Life goes on in the French Quarter

Life goes on... The French Quarter is as bawdy and beautiful as ever...






A word from the author. I've received word from Google that this blog has been flagged as SPAM. I have no earthly idea why. I've requested a review. It may be deleted soon. Obviously, this is beyond my control.

I'm sorry as I feel that it has real value. It may give information that people would rather not hear, but it has been a useful tool in helping to bring news from a first person point of view. Isn't that what a good blog is intended to do?

Not to worry. I still have a personal website and am still NSNC WebEditor. The news will get out one way or another.


Cheers!
Sheila

Gustav threatens coast

As Gustav swells to Category 3 and is projected to hit anywhere between Texas and Florida, NSNC members recall images of the city from our conference only two months past.

Louisiana and Mississippi have already called for evacuation of residents along the Katrina-scarred coast. There is a phased order to evacuation -- those in coastal communities or outside protection of levees are first. Hundreds may fall through the cracks of an evacuation plan, and they will be left in the city.

Eight-five unclaimed victims of Katrina were laid to final rest Friday as a jazz trumpet played. Residents and city officials rang bells at the moment the levee was breached three years ago, on the anniversary of the storm.

We remember our own jazz parade and the city’s friendly people. What about our colleagues who live there and those journalists we met at the convention who covered the Katrina disaster? What about the animals at the aquarium? What about those we met who returned to the city to rebuild? What about St. Bernard and the Lower Ninth Ward?

We remember the theme of our conference, “New Orleans, you are not forgotten.” The impersonal face of disaster has become personal. We are glued to the news – not wanting to see, but unable to stop looking.

And now there is Gustav

We went… we saw… we wrote… I was in New Orleans in June for the National Society of Newspaper Columnists’ National Convention. Things were still bad, but turning around. People were coming back. Tourism had started to increase. There was hope.

And now there is Gustav.
















I heard about it on the news. I couldn’t believe the projected path. My God! It is headed right for New Orleans!

Not again! They can’t go through that again! They have suffered enough. Not again…

But there is no denying the truth. I flipped through the channels on TV, looking for the weather channel and the latest reports. I came to CNN and there was Ray Nagin being interviewed at the National Democratic Convention.

Obama had just been nominated. The mayor commented and then the interview turned to the crisis in New Orleans.

It was three years ago, three years almost to the day, that Katrina devastated the city. If Gustav does hit, what is the plan? How will things be different?

The mayor spoke of lessons learned from Katrina. People are being warned to make plans to leave. A state of emergency has been declared by the Governor already. The oil rigs in the Gulf are being evacuated.

And what about those who can’t afford to evacuate? A plan has been set up for public transportation to shelters out of the area. There will be no mass shelters of last resort in New Orleans, no Superdome, and no Convention Center.

A lesson learned from Katrina -- GET OUT!

People are asked to sign up if they need emergency transportation; police will go through neighborhoods with bullhorns. They have prepared a supply of cages for people to evacuate their pets. “We learned that people will not leave because of their pets,” said the mayor.

It is a massive undertaking. Will it work? There are only half as many people now as before and the lowest areas are sparsely populated.

What about the levees? Will they hold? They have been rebuilt. It was the failure of the levee system before that caused the most problems -- the flooding.

The mayor believes they will hold. There will be a mandatory evacuation for a category 3 storm or if the storm surge is large. When we were there, the mayor said a storm surge with a category 3 hurricane would top the levees, but levees should not catastrophically fail.

The mayor is cautiously optimistic.

There is something about that man that instills belief. He is projecting confidence as a leader should. In spite of all the criticism, in spite of everything done wrong before, nobody knows better than he does how to avoid the same mistakes.

“This is a test,” Nagin says, “a test of the levee system.” It is a test of Nagin’s courage and leadership ability as well, a second chance, a change to do everything right that was done wrong before.

But maybe the hurricane will take another path… or maybe it will dissipate and not reach full strength. Maybe this is all for naught.

Hotel rooms are said to be booked already all the way to Memphis. I pray that New Orleans will be spared. I learned to love the city and the beautiful people when I was there. New Orleans affects you that way.

The people have suffered enough. We pray for you, New Orleans. Not again, God. Please, not again…

Welcome to the 32nd Annual Conference of The National Society of Newspaper Columnists

Coverage of the convention as seen on the NSNC Website

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"New Orleans, We Have Not Forgotten"

Mike Argento, NSNC President, opens the 32nd Annual Conference in New Orleans.

Lt. Governor of Louisiana, Mitch Landrieu, says Katrina was a life changing event for the people of New Orleans. Things are spoken of now in terms of pre-Katrina and after Katrina. Many of the problems were not only from Katrina, but social problems like race, poverty, transportation, health care and emergency response. American was forced by the media attention to face these things and didn't like what it saw. New Orleans is a lab of democracy and a symbol of all that can be better.

Mayor Ray Nagin spoke to the NSNC on June 20th about the situation of New Orleans. Business is coming back, he says, for example, Shell Oil and Winn Dixie. There is high employment and opportunity. Many construction projects are going on. A new VA hospital has opened and another new 400-500 bed hospital has been announced.


Over 100,000 volunteers have come to New Orleans to help. The American people have been incredible about helping.

Katrina is a different kind of storm as there is nowhere to point anger. There is no enemy as there was with 911. Katrina exposed the soft underbelly of the U.S.

Population is down from 455,000 pre Katrina, to 327,000, per the mayor. However, he agreed that the top population prior to the storm was about 600,000. Much of the lost population is middle class because they were able to transition successfully.

New Orleans lost about 500 policemen and the National Guard is still there. Crime is down as drug trafficking was shaken up too. Fraud has increased as there is big money to be made out of disaster.

Homelessness was a problem before, but has increased. Post traumatic stress is an issue. The system for hurricane protection is not complete. Another category 5 hurricane could overtop levees, but there should not be another catastrophic failure.

When asked what message we should take to our readers, the Mayor said. “We are not under water.”

“I am afraid for America. We have not changed one single thing since Katrina.“ The government needs to focus on the infrastructure of America, Nagin stated.

Many in New Orleans are still struggling to recover. New Orleans believes that the rest of the world either does not understand their situation or no longer cares.

Panel of journalists from the Times-Picayune discuss Katrina's impact on the city. Ted Jackson presented a powerful photo show of Katrina victims and talked about how he could not be objective when people were trapped in water and he couldn't help them. Journalists lost their own homes, but continued to cover the story so others could know.

Jarvis DeBerry, editorial writer, talked about the need to report local events after Katrina and answer the question, "What happened to my house?" He spoke of the anger and the disrespect New Orleans felt when others were asking whether New Orleans should be rebuilt, even while people were still on rooftops. Jim Amoss, editor, said the world as New Orleans knew it ended in 2005. We were urged to meet and talk to the people of New Orleans and to take their story home.

Rod West, CEO of Entergy, the electric company of New Orleans. He talked about the difficulty of restoring power. They started where it was dry and followed the falling water level. The water did not differentiate between race or socio-economic status. It was simply a matter of geography. They had to fight corruption, gloom and doom to restore the basic services needed.

A panel spoke on whistle-blowers in government. Deepa Fernandes, journalism fellow at the National Institute, investigated the mysterous disapperance of Asian Americans after 9/11. Families were unable to find out who arrested them, what the charges were, or where they were being held. She is currently investigating the displacement of families from FEMA trailers who have no place to go.

Spencer Bohren, New Orleans songwriter, guitarist, and singer performs. You might be saying, “Who?” But this extraordinary New Orleans songwriter, guitarist and singer is an amazing talent.

Spencer performs all over (he’s between gigs in Europe, and made a special effort to be in town for our meeting), has been on “Prairie Home Companion” and pops up often on NPR’s weekend music shows.

If there is any one song that captures the heartbreak of post-Katrina New Orleans, it’s his “Long Black Line” — about the watermarks left on homes once the flood waters went down.

I Love a Parade

This is the way it is in New Orleans. Like the people of the city, we needed desperately to have fun. In spite of everything...there is music. In spite of everything the band plays on...

I love a parade! Who doesn’t? There are homecoming parades, Thanksgiving parades, parades for the Fourth of July. But the parade I participating in recently was a jazz band parade in New Orleans.

New Orleans is known as the “birthplace of jazz” and jazz has become a traditional music suitable for almost every occasion there. There are jazz bands at weddings, conventions, parties, celebrations of all kinds -- even funeral processions.

The Storyville Stompers is a brass band that plays traditional New Orleans music, the kind that jazz and Dixieland are based on. They are known for their performances at Mardi Gras, the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, The French Quarter Festival and numerous other national and international celebrations.

When they are around, everything else stops.

The band parades on foot through the streets of the city with a drum major leading as only a New Orleans drum major can, with a lively step and the waving parasol that that has become a legendry part of the New Orleans tradition.

When bands paraded in early times, children often followed behind, imitating the high-stepping, umbrella-twirling drum major. Soon a second line of paraders formed, a line following after the band and a tradition known as “second lining” was born.

Attendees at the recent National Society of Newspaper Columnists conference in New Orleans had to walk several blocks from the hotel to a meeting at the Aquarium. Why walk when you can dance? And so the conference planners hired a traditional jazz band and before we knew it, we were high stepping and second lining as if we had been doing it for a lifetime.

It is hard to stand still when the Stompers play. No one can avoid dancing along. When a band plays jazz New Orleans style, the only thing that matters is having a good time.

We came prepared. We brought kazoos to play and umbrellas to twirl. Here we were, a group of writers, nerds, and old folks, dancing through the streets of a city like a bunch of giddy kids.

Traffic stopped for us, tourists stopped for us, cameras flashed, and we boogied on. In New Orleans , they have grown accustomed to street performances and only smile, wave and applaud, wishing they could join in or maybe even dancing right along.

I twirled my umbrella and danced just like everyone else. After all, what good is life if you can’t have fun? We marched into the aquarium, past the fish and aquatic animals and into the room where our event was being held.

I don’t know if the creatures were accustomed to such festivities or not, but they seemed not to mind. It was hard to play my kazoo and twirl my umbrella at the same time. Maybe I’m one of those people who can’t walk and chew gum without forgetting to do one of them.

We all made it in spite of traffic, rough sidewalks, gawking tourists, flashing cameras, heat and humidity, and hysterical laughter. Now, if anyone should ever ask, I can say that I’ve been second lining in New Orleans .

I really doubt that it will ever come up, though. It never has before.

Life is short and the world is a small place. Someday I can say, “And then there was the time in New Orleans when I went second lining with the Storyville Stompers Brass Band.”

I’m sure when I tell about it, the grandkids will simply say “We’ve heard that story before, grandma. Tell us another one.”

Sadly, I am

“Are you okay?” my friend at work asks me.

Sadly, I am.

Sadly, because I can recover, I can go home, I can go back to my job, my family, my pets, my stuff – I have a life.

But the people in New Orleans don’t have any of these, at least not the ones whose homes were destroyed, those displaced by the storms. And even those who have gone back to “life after Katrina” carry scars. The wounds may heal, but the scars never will.

There is something wrong here.

It is just wrong that we can forget so easily. I’m beginning to feel that people in New Orleans are right when they say they have been forgotten. After all, it’s been three years. Maybe nobody does care anymore.

It is just too easy for us to slip back into life, go on, decide that the problem is overwhelming, or someone else’s problem.

This is an entire city, and generations, forever damaged. And we just go on about our life doing nothing?

If enough of us scream loud enough and keep on screaming, will we be heard?

If the country can turn its back on New Orleans, it can also turn its back on you and me.

We are so lucky, so blessed, that we’ve become complacent.

Were they foolish for living where nature could reclaim its own? Of course, but… the people in the Midwest live behind river levees, and on the New Madrid fault. People in California live on the San Andreas fault and pray the “Big One” never comes. People in Florida defy hurricanes every year.

We all live with the illusion that it won’t happen to us.

But it can.

And in New Orleans it did – the worst natural disaster to ever occur in an urban area.

Then I found a Bill for Gulf Coast Recovery was passed by the House and went to the Senate where it has rotted in a committee for over a year.

This bill could provide for the most urgent need – affordable housing – at an estimated cost of $2 per person.

I just don’t get it. There must be something wrong with me.

Why can’t we as a country renew our efforts to help the Gulf Coast? Surely, it is our moral and human responsibility.

I was there – I saw the remaining destruction with my own two eyes, heard the stories first hand. They are people just like me – with one exception, one horrible exception.

If the government will not act sufficiently to help the Gulf Coast recover, we must somehow act in unison to demand that justice is done.

What is needed was put very simply a long time ago, and it has never been said better since.

“Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”

New Orleans in the Summer

In spite of the many problems plaguing New Orleans, there is also another side, the side promoted by the tourist business. In this column, I've talked about the fun side of the city and the fact that there is much to see and do, even if you do not consider yourself a "party person."

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I’ve been in New Orleans this past week for a convention with the National Society of Newspaper Columnists. The party never stops in New Orleans. The people are tourist-friendly and the visitors’ bureau is jazzed you are there.

The French Quarter is a quaint area of town where brightly-colored buildings have wrought iron balconies and flower boxes. The streets are very narrow since they were built in the 1700’s. In the evenings, bars are wide open and streets crowded with young people and pick pockets.

New Orleans’ summer weather is so hot and steamy that my hair immediately frizzed like an SOS pad. A walk down the street gave me a hot flash that even a pink hurricane in a souvenir glass couldn’t cool.

Everyone gives you strings of Mardi Gras beads to wear, which help identify you as a tourist. There is a mime, clown, human statue, or jazz musician on every corner working for tips. They seem to have more entrepreneurs per square foot than tourists.

The fact that I had a camera around my neck and stopped to take a picture every two feet probably helped to identify me as an easy mark. There were so many tourists in the French Quarter that it was hard to tell if you were tipping the locals or each other. Everybody had their hand out.

However, the street people all worked, entertained you, played music or posed with you for an unforgettable snapshot for the folks back home. One clown told me I could probably sell his picture on eBay. I guess he forgot that clowns don’t talk.

Horses and carriages give picturesque tours of the city. You can also take an old-fashioned streetcar which runs down the tracks in the middle of Canal Street, but you have to get off and change streetcars to come back. It helps if you can remember which side is downtown and which side is up.

When the wild partying starts in the Quarter at night, old people like me go back to the hotel to growl about the noise, sirens, and cursing in the streets. But even the hotel had a Carousel Bar that revolved like a merry-go-round and made you a bit dizzy whether you were drinking or not.

One evening a brass jazz band led us through the streets to our evening event, and we followed in a New Orleans tradition called “second lining”. I’m sorry I didn’t get a picture but I was too busy twirling my umbrella. Even the crowd on Bourbon Street stopped to watch when we boogied by.

Walking down Bourbon Street one morning to check out the cheap souvenir shops, I saw a dog asleep on the sidewalk while his owner apparently visited a local watering hole. I took his picture and he didn’t even open an eye. I’m surprised he didn’t have a tip jar.

In the shops, the price is never the price. If you hesitate, the price begins to go down. I went to the French market one afternoon where I found a cool copper bracelet, which is supposed to help arthritis, at least according to the guy who sold it to me. Maybe I should have bought a voodoo doll. They were cheaper and no telling what I could have cured with one of those.

They have wonderful food and restaurants and a soup called gumbo that is full of shrimp, seafood and rice. They say you just have to eat it and not worry about what’s in it. They eat crawdads there, although they have changed the name to crawfish to make them more appealing.

Our hotel was believed to have ghosts and I intended to check it out at about midnight. Unfortunately, I was so tired by nighttime that I couldn’t stay awake late enough. I did notice, however, that the elevator had no thirteenth floor.

I’m still trying to recover from the trip. All the tourist areas are back up and running like normal since Katrina and I definitely recommend it as a great place to visit.

And, if you enjoyed my column, just put a dollar in my tip jar.

Copyright 2008 Sheila Moss
http://www.humorcolumnist.com

What do you say to New Orleans?

I have just returned from New Orleans and it was an experience that has changed my life forever. I have meet people that are not victims, but heroes – heroes greater than any I ever anticipated meeting in a lifetime.

The people there have suffered beyond endurance, yet they somehow manage to have the courage to go on.

Everyone you meet in New Orleans has a story. Ask and they will tell you.

I found myself overwhelmed.

What do you say to the housekeeper making your bed when she tells you about being trapped in the Superdome, witnessing rapes and murder, too afraid to sleep or eat for five days because she was worried about her 14 grandchildren?

What do you say to the valet who parks your car who lost his wife and three children to the flood and found their lifeless bodies?

What do you say to a high school principal who brought people through a second story window into the school where seventeen hundred people lived for nearly a week on breakfast cereal and water?

What do you say when you meet a man while walking your dog that lost his children, a son and a six month old baby daughter, because he couldn’t keep their heads above the water?

What do you say to a city that drowned because it couldn’t keep its head above the water?

“The water came so fast,” they said, in matter of 20 minutes the water rushed in and the city filled up like a bathtub.

When rescue finally came they were scattered to cities all over the U.S. After three years, some have managed to return. They love New Orleans. There is a great spirit of community and most people have generations of extended family.

It is a city that deserves to be saved.

They go on with the help of volunteer organizations, people that have come to help them rebuild, heroes like a minister whose congregation has left the pews and gone to the streets to work. Heroes like a young couple who left good jobs to come to St. Bernard parish and begin a rebuilding project.

What’s left?

Before I went, more than one person asked me why I was even going there since there was nothing left. But, the people are friendly, welcoming, and grateful when someone cares.

There is devastation beyond belief. Even after three years, ghost houses stand empty in the areas that were flooded worst. Some have been torn down and only concrete pads remain as silent testament that a family once lived there. Some houses wear red crosses showing that they too are marked for destruction and cannot be saved.

No one seems sure of the statistics, but most believe half the population is gone.

Yet, the French Quarter is as rowdy and beautiful as it ever was. The founders of the city knew to build on the high ground, and so the oldest areas received the least water.

Life goes on.

There is music literally on every corner. There are flowers. The famous restaurants are open and serving up Creole food. The hotels are open with business as usual.

The most critical need is for affordable housing. A waiter in the French Quarter who swam out of the flood, said he now pays twice as much rent and is lucky to have a place.

The heroes just keep turning up.

A shopkeeper in the Quarter told me she was worried about the people in Iowa. “We know what it's like,” she said.

There are other tragedies, other stories, and even other heroes.

But the story of New Orleans is an American tragedy -- a story that isn’t over. After nearly three years, people are still dying there, from stress, from grief, from being forgotten.

What do you say to people who are still suffering?

You say "I care."

The most hopeful place in the city

Baptist Crossroads

The people of Baptist Crossroads project led by Rev. David Crosby worked on what has been called the most hopeful place in the city of New Orleans – the Musician Village project.

Home ownership is a way to lift people out of poverty and change their financial future forever, according to studies. The faith community of New Orleans has coordinated efforts and worked together to rebuild.

The people of the church left the pews and became engaged in the community. The new normal since Katrina is to go forward, not backward. In order to get over the hurricane, the experience must be integrated into life.

The city is still in recovery.

During the flood the church was an island in the sea, a refuge on higher ground for animals and people. Since the flood, half the congregation has left, moved away.

The greatest need is for volunteers to work. Any donations go for supplies. There is no requirement that a person be a musician to live in Musician Village, but there is a concentration of displaced musicians there in an attempt to preserve New Orleans’ unique musical heritage.

Habitat for Humanity

Habitat has been in New Orleans for 25 years helping to fill the need for low income housing. It is one of the oldest and best know building projects that uses volunteers. They build only new homes, which are paid for by the home owner with a 30 day, no interest loan.

A sponsor provides $75,000 toward a home and the rest is done by volunteers. To qualify, the home-owner must have at least a $19,200 income. They also must work 350 hours (sweat equity) on their home and attend meetings on how to budget and manage finances. Homes are 1100 square feet and built 5”7” off the ground (flood level).

Since Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast, Habitat has build 115 homes with 125 under construction in the New Orleans area. (1/8/08) For more information or to volunteer: http://www.habitat-nola.org

They just don't know how bad it still is...

This is after the fact, but I want to tell about some of the projects we visited that are working to help.

The St. Bernard Project

While in New Orleans, we were able to talk to some of the people that are bringing back hope to the people.

The St. Bernard Project is a rebuilding project started by two people, a young lawyer and his wife, who left their homes and jobs and moved to New Orleans after they came to visit and saw what happened there. They call themselves people who care. I call them heroes.

The people of St. Bernard have only two messages that they want people to hear:

1. DON’T FORGET US.
2. WE’RE NOT LAZY.

St. Bernard Parish is a mostly white community of hardworking people. Many work as fishermen. People laid down their life in military service for their country, many worked in government. But when they needed their government, it failed to respond to the physical need for help.

People are tied to the land and have family values. There is a perception that the flooding is a “black problem,” that they are “better off” not to return. There are people of all faith and ages. If they can solve a problem, they will. Would you tell people not to come back here?

The problems of St. Bernard Parish are solvable problems. All that is needed is people, funds, and supervision. Anyone can re-build a home with training. Only the electrical, plumbing, and cabinets require skilled workers.

The project is funded by United Way and with donations from GE, Proctor & Gamble, and Shell.

They need volunteers. To volunteer contact them at http://www.stbernardproject.com

There are great mental health problems due to loss of family and relationships. Mental health problems are increasing, not dropping. There is a need for a mental health clinic and more professionals there for a long term. The closest hospital is a 30 minute drive away.

People have not forgotten – they just don’t know how bad it still is.

Devastation of St. Bernard Parish was total. “Tell people the truth,” they pleaded. We need them for whatever they can do.

Message to New Orleans - We Care

The 32nd annual conference is over. NSNC columnists have left to back to their homes, back to jobs and newspapers all over the U.S. The theme of the conference was "We have not forgotten." We were so welcomed by the city and people were both surprised and grateful that we wanted to come back there.

It has been traumatic and emotional, in spite of taking time for fun. So many in this city have suffered and are still suffering from post-traumatic stress. They are working hard to recover, but feel forgotten while the media goes chasing after new stories to report.

There are organizations that are working to help New Orleans help itself. If you can volunteer, please go there and do so. No expertise is nececessary, just a willing spirit and desire to help. If you can't work at rebuilding -- go anyhow. The tourist industry is up and running. The people are friendly. The food is wonderful.

New Orleans needs us to go there, to visit them, show support and to let them know that we do understand, have not forgotten, and most of all that we care.

The city is not under water. But we have seen devastation beyond what we imagined could possibly still exist. The magnitude of what happened here is truly overwhelming. Numerous columns will be written all over the country by our members. A book is in the making.

New Orleans - thank you for making us so welcome. Now, more than ever, we can say "We have not forgotten." It has been a life changing experience to come here. And we intend to do all we can to see than others do not forget you either.

Pictures of devastated homes

These are pictures from our bus tour of the damaged area of the city. These are only representative pictures as the damage was so widespread it would be impossible to photograph it all. Some areas are heavily damaged, some damaged less, some damaged but repaired. Note the homes marked for demolotion, the FEMA trailers, the abandoned homes, and the empty pads where homes no longer exist.

Katrina tour of New Orleans

The French Quarter covers about 13 blocks and was on some of the higher ground, therefore, it was not flooded like the lower areas of the city. Canal Street divides the city into two sections, the American side, or uptown, and the Creole side, downtown. The streets of the French Quarter are from 1719 and very narrow.

During Katrina, the police took over Harrah’s Casino as an emergency headquarters as it was well-built. Nearly every building in New Orleans sustained damage from the storm. At Jackson Square, Bush promised that New Orleans will never be forgotten. The people of the city say he must have a short memory.

The French Market is the oldest open air market in America. Restaurants in the Quarter serve jazz and traditional foods of New Orleans, such as, Po’ Boy sandwiches, muffelettas (round sandwich), beignets (donuts) and Café Latté.

The architecture is French and Spanish; window shutters are French and wrought iron balconies are Spanish influence. The area was occupied by the Creoles, which are a blended people of many nationalities.

Flood walls protect the city, which is actually below sea level, but during Katrina there was a catastrophic failure of the flood protection system.

The Ninth Ward was one of the most devastated areas of the city and still remains mostly unrepaired and unoccupied. It is a working class community on the other side of the canal. The water came in from the lake, not from the river. Many houses stand empty, still bearing the marks of searches by the National Guard units. Some are marked for demolition by red X’s, others have been demolished and only a concrete pad remains to show that a house was there.

St. Bernard parish is a middle-class community of fishermen where many work in the fishing industry. The water filled up the area in a matter of 20 minutes, leaving people trapped and unable to escape. One high school served as a shelter to the sick and those who could not leave the city. The water flooded the first story and 1700 people survived in 8 feet of water for almost a week with little food and water.

The hurricane happened on August 29th and it was September 11th before help arrived. Over 2000 lives were lost in the New Orleans area.

More Katrina Survivors

Everyone has a story. The housekeeper who did our room told a story of horror while she made beds. She was in the Superdome during Katrina. The roof blew away and the water came in on them. There were rapes and murders. She saw a gang beat a man to death who raped a child. Old people who couldn't take the heat and stress died, and bodies lay in the sun to rot. She said she has never seen it as hot as it was those days after the storm.

She didn't eat or sleep the entire time she was there. She had 4 children and 18 grandchildren with her, and thought they were all going to die. Bodies were in the water; dead animals, and empty vehicles floated in the toxic brew. They were finally rescued by the military while looters who had stolen guns from WalMart shot at rescue helicopters. She saw dead bodies everywhere.

Her family was relocated to Dallas. She cried and couldn't sleep for months afterwards because of all she had been through. An aunt of hers died from the stress of the experience. She wanted to come home, but there was no home to come to. Many people grieved themselves to death, she said, and many are still are grieving. They have no homes and everything they worked a lifetime for is gone.

She came back to New Orleans because the hotel sent for her to come back to work. Her house is gone. There is nothing left but a foundation. She had to start over again from the bottom of her shoes. Still, she is thankful to be alive. A barge washed over the levee and crushed many houses, she said. When they finally cut it up and removed it, the houses were flat and human bones were found.

She lives in fear of another hurricane. She is tired of running, but afraid of staying. She said if she ever leaves again, it will be for the last time. Her entire family is from New Orleans and she has always lived here. Her sister died before Katrina and she is thankful that she was at least spared having to experience it.

She used to be afraid of ghosts in the hotel, but now she is not afraid. She has seen worse. She went to check the grave of her sister, and it was okay. Later, however, looters stole all the brass urns from graves in the cemetary. Every store in the city was broken into and looted. She said not a single store was spared.

There was furniture, mattresses, and trash everywhere afterwards. All the vegetation died and everything was gray. She is thankful to be alive and believes God spared her family because of prayer, but she has seen more than any person should ever have to see. She believes the city will never be the same.

"It was like the end of the world," she said.

* * * * *

My daughter talked to one of the parking valets here at the hotel about Katrina. He was out of town and couldn't get back. His entire family drowned in the flood - a wife and three children. He blames himself for not getting them out of the city, but never imagined it would be like it was. He found their bodies after the flood - all dead.

* * * * *

Another man stopped to pet the dog, then began to tell about how he lost his dog along with 7 members of his family. "People no longer care," he said. "It's been three years and they don't want to hear about it any more." He told about how the water became higher and higher. He tried to rescuse his children, but his son was swept away by water. His daughter was 6 months old and the water rose and rose until he could no longer keep her head above the water.

What can you say to people who have suffered so much? Lives have been horribly changed and will never be the same. "We thought it was the end of the world," he said. And for some of Katrina's victims, it was.

* * * * *

The stories are difficult emotionally to write about. I'm trying to write down the details just as they were told to me before I forget. These first hand accounts from eye witness are stories I know I can never forget and probably never have another opportunity to hear. They are life-changing stories. The most surprising thing is that there are still so many still suffering even after this long. We must let New Orleans know that just like them, we will never forget.

Katrina on Burbon Street

People seem anxious to tell you their story. Almost everyone here seems to have suffered. We went to Pat O'Brien's on Burbon Street where the waiter told us about his experience, spending a considerable amount of time talking. I think they want you to know, understand, what the city has suffered.

He escaped the flood by walking and swimming out, and has been displaced in Austin. He finally came back about 6 months ago. The house where he lived is gone, not worth fixing. The water was to the second story when he escaped and was 8 feet higher later on.

He was unable to find work as a waiter in Austin and had to do other work that he didn't like as well. He said there is a great shortage of housing and a place similar to what he had before now costs twice as much. It is hard for businesses to find service people due to the housing situation.

He is from New York originally but loves New Orleans, so he came back. But he said the city has changed. The tourists are not coming like they used to. The French Quarter was not flooded like the rest of the city, but it is not the same. Burbon Street is up and running, but it's heart is wounded. It believes it will recover sometime, but it will be a long, long time.

Party on...

However bad the rest of the city may be, the French Quarter parties on. The French Quarter was not under water during Katrina and recovered more quickly. It is up and running with business as usual.

We checked into the hotel and then went for a walk to Jackson Square. I took some wonderful photos, which I hope I can download and post. The weather is hot and sticky. By the time we got back to the hotel, I was having a hot flash that not even a visit to the Carousel Bar could cool.

Ran into some of our other NSNC member in the lobby of the hotel. They had been to dinner already. Wish I had. We ended up on Burbon Street looking for food. Not my kind of place, I'm afraid, too wild and too much drinking.

A taste of post Katrina

Even before we arrived, we had a taste of post Katrina New Orleans. One hundred miles before the city, we saw a storage area for FEMA trailers, what appeared to be acres. I don't know if they are coming, going, or surplus. It was a sobering reminder of what happened here.

Then crossing the causeway, we were impressed with just how surrounded by water New Orleans is. All that water, and it's below sea level. Scary... There was a new span of bridge in the process of being built.

Approaching the city via Interstate, we could see numerous building that were boarded up or just empty and abandoned. Tattered blue tarps still covered some of the roofs even after three years. Windows with missing glass stared at us with empty eyes.

No doubt about it, this grand lady called New Orleans has taken a hit. Even after three years, her bruises are still apparent.