First Impressions

I landed early Sunday morning and for the first time I can remember, peered out my window to see the city. Everything looked very normal -- until I looked a bit closer. Many neighborhoods had normal looking houses but a small white trailers dotting the yards. FEMA trailers I soon realized.

After checking into my hotel, I decided to take a drive to the work site. Habitat works just west of the Industrial Canal which I thought was the 9th Ward. My good buddy Paul (a New Orleans native) pointed out that the 9th Ward is actually east of the canal and when the levees broke, the canal flooded to the east. (Thanks Paul for all the suggestions and for actually reading this blog!) Apparently my first impressions are not from the areas most severely affected. I will visit there (Lower 9th Ward) tomorrow.

My initial thoughts were the physical damage was substantial -- but not overwhelming. I got lost driving around (I assume one of the effects of the flooding was that many street signs were destroyed since a large number were missing.) and found a stretch of streets that were literally a ghost town. No one could be seen, no cars, no bicycles, nothing. The emptiness was very depressing and eerie. It reminded me of downtown Detroit -- with empty shells of homes everywhere. However, these homes were damaged beyond repair. These pictures show the kinds of damage pretty well.

There were a few FEMA towns" -- basically parking lots packed with FEMA trailers. But again, no one was visible (save for the security guard at the gate). I was encouraged by the number of houses with the FEMA trailer sitting in front of the home. " I assumed this meant people were returning to New Orleans - which has to be good.

I finally found the Habitat location and there were rows of newly built houses (about 20-25) that looked very nice. I saw another guy doing the same things as I am (makes one feel less crazy to share the experience). Tomorrow I will discover the work required.