New Orleans: Katrina

Three years ago today Hurricane Katrina made her mark on the north and central Gulf Coast. It was the costliest and one of the five deadliest hurricanes in the history of the United States. It was the sixth-strongest Atlantic hurricane ever recorded and the third-strongest hurricane on record that made landfall in the United States."The effects of Hurricane Katrina on New Orleans were catastrophic and long-lasting. As the center of Katrina passed east of New Orleans on August 29, 2005, winds downtown were in the Category 2 range with frequent intense gusts, and tidal surge was equivalent to about a strong Category 3 hurricane. Though the most severe portion of Katrina missed the city, the storm surge caused more than 50 breaches in drainage canal levees and also in navigational canal levees and precipitated the worst engineering disaster in the history of the United States. By August 31, 2005, eighty percent of New Orleans was flooded, with some parts under 15 feet of water. Most of the city's levees were broken in one place or another. These breaches were responsible for most of the flooding. Ninety percent of the residents of southeast Louisiana were evacuated. Despite this, many remained (mainly the elderly and poor). The Louisiana Superdome was used as a designated "refuge of last resort" for those who remained in the city. Many who remained in their homes had to swim for their lives, wade through deep water, or remain trapped in their attics or on their rooftops." -Wikipedia

While the political news has taken center stage today, my mind has wandered to New Orleans. As I type they are bracing for yet another monstrous hurricane in the Gulf Coast region. There is a near even chance that Gustav will once again pound this already damaged city.

If you had asked me about Louisiana three months ago, I would have said it was a state I had never visited and would love to go there one day. Then an unforeseen opportunity arose in May. Rich had submitted a paper to the international Society of Nuclear Medicine (molecular radiology) and was asked to present his findings at their annual conference in New Orleans on Father's Day. After a few phone calls to dear friends who kindly agreed to watch our little brood, I purchased a ticket and would be joining Rich on this adventure. I was thrilled to hear Rich speak and I couldn't wait to explore a new city with him. I did a bit of online research and called my brother and his wife who had spent a week there a few years ago. I was ready.

It was an intense whirlwind trip. We were only gone from our home for 36 hours. After the small bit of drama on my part (left my beloved camera home!), it dawned on me that this was the first time in four years that I had left the kids behind to travel alone with Rich. How lucky was I to be with my best friend, no kids, be there to share in his presentation, enjoy the sights, foods and sounds of a unique and strange place.

While I had expected a bit of history and intrigue once we arrived in New Orleans, the prevailing feeling that over powered me was sadness. This was a place of heartache. As our plane made its descent to land at Louis Armstrong International airport, I gazed out the window trying to see the city from above. The first thing that caught my eye were the cement grid of sidewalks, streets forming a neighborhood. There clearly were foundations, but the home were missing. They simply were not there. They had all been utterly destroyed in the storm. The sight made my stomach lurch. It looked like a war zone. As we landed, just past the end of the runway I saw a huge shopping mall that was boarded up and vacant still three years later. These were my first images of New Orleans. It was hard to believe that after so many months it was still in such disarray.

We hailed a cab and as we neared the city, my heart raced as I spied the Superdome in the distance. We exited the freeway and drove right next to it. All the images of the people waiting, suffering and in despair filled my mind from the news pieces I had watched on TV during the Katrina aftermath. It gave me chills and a lump formed in my throat. This wasn't quite the place I had envisioned. While the scenery was lovely, if you looked closer you noticed broken windows, boarded up buildings and nearly empty streets. It brought to mind Will Smith in the movie I Am Legend. Where were all the people? Yes, it was Sunday, but it had a vague feeling of a ghost town. Don't worry the trip was not all gloom and doom and we packed in so much in our short stay (I think you can sleep when you get home!), but the city made an impact on my heart. While I still think of New Orleans as a seedy and wicked town come Mardi Gras, it was a place full of culture, music and people who lost much of the magic- that spark that it was known for- back in August 2005. In the Big Easy, Katrina is one name that will never be forgotten or maybe even healed from.