Returning to New Orleans

The last time I left New Orleans I was being evacuated on the back of a military truck that was navigating through the city's flooded streets against a backdrop of war-like destruction. Two months after Hurricane Katrina tore through the Gulf Coast, I returned to New Orleans for a brief visit. I was both impressed and disheartened by what I saw in terms of the city's recovery. \nThe ferocity of the hurricane is clearly evident two months later. Fallen trees, fences and parts of houses are common sights. Blue plastic tarp covers the damaged roofs of several homes. Thousands of refrigerators line the streets of residential neighborhoods. The food within these discarded refrigerators has rotted so dramatically during weeks without electricity that the refrigerators have to be sealed shut with duct tape and disposed of by the city. Parts of City Park and Lafreniere Park have been converted to vast dumping grounds for fallen trees and branches that are now being churned into wood chips. \nEvidence of the flooding that affected 80 percent of the city is widespread. In the districts that flooded, orange spray-painted markings on the front of every building are a reminder of the grim task officials went through while searching for corpses and give these parts of the city a surreal feeling. On the street side, unclaimed cars that flooded sit caked in a ghostly white film.\nInsulation, floor panels, sheetrock, carpets and mattresses from the gutted interiors of houses whose residents have started to rebuild are piled on street corners waiting to be collected and disposed of. Small boats that had been used to navigate deep within the city during the flooding that exceeded 15 feet of water in some places now lay awkwardly on dry land by the side of major thoroughfares. On St. Claude Avenue and Elysian Fields Avenue, the hauls of a few burnt-out buildings and cars attest to fires that raged unchallenged in the aftermath of the storm. Few traffic lights work in the city and most intersections operate as four-way stops.\nThe infrastructural, economic and social devastation and disruption created by Hurricane Katrina and the resulting flooding is literally colossal. Katrina resulted in the largest metropolitan diaspora in U.S. history. Scott Cowen, president of Tulane University, which is the largest private employer in New Orleans, estimated during a speech in New York City Oct. 29 that only 11 percent of the city's pre-storm population of 468,000 remained or had returned. Located in the less affected Uptown District, Tulane University had to cancel classes for the fall semester.\nSome parts of the city appear to have made remarkable progress in their recovery or were fortunately relatively unscathed by the storm and subsequent flooding. The world famous 143-year-old Café du Monde on Decatur Street reopened Oct. 19 and displays an outdoor banner that proudly proclaims "The Beignets are Back" in reference to its signature treat. Aside from the unusually small number of people walking on the streets and customers at cafés and restaurants, there is a feeling of considerable normality in these parts of town. \nHowever, there are still police-manned entry checkpoints from 8 p.m. to dawn in that area, and non-residents are not allowed to pass through during nighttime. There is still a military presence in the city; military humvees and trucks drive back and forth during the day and I was told by a resident of the Bywater area that the military conduct patrols there at night. Not far from the makeshift fire station is a stretch of road that was painted with the word "HELP" in 10-feet-tall letters during the flooding and a house with the warning "You loot, you dead" spray-painted on it. \nA lot of commercial rehabilitation and reconstruction activity is going on in various parts of the city. Street signs and posters near demolition, cleanup and reconstruction crews advertise $10-per-hour wages and immediate employment. It appears to me that community support, volunteerism and business opportunity will play as significant a role, if not an even larger role, than government assistance in the uneven recovery of this city. Yet despite all the construction work and recent progress, there are parts of the city that seem starkly lifeless and neglected. \nThe future of New Orleans and its former and current residents is vague. I have no doubt that a significant proportion of the city will be rebuilt and repopulated in the next few years. But the demographic make up, rates of district recovery, social and economic vitality, as well as the future population size of the city will only be known with time. As of now there are still residents in the city who face various adversities and who continue to suffer incredible personal, family and financial disruption. \nSome of the minor hurdles faced by some of the city's residents include few convenience stores being opened in the residential areas and the inconvenience of residents having to travel considerable distances to get food and water with the limited aid of the city's now-crippled public transportation system. Some city residents never owned personal modes of transportation and others lost their vehicles in the storm. Another issue is that not all the residents who have returned have had their home gas heating restored and evenings in the city can be cold. Average daily low temperatures in New Orleans in November and December are expected to be 52 and 46 degrees Fahrenheit, respectively.\nThe vast majority of New Orleans residents remain scattered across the United States. Some people never left the city, others have returned to rebuild and will soon be followed by more. A fortunate number of people may find their homes intact, while others have nothing to return to. Many will choose to settle in new cities.\nPeople who have never lived in New Orleans may decide to move there and take advantage of various housing and job opportunities. All these people are more important than the physical city of New Orleans itself, and I hope their needs and future aspirations are assessed and addressed through means that are satisfactory to them. That is a tall order and one that I fear will likely be ignored.