Hurricane Katrina occurred August 29th, 2005.
My first visit was on September 2, 2005.
Our next visit was January 4 - 8, 2007.
Observations of Peter DeLorenzi..........................
The last time I visited with my mom and step dad in Slidell, Louisiana Hurricane Katrina had just blasted her way through town a few days earlier. Signs of the rebuilding progress were everywhere, as well as signs of abandoned hopes and dreams. The folks were without power for about 6 months after the storm, and still today there are many without basic necessities and utilities. Many neighborhoods still outwardly exhibit the devastation, while others are on their way towards rebuilding, such as my mom’s sub-division French Branch Estates. This is one of the older, upper middle class neighborhoods comprised of many engineers, doctors and management personnel from such companies as NASA and Textron. Katrina did not discriminate in her devastation, as my slide show shows
www.wateringholegallery.com/Katrina
Nearly every home displayed a FEMA emergency trailer, in some manner giving the impression that nearly everyone in the sub-division had taken up RVing at the same time. Some homes were still standing empty and damaged, showing off the owners disregard for the government underwritten flood insurance. Mom’s house was one of the few that was still inhabitable after the hurricane. I’d like to think my swift arrival to prevent the onset of mold after the waters had washed through the house. I had removed the carpeting, hardwood flooring and other water soaked items out of the house on September 2nd, just 4 days after the hurricane.
During our visit we drove around the area from the old bridge going to Bay St. Louis, Mississippi (which was just about wiped off the map) and on towards the Rigolets Bayou where the storm surge came ashore, and then on up inland through Liberty Bayou. The route had been suggested by my mom’s cleaning lady, Roxy, who shared some of her own highlights from dealing with Katrina. Roxy is a wonderful woman of color who has worked for my mom about 12 years or so. Here follows some of her notable stories:
“My husband had kept an old boat in the backyard that was in poor repair. For years I had been telling him to get rid of that old boat. Then, with the water up about 4 feet and rising, we used that old boat to evacuate the bayou. I told him after that, ‘Don’t you ever get rid of that old boat!’. Well, while he was bringing the boat over to my momma’s house down the street he broke his artificial leg. It took quite some time to get the leg replaced and when he first came home with the new leg she was aghast as it was Caucasian colored. She told him she didn’t want any ‘two colored man’.” They are still awaiting the special paint necessary to correct the situation.
Utilities in the area were, for the most part, all temporarily repaired. Phone pedestals displayed an abundance of short ‘jumper wires’ with alligator clips and some were covered with plastic garbage bags ties with duct tape. Power poles were not much better, as many had several loops of wire hanging just above head height awaiting a final stretching and connection.
Strip malls and stores along Old Spanish Trail, the primary shopping district, were showing signs that business is slowly coming back. Store fronts showed new glass, most still with stickers, and you could see that many are now being remodeled inside. “Now Open” signs were beginning to be noticed around town, but the bulk of the businesses have not yet re-opened. In a simple layman’s estimation, at least 10 years will be necessary before ‘normality’ arrives in Slidell and along other areas of the Gulf Coast. The cleanup is still going on before serious re-construction can be accomplished. The magnitude of the storm is truly unbelievable.
However, the magnitude of man is also unbelievable, and in all the harshness that the situation created, I’d have to evidence the small caravan of FEMA trailers that we saw on the highway going out of town. It seems that the disaster has brought out good old creativity as some of the more avid fishermen in the area came home from work on Friday and simply hitched up the trailers and headed out to their favorite fishing hole, towing their ‘home’ along!
Louisiana and the Gulf Coast are beautiful areas under normal circumstances, but at this time they are incredible reminders of the force and fury of nature. Witnessing those effects are well worth the trip. Witnessing the fortitude of the Gulf Coast people is equally compelling.
Traveling up the Gulf Coast to Louisiana was just part of our winter vacation. The other half of our trip was visiting the kids and grand kids in Florida. Our photos from that trip, if you wish to see them, are at www.wateringholegallery.com/family.htm
HURRICANE & EXTREME WEATHER LINKS
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/hurricanes/main/index.html