What I found in New Orleans

It has been over 5 years since Hurricane Katrina struck and the levees flooded New Orleans. The area of the Lower Ninth Ward is still in shambles with most of its residents relocated. One year ago I went to New Orleans over spring break to help repair homes that were destroyed in the disaster. Below is a note I wrote when I returned from my trip, and it is just as important today as it was a year ago.

The house where we stayed in Mid-City

On Saturday, March 26th, I finally arrived in New Orleans. All year I attended weekly meetings and devoted numerous hours of fundraising to prepare for the trip. I traveled with a group of 26 students and 2 advisors from UC Santa Cruz. We stayed at a bunk house in Mid-City and drove about twenty minutes each day to get to our worksites. Our group worked with the organization LowerNine.org, a non-profit located directly in the Lower Ninth Ward.

The lowest part of the Lower Ninth Ward, next to the levee that
broke.  Houses were wiped out and only foundations remain.

The Lower Ninth Ward is the area affected most by Hurricane Katrina and the subsequent levee breaks. Because of its proximity to the levees that broke and its placement below sea level, the Lower Ninth Ward suffered the worst of the flooding. Because it is an extremely poor community, it has also had a difficult time being restored. Less than 20% of the Lower Ninth Ward has been rebuilt since the storm in August 2005. Hearing about the devastation and looking at pictures in no way prepared me for the emotional experience of witnessing the worst of the Lower Ninth Ward. For miles, the land is open with a few houses scattered around. In between the newly constructed houses are empty foundations and porch steps that lead nowhere. These are the only remnants of so many peoples’ lives.

A house that has not been cleaned out since the storm in 2005

Some houses around the area have barely been touched since Katrina. Almost every house has cryptic markings that show what organization searched for people inside, but some of those homes have not been entered since the search. In one home I saw, the rooms were filled with trash and dirt and destroyed children’s toys. Over the last five years so many families have not even returned to their homes. This may be because they are content with their new lives in other places, or maybe because they cannot bear to return and see their former homes in shambles. No matter what the reason, their losses are displayed for the Lower Ninth Ward to grieve every day.

One of the many houses in the Lower Ninth Ward 
affected by the storm.  The markings show 
statistics from when the house was searched.

The streets are nearly empty; there are no sounds of children or neighbors. The Lower Ninth Ward does not have a supermarket or a hospital, and it only contains one school, a recently opened charter school. These conditions have kept many families from returning to the town. Although most residents have not moved back, some people have been home and working on their houses since the storm. They have been persevering through hardships for five years and continuing the fight to reconstruct their homes and lives. They rebuild their homes with the hopes that the community will return to what it used to be.

The inside of George's mother's house
before we fixed the floor and framing.

I worked with a man named George on his mother’s home. George’s sister’s home is next door and his home is next door to that. While his family earns a living in another city, George labors day after day reconstructing the three properties. The houses are not unfinished for a lack of passion or effort by any means- merely for a lack of funds. George is still many steps away from completing his mother’s home, but he remains hopeful that he can bring his family home soon. 

George, the homeowner, telling our group
 his stories from the storm.

While we reframed the house with various power tools, George was kind enough to share his stories. Louisiana receives many storm warnings, so when Hurricane Katrina came, George did not think it would amount to much and he stayed home during the storm. The water rose to ten feet high, reaching the bottom of his mother’s roof. He was trapped in his upstairs apartment for three days, resorting to consuming toilet water and toothpaste to stay alive. George told us how he avoided looking out the windows to escape the horrors outside. I asked George what the most upsetting part of his whole experience was. He said that he would like to say it is the response of the government, but that’s not it… it is the response of the people. He explained that he likes to think people care, but that this tragedy showed him that people are not as considerate as he hoped. It was a very difficult perspective to hear, since I was one of the thousands of people who were unaware of the hardships remaining in the Lower Ninth Ward. However, I am glad I was able to hear George’s story and serve his community now. It is not too late; the Lower Ninth Ward still needs aid and compassion.

Another New Orleanian I met, Louis, dove right into the tragedy that Hurricane Katrina brought. While taking care of thirteen people in his house, Louis also took care of the town. He obtained a boat and transported some of 130 abandoned nursing home patients to safety. Even in times when he lost hope, Louis did what he had to do to save other people’s lives. His story is truly inspiring.

The holes in the roofs are from where people punched
through to climb up to the roof for safety during the flood.

My entire trip was intense and inspiring. It combined hope with despair and pain with restoration. I hope that by sharing my experience, you have a better understanding of the ongoing needs in many areas of New Orleans. It is important to me that efforts continue to restore the New Orleans community. If you would like to contribute to LowerNine.org, you can visit the website to learn how to donate supplies, money, or volunteer services. Contributions to LowerNine.org help residents like George restore their lives. Visit LowerNine.org now!