My trip to New Orleans –

[waiting for hope]

Or, what I did on my summer vacation…..

Myself, my husband and two children had a family reunion in Thibodaux this past Easter. For those not familiar with the majority of the family structure of the New Orleans area, let me explain – large population is Catholic so let’s just say the reunion was huge! We flew in from North Carolina on Wednesday the 12th of this month and the plane took the western route (okay, the tin foil hat is on:tinfoilhat:) so we weren’t able to see the Gulf Coast region but we able to see many a blue roof. Driving the rental car from the airport to our hotel gave us our first taste of the situation. Granted, the New Orleans Metropolitan Area (Metairie, Kenner, New Orleans, Harahan, Chalmette, Gentilly etc) has never really been a super clean city compared to places like Portland, OR or San Jose, CA but this was borderline dysfunctional. Overgrown brush and just mounds of litter on the sides of the road was just the beginning of the mess. Then we started to see the FEMA trailers parked outside houses, houses with piles of rotted sheet rock, insulation and carpet accompanying the trailer as landscaping. We got to our hotel and regrouped – off to see friends that night for dinner. We went to our old neighborhood (in between Cleary and Causeway on the south side of Metairie Road) and it actually looked great – like nothing had happened. We had a great time visiting our old neighbors but the conversation was geared around what happened to them prior, during and after the storm. We moved four years ago so we had a lot of catching up to do, especially with our daughter who was born last year and how big my son has gotten since we left.

On Thursday we went by my Mother in Law’s and took a drive around the area. Down Veterans to Fleur di Lys to Ponchatrain Blvd and then it really hits you. It looks like a bomb went off. I took a few pictures as we were driving and it was difficult holding the camera to get a good shot from the passenger side of the car. It was also difficult just taking the pictures period. It was worse than driving by 100 car wrecks on the interstate – the overwhelming feeling of the enormity of the damage begins to sink in and it’s numbing. All I could think of was “Oh My God” over and over again.

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Everything looked so Brown and lifeless, reminded us of the movie “The Andromeda Strain” with the vacant houses and no people. Then after driving around Lakeview a bit (Robert E Lee to the West End to Elysian Fields) we went through the Ninth Ward – the “Oh My God’s” were replaced with “Holy Shit” and then my Mother in Law pipes in saying, “Times this by 150,000…”

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Later that evening we went to a Crawfish Broil (mmmmmmm:party:) and saw some old friends. Again, the conversations were about the hurricane and the conditions of the city. I spoke with two people that said that they had voted for Bush in the last two elections and how that now they wish that they didn’t. One sentiment was that Bush appeared so strong and committed after 9/11 but the feeling was that he wasn’t sincere when it came to what happened after the storm and the overall feeling of abandonment by the government since then. I didn’t press Democratic candidates or issues, I felt that they were on that path anyway and they had come to the conclusion that the Republicans were not the party to have in office anymore. I did speak highly of the DU with those I knew where Dems so hopefully there will be a few new users and they were supportive of this post – there is an overall feeling that the country just isn’t there to support them like there was after 9/11. My thoughts were what if Katrina had been a dirty bomb instead, would ShrubCo have been there 100%? Probably, since it would have made for even better photo ops.

Friday we spent visiting family and had another Crawfish Broil (more mmmmm’s:party:) and Saturday and Sunday were dedicated to the Reunion in Thibodaux. We flew back to North Carolina Monday morning. After leaving the airport and having lunch, all I could think of was how clean my city is, how green the foliage looked and how crisp and clear the air was and then I felt guilty. No one, and I literally mean No One can appreciate the scope of destruction and damage Katrina has left behind until you actually see it and we just saw a small portion of it. And I’m not just talking about the physical things that were destroyed, the emotional devastation is going to be present for quite a long time as well. My Mother in Law described it as that those who are there that they are just “existing” - Existing like with a broken leg or arm. You are in small pockets of normality for a moment and then you see or hear something that brings you back to the grim reality of what it’s like to live there. The words on a store front “Yes, We’re Open” have a totally different meaning to me now. I learned to appreciate the briefness of a Katrina Menu in the short six days we were there. And I’m also glad I had a nice place to come home to. I can’t imagine living there six months ago, much less living there now and I have to give praise and a good old American salute to those that are trying to make a go of it. Some of the people that we saw are using this opportunity to make a fresh start, some are trying to recapture what they had but all in all, New Orleans will never be the same.

My purpose of posted this is too keep the plight of the Katrina victims in the minds of those not living there. I am working full time and the mother of two small children so my time and financial resources are limited but I know that there are people out there that can help. I have posted some links to resources for those who wish to help. I hope I have captured some of the better ones, if not, let me know and if there are any others out there, please post them in a response.

https://www.kintera.org/site/apps/ka/sd/donorcustom.asp?c=feIJKQMEF&b=1499035&sid=115552770&msource=RWXXXCIVDA&auid=1558293&kntaw3935=94F1FAE8D47A490CA4F2806191063480

http://www.democrats.org/page/invite/katrinavideo
http://www.democrats.org/a/2005/09/other_charities.php

http://www.workingforchange.com/activism/action.cfm?itemid=20651&afccode=htmlcc


More Pictures:

http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/durhaml93/album?.dir=/ad9c&urlhint=actn,del%3as,1%3af,0

[merh]

1. Thank you for this post.

:hug:

Thank you for wanting to keep the Katrina survivors and their needs alive. :hug:

kicked & recommended :kick:

[waiting for hope]

4. It needs to be - I feel like

the pictures I took are so inadequate. Every politician needs to take the tour - has John Murtha been? It seemed to my husband and me that it's going to take 10-15 years to get it right again - my only hope is that the people living there can endure a long period of rebuilding. New Orleans is such a cultural jewel to this country and it would be criminal if any of that was lost.

[blm]

2. Thankyou for keeping it fresh - your quest is very much appreciated.

.

[marbuc]

3. Nice Post

I was in New Orleans for a conference a couple of weeks ago, but didn't leave the Quarter (no car, no time). Nagin and others participating in the conference said the quarter was largely spared, so I didn't have much exposure to the destruction. I did talk to a lot of locals while out and about, and I learned a lot this way.

[Brotherjohn]

5. Great post. I'm from N.O. and had the same thoughts as I visited.

Your point about being nice to be in a place that's clean struck home. I live in FL now, and we STILL have that "hurricaned" look as well (though not nearly as bad as N.O.). We'd LIKE to live someplace that looks clean, which is one reason we're moving (coincidentally) to North Carolina.

Lakeview, Ninth Ward, Gentilly, and on and on and on... I'd guess about 60-80% of the city looks like your Lakeview pictures. It's as your Mother-in-law said: "Times this by 150,000". The scale and devastation is hard for anyone who hasn't seen it to imagine.

Cities aren't supposed to have "bathtub rings". New Orleans has a bathtub ring about 6 feet high on average, from weeks of standing water.

It is unreal.

[waiting for hope]

6. The scary part is when you

didn't see a bathtub ring - the water being over the roof line. I only hope that the powers that be (BushCo for denying the Corps of Engineers the money to strengthen the levees and the Corps themselves for building themhttp://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=5278905) have nightmares about what happened until the day they die....

[Brotherjohn]

11. We drove by my brother's house, 100 yards or so from the levee breach...

... at the 17th St. canal. His bathtub ring was about 8 feet up, but luckily, his house is 2 stories and raised about 3 feet. they were able to salvage a lot upstairs, and are planning on fixing it up and moving back in.

His next door neighbor, however, was not so "lucky". They had a one-story with the foundation at ground level. You couldn't see their bathtub ring, as the water rose to their roof-line and took everything.

We could only think "Oh my"...

...and "times this by 150,000".

[Keseys Ghost]

7. Many thanks from the northshore of New Orleans

K & R

[Harry Monroe]

8. I'm also a New Orleans native...

...but now reside in Starkville Mississippi. I was down in New Orleans on business a few weeks ago and visiting relatives in Jefferson Parish. I got out of the CBD to drive around and was depressed for the rest of the day. Unfortunately, the destruction of NOLA is slowly fading from the nations short attention span. Maybe I'll go down to Pascagoula and rock on Trent Lott's new front porch; that ought to cheer me up.:sarcasm:

[zulchzulu]

9. Lovely, sad post

I used to live in Nawlins in the Quarter (worked at WWL-TV) and when I visited for a short time last December, it was utterly so sad to see. It's really beyond words to describe what was and what is... thanks for your sharing of that experience.

[knitter4democracy]

10. K&R

This got to me today. Thanks for the reminder that there's still so much to do.

[AnnInLa]

12. Hi from Abbeville!

Thanks for your trip report and the links to your pictures. I can't make myself drive to New Orleans yet, not even to the airport there that I used to fly out of so often. I know I need to go so I can tell people what I saw, but can't make myself go. Saw the same things in my parish, but on a much smaller scale....large scale is too much right now. Thanks again!

[Anita Garcia]

13. Thanks for posting

Your photos do show a lot.
The houses that are still damaged next to inhabited ones.
Trailers in the front yard.
It will be years.
Thank your for reminding us all that our help is still needed!