Mail Lady and the Levees

I'm afraid. I'm very afraid. I fear for the survival of the Crescent City and the remainder of it's residents. I got a first-hand look at the pile-driving process at the London Avenue Canal, which broke in two places as the surge from Lake Ponchatrain poured through. It's a slow, painfully slow, inch-by inch process. I'm no structural engineer, but I don't see how in the world the levees can be shored up before hurricane season. They expect more storms this year than last, and are already anticipating a few in July. Below, a couple guys on the left flee as the pile-driver slipped a bit.



Don't quote me, but I believe there were 5 levee breaks in total. Two on the industrial canal, including the massive breach that wiped out the Lower 9th ward, two on the London Avenue canal above and one on the 17th Street levee. As a local resident said: "We're in school and we're just out at recess right now." This is what the famous FEMA (Federal Employees Missing Again) trailer looks like. Word has it that these all will be crushed after their time is up. Great decision feds. This house is near the 17th St. levee break and you may be able to see the low-water mark on the house.



To be continued at the airport, heading out today...I'm ready. Though I tried to pace myself, I have a slight case of Big Easy Burnout..........................pffffft. Blogging is like crack, I'm a junkie now posting from a bench outside the terminal.



A ceiling fan spins eerily in one of the countless empty homes on the other side of the canal as each thud of the nearby pile driver sounds like the slow heartbeat of a critical patient in the ICU. The silence is deafening and there isn't a soul in sight except for a pair of birds that have landed on a nearby porch. Times like this are when I once again realize the enormity of the devastation and the sadness hits me. It's coming along though, it's not going to be an overnight process. There is way less debris than back in September.



I ran into a family who came all the way from Houston to sift through the rubble of their Lower 9th ward home which was flattened when the industrial canal levee gave way. Good thing they got out or these folks would have likely perished.

Their community had it's problems, but going back generations, was extremely close-knit. There are some solid, righteous people here. I did a video interview with Fats Domino's mail lady Michelle McMillan, who lived in the neighborhood all of her life. Many of the people she knew on her route died in the storm. Michelle is good friends with Fat's daughter, and she's looking forward to seeing him headline the final day of Jazzfest next weekend.



Conisha Bee (great name) showed me a picture of her sister with her son that they found on their property. The only other items they were able to salvage were eight dinner plates. When you lose everything, even retrieving one thing must be like finding gold.

They were a terrific family and I felt like I connected with them. I'm going to e-mail Michelle some pictures, so they can at least have a memory of their former home if they haven't taken pictures already. I've talked to SO many people all over the gulf coast who lost everything they owned, and it breaks my heart each time. Losing your belongings is one thing, but they have lost more than that. They lost their family and their community as they were scattered across the country in the biggest diaspora since the dust bowl days. This is huge, now I wish I had followed a family who had migrated to Oakland early on. Maybe it's not too late? Anyone know anyone who has relocated to Oaktown from NOLA?