Before we left New Orleans we did want to see the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina. I wanted to ask the woman at the front desk for directions, but I was worried she might think me insensitive. I asked anyway, and as it turned out she was eager to help us. I guess the citizens of New Orleans believe the more awareness of it the better.
She told us to visit the Lower Ninth Ward. This is the neighborhood formerly occupied by blocks of homes that was completely wiped away when the levee from the industrial canal (fed by the MRGO) blew. That was where you saw pictures of the barge that floated through and landed on houses and a bus. The 17th street canal breach took out Lakeview (and then some). [I have to say thank you, here, to our anonymous commenter for helping me get this straight]
In the picture above you can see the foundation where a home once stood and in the background the newly rebuilt canal wall. The canal wall is easily 20 feet high and sits up on a rise. Just imagine that bursting and all the water rushing out. This part of the town was under 10 feet of water. In fact 80% of New Orleans was flooded. The hotel we stayed at in the French Quarter saw 2 feet of flood water. It is truly shocking to see only a set of front steps where once a family lived and played. And the streets are terrible. I don't know if that's a result of the flooding or just really, really bad maintenance...but there are so many sinkholes and buckles you need a 4x4.
We also drove through several neighborhoods where the now infamous "X" could still be seen. An "X" on a building indicated that it had been searched and described the date it was searched, whether any pets were found dead and whether any people were found dead. We drove past one such house that read, "One Person Dead In Garage."
The Lower Ninth Ward is also the location of the Make It Right Foundation, which is Brad Pitts organization. Here they are building brightly colored and unique-looking buildings, where the first floor is elevated 10feet above the ground. Here are the pics:
Love FEMA in the doghouse.
ReplyDeleteYeah. I guess they have a sense of humor. It was on the lawn in front of a FEMA center full of volunteers.
ReplyDeletewowo. love the idea of buildings above flood level.
ReplyDeleteThanks for coming and taking interest enough to look around. Much of what was reported was downright false so we do care alot about getting the truth out there. The only way to understand the scope of the Katrina event is to get an a car and drive around for a few hours. Thanks for doing that. To let you know, the levees that blew in the lower 9th were from the industrial canal (fed by the MRGO). That was where you saw pictures of the barge that floated through and landed on houses and a bus. The 17th street canal breach took out Lakeview (and then some).
ReplyDeleteThank you for the clarification! We couldn't afford one of the guided tours, so we were relying on the front desk lady and what I had gleaned from internet and news coverage. In any case...New Orleans is a remarkable town. Thank you for reading our blog!
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