New Orleans is a City I love, I have written a bit about what has happened there Post-Katrina. I was there during Mardi Gras and just came back from Jazz Fest the weekend of May 6-7, 2006.
You can find prior posts here , here, and here.
This past week the Atlanta Journal began a 22 part series that the paper describes as:" A serial narrative told in 22 daily chapters,[that] reveals what happened inside two hospitals, one private and one public, during the days after the levees broke in New Orleans. It is an intimate portrait of medical professionals who faced unprecedented conditions and acted heroically to keep their patients alive. It is also the tale of daring rescuers who came to the aid of those the government had abandoned."
You can find it here.
The writing to me tends to be a bit overly dramatic. The author tried to combine a novel's features with the reality of what happened. It's early in the series (Part 5 as of today). If you can handle somewhat clumsy writing, it's worth your time.
To say what is happening in LA, MS and AL is a national disgrace is an understatement. Piles of trash nearly six months old sit twelve feet high just two miles east of the Quarter. Trailers are sitting in other states while contractors quibble over who gets to deliver them. Stoplights are still out and there is no power near the Fairgrounds, which is only about three to five miles from the CBD.
The one enduring lesson in all of this? In the event of a national disaster, you are truly on your own. Local, state and federal officials will fail you, so you need to be ready. Not just ready for three days like you read about, but for weeks and months later. I'm angry about it, and you should be too.
