"Underwater"

We took a 3 hour bus tour that drove us though various area of New Orlens, we went from very poor areas, middle class, heritage, warehouse and hotel districts, parks, golfcourses and even a brand new residential area, only to find out that everywhere we drove was UNDERWATER during Katrina! It was a goosebump moment... At one point our guide showed us the water lines on houses where the water had sat for 5 days, so the water actually rose 5 feet higher than that. Then she said a chilling comment, On St Bernard there are no water lines, the water was above the roof! Here you see holes in the roof where people broke free of their homes though them. Also the X's that mark the date and survivors and or diceased is written on the roof, not the door because the door is buried.

(Over to Dean)
Diane, our tour guide, lived Hurricane Katrina. She is a federally licensed bus driver who was called into service because of her federal license. She drove a bus that carried surivors of Katrina. Her stories are heart wrenching and she tells them like it just happenned yesterday. She started out by saying the Tour itself, is full of controversy because some people thought it might be seen as trying to profit from this terrible disaster. She warned us that some people on the tour may give us looks of disgust because of this but most people will wave and be friendly. Like my brand new wife says, the tour is is mesmerizing from start to finish. The tour kicks into high gear from the moment she puts the bus in drive. We hit the highway and the first thing she does on the highway is show you the waterline stains on the highway cement divider. At this moment, you realize the complete devastation the flood must have wrought. The water covered 145 square miles. New Orleans covers 190 square miles. Total devastation. The water line extends for miles. Then you begin to see it all. She pulls up next to a home with an X on it and explains what that means. The house is vacant, destroyed, like a gigantic piece of trash that will never be picked up. We drive by houses that are being put on blocks and raised 6 feet. The tour guide says this is waste because a strong wind will just take the house down again. But a lot of people are doing it. Our tour bus arrives at the 17th St. Canal - the source of a major breach. It is kind of eery to see the section of the wall with brand new concrete and nothing else. Diane assails the Army Corp of Engineers for only re-enforcing the breach when the levy walls are flawed and this is guaranteed to happen again unless they fix it. Beside this canal is a purple house. It has obviously been destroyed by the flood. However, she says what is it still doing here? All the others floated away. She points out the cinder block foundation where the house was orginally. You can see the house was completely upended from it foundation and has floated about 20 feet - the only thing that kept it close to it's original resting place was a large tree.

The bus moves on - Diane tells how all you saw on the news was how the storm affected the poor areas. She drives us into a rich area. This was really eerie. Here we have beautiful homes, dream homes that are vacant. You then realize the whole neighbourhood is vacant. Diane points out a few houses that are still occupied but points out to look into the windows and see there is nothing left in these home. No drapes on the windows that reveal empty homes. It was so eerie. Like Selena said, we are driving for 3 hours in this bus in areas that were under water. She says that mortgages for these home are hard to get because you can't get insurance so you can't get a mortgage.

Just when we thought we had seen everything, she drives us through the ninth ward. She stops in front of one house that is on the right side of the street and then points to a vacant lot across the street to where the house should be. The ninth ward is completely gone. An entire neighbourhood gone. It was really hard to believe but we have many pictures to show. Wow. She pauses the bus on the highway overlooking the ninth ward and reminds us that this is not a park, which is what it looks like now, it's a neighbourhood.

The tour was pretty depressing but Diane was not without optimism. She said that if anyone is looking for a career change - New Orleans is finally starting to boom again. A new hospital is about to open up so the city will need doctors, nurses and hospital staff. She pointed out where a new cruiseship dock was being built. She also said everyone asks what they can do to help. She has a two word answer: come here. She said the best thing anyone can do is spend some time in New Orleans. They need the tourist dollars. The money generates tax revenue and creates jobs. New Orleans is once again a great tourist destination ironically because of great tours like this one.
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