Day 192- N’awlins

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Jul 112010
 

I’ve been to New Orleans for various conferences on 3 separate occasions over the last several years.  However on each of those trips I saw nothing except the area around the convention center, down Canal St to the French Quarter and the road to and from the airport.  Passing through on Saturday, I wanted to see other parts of the city, particularly areas that had been hard hit by Hurricane Katrina.  I was just plain curious how much evidence remained of the destruction that hit the 9th Ward.

I”m not 100% sure, but I’m pretty sure that I found my way to the 9th Ward.  There’s still a number of homes that look like this one, with the tell-tale spray painting on the outside as a message to others involved in clean-up, etc after the storm.  If you can’t make it out, the message reads “all gas off”.

I didn’t realize it at the time, but I was driving along Lakeshore Drive.  But I saw that berm to my left and thought “I bet if I climb up there, Lake Pontchartrain will be right on the other side.”

I think this nicely shows how parts of the city are below sea and/or lake level.  I don’t know about you, but I’d be pretty nervous living across the street from a big lake that’s higher up than my house and is protected by a glorified pile of dirt!

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I had planned on spending some time wandering Bourbon St, camera in hand, but the lack of places where I was comfortable leaving my truck (with lots of my belongings in it) and the approaching thunderstorm that was clearly visible on the horizon dampened my enthusiasm.  So no pictures of drunken fools soliciting beads ;-)

And yes, my camera lens was dirty.  Dammit…

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  • Beryl

    Attended school in this city. New Orleans has a pulse.

    • http://hubmanshangout.com hubman38

      Absolutely! Parts of the city are thriving and doing quite well. But other parts look like they’re on life support, which is really sad because it’s a great city.

  • http://minorityreportunderground.blogspot.com/ minority report

    I’m with you, no house that close to water for me.
    Thanks for sharing the photos.

  • http://iveylane.blogspot.com Ivey Lane

    I remember in the Netherlands, riding down a road and looking up at a ship crossing an “overpass.” Another time we were looking UP at a port. Granted, they don’t have hurricanes, but they have some pretty wicked storms. During Katrina, some of my friends from there — Denmark, and other locations — couldn’t grasp the idea that a dike had failed. “How is that even possible?” they all asked. And a few of them finished the question “…. without gross incompetence or negligence?”

    Anyway, Vince and I are trying to find a good time to trek over there ourselves. We may head over there around Christmas this year. That would be pretty darn cool!!

  • Kim

    I helped out after Katrina (I’m a medical worker) and I haven’t been able to go back to see what it looks like now.

    Now after seeing these I really must go back!

    Thanks for sharing!

  • http://dangerouslilly.com Dangerous Lilly

    Yet another city I’ve never been to. My parents dragged my ass all over the country to national and state parks and monuments, but never the big cities. and yeah that whole lake thing looks worrisome.

  • http://sexkittenchronicles.blogspot.com Bunny

    I went to New Orleans for a convention in the spring after Katrina. It wasn’t the best time to be there, but it was interesting to see. I resonated with the sentiment of the people after going through three massive hurricanes in ’04.

   

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