February 11, 2006
Today our good friends Tim and Linda, from Manhattan stopped by. They are on their way to Florida and wanted to see the devastation in New Orleans. We went there together. We drove through the 9th Ward and Chalmette, where the worst of the damage is. To us, this is the saddest destruction of all because these were the poorest of poor. Most of these houses were still standing but most all were totally ruined. Occasionally we saw a brick home built on an actual foundation that seemed to be ok structurally. But they were few and far between. Many of these homes were just sitting on blocks and they washed off their foundations and landed wherever they were when the flood waters receded. Some were still in the middle of the streets. Some were wedged between other buildings. Some were just a pile of rubble. We saw a few people trying to do a little clean up. We could tell the street had been covered with debris and plows had pushed the debris onto the curbs, sometimes as high as the roofs behind it. It is a very depressed and depressing area. It brings tears to our eyes and a prayer on our lips for the very poor people. As we were leaving this area we could see the dikes which were breeched. They are still working to repair them. Downtown New Orleans was spared any damage and tourists were milling around, shopping, eating and having a good time. This is good because the tourists will bring money back into the economy. The traffic on the main streets and highways was very heavy as it was before the hurricane. We wonder where all these cars come from since the population is much less that previously.