
was retained as a technical consultant to
FEMA for structural triage and detailed
evaluations throughout the disaster zone. In
December 2005, SEI began offering consulting
services for a range of private, non-profit,
and public clients. We are committed to
continued involvement in the rebuilding of
Mississippi.
The physical damage in
Mississippi was far beyond what has been
reported in the media. Many areas were
completely obliterated, and the conditions
are almost impossible to communicate in
words or with a few photos. The storm
surge ranged from 22-ft to 35-ft above sea
level, with the zone of destruction
extending over 100 miles of coastline and as
far as 12-miles inland. Wind damage
extended far into the interior, and there
were eleven confirmed tornados. The
structural damage was extreme, having more
in common with earthquake or blast damage
than with most hurricanes in modern memory.
In fact, the most similar event was the
near-destruction of Galveston, Texas by the
Great Storm of 1900.
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