In ruined city
Someone could come to New Orleans and stay in the French quarter and not really know anything is wrong. Beyond that, there are pockets of near normalcy: some streets in the Garden District, bits of downtown. But beyond that, there are still vast tracts of destruction and decay.
There are mammoth debris piles near the 17th street canal (the site of one of the major breeches) out of which some materials are painstakingly separated out for burning. But these giant piles of garbage are manified when you see that there are huge areas that seem untouched since the storm, like it could have happened yesterday with cars still on fences, appliances and mardi gras beads strewn. This clean up is a massive project.
And then there's the discussions of rebuilding. I morn New Orleans but what scares me most is that it will be rebuilt. The political pressure at all levels, from the mayor to the president seems to me to be irresistable. Bush says he will rebuild it, Nagin says he will rebuild it. Both say "better, or stronger" but all plans say "the same". I heard it directly from the Army Corps of Enigneers that their goal is to build the levees to pre Katrina strength - that is their mandate. I heard Mayor Nagin assure New Orleanians that the 9th ward will be rebuilt, where it was and for the same low income residents. All of this adds up to the same thing happening the next time a hurricane gets within a couple hundred miles of NOLA.
But bon temps can still be had there. It still has it's charm.
This piece captures the situation well.
Someone could come to New Orleans and stay in the French quarter and not really know anything is wrong. Beyond that, there are pockets of near normalcy: some streets in the Garden District, bits of downtown. But beyond that, there are still vast tracts of destruction and decay.
There are mammoth debris piles near the 17th street canal (the site of one of the major breeches) out of which some materials are painstakingly separated out for burning. But these giant piles of garbage are manified when you see that there are huge areas that seem untouched since the storm, like it could have happened yesterday with cars still on fences, appliances and mardi gras beads strewn. This clean up is a massive project.
And then there's the discussions of rebuilding. I morn New Orleans but what scares me most is that it will be rebuilt. The political pressure at all levels, from the mayor to the president seems to me to be irresistable. Bush says he will rebuild it, Nagin says he will rebuild it. Both say "better, or stronger" but all plans say "the same". I heard it directly from the Army Corps of Enigneers that their goal is to build the levees to pre Katrina strength - that is their mandate. I heard Mayor Nagin assure New Orleanians that the 9th ward will be rebuilt, where it was and for the same low income residents. All of this adds up to the same thing happening the next time a hurricane gets within a couple hundred miles of NOLA.
But bon temps can still be had there. It still has it's charm.
This piece captures the situation well.
posted by Wes at 10:09 AM
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