Katrina’s mark on New Orleans.

[angledge]

Yesterday after work I took some photos around my hotel showing a tiny fraction of the damage this city has sustained.

I’ll start with the view from my hotel window.

My hotel is located in the Warehouse District of NOLA, very close to the Convention Center. In fact, you can see the Convention Center from my window. Behind the Center are the stacks of the cruise ships that are anchored in the Mississippi River, currently being used as housing for many different groups – city employees, out-of-town rescue groups, etc. We’ve heard rumors that the living conditions are pretty awful on the ships.


Between the Convention Center & my hotel is a collapsed brick building. There are buildings in this condition about every three blocks throughout the Warehouse District. Some of them look like they collapsed from the storm, but some are fire-charred. Keep in mind, this is one of the less-damaged sections of the city – there was no flooding here. I can’t even imagine how bad the low-lying parts of the city appear. I have a little bit of morbid curiosity that makes me want to visit, but so far I haven’t done so.


Looking down an alley way off of Tchoupatoulas Street, you can see aluminum roofing material strewn about. The bits hanging on the power lines look like a giant robot hung out its washing on a line. This sort of debris litters nearly every inch of the city.


Evidence of the civic unrest that followed the hurricane are still evident. I think kikimoose would approve of the philosophy espoused by his namesake restaurant.


Down in the Central Business District, I think I found the building where interdictor rode out Katrina. I tried to find a way in so I could go say hi to the Intercosmos guys, but it was starting to get dark so I chose to get back to the hotel instead.


Mother Nature must not totally hate this city, because the sunsets here are the most beautiful I’ve seen anywhere. Because the land is so flat, the sky seems enormous above the city, & from horizon to horizon it gets filled with color at the end of each day.


But the ephemeral beauty of the evening light cannot disguise the havoc that Katrina has brought to this place.

Comments

[richcsigs.livejournal.com]

Wow... I can't even imagine what it would be like to go through something like this, and I hope I never have to.

God bless to you and all those helping.

[deinemuse.livejournal.com]

Those are pretty interesting pictures. Must be shocking to see it all in person. That is really cool what you are doing to help out.

[beccak1961.livejournal.com]

captainsblog told me about you, as I'm from New orleans, in temporary exile in TN. Thank you for helping out.

[angledge.livejournal.com]

I hope you are safe & sound in Tennessee. There are an enormous number of people in your city right now, working hard to make things right. I hope you get home soon.

[beccak1961.livejournal.com]

The frustrating thing is I could be home. My house is in lower algiers. However, Jim's office was in UNO lakefront and has to be gutted, plus several key people live in Slidell and can't come into the city to work, so we are all stuck in TN for awhile. I drive down and visit my house once a month.
It's wondeful so many people are working so hard.