If you stick to the French Quarter you'd have no idea a storm went through about two years ago. Being the first part of the city to be settled, it's on the highest ground and is protected by the strongest levee (we learned that the levees didn't fail by the way, the floodgates did).
We took a tour of the worst hit areas so we did see evidence of destruction. I took photographs from the bus, so the results are tinted and off kilter, but you get a sense of the damage.
This home was in Lakeside, near the floodgates that burst to the west. The owner was caught in the attic and broke through the roof--that's the hole you see in the picture. Not everyone was so lucky. Holes cut through by rescue workers are clean.
This is an new art piece in the median on one of the now treeless boulevards in the lower ninth ward. The poles correspond to the depth of the water in different areas of the city.
A large number of the homes in the area have these trailers in front of them. The families live in them while the homes are being repaired
But not all residents have returned, so many homes still lie empty. Our guide told us that you don't get a sense of the emptiness until its dark and you notice the large number of dark houses.
This is the closest I got to a picture that shows a whole block cleared of damaged homes. Not good quality, but you get a sense of the storms impact on the community.
But there were people out and about and I was able to make a friend.
Just so you know that it wasn't all darkness and devastation there was a swingers convention in a hotel on Bourbon Street--note the green armbands. We took note of them as we walked around the quarter. Just goes to show you that everyone was working as hard as they could to get the city back on track in their own special way.
