Katrina Aftermath

Says it all
Notice how all the signs are bent forward from the storm surge.

Missing rails and temporary barriers on the I-10 bridge
Temporary Steel Bridge on I-10
Repaired Homes

Damaged homes, notice the FEMA trailer
Height of the Industrial Canal Levee. The water was over the one story home on the other side.
Looking along the Industrial Canal Levee. The area on the left was under two feet of water and inside the levee on the right there was more than 10 feet.

Spot in Jackson Square where Bush stood to address the nation, promising to rebuild the city.
Damaged park shelter in front of a new levee

The damage done by Katrina to the New Orleans area is evident long before you get into the city. When crossing the I-10 bridge east of the city there are two long sections that are temporary steel bridges sitting on the old pilings. They have to close the bridge periodically to re- tighten the bolts holding it together. On the same bridge some of the rails are gone and construction barriers are all that is between you and the edge. As you drive around the city you see entire neighborhoods that are nothing but empty houses, while in others a few houses are being repaired. There are shopping malls, schools and other buildings that are still boarded up. In some areas there are still piles of rubble as more buildings are torn down. Even in the downtown, some high rises are empty because there was so much damage to the first floor. Under I-10 on Canal Street is a tent city where many many homeless live. In the area we stayed, on the Industrial Canal near Lake Pontchartrain, all the one story homes inside the levee were totally under water. One of the popular t-shirt sayings is, "I drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was gone." Another problem is hiring enough workers because people have no place to live. We went into a huge new Winn Dixie supermarket and had to stand in a checkout line for an hour because only four registers were open. It really does anger me that we are spending billions and billions on BUSH's war and rebuilding Iraq while an American city two and a half years after this disaster is not in better shape.