New Orleans Staggers On

My trip to New Orleans last month was pretty grim, the damage to the infrastructure of the city, the staggering personal losses, are going to be hard to overcome. Some pictures are included. The trash and debris is just everywhere, totally pervasive. Here Esplanade Avenue becomes a dumping ground for nearby residents.
Its true the French Quarter was spared but the shops are clearly struggling, the restauraunts have little staff, and the customers are mainly bored looking contractors eager to get back home to their families. Seeing an actual hummer at Checkpoint Charlies was kind of amusing. He is demonstrating the now popular habit of parking official vehicles on the sidewalk - a practice that was certainly not tolerated before Katrina.

The New London Canal break caused dramatic devastation in Lakeview. Here the residents are around, attempting to gut houses and salvage anything they can find. That wont be much for the people who lived at this house.

A lot of people are driving by looking at these sites since they are close to the canal break. I wonder if the GreyLine tours will come through.

The St Roch market looks like it will be closed for a while yet. I dont think they have any customers, merchandise, employees, or a neighborhood, so getting back in business will be a challenge. How does a city recover from an erasure of the components of a city?

This house is very typical of severely damaged properties. In lower income areas the residents have had difficulty returning to examine their property and the stillness is eerie.

This abandoned building was seen in St Bernard, not far from the New Orleans border. We did see people returning to their properties in St Bernard, we even saw some with trailers set up in their driveways. Clearly people are living in the middle of this disaster zone and are trying to go on with their lives, surrounded by the untouched devastation.


Tags: New Orleans