Katrina

Tuesday April 3, 2007 | Comment | Permalink | Digg It

I moved back into New Orleans shortly after we were permitted back. This was sometime in the first week of October — I truly lost track of time. I left my wife Linda in Fairfax, VA which was our final evacuation location (Arkansas, Texas, Tennessee, Pennsylvania, then Virginia). We did not see one another for nearly two months after I left Fairfax. I thought it was best that she stay where things were safe, food was plenty, and life was less difficult. Also, she was the only one of us with secure employment and insurance (this ended soon after she returned).

I photo-documented what was going on around me as well as I could, however, sometimes the surroundings were so overwhelming I forgot to pick up my camera.

This section of my site is dedicated to the memory of the 1,836 people who died and the 705 still missing as a result of Hurricane Katrina.

As you may already know, the Lower Ninth Ward of New Orleans suffered the greatest flooding due to Hurricane Katrina. This flooding was triggered by a massive break in the levee that borders this section of town. The break let loose a wall of water that can only be equated with a giant tidal wave. The residents along the levee did not stand a chance as their houses were swept for more than a mile away from the break. These houses became rolling walls of tinder that in turn took out other houses in their way. When you look at the panoramics below, keep in mind that I was photographing what used to be a neighborhood thickly settled with houses. Now all that remains are empty lots with an occasional foundation stone or concrete stair.

The panoramic photos below will open in a pop-up window. The actual image width of each panoramic is about 3000 pixels wide, and the image size is about 150Kb+ for each image. Click the panoramic to view a larger version, and zoom in by clicking the image (zooming varies by browser). Please refer to the CC License for these images before you decide to use them. The satellite photos are screen captures of the location (as near as I can tell) from Google Earth.

Lower 9th Ward

It’s interesting to look at the damage in the satellite shot for this area which is west of the Industrial Canal near the Lower Ninth Ward — on the opposite side of the levee which breeched into the LNW. The houses along N. Dorgenois (south of the open field) are demolished like they were hit by a violent rush of water. However, the houses that would have been in the path of the water (on the east side of the open field) remain intact.

Location: Intersection of Alvar St. and N. Dorgenois St.
Latitude: 29°58’48.95“N
Longitude: 90° 1’55.39“W
Date: November, 2005

Upper Ninth Ward

The rush of water that I speak of was the result of the massive wave that came down through the Mississippi River Gulf Outlet, aka. “Mr. Go”. The MRGO has been controversial since it was built:

Moreover, the risks posed by the MRGO canal were evident. In 2002, the Corps of Engineers acknowledged that “[t]he MRGO levee is more likely to be affected than the area on the lake itself.” Proponents of closing the canal pointed out that, with the erosion of the wetlands in the unleveed stretches south and east of the city, it had “evolved into a shotgun pointed straight at New Orleans.”

Sadly, the “shotgun” analogy turned out to be true.

Click on the photo below for an expanded view of the area.

Upper Ninth Ward

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Lower 9th Ward

From what I could see, this area was the hardest hit by the levee breech. The houses were literally scoured from their foundations by the wave that hit them.

Location: Intersection of N Prieur St. and Deslonde St.
Latitude: 29°58’16.28“N
Longitude: 90° 1’16.99“W
Date: November, 2005

Lower 9th Ward

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Lower 9th Ward

Location: Intersection of Reynes St. and N. Derbigny St.
Latitude: 29°58’7.32“N
Longitude: 90° 1’12.81“W
Date: November, 2005

Lower 9th Ward

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Lower 9th Ward

Location: Undetermined location in the Lower Ninth Ward
Date: November, 2005

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Lower 9th Ward

The woman standing in the intersection in this panoramic lived on the corner she was standing on before her house was washed away by the levee break.

Location: Intersection of Reynes St. and N. Prieur St.
Latitude: 29°58’14.79“N
Longitude: 90° 1’10.31“W
Date: November, 2005

Lower 9th Ward

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Lower 9th Ward

Location: Surekote Road at the end of N. Prieur St.
Latitude: 29°58’16.58“N
Longitude: 90° 1’22.93“W
Date: December 25, 2005

Lower 9th Ward

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Lower 9th Ward

Location: Deslonde St. just south of N. Miro St. in the Lower Ninth Ward
Latitude: 29°58’15.64“N
Longitude: 90° 1’21.22“W
Date: December 25, 2005

This panoramic was taken on Christmas day, 2005. Linda and I had this overwhelming feeling that we should visit the Lower 9th on this day. It reminded us of how lucky we were to be alive, and made us sad to think of all of those who had no home to be in for Christmas.

These images show the barge, the ING 4727, that crashed through the wall in the Lower 9th Ward. I know there are conspiracies abound about how the levee was blown up in this area. I personally believe that this barge was solely responsible for the loud noise (suspected by some to be a bomb) that many people heard. It ripped through the levee wall creating a 300 yard hole (I’m approximating) as it surfed down the Industrial Canal on a wave that made its way up the Mr. Go (Mississippi River-Gulf Outlet) from the Gulf. Some suspect that the wave may have been as high as 30 feet. Titan Maritime began the process of cutting up and removing it from the Lower 9th on February 24, 2005.

For the sake of scale, you can see Linda in her Santa hat walking in front of the barge.

Linda with barge

This is the current Google satellite imagery of this location.

Lower 9th Ward

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Lower 9th Ward

Location: Deslonde St. just south of N. Miro St. in the Lower Ninth Ward
Latitude: 29°58’26.66“N
Longitude: 90° 1’13.56“W
Date: November, 2005

Lower 9th Ward

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Lower 9th Ward

Location: N. Tonti and Tennessee in the Lower Ninth Ward
Latitude: 29°58’30.42“N
Longitude: 90° 1’8.65“W
Date: November, 2005

Lower 9th

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