(OT) My Katrina Tour In New Orleans

I was asked by a few of you to post about my Katrina Tour I went on yesterday while I was still in New Orleans. I was staying at the Royal Sonesta Hotel in the French Quarter for a work conference. The French Quarter was not affected by the hurricane very much, but, the economic effects of little to no tourism since has been dramatic. But, you cannot get a true picture of what is going on in that region unless you go out of the French Quarter. That is why I took the tour. It was a 2 hour tour where a bus drove us through a few of the affected areas. I say a few, because the devastation goes on for miles and miles. If you include the other parts of the Gulf Coast that was devastated by Katrina, it is the same square mileage as all of Great Britain. Please read and believe "devastation" is not too strong a word. They could not drive us into the lower 9th ward as it is still too difficult for a bus to drive through. The houses are mostly made of wood and collapsed and were moved into the streets. We did, however, see similar devastation. In the neighborhoods with brick homes, they were still standing, but, completely gutted to the steel frames inside. Sitting there empty. Flooded cars litter the streets, are stuck between homes upside down and even in trees! There are boats everywhere. Thrown around like matchsticks. The wooden houses are totally ruined, most collapsing in on themselves. All the stores, gas stations, fast food restaurants, street lights and not working. You can see waterlines 10 to 12 feet high on the buildings still standing. There are porta potties scattered here and there. A few FEMA trailers. But, there is no running water or electricity to many of these areas. The fact that this is how it is 7 months after the fact is truly a tragedy... I spoke to many residents to find out there experience. It is incredibly sad. Of the 1.5 million residents that were evacuated, only about one third have returned. These folks are really having problems, because if there is a place to live the rent has been jacked up sky high. Making a living, finding adequate food and water, these things are extremely difficult. There are only about 30 of the 130 schools that have reopened. I met a 12 year old girl who was being sent by her mother to California to live with her Aunt so she could go to school. The little girl did not want to go, she didn't want to be so far away from her family. People in the French Quarter told about the 3 weeks following Katrina where total lawlessness and terror reigned...they could hear gun shots day and night and had apache helicopters flying over head...it was like a war zone. Many people told me that they believed the police had shot quite a few looters and dumped their bodies in the river. Orleans parish has their mayoral race coming up. There are 23 candidates. I sure wouldn't want that job. This city has a very long way to go. If the tourists don't come back they will not make it...please don't put off trips if you were going there. They need you! Meanwhile, write your congressman and put a fire under these people in Washington! This is America! We should be able to take care of our people and our levees! This is my take on the very sad situation down there from the things I saw and the people I met. I am glad to be home in Utah...but, I do feel compelled to put out the word for those folks! Lori

Thanks for posting I was one of those very interested in what the experience was like. I think that anyone who throws his or her hat into be mayoral race is a brave person. Well just wanted to say hi and thanks.

Lori, Thanks for telling us what you saw and heard. As it happens, your post coincided with a pretty good documentary last night on TV about Katrina ... her causes, stats, and effects on man and land ... and her place (now) in history. It was extremely sobering and heartrending. Like you in Utah, I watched it all on TV from my land-locked Missouri safe-haven, and I think maybe, without a personal visit like yours, it's truly impossible to fathom the suffering and downright horror people went through and are probably still enduring. Thanks again, Myra G

Hi Lori, Thank you for your post. Mary

Lori, I live right outside of New Orleans. Grew up here all of my life. Your depiction is very accurate. The mayor's race unfortunately is kind of a joke. I just hope that the people who have thrown themselves in truly want to do the right thing by the city. You could have been taken into parts of the 9th ward, but more than likely there has been a big screaming going on about sight seers and that may be why you weren't taken in. Many other tour buses have gotten through. The bottom line about the destruction is you can't understand or even comprehend the destruction unless you see it with your own 2 eyes in person. There are places I grew up with which will never be again. Diane

Diane, Thanks for your comments. Was the area you live in affected by Katrina? I just want you to know that you are not forgotten! Lori

I sit here in tears, and all I can say is thank you for remembering us! Those of us who lived it can't really put into words what it was like those first few months after... The police very likely DID shoot/kill looters, I personally saw a swat style team of 6-8 police with rifles flailing angrily as they shot into the air, and shouted, mostly aiming at men laying face down on the street... I was too afraid to look and kept driving... another time, I saw 4 police men beating on a man who was not responding (in the French Quarter) and I wanted to help and tried to go to the man, but my husband grabbed my arm and pulled me away, reminding me that cops were dangerous right now... (that was the night before they beat the school teacher on Bourbon street). I saw people struggling to help each other climb out of the waters, when there were no police, no Red Cross, no Salvation Army, no soldiers... I saw hospitals turn away the elderly and ill, because they didn't want to be stuck with them... I saw some things, I don't want to remember... I lived in the hospital I worked in, and watched the army with it's big machine guns marching up and down the hallways in our healthcare facility... it was terrifying, but necessary to keep the criminals from assaulting our workers and taking over the pharmacy and kitchen... in other hospitals, they did break in and loot the pharmacies... The piles of wooden slats that used to be homes, the empty abandoned cars striped from decay and filth, the search and rescue markings on building after building, still there announcing the number of dead found in them, the extent of the devastation and the impact is beyond words. It is something that can only be conveyed with your own two eyes. In the end, I could not find a place to rent after my townhouse was destroyed... I could no longer afford to buy new tires because of nail damage every time I drove into New Orleans from our temporary home in Baton Rouge... Texas became my next best hope to be near home. Now, the local jail may have to release inmates soon because the "due process" cannot be delivered... people who are in jail (guilty or innocent) often cannot get trials... evidence is damaged, witnesses dead or relocated, difficulty forming juries, difficulty with a place to hold court... New Orleans is in very real danger of becoming a 'third world country' right here in our own nation... And to top it off, the leaders say 'sure come on back, but you might not have power, and you might not have water, and you might not have sewerage, and you might not have trash disposal.... but we want you to come back'... We'll even bus you back so you can vote... pick a canidate... every citizen has chosen to run, with only a few qualified people that will turn right back to "business as usual"... well, I guess I should step off my rant... my city is ruined... my playground a tall pile of tree debris... my children will never know the beauty of my city... my children will never know MY home... I want to drive down the street and show them where I grew up, the way it was... my hope for it is all but gone as I watch the political red tape tying the hands of those who care... and all I can do is grieve and move my family to a safer, more stable area. I am a Katrina evacuee... working and living in Texas.... I used to say I was one of the lucky ones, my FIL rallied to bring us an RV when we became homeless... we lived in luxury compared to the shelters and hotels that many faced... but 7 months later, I still live in a 35 foot RV, and I don't feel so lucky now. I still feel traumatized, and I'm not sure that will ever go away.

I'm so glad you wrote. It truly breaks my heart what you and your city have gone through. I've thought about you many times as you used to post to this list, then Katrina happened, and I think we heard from you a couple times after that...I've often wondered what happened to you. I am glad you are alive, but, I think the post traumatic stress that all of you are experiencing is going to go on for years! I do not know what will happen to New Orleans or Mississippi or the other areas that were severely affected. I'm very concerned that corruption and lack of news coverage about how things still are will keep the place the way it is now for a very long time. I have a radio show here in Salt Lake City. I spoke about the state of things in New Orleans on Sunday and will continue to do so. I don't know if any of what I'm doing will help, but, I hope so. At least I have a wide audience to try and convince to write congress. Please feel free to email me anytime. I am concerned about you! [email protected] Lori

Hi. Reading this and all the tears come back again. I lived in Nawlins from the late 70's and 80's. Always was in and out of the city. I lived in the lower 9 until I listen to the older people tell the horrors of Hurricane Betsy. One day walking the levee I saw just how much higher the Mississippi River water was to the land. I moved. Then I moved into Metarie. I sat and cried as I watched the weather channel with Katrinia in the Gulf of Mexico. I cried because I knew these people in New Orleans and I knew in my heart they would not leave. I have a friend that has never been found. She, her husband and two small children lived in New Orleans East. In a brick home that she said could ride out any storm. It is just to hard for me to go on. New Orleans will never be the same again. And so many won't go home. And so many died at home.

Petty, Thanks for writing. I'm glad you are safe. I'm so sorry you've lost friends. I know so many thought they could ride out the storm...it is so sad. The tour guide told us that because the rescuers would not take pets, many people refused to be rescued and stayed with their pets and subsequently died! That would have been me...I don't know how I could have left my pets. It is so very sad. Lori