Don't Forget New Orleans

Mardi Gras has been rated a major success. The Times Picayune reported that the last weekend of Mardi Gras brought in over $200 million. We can' t let this success go to our collective heads. It's too soon to tell whether this will be sufficient to allow local businesses to survive.

New Orleans has a long way to go. Don't believe it when Anderson Cooper announces that "New Orleans is back!" I spent some time cycling around New Orleans this past week. The French Quarter and Uptown look and feel like nothing happened (less a few closed and short staffed businesses). The rest of the city is a different story. Thousands of flooded cars remain abandoned under I-10. Yes, in Lakeview there are signs of life. But they are minimal. No more than 1 in 100 homes has a FEMA trailer in the driveway. Not many more are actively working to rebuild there homes. This means that more than 95% of households remain homeless 6 months after Katrina.

The outlook in Lakeview however is bright compared to the Lower Ninth Ward. Last time we were in New Orleans the worst hit parts of the Lower Ninth Ward weren't open to the public and few images have appeared in the media at all. Back then, even the best parts of the Lower Ninth were beyond belief. The worst hit parts stretch our imagination even further... Blocks and blocks of homes have not just been destroyed, they have been annihilated. All that remains is concrete slabs. In other areas, houses have been washed into the street. There are no signs of people coming back to the Lower Ninth, and quite frankly it's hard to imagine how this can ever happen.

One good week in New Orleans does not solve all its problems. The needed federal aid still has not arrived and hundreds of thousands of people remain displaced. The levees and wetlands have not been restored. Don't forget New Orleans.