Biggest ghost town I've ever seen

[bmccasland]

Yesterday I had to drive through New Orleans East and the 9th Ward to get further south for a candidate marsh restoration site. It was very sad to see blocks and blocks of boarded and/or broken homes and businesses. Very little signs of recovery. That area was predominately the poor working class, so they didn't have the finances to privately finance much of anything. On the other hand it had a 60% home ownership rate prior to "the troubles". There were some signs of recovery, FEMA trailers, people working on houses, some businesses open - but nothing big. I wondered where folks who have returned went to buy their groceries. A once vibrant living community is almost no more. This is a part of the city I don't see on a regular basis. Don't know how I'd cope if I did. I suppose I'd find the small accomplishments. It's going to take a long time....

Thanks for listening.

[roguedog]

Oh man, I've seen documentaries on New Orleans. Do you know what the plans are to revitalize the situation down there? I can't imagine that those folks are coming back. In the documentary, it seemed only the most stubborn are coming back.

Is it different depending on the section you go? Like is one section more back to normal than others?

[mimitabby]

my husband did a lot of work down there post-Katrina (that's why he has a bike now called Katrina, that's how he earned it) and he said it was the most depressing place he'd ever been. It was heart breaking.

[Deanna]

My step mother grew up in New Orleans & Covington. She recently went back for business and decided to take the plunge and have a cab drive her through some of the devastated neighborhoods. She was in the back wondering when she was going to get to them, when she realized that ALL the houses were empty and had been for miles. She was heartbroken.

[bmccasland]

Is it different depending on the section you go? Like is one section more back to normal than others?

The parts that are by the river and above sea level - the Sliver by the River - that remained dry are back to normal for the most part. Then the progression changes depending on the amount of flooding. I saw houses yesterday where you could still see the hole in the roof or the dormer window pushed out where people were in their attics as the flood waters rose and their only escape was chopping through the roof. Technically I live in Metairie, on the other side of the 17th street canal - if you remember some of the pictures on one side the homes drown and on the other side they were dry. My house is -3.5 ft elevation so I could have had that much or more water if the canal breach was my side.

The people who have come back is because this is HOME to them, and they feel there is no place else to go. Others are staying away "temporarily" because they have kids that need to go to school or in the evacuation process they were moved far away and found a new home in other communities. Found out that public schools are better, maybe better job opportunites, they certainly got more support from the new community than they've had here. New Orleans had a higher than average poverty rate, Katrina just brought to the forefront a long history of social issues. The one thing we really haven't had yet is good leadership from any level of government - city, state, or federal. IMHO.

I'd better stop.

[IFjane]

The one thing we really haven't had yet is good leadership from any level of government - city, state, or federal. IMHO.

I'd better stop.

Amen, Beth - especially the latter...

[RoadRaven]

DISCLAIMER:
This post is not intended to be offensive or inflammatory.
This post gives a perspective from a tiny country on the other side of the planet whose information is filtered through various networks who may or may not be politically influenced.
This post is just some wonderings from the Southern Hemisphere from one person, who does not claim to represent this country.

Here goes...

Periodically, New Orleans arrives on our TV news... or 'real-life profiles' of a person or family in our newspapers... and always the next day at work, colleagues (and myself if I have to be honest) are speculating on the motivation behind the American government.

A government perceived by us down here to be mighty, and powerful, and able to find resources for other countries, a government experienced in "fighting for right"; a government that until recently has seemed to us like a benevolent father with all the power to make things better that a parent has...

But we talk and wonder and speculate and question - because we ask; how can a government with so much power not do anything for its own people in its own back yard?

I make no judgement, neither do some of my colleagues... but we wonder. We are not in America - in the White House or in New Orleans. We do not know how things are, or why - we have only the media and that can be notoriously unreliable and biased. I make no judgement but why are these peoples lives still in tatters?

[HappyAnika]

But we talk and wonder and speculate and question - because we ask; how can a government with so much power not do anything for its own people in its own back yard?

Many, many people in America ask this same question and are ashamed of the government for what happened. I think the answer may have something to do with the fact that sometimes when America tries to help other people in other parts of the world, it is not done so selflessly, i.e. there is something to be gained. What would be gained from helping the victims of Katrina and restoring the city of New Orleans is apparently not a priority to the government.

[Mr. Bloom]

Disclaimer too: I recognize that Katrina was devastating and the human toll was immense. I don't want to minimize that and I too am not trying to be offensive...I've really struggled with whether to response on this or not, and my response is to American expectations in general and not specifically New Orleans or the neighborhood that Beth describes... but here goes...

Keep in mind that America spends $1.3 trillion (about 60% of the budget) on domestic programs like Social Security, Welfare, Unemployment, Medicare, and Medicaid...programs that benefit a good portion of those that were devastated and displaced by the hurricane. Only $22 billion (about 1% of the budget) went to foreign affairs.

American foreign aid is only given to further American interests...let's not fool ourselves. But there's nothing wrong with that, because it still helps someone.

American domestic aid has evolved from a helping program to a program of dependence. I think that the disaster in New Orleans underscores a very basic problem in America and that is that we have created a generation of citizens who are dependent on the government for everything.

Years ago, one of the major news agencies did a profile of the Japanese response following a terrible earthquake in Kobe Japan. Their focus was on the response of the people in Kobe which was:
- we're OK...let's get it fixed...let's move on

Following a disaster in America, we tend to take the approach of:
- poor pitiful me...what are you going to do to fix my problems

So, what does this mean to me? Well, if you take 60% of the taxes that I've paid in the last five years, it exceeds what I've paid for housing, cars, etc....and while I will be a beneficiary of Social Security someday, I will only receive a very small portion of what I've paid in. I want to help, but I assure you that if I was giving the money away directly rather than through taxes, I would do it much differently.

Another Disclaimer: I am fiscally conservative, socially moderate and I don't listen to blow hards (like Rush Limbaugh) on the radio or TV.

[Tri Girl]

how can a government with so much power not do anything for its own people in its own back yard?

I think it's interesting to hear how others in the world see things from an outsiders perspective. Even our own media can be VERY biased since most of it is owned by only a few companies. You've got to take things with a grain of salt sometimes.

It's so sad that much of New Orleans is STILL devastated almost 2 years later. So very, very sad.

I think many of us wonder the same thing (and we live here under this "incredible" world power). I just don't know. Sometimes America does such wonderful things to really help the world and our own citizens, and then sometimes I wonder what Congress/the President are thinking.

Mr. Silver- you had some good points and I think you're right in some respects. Just do me a favor- enjoy some of that social security (the little you'll get), because I'm pretty dang sure it's going to be bust by the time I retire (in about 25 years- and I've been working for 20 already).
Let's just hope the stock market doesn't crash before I retire since all but a few IRA's are tied up in my 401K. Man- why did pensions have to go away???

[Mr. Bloom]

Keep in mind. There are three levels of government working on this... Federal, State, Local. There's all sorts of politics and that slow things down

[SouthernBelle]

I think it's also true that lots of folks just aren't going back. There are several new Cajun restaurants in Tennessee. Lots more jazz musicians too.

Also, where I went to college in Mississippi sheltered lots of Katrina refugees. Lots of them stayed in that area too. One who comes to mind was some type of music director for the schools in NO.

Here locally I recall a wedding that was thrown for a couple whose wedding had been stormed out. They've moved here.

I think lots of communities opened up and took them in. So they aren't going back.

[Trek420]

IMHO the abandoned buildings will stay till some political croney gets the contract to raze the homes and put up whatever...malls...whatever goes there instead.

In Trek's little universe what would happen is local business of any sort in the construction industry would be made whole first and brought back to complete the job. I'm sure lots of them lost not only their homes but tools, employees....I'd make micro loans and grants (the most efficient form of financial aide) to them if I were king of the forest that way you'd simultaneously help a local person and the bebuilding process.

But we must do much more and it's so sad.

Disclosure: Trek who is politcally to the left of most people but fiscally conservative.

[bmccasland]

IMHO the abandoned buildings will stay till some political croney gets the contract to raze the homes and put up whatever...malls...whatever goes there instead.

Trek - You've been to S. Louisiana! Funny how political connections, or not, has made a difference on who gets the contracts. But to be fair, the scope is SO big that no one was really prepared for it. The shopping centers and malls are derelict too. Even though many owned their homes, they didn't have insurance (the house was long paid for) because they couldn't afford it, and they didn't have the financial resources to do anything major on their own. If it wasn't for the kindness of strangers - the charitible relief groups - we'd be further behind. I have a cousin raised in a wealthy family that became a blithering idiot after the storm, felt she was entitled to help, the after effects of the storm were someone's fault, very much continues the "victim" attitude. She certainly doesn't have the "pull yourself up by your own bootstraps" attitude. All the recovery efforts take money, someone's money - there are jobs, but a shortage of affordable housing. To have housing it takes a job - a vicious circle.

[sulis]

The events of Katrina are indeed truly devastating. Sadly the entire system failed first on individual preparedness (vast generalization), then the local government, then the state and then at the federal level. I'm not sure how one could every really recover from that. But with that being said, I hope that we have learned one thing - and that is that no one is immune to dissasters.

I am big into emergency prepardeness. I know that when (not if) a natural disaster strikes in my area, others, not just me will be impacted. Therefore, I will need to be prepared to care for myself, not just for a day or two but longer. We need to take our total reliance and expectation for safety off the government and put it where it more reasonably belong on our shoulders. Sure, the government does need to play a roll. But when a devastating disaster occurs beyond anything that can ever be predicted, the need far outweighs availability of support and so it takes time. If I can't get out, if I've been impacted, can I really think that someone can swoop in to save me and the millions of others in just a matter of moments. Of course one can never prepare for everything (as Katrina showed us) but devasation can be minimalized and help more immediate if the community is properly trained and prepared.

If anyone is interested in what you can do to prepare to help in times of natural disasters and to teach you what needs to be done, look into Community Emergency Resonse Team (CERT) classes offered in your communities. I know in my area many of the city governments offer them for free. I have see them in other states for about $20 a session - but definitely worth while. Just my thoughts.