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thatcrazycajunOn this date in 2005 at around 5:10 AM CDT, Hurricane Katrina made landfall near the towns of Triumph and Buras, LA and began its road to eclipsing 1965's Betsy, 1969's Camille (which hit at almost the same time of year) and 1992's Andrew as the historic benchmark for destructive hurricanes in the Gulf Coast region. I was living here in Atlanta at the time with the Songbird not yet having gotten her Kenya job, so we both were witness to the horrific images and reports. She herself went down to New Orleans to help get the city's health department back up and running in the weeks that followed.
If you recall, the rain and wind of the storm's initial arrival in the city actually did minimal damage itself, and folks there briefly supposed that they had dodged the bullet that had wiped half of Mississippi's and Alabama's oceanfront towns off the map. Not until the next day did the storm surge-swollen waters of the 17th Street Canal, the Mississippi River-Gulf Outlet (MRGO, or "Mr. Go" as it's known) and other local waterways break their weakened levees, starting the weeks of widespread flooding that took so many lives and devastated areas of the city and neighboring St. Bernard Parish—some of which still lie unrebuilt and abandoned today.
I don't need or want to recap for you the grisly scenes of that week, or the criminality and incompetence that impaired government response at all levels then and in the years since. And British Petroleum PLC's unconscionable negligence causing the Gulf waters that spawned Katrina to be polluted with millions of barrels of crude oil this spring and summer, further crippling the region's economy and families, didn't help. And many in the areas beyond New Orleans who still need help note that concern from others outside the region still seems to focus on New Orleans at their expense, as a Magnolia State author writes here.
Still, what used to be known as "The City That Care Forgot" is making its slow, struggling way back to full health, as Time magazine reports here. The new mayor, Democrat Mitch Landrieu (having won his daddy's old job after the forced departure of Ray Nagin, who held it when Katrina hit), estimates about 80% of the city's pre-evacuation population has returned. As the biggest hero of the aftermath, now-retired Lt. Gen. Russel Honoré, reports here to CNN, a great deal of rebuilding progress has been made. And the music, cuisine, history and culture that made the city a worldwide tourist destination are still there and going strong.
Having known its citizens for two-thirds of my life and lived there for several years, I can testify that NOLA and its people have an unconquerable spirit that not even nature's and man's worst depredations can kill off. New Orleans and the Gulf Coast will make it all the way back, even if it takes longer than most had expected or hoped. As N'Awlins folk have long said in a more sports-oriented context, "I still believe."
If you recall, the rain and wind of the storm's initial arrival in the city actually did minimal damage itself, and folks there briefly supposed that they had dodged the bullet that had wiped half of Mississippi's and Alabama's oceanfront towns off the map. Not until the next day did the storm surge-swollen waters of the 17th Street Canal, the Mississippi River-Gulf Outlet (MRGO, or "Mr. Go" as it's known) and other local waterways break their weakened levees, starting the weeks of widespread flooding that took so many lives and devastated areas of the city and neighboring St. Bernard Parish—some of which still lie unrebuilt and abandoned today.
I don't need or want to recap for you the grisly scenes of that week, or the criminality and incompetence that impaired government response at all levels then and in the years since. And British Petroleum PLC's unconscionable negligence causing the Gulf waters that spawned Katrina to be polluted with millions of barrels of crude oil this spring and summer, further crippling the region's economy and families, didn't help. And many in the areas beyond New Orleans who still need help note that concern from others outside the region still seems to focus on New Orleans at their expense, as a Magnolia State author writes here.
Still, what used to be known as "The City That Care Forgot" is making its slow, struggling way back to full health, as Time magazine reports here. The new mayor, Democrat Mitch Landrieu (having won his daddy's old job after the forced departure of Ray Nagin, who held it when Katrina hit), estimates about 80% of the city's pre-evacuation population has returned. As the biggest hero of the aftermath, now-retired Lt. Gen. Russel Honoré, reports here to CNN, a great deal of rebuilding progress has been made. And the music, cuisine, history and culture that made the city a worldwide tourist destination are still there and going strong.
Having known its citizens for two-thirds of my life and lived there for several years, I can testify that NOLA and its people have an unconquerable spirit that not even nature's and man's worst depredations can kill off. New Orleans and the Gulf Coast will make it all the way back, even if it takes longer than most had expected or hoped. As N'Awlins folk have long said in a more sports-oriented context, "I still believe."
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Date: 2010-08-29 08:30 pm (UTC)http://www.liawol.org/~taliesin/images/katrina_sunrise.jpg
Captured from the GOES sattelite at 0745EDT 29 August 2005, as Katrina ripped into the Crescent City... I actually worked on the McIDAS project once, the sattelite-based weather data distribution system....
Random image from New Orleans as the waters subsided and the rebuilding began:
http://www.liawol.org/~taliesin/images/katrina_get_er_done.jpg
Evocative of the Southron spirit of doing what it takes....
Thought you'd want to see.
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Date: 2010-08-29 08:53 pm (UTC)