Katrina; 8/31/05
I suppose it's inevitable that there are looters. And given their main goal appears to be beer, let 'em have it. But when they mention corpse dogs and marking houses with a black 'X' so they can return for the bodies later, you start to realize the magnitude.
I was reading SLC's blog earlier, and she said it well. I feel like those who are even bringing it up with me up here are using it as a water-cooloer conversation. But I can't describe to them the beauty that New Orleans holds, or the utter devastation that it actually is right now. I've stopped trying. So instead we're all just smiling reporters regurgitate the same phrases; "Mayor Nagen says some places the flooding is up to 20 ft," "did you hear the officials reported a 3 ft. shark swimming downtown?"
It's hard when you have that connection. From the accounts I've received, several of my friends homes are swamped. Now, this isn't their dorm or a 9-month-"home away from home." This is their home. And now, for however long martial law remains in effect, they live out of the backpack or a quickly packed suitcase. The current schedule is for Tulane's first day to be Sept. 21st. However, that's not for certain given the projection of at least one month for power to be restored and no estimates are out yet for water mains to be operational. And, until they're successful at plugging the levy, none of that can begin.
I'm not losing sight of the big picture here. The politics and technical aspects, the billions of dollars in damage, "dozens or possibly scores" (or hundreds) of those who didn't make it. But, as I'm sure everyone who's ever been more than just a tourist to New Orleans can attest to, I miss it. I agree with SLC's comments 100%. From riding down Rampart after a long day working in the Quarter, to haggling with cabbies, the ability to sit in a bar at midday for a couple pints and the best Manager's Special po-boy possible, to the transformation of downtown as day flows into night, and being downtown to see the night flow into day.
God, I miss that comfortable feeling. It wasn't just from campus, or the house, or the Bulldog (though, it definitely was at the Bulldog). That comfortable feeling was everywhere in the city. It was the city.
I was reading SLC's blog earlier, and she said it well. I feel like those who are even bringing it up with me up here are using it as a water-cooloer conversation. But I can't describe to them the beauty that New Orleans holds, or the utter devastation that it actually is right now. I've stopped trying. So instead we're all just smiling reporters regurgitate the same phrases; "Mayor Nagen says some places the flooding is up to 20 ft," "did you hear the officials reported a 3 ft. shark swimming downtown?"
It's hard when you have that connection. From the accounts I've received, several of my friends homes are swamped. Now, this isn't their dorm or a 9-month-"home away from home." This is their home. And now, for however long martial law remains in effect, they live out of the backpack or a quickly packed suitcase. The current schedule is for Tulane's first day to be Sept. 21st. However, that's not for certain given the projection of at least one month for power to be restored and no estimates are out yet for water mains to be operational. And, until they're successful at plugging the levy, none of that can begin.
I'm not losing sight of the big picture here. The politics and technical aspects, the billions of dollars in damage, "dozens or possibly scores" (or hundreds) of those who didn't make it. But, as I'm sure everyone who's ever been more than just a tourist to New Orleans can attest to, I miss it. I agree with SLC's comments 100%. From riding down Rampart after a long day working in the Quarter, to haggling with cabbies, the ability to sit in a bar at midday for a couple pints and the best Manager's Special po-boy possible, to the transformation of downtown as day flows into night, and being downtown to see the night flow into day.
God, I miss that comfortable feeling. It wasn't just from campus, or the house, or the Bulldog (though, it definitely was at the Bulldog). That comfortable feeling was everywhere in the city. It was the city.
posted by J.B.P. at 2:37 PM
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