Life in the Big Easy Isn't

Life in The Big Easy Isn’t

(Originally posted March 2007)
Last week, I had the opportunity to go to New Orleans on business. I have a couple of friends and a number of acquaintances in New Orleans so looked forward to the trip. I have always loved the vitality and personality of the city, the very unique mix of cultures, the food and festive atmosphere, and the beautiful architecture in the various parts of the city. Through brief conversations with these folks and ongoing news reports, I knew that Katrina had taken a toll on the city, but even now, 15 months later, I was not prepared to see what I did.
In the downtown area and throughout the historic French Quarter, it seemed that only about 65-70% of the businesses were open. There are some major hotels and restaurants there are just now opening—the Ritz-Carlton scheduled today to open it’s doors for the first time since the hurricane hit. The numbers of people I’m used to seeing in the streets, even in non-Mardi Gras season was just a fraction of what it is normally.
My friends then took me out driving to many areas with which I was familiar. As we drove through what had been long-established neighborhoods, I couldn’t hold back my tears. There were entire areas where there used to be a vibrant, thriving business and thousands of homes, and now the only sign that anything had ever been there was an occasional concrete slab, or a few pipes sticking up. Every tree, shrub and blade of grass was dead—not even weeds growing. Other neighborhoods were still wet, boats sticking out of homes. Mountains of trash where people are still just now returning to try to clean out what is left of their lives, watching the debris being picked up by bulldozers, loaded into trucks and hauled away. I saw house after house after house still with the waterlines on them (many on what roof shingles remained) and the spray paint markings on the doors left by Red Cross workers searching for survivors and leaving records of bodies found. Driving through most of these areas, I would see one house where someone had come back, cleaned up and was beginning to build a life again and the next occupied domicile being three blocks away, nothing but ruins in between. More often than not, the large parking lots or parcels of open land all over the area were covered with acre after acre of FEMA trailers, looking more like a sterile trailer dealership than any semblance of neighborhood or home. Throughout the city, roof after roof is still covered with blue plastic tarps trying to just keep the rain out. AND THIS IS FIFTEEN MONTHS LATER.
In talking with my friends through this, I heard tales of uninsured/under insured homeowners, instances where bad advice had been given out time and again, stories of people in distress being taken advantage of at nearly every turn. News reports that they estimated that even now, only about 40% of the former inhabitants of New Orleans and the area had returned. Considering that many federal financing programs are based on population numbers returning, that only made the story that much sadder. It only drove home the level of devastation laid forth by the hand of Mother Nature. I realize that it takes along time to recover, but it will truly be decades before anything resembling normal life will return to the majority of the Big Easy.
Every “native” I spoke to there, whether they were hotel staff, waitresses or bartenders, or friends and acquaintances, graciously thanked me and the professional association of which I am a part for coming back, saying that anyone coming down there and spending any money they could was accomplishing more and contributing more to the moral and rebuilding of New Orleans than anything the government has done to date. Tourism is a huge part of life in that city, and conventions, tours, and vacationers are still cancelling and going elsewhere. Many businesses, including hospitals, etc. are not even looking at rebuilding or opening, saying that there is not enough of a population or a tourism business to make it worth the efforts. Most of those I spoke with don’t want hand outs, but they do want people to come back, party and revel as they had before, and help the economy and the moral.
If anyone reads this, consider going to New Orleans on vacation. Do what you can to direct groups and professional associations to have their meetings there. There were still plenty of good hotels, restaurants, bars, and “happenings” going on that a great time could be had. And finally, please spend sometime in reflection to whatever greater power in which you believe about New Orleans. This jewel of a city and the rich culture that it represents is truly one of our national treasures, not to mention a culinary jewel and a great party spot.