Five years ago today, Katrina hit.....and that bitch hit hard.
Am I still crying? Damn straight I am.
Do We go to New Orleans every chance We get?
Hell Yeah.
If you weren't here or in Mississippi,
there's just no way to convey the frantic, desperate,
UNBELIEVABLE! devastation.
I was over 6 months pregnant with The Little Daughter.
The Chook Man had just made Sergeant
and was working dog shift.
The hurricane hit.
With our little tv, hooked up to the car battery,
We watched the progress,
the HUGE headlines that New Orleans dodged a bullet and then.....
The phucking LEVEES BROKE!!
Oh My God....all those people,
just gone
washed away.
When the Levee Breaks ~ Led Zepplin
Tubthumping ~Chumbawamba
Katrina was the worst Hurricane that I've ever been through.
My Parents had been through Camille and Betsy.
Many many peeps came to Baton Rouge for safety.
Many more were just loaded on busses and sent to somewhere,
far far away from the only home they'd ever known.
It was complete and utter Chaos.
We were Lucky, we only went with out electricity,
for less than a week,
and our biggest loss was our food.
And that wasn't even that bad,
The Brother still had lights
so we stayed there for a few days.
We were VERY Lucky.
While much of New Orleans was under water,
Baton Rouge was mostly without electricity.
You could only pay with cash,
the gas lines were atrocious,
and you were limited in how much you could buy.
Then, the news reports started coming in.
Our beautiful, wonderful, quirky New Orleans was completely obliterated.
The reports of looting and raping and just the worst of the worst.
Looting by the very people who were supposed to protect them.
Diabetics who needed insulin.
Methadone patients hitting rock bottom.
Frightened Children.
Elderly victims dead and dying,
just left, LEFT! on a street corner, or laying under trash, dead.
The beautiful scenic coastline of Biloxi, with its old stately homes,
where we spent our senior trip
Excursions to the Beach and Ship Island...
Annihilated.
I didn't even recognize where I was
when we first went back a few years ago.
And when I did realize, it broke my Heart.
Baton Rouge became this bizarre monopoly game
with people running around
offering 2, 3, a gazillion times the amount for houses,
to anyone, even those out raking their yards.
Our property values have never been the same.
Here and most especially in New Orleans.
There is no where for the EveryDay Joe and Jane to live anymore.
The Chook Man worked 16 days straight, 12 hours at a time,
all Law Enforcement was on duty to handle a city
that had hardly any electricity,
NO ice,
and a population that more than doubled over night.
Chaos.
Anger.
My moms neighborhood, the one I grew up in, was hit by a tornado.
Oak trees that have covered that street
for more than my 43 years were ripped up.
Several houses were destroyed, about 6; one is still rebuilding.
Many of the lots are just empty.
In Biloxi, old friends of my mothers, in their 80s,
told their tale of how they had to sit, both of them,
crouched on the counter in the bathroom,
as the water came up, all the way up to the edge of the counter.
And then had a "friend" welcome them to her home,
charging them $1200 for their "stay".
Five years later, New Orleans is still rebuilding.
It took over a year after Katrina
before we were able to make a road trip to New Orleans.
And damn, it felt good. real good.
Def Leppard in the arena,
the hot dog vendors out on the corners,
people with this feeling of ...being Alive.
Naturally, insurance was a complete rip off.
They tried to get out of it in both states
by saying it was "flood surge" or "wind surge"
or some assinine bullshit like that, that they didn't "cover".
They finally figured out that the levees broke
because the Corp of Engineers phucked up.
BUT! they can't be sued because of some
law or rule from 1928! that keeps them safe.
Maybe they should explain that to the family,
who in the middle of the night, as water came rushing in their house,
father and son were washed out the door,
while Mom was pinned by a dresser to a wall and drowned.
When are people going to realize that Louisiana
is not some ass backward state
with the entire population sitting on a pier on the bayou.
These same people would give you the shirt off their back,
after they rescue you in their boat and feed you jambalaya.
I grew up spending my summers on the bayous.
These are good people.
Not dumb, not flibbering idiots....good hard working people.
They, this State, deserves some good.
There were many many Louisianians who felt
that because it was New Orleans,
below sea level and "just a party town"
that we got the shaft.
New Orleans is a great city,
a city full of culture and history and characters.
We are not just about Mardi Gras
where people come from all over
to get filthy drunk and piss all over our streets and homes.
but I tell ya, that is one thing I do love about my fellow Louisianians...
Survivors!
You bring the sausage,
I'll bring the rice,
and she'll bring the drink mix,
its' allll good. even now.
Even thought many of the homes in New Orleans just won't get rebuilt.
The people still can't get the help they need.
Those with the money go in and
buy up the poor lots and make them rich lots.
They're called Developers.
You know the scenario.
Plus many of the hit areas have been deemed unable to redevelop.
Biloxi has also been "developed"
with huge monstrosities called apartments
and a Hard Rock cafe on the beach.
On a brighter note,
the Saenger Theater is getting totally refurbished, redone, rebirthed.
It is scheduled to reopen next year and am I excited.
The Chook Man and I saw the Phantom of the Opera there,
and fell in love with the old theater.
Thank You Brad Pitt for your work.
Thank You to all of You who have been here, and will come here.
We still have lots to offer
We have a budding and developing Hollywood going on over here in Louisiana.
We have great food and drinks.
We have great music and art.
You know what? Phuck it.
New Orleans is the greatest city ever,
Home of the Saints
SUPERBOWL Champs,
who believe it or not,
did more for this city's Heart than anything else.
and I say get your groove on and get your ass down here.
New Orleans is alive, and welcoming yOu!
with 25 cent Oyster night, and all the beer you can drink!
and phuck BP too!
BEST ARTICLE!!!! REALLY NAILS IT
Life since Katrina
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_katrina5_years_on
Yahoo news Then and Now
http://news.yahoo.com/nphotos/Then-and-now-New-Orleans-5-Years-after-Katrina/ss/events/us/082410katrinathennow
Saenger Theatre ~ New Orleans
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saenger_Theatre_%28New_Orleans,_Louisiana%29
Hurricane Katrina ~ wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Katrina
