Just got back last night. Had to take care of my kid and show up for work.
There is no way a person can comprehend the extent of the devistation without having seen it firsthand. I took pictures to share with people back here, but pictures just don't show how this goes on and on as far as you travel in the city and around.
Signs of life coming back:
We were staying in Marigny. Even tho it has not been cleared to re-enter, about 20% of the people are back. Most of the homes in Marigny do not qualify for the Corps of Engineers Blue Tarp roof covering because they are either slate, asbestos shingle or metal roofed and they won't tarp any of these. The gas is still out, so the few restaraunts that are cooking are using barbeques and everybody we know there is taking cold showers.
There were no gas stations in the area open last week except for one in Metarie. In the last couple of days a few more have opened. Amazingly the gas prices are about the same that they were before. Most of these stations had not been restocked so the food and drinks were limited to whatever was left.
As of Sunday there were only three big grocery stores that were open and they were on limited hours, closing at 4 or 5 pm. They can't do any more than that because they can't find enough help. At least a third of the people who evacuated said that they are not coming back and that severly cuts into the available labor force. One Burger King (i believe in Slidell) was paying $10 an hour for anyone who would work and offering a $6000 sign on bonus to be paid at the end of your first year. It is going to be a major challange for some time to come to find affordable housing so that people who work in service industries will be able to return to the city to work.
The bars in the French Quarter had threatened to start ignoring the curfew and by doing so managed to get it moved from midnight till 2 pm. They argued that if everybody wanted the economy to get going again that they had to be able to be open for business.
There are lots of efforts by groups and individuals to feed people. The Rainbow Coalition and Food Not Bombs are set up in Washington Park and feeding anyone who shows up. Dragos Restaurant was cooking hot lunches for anyone in the Lakeview area that was hungry. And we met a guy named Tom who had brought his smoker from Mississippi and set it up near the police station on Ramparts and was feeding the police, firefighters, relief workers and anyone else who happened by. These are just the efforts that we ran into in areas that we were working.
The word is that so far 55 krewes are committed to going ahead with their Mardi Gras Parades. Mardi Gras is going to prove to be a turning point for the whole city after the disaster. It is a chance to show that you can't keep a good town down. I happened to sit in on the Krewe du Vieux meeting on Saturday and 16 of the 19 sub-krewes were represented and all were committed to the annual walking parade through the Quarter (2 Saturdays before Fat Tuesday).
Other major steps forward - One half of the Twin Span re-opened on Sunday with one lane of traffic on I-10 going each way - more than two weeks ahead of schedule. And many of the major hotels like the Monteleone in Quarter are reopening this week.
There is no way a person can comprehend the extent of the devistation without having seen it firsthand. I took pictures to share with people back here, but pictures just don't show how this goes on and on as far as you travel in the city and around.
Signs of life coming back:
We were staying in Marigny. Even tho it has not been cleared to re-enter, about 20% of the people are back. Most of the homes in Marigny do not qualify for the Corps of Engineers Blue Tarp roof covering because they are either slate, asbestos shingle or metal roofed and they won't tarp any of these. The gas is still out, so the few restaraunts that are cooking are using barbeques and everybody we know there is taking cold showers.
There were no gas stations in the area open last week except for one in Metarie. In the last couple of days a few more have opened. Amazingly the gas prices are about the same that they were before. Most of these stations had not been restocked so the food and drinks were limited to whatever was left.
As of Sunday there were only three big grocery stores that were open and they were on limited hours, closing at 4 or 5 pm. They can't do any more than that because they can't find enough help. At least a third of the people who evacuated said that they are not coming back and that severly cuts into the available labor force. One Burger King (i believe in Slidell) was paying $10 an hour for anyone who would work and offering a $6000 sign on bonus to be paid at the end of your first year. It is going to be a major challange for some time to come to find affordable housing so that people who work in service industries will be able to return to the city to work.
The bars in the French Quarter had threatened to start ignoring the curfew and by doing so managed to get it moved from midnight till 2 pm. They argued that if everybody wanted the economy to get going again that they had to be able to be open for business.
There are lots of efforts by groups and individuals to feed people. The Rainbow Coalition and Food Not Bombs are set up in Washington Park and feeding anyone who shows up. Dragos Restaurant was cooking hot lunches for anyone in the Lakeview area that was hungry. And we met a guy named Tom who had brought his smoker from Mississippi and set it up near the police station on Ramparts and was feeding the police, firefighters, relief workers and anyone else who happened by. These are just the efforts that we ran into in areas that we were working.
The word is that so far 55 krewes are committed to going ahead with their Mardi Gras Parades. Mardi Gras is going to prove to be a turning point for the whole city after the disaster. It is a chance to show that you can't keep a good town down. I happened to sit in on the Krewe du Vieux meeting on Saturday and 16 of the 19 sub-krewes were represented and all were committed to the annual walking parade through the Quarter (2 Saturdays before Fat Tuesday).
Other major steps forward - One half of the Twin Span re-opened on Sunday with one lane of traffic on I-10 going each way - more than two weeks ahead of schedule. And many of the major hotels like the Monteleone in Quarter are reopening this week.
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New Orleans
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