(U-WIRE) OXFORD, Miss. — Two years after Hurricane Katrina, officials on the Gulf Coast say the rebuilding and recovery efforts are slowly proceeding.

Despite volunteer efforts and community morale, rebuilding the Mississippi Gulf Coast is a slow process, said Biloxi Mayor A.J. Holloway.

“It took six to eight months before we could even start thinking about trying to get the city cleaned up so we could move around,” he said.

Pass Christian Mayor Chipper McDermott echoed these sentiments and said, “The first year, we just strictly survived. We consider ourselves really in one year of recovery rather than two.”

According to McDermott, the area harbored 1.5 million cubic yard of debris. The Biloxi area was left in a similar state.

“We give ourselves a five,” said McDermott, regarding the morale and efforts to rebuild in Pass Christian.

“I think we’re doing well,” he said. “Of course, like always, it’s not as fast as we’d like it.”

Six thousand homes were lost in the city of Biloxi alone, and many businesses were destroyed as well.

“We knew from the outset that some areas would build quicker than others,” Holloway said. “Some will take years, and some don’t want to rebuild.”

Coastal cities from New Orleans to Ocean Springs are all dealing with the same issues. The bureaucratic red tape of FEMA has slowed down the rebuilding process dramatically, Holloway said.

“Four things affect recovery right now: insurance, flood elevations, cost of construction and cost of land,” said Holloway.

The flood elevations are regulated by FEMA and are still undetermined, which poses a problem for reconstruction.

“If you don’t build back to the base flood elevation, you can’t get financing. If you can’t get financing, you can’t build. If you can’t pay your insurance, you can’t get financing,” Holloway said.

Coast contractors have informed Holloway that construction is increasing three to four percent per quarter.

“That’s anywhere from 12 to 20 percent a year,” Holloway said.

The future of Biloxi is still in question. Twenty-six condo projects are planned for the city of Biloxi, but only one is complete, and two are still under construction.

“How many of those [condos] will become reality, I don’t know,” Holloway said.

Since the city of Biloxi is operated entirely by entertainment, mainly restaurants and casinos, Holloway has no objections to Biloxi becoming a city not unlike Gulf Shores or Destin.

Pass Christian’s state of affairs is relatively the same as far as rebuilding goes. The makeshift Pass Christian City Hall is located in various trailers as well are other city and county offices in Gulfport and Biloxi.

According to McDermott, several rounds of the financing process for the city must be completed before anyone sees the results.

“We’re going to get the money, but it’s not here yet,” McDermott said.

Aesthetically, the coast is doing its best to become more pleasing to the eye. The foliage is blooming from the once-haggard trees, and the Mississippi Department of Transportation has planted new trees along Highway 90, the main thoroughfare that connects the coastal cities.

Becca Bernheim, a 17-year-old senior at Gulfport High School, said the coast is well on its way to recovery and considers Katrina a blessing in disguise.

“As much as Katrina destroyed the coast, it also opened a window of new opportunity to improve it,” Bernheim said. “Facilities looked dirty, abandoned and were honestly in need of renovation. Many companies and homeowners took advantage after the storm to give the coast a modern makeover.

“Communities all around the coast came together after Katrina and have worked hard to rebuild,” she added. “People have willingly put in extra effort not to let the depression and despair of the hurricane wreck our lives forever.

“The coast is strong and will continue to be,” she said.