On Tuesday, Krista Rae and I decided to take our photographic skills out to the lower ninth ward to see for ourselves the damage that fours years of no help does to a Katrina destroyed community. Although we were unsure of how to get there and discouraged by a cop, we showed up with open eyes and even more open hearts. Not much talking occurred as we drove around the ghost neighborhoods. We talked to some residents, some rebuilders, and some children as we made our way around a part of the city the rest of the world has forgotten. These photographs can't begin to tell you what the lower ninth looks like. There were entire fields empty of houses that once used to look like the French Quarter. I can't even begin to emotionally tell you what the experience was like.
As I spend more time in NoLa, I can't read about this city fast enough, especially about the culture, the state of the schools, and the impact/facts of Katrina. During the storm, parts of NoLa took on 12 feet of water. 54 levees broke in the surrounding gulf region, two of which caused the most flooding, in the lower ninth ward. Although most of New Orleans evacuated during the storm, alot of the residents of the lower ninth and eleventh ward didn't have the means to evacuate their city. As you drive through New Orleans now the aftermath of Katrina is visible everywhere. Not only do you see the destruction of the houses and businesses and people's livelihood, but the inequities that have plagued New Orleans since time began in seems, are more evident than ever. The Lakeview neighborhood, which we also drove through yesterday, was hit as hard as the lower ninth ward. However - the community - being middle/upper class and white has rebuilt their world - both with their own means and with governmental support. As I walk around New Orleans and the surrounding community I hear people talking about Katrina and everything that came with it time and time again. The scars this storm exposed cannot seem to heal.
