NEW ORLEANS

2005

AFTER KATRINA

The Good, The Bad & the Ugly

#####################################################################

AFTER KATRINA

My first visit to New Orleans after Katrina was during Thanksgiving, about three months after the hurricane. All of the city was still affected by the disaster, and much of it is lost from what it once was...it will never be as it was. During Thanksgiving the streetcars were still out of operation, the traffic lights on Canal Street were replaced by portable stop signs, debris littered all neighborhoods in front lawns, and in New Orleans East and Lakefront, tens of thousands of houses were gutted, and in need of complete renovation, rebuilding or razing.

In the French Quarter where there's normally tens of thousands of tourists, there were hundreds.

The streets around Jackson Square that are normally reserved strictly for pedestrians, painters and palm readers had security vehicles, many from out of state. On Bourbon St. there were New York troopers mixed with Louisiana and local officers on every street. It seem excessive and wasteful given the lack of tourists, perhaps fewer than any Thanksgiving in the past 50 or more years.

But the French Quarter was nonetheless in operation, though with only half of businesses open, with reduced staffing and limited menus...even the Cafe du Monde was only open till 8 pm rather it's normal 24/7 schedule. Still, it looked good, ready for tourists, ready to sprout new life, laughter, and love.

But first, here's some devastating shots from elsewhere in the Big Easy.