Monday
Before we left for home on Monday I called my brother, Mark, who works in the area during the week clearing debris and dead trees. We met up with him at a house he and his friend were working on and then I asked him if he could show us some of the hurricane damage in the area. Mark just bought a house that had some storm damage so he could fix it up and rent it out so he took us to some damage on the way to his house. He knew all the good areas and showed us a bunch of destruction from the hurricanes almost a year and half ago. Mark filled us in on all the neighborhoods and what happened and how high the water was and where it came from.
We really got to see a lot of what happened to the land and were amazed that after a year and half these houses were exactly the same as the day after the storm hit. A lot of the land is very poor and can't afford to even bulldoze the property. Most of the houses look like you could just lean on them and they would fall over and some were even still being used. I was surprised at how many of the occupied homes still had the Xs on the outside that state when the house was searched, by which search team, how many survivors, and how many dead were found inside. I would think even if you can't match the paint or afford to paint the whole house you would still get a spray paint can and cover it up. After a year and half it really surprised me how much of New Orleans everyday life is still all about Katrina. We were sitting at breakfast and the people next to us were talking about whether they were going to rebuild or move on. It is really sad how they just can't seem to get passed what has happened. It was terrible tragedy when the hurricane hit but seeing how the people are unable to cope and start over makes the situation so much sadder.
In one of the neighbor-hoods we drove through we saw this stop sign. On most of the houses and buildings you can still see the water lines from the flooding. Here on the sign you can see where the water went to. As Mark told us the water was actually higher but after it stopped raining the water fell a few inches and then sat where the line was made before it completely drained. Also in this picture you can see the fixed levy in the background, hopefully this one will hold better than the last.
posted by We are the Taylors @ 3:35 PM
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