8-29-2005 (9 Years) (1 Viewer)

[El Caliente]

I wasn't in the city for Katrina so please, post your stories for those of us who weren't there.

 

[guidomerkinsrules]

if it comes to that, my story will follow, but this is what's on my mind right now (i sent this out on my FB last night):

on this Katrina anniversary eve, i think i'm feeling a particular way...
Many people came back to New Orleans as soon as we could. And we got to work rebuilding homes, schools, heck the city. We threw away mountains of moldy trash. we rebuilt much of the city. we helped each other at every turn. My fellow artists and I performed in every kind of broken down venue, houses with no walls, etc for any and everyone who needed/wanted it - for each other and definitely not for the money
now i'm getting the real strong impression that those of us who did the rebuilding are being elbowed out - people who have no skin in the game - recent arrivals with little to no understanding of the community they're entering are moving into the houses we rebuilt and jobs we created
i guess i don't even blame them, allowing themselves to "find" this great opportunity they blindly stumbled into - blithely taking is always so much easier than assuming responsibility.
and at this point i'm not even sure i want to fight - maybe because i wonder if this is the natural order of things - or maybe because once i start fighting i'm not sure i'd know how to stop

 

[BigOdin504]

I'm with you Guido.
I was living in the 9th ward ( upper, bywater, whatever euphemism is used ) and did not flood. After having my child and watching the neighborhood change, I had to move. I like the progress in the hood, but miss the old-time yats. Bud-rips was just bought out by R-bar and I am worried that bar will change too.
I now live in mid-city and find myself more comfortable here. I cannot put into words very well, but I also feel a certain disconnect with those that came years after the rebuild.

 

[guidomerkinsrules]

I'm with you Guido.
I was living in the 9th ward ( upper, bywater, whatever euphemism is used ) and did not flood. After having my child and watching the neighborhood change, I had to move. I like the progress in the hood, but miss the old-time yats. Bud-rips was just bought out by R-bar and I am worried that bar will change too.
I now live in mid-city and find myself more comfortable here. I cannot put into words very well, but I also feel a certain disconnect with those that came years after the rebuild.

^to a degree i know not to get too bunged up by gentrification - it happens
and for the most part i don't mind the ones who actually come in and fix up a house/neighborhood- who build up some sweat equity
my problem is with the ones who slide in and "claim" someone else's work (and then price the natives out)

 

[efil4stnias]

I'm with you Guido.
I was living in the 9th ward ( upper, bywater, whatever euphemism is used ) and did not flood. After having my child and watching the neighborhood change, I had to move. I like the progress in the hood, but miss the old-time yats. Bud-rips was just bought out by R-bar and I am worried that bar will change too.
I now live in mid-city and find myself more comfortable here. I cannot put into words very well, but I also feel a certain disconnect with those that came years after the rebuild.

The R Bar is owned by someone i know. He was here long before the Storm. He is a pretty well known artist w/ a Gallery in the Warehouse District. So to that extent, its not going to an "out of town" person.


As to guidos post....elbowed out? By who(m)? im curious as to why you feel that way. Are you referring to some of the folks that you helped rebuild? Did they not choose to return and now their places are occupied by others?

I get the sense that some of the folks that come here, set up and then claim to " be New Orleanian" when they are really transplants, i kinda get annoyed with. There is some of that going on to an extent. But it doesnt bother me that a young professional moves here, sets roots Uptown, assimilates and identifies with the culture. Im all for new recruits lol.

 

[wnelson]

just read One Dead In Attic

 

[guidomerkinsrules]

El C, sorry about thread jacking
to answer your question:

my GF at the time (wife now) had just put the last box down in our new apt on Lyons, put our dog and 2 cats in a car and headed to friend's mom's house in grammercy (we'd rode out 2 previous storms there) - obviously grammercy was not far enough - 4 days no electricity - which was it's own blessing b/c no TV turned out better than having to watch the city look like it was going to wash away
we stayed drunk

once the city shut down we trekked east - birmingham for a few days, eastern tennessee a few days finally we were loaned a place in N Bergen, NJ - i taught at Montclair St and my GF had to commute (weekly) to DC to teach there

i came back once the city reopened - our family house was on Pratt Dr which is on the London ave canal - we were 10 houses down from the breach = 10ft of water standing in house for a month.
we went over with the intention to clean - my father walked in looked at the inside for about 3 seconds and turned and walked back out
we salvaged what we could (veryvery little) and headed back to my cousin's in metairie (i'd experimented with some acid and some mushrooms in my 20s - those experiences were no where near as trippy as what that house looked like)...
tbc

 

[geauxboy]

I wasn't there, but I watched the non stop coverage of one of the local tv stations that actually relocated to their Mississippi affiliate and borrowed clothes from their staff.

There was a funny (but not funny at all really) time when their helicopter was flying around the city and they were on a personal mission for the newscasters (and staff) of locating their houses to get an idea of what has happened. Were they spared or was their house gone? The helicopter was getting close to the newscaster's house, but he couldn't make out the area too well. Then the camera panned to show Ernie K Doe's place. The newscaster said "Well I can't find my house, but there's Ernies".

I remember staying up till about 3 in the morning when the hurricane hit and watching the webcam from Copeland's. Watching the feed, I was starting to feel a bit relieved as it appeared that this storm wasn't nearly as bad as I thought. The barometric pressure was going down just slightly (as expected), but it still seemed to be in a relatively good area that I felt was harmless enough. My gf woke me up the next morning and told me that the city was flooding. I just couldn't believe in those few hours how bad it got.

 

[guidomerkinsrules]

As to guidos post....elbowed out? By who(m)? im curious as to why you feel that way. Are you referring to some of the folks that you helped rebuild? Did they not choose to return and now their places are occupied by others?

in terms of actual living situations, it's more people i know getting priced out of their neighborhoods (or actual houses)

my larger concern is the myriad of Teach for America type programs - local and national organizations that recruit from outside and are moving out the people who actually built/rebuilt the schools and jobs
b/c most schools are now "at will" there are no checks and balances to determine/understand why people are fired

I get the sense that some of the folks that come here, set up and then claim to " be New Orleanian" when they are really transplants, i kinda get annoyed with. There is some of that going on to an extent. But it doesnt bother me that a young professional moves here, sets roots Uptown, assimilates and identifies with the culture. Im all for new recruits lol.

NO is a port city - it's had "open" borders for 300 years - most want to come here and be part of the city
then you have others who want to move to cool neighborhoods and then they set about trying to pass ordinances that undermines the very cool that attracted them in the first place (it's like marrying the tattooed dancer and then trying to turn her into a suburban housewife)

 

[El Caliente]

I grew up on S. Murat (back by where parade floats are/were held) in the 80's (parents were there since 70's), and we moved to California in 94. Whenever we come to town I like to swing by the old house and see how the neighborhood is. The place hasn't changed up (for better or worse) since Katrina. Still plenty of messed up houses, and plenty of kept up houses. The house I grew up in seems a lot smaller than I remember it as a kid, and the new owner has changed it a bit since 94', but that was more poor planning on their part than anything Katrina did.

As for home prices, were Lakeview, and the shotguns around Childrens Hospital so expensive before the storm?

 

[guidomerkinsrules]

just bulletting some remembrances:
- my friend's mom was the CEO of st james parish hospital and she sent my friend and i to get medical supplies from the FedEx guy - they wouldn't let their drivers drive any further south than Baton Rouge
- the smell - just amazing
- maybe 6 4 story mountains of trash on West End neutral ground
- Slim Goody's being one of the first eateries open- great to connect with everyone there and eat a hot meal (same with Rouses on Tchoup)
- the perverse thrill of biking at night with NO lights anywhere and potholes everywhere
- performing in the disgustingness that was the Nunez Community College auditorium
- sitting next to w woman on a NJ bus who wanted to tell me what Katrina was all about and didn't want/need to hear from me even though i had just returned from there
- the 1000 yd stare on every driver pulling up to all those 4way stop signs
- the AMAZING since of community
- maybe not the best Mardi Gras, but easily the most important

 

[inetnawlins]

Lakeview houses were valuing well before the storm. Then overnight, they were worth nothing, yet many of us still had mortgages. In the last two years, they've valued up again and now are desired properties.

Rebuilt my house, my sisters, and my parents in Lakeview. Protected the house during the rebuild from thieves, both from other parts of the city and from out of state.

Fought for insurance money and Road Home. Eventually rebuilt and feel like I lost years off my life.

Knew people that committed suicide in that next six months. Had neighbors become sick and die from the stress. (At least I believe the stress played a large role). Lots of divorces, lots of anger.

Survived.

And then the state tried to take back elevation money after they trotted out higher ups to show my house as an example of a homeowner that "did the right thing."

Lots more to the story, but I'm done giving energy out on that time in my life.

 

[El Caliente]

Lakeview houses were valuing well before the storm. Then overnight, they were worth nothing, yet many of us still had mortgages. In the last two years, they've valued up again and now are desired properties.

Rebuilt my house, my sisters, and my parents in Lakeview. Protected the house during the rebuild from thieves, both from other parts of the city and from out of state.

Fought for insurance money and Road Home. Eventually rebuilt and feel like I lost years off my life.

Knew people that committed suicide in that next six months. Had neighbors become sick and die from the stress. (At least I believe the stress played a large role). Lots of divorces, lots of anger.

Survived.

And then the state tried to take back elevation money after they trotted out higher ups to show my house as an example of a homeowner that "did the right thing."

Lots more to the story, but I'm done giving energy out on that time in my life.

Please go on. This and what Guido are talking about are just what I want to hear about.

My brother in Lakeview was in the same boat as you. Insurance was being a cluster f...and he nearly gave up and moved away. Thankfully he didn't as since Katrina he has built 5 houses in Lakeview.

 

[Stealth Matrix]

Being on the Westbank, we didn't get much more than wind damage. Mind you, some really bad wind damage to go around. But nothing like the flood that engulfed the city and St. Bernard.

What really sticks out to me to this day is:

1. The months upon months of death smell that permeated the area
2. The weeks after the storm that everything was... quiet. A very eerie, empty quiet that I've never heard in an urban area before or since, reminds me of being out in the countryside type quiet. I guess I never knew that power lines and cars really made much noise until there was no power or cars anywhere.
3. The general empty, post-apocalyptic feeling that you were most truly alone in the area. Not a soul in sight in many places.
4. When you DID see people most times it was police/the military, that coupled with the wind damage that made the area look torn to pieces gave glimpses of what a war zone might look like.

 

[Yoweigh]

I remember staying up till about 3 in the morning when the hurricane hit and watching the webcam from Copeland's. Watching the feed, I was starting to feel a bit relieved as it appeared that this storm wasn't nearly as bad as I thought. The barometric pressure was going down just slightly (as expected), but it still seemed to be in a relatively good area that I felt was harmless enough. My gf woke me up the next morning and told me that the city was flooding. I just couldn't believe in those few hours how bad it got.

this was my experience almost exactly. i had my eyes glued to that webcam, thinking to myself, "great, this doesn't look so bad after all!" right before the levees broke. maybe it's all my fault?

i evacuated to baton rouge where i stayed with my uncle. as the house slowly filled up with evacuees it became clear that we were going to be there for a while. as soon as my dad was able to confirm that our house in pass christian had been completely obliterated we used the insurance money to buy a house in down the block from my uncle's right before the housing market went nuts. we ended up taking in evacuees from rita, then a tree fell on the new house and busted straight through the ceiling. thankfully no one was hurt. my dad ended up flipping the house for a profit, too.

i first got back into the city two weeks after the storm to rescue my cat. getting in was a huge pain. nopd was turning us away at every route we took, unless we were blocked by a makeshift rubble levee instead. after a few hours of trying we eventually got in at metairie road by the interstate, where there was only national guard posted, something like 30min before curfew. when we pulled up in the driveway the cat was waiting in the window and promptly went nuts when she saw me. there was no power, gas, or potable water. the deserted city was incredibly creepy, especially at night with search choppers all over the place. during the day, all of the national guard posts with humvees made sure you wouldn't be feeling normal anytime soon. we ended up cleaning 3 katrina fridges... barf... but in one we found warm beer and slightly moldy pot. best warm beer ever! the next day we toured as much of the city as we could. they were still pumping water from the lower levels of buildings all over downtown and a lot of the city was just completely inaccessible via car. once the warm beer was gone we had nothing safe to drink so we headed back to BR.

i moved back into the city for good as soon as my place got power, maybe 2 months after the storm. i was incredibly lucky that my house (on audubon st between claiborne and fontainebleau) didn't flood... pretty much everyone around me did. but the AC vents underneath the house had flooded and i had no heat or gas service. i was pretty much living at the boot and cooter's for a while. they were the only places around with food, and cooter's even had internet! the red cross truck drove by my house every day to give me canned water and pudding snacks.

for a while i was doing a reverse commute from new orleans to baton rouge for work. there was always bumper to bumper traffic the entire stretch of I10 while i flew by in the other direction. after a month or so of that my company was able to move back into the texaco center and things started feeling a lot more normal, finally.

the end.