Six Months After Katrina… 9/18/2019 Six Months After Katrina… …slow Recovery in New Orleans Thomas McGuire, Author, Amsco School Publications

The Big Easy - pre-Katrina 9/18/2019 The Big Easy - pre-Katrina

New Orleans is known for all kinds of local color… 9/18/2019 New Orleans is known for all kinds of local color…

9/18/2019 …including Mardi Gras!

New Orleans has expanded from the natural levees Construction of levees along the Industrial Canal connecting the Mississippi River with shore areas to the east. New Orleans has expanded from the natural levees (the high ground) near the Mississippi River into lower, former swamplands drained and now protected by high, man-made dikes.

9/18/2019 Then came Katrina…

…a strong category 3 hurricane when it struck New Orleans. 9/18/2019 …a strong category 3 hurricane when it struck New Orleans.

9/18/2019 Compare satellite images before and during the flood. (Dark blue is water.)

Hurricane winds made for tough sailing! 9/18/2019 Hurricane winds made for tough sailing!

Rings on buildings show muddy floodwater levels. 9/18/2019 Rings on buildings show muddy floodwater levels.

Red dots where bodies have been found. 9/18/2019 Note the highlighted areas of Lakeview and the Lower 9th Ward.

Flooding hit well-to-do white neighborhoods such as Lakeview. 9/18/2019 Flooding hit well-to-do white neighborhoods such as Lakeview.

9/18/2019 In the background is one of more than half a dozen breaks in the man-made levees around New Orleans, this one in the middle class Lakeview neighborhood.

The latest in city-wide architectural style is the pervasive 9/18/2019 The latest in city-wide architectural style is the pervasive FEMA blue tarp roof.

9/18/2019 Even homes that look relatively undamaged have FEMA trailers parked outside which tell the real story…

…this one the inside story. 9/18/2019 …this one the inside story. (Once water gets into the walls, this is the only way to fix it.)

9/18/2019 But Katrina saved it’s greatest destruction for the mostly-black 9th Ward. (This is a street.)

9/18/2019 The force of water is evident. Note that this house shows no water level, as it was totally submerged.

Some people escaped the rising water by making holes in their roofs. 9/18/2019 Some people escaped the rising water by making holes in their roofs.

9/18/2019 Large parts of the lower 9th still look like a war zone, even after six months.

Debris is pushed aside to allow junk cars to be hauled out. 9/18/2019 Debris is pushed aside to allow junk cars to be hauled out.

9/18/2019 Reconstruction the breaks in the dikes took first priority as officials debate costs and benefits of better protection from re-engineered levees.

9/18/2019 Signs like these remind us that these are not just houses but people’s lives, waiting for the next phase of a long chain of demolition and disappointment.

When patience and hope falter, humor can help. 9/18/2019 When patience and hope falter, humor can help.

But, for New Orleans , as the Terminator said, “I’ll be back!” 9/18/2019 But, for New Orleans , as the Terminator said, “I’ll be back!”

9/18/2019 Credits: Thomas McGuire is the author of several of Amsco’s Earth science books including his 2005 textbook “Earth Science; The Physical Setting.” www.amscopub.com Special thanks to Dr. James H. McGuire of Tulane University and his wife who sold the house with the FEMA trailer outside (and the gutted interior) two months before Katrina. They now own a townhouse on the north shore of Lake Pnnchartrain. The new owners are in the reconstruction process. The aerial and satellite images as well as the newspaper map are not original. All other images are by the author. Author’s images taken at Mardi Gras 2006