Day 8: New Orleans Part 2 “The Recovery”
Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans on August 29th 2005 at 6:10AM
Bubbles and Warren, our gracious hosts in New Orleans, were in New Orleans throughout the duration of the Hurricane Katrina tragedy. They found themselves without power for a total of 46 days. Luckily, their house is located in a higher part of town (near the Jazzfest fairgrounds). Talking to both of them in depth about their experiences gave us an interesting look into what actually went down in those days after the Hurricane hit. Interestingly, most of the duo’s stories were positive. They remembered how quiet it was. They were sitting on their roof and heard birds flapping their wings. This is an unfamiliar sound in a world full of cars, planes, and thousands of other daily white noises. Warren was a boy scout and had quite the survival arsenal in place in their basement. They had food and water that ended up lasting them a few weeks. All in all, they were very fortunate. The toughest thing for them is that they could not get to an actual working phone for 12 days to tell their loved ones that they were OK.
Bubbles and Warren warned us about the tour we wanted to take to the 9th ward. They tried to mentally prepare us for the wasteland that we would encounter.
Click here to watch our tour of the 9th ward devastation
In general, this is not a political blog. But, from what we saw in New Orleans it’s hard not to be outraged by what has happened in New Orleans. The insurance companies made 40 billion dollars in 2005 (the year of Katrina) even after the 135 billion in damages that was caused by the hurricane and subsequent flooding . The residents of New Orleans are still suffering two years later because of shady business in the insurance industry. Many have still been denied insurance help because of clauses in the “fine print” involving whether the damage was caused by “flooding” or “wind damage”. Basic homeowner policies cover wind damage but do not cover flooding. Let me ask you a question, didn’t the high winds of the Hurricane cause the storm surge and eventual flooding? There have been small victories here and there but “insurance bad faith” is still a major problem effecting thousands of lives. These people need their money to rebuild. It is as simple as that. click here to read more if you like…
To summarize, after seeing the city first hand, I believe that the recovery in the city of New Orleans still has a very long way to go.
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Notes:
> Again, much thanks to Bubbles and Warren for their incredible hospitality while we were in New Orleans. The last night in town we went out and had a “big one” with our new friends. The wine was flowing as well as some extremely funny stories.
> I have drawn the winner for the Aussie Escape Backpack giveaway. I will announce it as soon as I get confirmation from the winner.
>I would be very interested to hear anyone’s respective feedback on the video above. Throw out your opinions about what has happened in New Orleans on the comment page whatever they may be.
I personally think the best thing for everyone to do is to get online and book a flight and a hotel room in the “Big Easy”. Regardless of what has happened, there is still no other place like it in the world. In the off season it can be very affordable, even cheap. The five of us shared a nice hotel room downtown and spent $56 bucks a night. Do it up New Orleans style.
> Recommendations
Food - Mr. B’s restaurant
Museums- The New Orleans Collection
Other- Lonely Planet USA’s French Quarter Walking tour
Music- The Rebirth Brass Band
Tours- Hire a cab and tour the 9th Ward (it cost us $60 bucks for 2 hours)
> Not recommended
Going to the Casino at 4:57am
Trying to have a drink during the afternoon if you are traveling with a guy named Matt Daddio as he will very likely bitch at you.
NEXT STOP: Some thoughts about the drive across the swamp to Austin, Texas
- November 24th
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Excellent post & video. People need to see the devastation that living on a floodplain can bring.
The problems that these people are experiencing with the insurance companies happened on a smaller scale in my own backyard (Middle River, MD) in 2003 during Hurricane Isabelle. I watched the water lap at my neighbor’s doorsteps & hoped and prayed that it wouldn’t lap at mine. Part of my neighborhood did end up underwater. Up until a few months ago there were still trailers on my peninsula housing people who lost their homes.
I say all of this knowing that at any time it could be me whose house is underwater. I don’t have flood insurance because I know that if I get it I will be royally screwed like all those people who bought it and expected it to protect them. I also know that it should not be the government’s responsibility to get me back onto my feet. We aIso have our own ’survival arsenal’ in the basement for this very reason. We choose to live on the water and by doing so we are taking the risk of losing our home and everything in it.
I feel terribly sorry for all those who lost their homes, but it all boils down to the choices that we make. These people chose to live in an area prone to floods just as I have. The beauty outweighs the risk in my eyes.
I know that your trip is ultimately about having fun and learning things about our great country, but thank you for including some of the not so great things too.
People need to wake up and realize that Uncle Sam will not always be there to pick them up and brush them off.
Keep up the good work!
That’s a pretty shortsighted and ignorant comparison and it stops just short of “They got what was coming to em”. They live there because that is where the low income and affordable housing is in New Orleans.
The majority of the houses and neighborhoods that were destroyed were in the poorest parts of the city. Not everyone is fortunate enough to be able to afford and choose exactly where the want to live.
These people were no doubt aware of the fact that they lived in a flood area, but were also under the impression that they were being protected by a system of levies designed and maintained by the US Army Corps of Engineers. What they didn’t know, but the government did know, is that the levies were completely inadequate and outdated.
Dumbest post ever
Really good and really interesting post. I expect (and other readers maybe :)) new useful posts from you!
Good luck and successes in blogging!