Rex 2008

Great video showing Rex (King of Carnival) being toasted by Nagin at Gallier Hall
(found at At the Parade blogspot)

PTSD lingers....

from the "Reel Relief" website , a resident of St. Bernard parish still suffers from his experiences with Katrina:
The water came up in 12 minutes. The water came up to our attic. I knew my neighbors, who were 90 and 80-something, had stayed. I didn't see them on the roof, and their house is lower than ours, so I knew they were in the attic. I swam over there, yanked out the vent pipe. As soon as I pulled out that pipe, arms stretched through and grabbed my leg. They had been standing there with their heads tilted back, water up to their necks. I couldn't pull them out through the hole, so I looked around for something to use to make it bigger. There was a 2x4 stuck in a nearby tree. I needed it to break out part of the roof to save them. But when I had to leave them to get the 2x4...


This man is among thousands how still suffer physically and emotionally, almost three years after the storm. Thanks to the many people out there who still volunteer their time, hearts and money to help people like the gentleman above cope with the storm's lingering legacy.


Photo from The Faces of Katrina website

The Brock Project, revisited

In October I posted about the Brock Project, initiated by the Mayor of New Hyde Park, NY and the Principal of The Road School in the same town, the fine folks there are hoping to raise one million dollars to assist in the rebuilding of Brock Elementary School in Slidell, Louisiana.

Interested in checking out the progress of the rebuilding, and lured outside by the better than excellent weather we had this weekend, hubby & I ventured down to the middle of Slidell, his camera ready to shoot. We got three pictures:







It appears as if work is continuing in bringing life back to Brock Elementary. while not at a breakneck speed, it's safe to say.

Unfortunately, the website for the Brock Project is "temporarily unavailable." I do hope it's temporary.

Katrina's Trees

A few months ago everyone latched on to the news about the "death toll" of trees in Katrina's wake. Touted as "ecological catastrophe that killed or severely damaged about 320 million trees in Mississippi and Louisiana"


Image above: The devastation of southern Gulf Coast forests by Hurricane Katrina was documented in before-and-after images from the Landsat 5 satellite. The Interstate 10 "twin-span" bridges that cross Lake Pontchartrain east of New Orleans is seen here pre- and post-Katrina. Bayou Sauvage National Wildlife Refuge is the large patch of forest (green) the lower left portion of the LEFT image, which suffered heavy tree mortality (seen in red in the RIGHT image after the storm)". Credit: USGS

My daily commute takes me through the heart of Bayou Sauvage and it's there that I have watched the trees slowly dying off. It's especially obvious during these winter months, when there's no other vegetation hiding this slow death. Here are some pictures taken at the end of January along Highway 11 in Bayou Sauvage.

(click on pictures for full-sized version)

The wind isn't blowing in this picture; this tree looks like this when there are no winds.


This tree was bent and broken by the storm's winds. One of thousands and thousands of trees like this in the area from Southeast Louisiana to the middle of Mississippi.


Despite the destruction done by the storm, I find the colors and textures in this picture to be beautiful


Bayou Sauvage is still home to a wide array of wildlife, as evidenced by this guy










There were hundreds of ducks and other waterfowl out on this day, just going about their daily business while we spied on them

Twin Spans

According to the Times Pic today the Lake Pontchartrain Twin Spans construction is ahead of schedule

Essentially hurricane-proof, the 5 1/2-mile bridge touted as the largest public works project in the state's history will rise 30 feet above the lake with 80-foot high-rises, keeping it out of reach of storm surges. The structures will also be nearly twice as wide as the existing bridge, which will ease traffic, officials say.


The existing bridge was pretty well beat up by Katrina in August of 2005, rendering it useless for several months. Pieced together with what was left after the storm, the east bound lanes opened in October of '05. The westbound lanes reopened in January 2006, using prefabricated bridge sections of hot-dipped galvanized steel.



Here are recent pictures of the progress being made, taken on January 26, 2008.
(click on pictures for full-size versions)

You can see the progress being made from the southshore. The present spans are on the left


Taken from the North Shore (Slidell), you can see how far the construction has come


This shot shows the height of the new bridge at its lowest point compared to the present bridge.


Pilings to support the new bridge


Another shot from the North Shore. I've found Ed Blakely's cranes in the sky!

Waveland - 30 Months Post K

We took a little trip down Highway 90 on Saturday, to get lunch at Rickeys Restaurant in Bay St. Louis. On the way home, we decided to check out the rebuilding in Waveland along the coast. Although it still looks pretty damn bad to an outsider, we noticed a lot of improvements on the gulf front since our last trip three or so months ago. While the roads that come off the beachfront are still almost impassable for a passenger car, there are several main arteries connecting it with Highway 90.

Click on photos for full-size version



People are rebuilding while still living in those nasty FEMA trailers
.


Some places are just about done





There are a lot of Katrina Cottages along the beach. Seems like the Katrina Cottages are being used as both temporary quarters while people rebuild as well as what appears to be semi permanent homes to others.













Despite the obvious rebuilding efforts by the people of Waveland, there are still a lot of signs of Katrina's wrath along the Mississippi Gulf Coast.








There's still the presence of people who've dedicated their time and money helping the people of Waveland recover.


St. Clare Church is still operating out of this structure.

Hurricane Katrina has not been forgotten

On Fat Tuesday, a grand tradition in New Orleans, the California School of Culinary Arts in Pasadena saluted Mardi Gras with a lunch to benefit Katrina survivors.

What this is all about is trying to help people out and keep awareness going," said Chef Instructor Larry Bressler, who spearheaded the effort three years ago.



Bressler has lived and worked in New Orleans and feels a responsibility to keep support coming, he said.

"It's very important and very close to my heart," he said. "I really understand what these people went through."

Proceeds from the event will go to the International Association of Culinary Professionals, who will distribute it to the Crescent City Farmers Market in New Orleans.

"Since Katrina, we've had several opportunities to work with national restaurant organizations in an opportunity to give back," said Executive Chef Angela T. Goodman.

R.I.P. Nicola Cotton

Funeral for NOPD's Nicola D. Cotton

From the TP:

On Monday morning in Central City, the officer with the million-dollar grin encountered a middle-aged homeless man who reportedly suffered from mental illness. Police said she approached Bernel Johnson, 44, of Kenner, as he was sitting in a small strip mall parking lot in the 2100 block of Earhart Boulevard.

At some point, Johnson allegedly attacked Cotton, wrestled away her gun, beat her and shot her. She was pronounced dead a short while later.



He didn't just shoot her. He emptied her gun into her body.
My husband works near the murder scene and said he heard at least ten shots.

News of Cotton's death spread through the law enforcement community across the country. Patrol cars parked near the New Hope Baptist Church in Central City bore the names of the Jackson, Miss., department, of the Baton Rouge Police Department, of the Ramsey County Sheriff's Office in Montana and more.

Cotton's commanding officer, Maj. Robert Bardy, stepped to the microphone and, with his voice shaking slightly, the grizzled veteran called Friday "one of the hardest days of my life."

He spoke of how he would use Cotton and her partner Latrice Selders as an example to other officers -- sometimes to embarrass them. He said the pair of young officers often outperformed their peers.




Her obit


Nicola Diane Cotton
COTTON Officer Nicola Diane Cotton on Monday, January 28, 2008, age 24 years. Beloved daughter of Jeannette Cotton and the late Hosea Robinson. Sister of Olydia Cotton-Willis and Monique Cotton. Granddaughter of James Cotton and the late Izella Cotton and Herbert Robinson. Niece of Mable Cotton, Vernell Wilkerson, Tyrone Cotton, Henry Cotton and Sherrine Cotton. Aunt of Jasmin, McKenzie and Jamar. Officer Cotton was a two and a half year veteran of the New Orleans Police Department and assigned to the 6th Police District. Relatives, friends, also members of the New Orleans Police Department, Warren Easton High School class of 2001, Carter G. Woodson Middle School and Delgado Community College are invited to attend the Funeral Services at New Hope Baptist Church, 1807 LaSalle Street, New Orleans, LA, on Friday, February 1, 2008 at 12:00 PM. Interment will follow in Greenwood Cemetery. Visitation on Friday from 10:00 AM until 12:00 PM. To view and sign the guest book, please go to www.lakelawnmetairie.com.
Published in The Times-Picayune on 1/30/2008.

This Sucks

A federal judge has thrown out a class action lawsuit against the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers over the failure of levees in New Orleans, citing an 80 year old law.
Stanwood Duval ruled that the corps, which designed and built the levees and floodwalls meant to keep New Orleans from being inundated, could not be sued because of a 60-year-old law.



The flood control act of 1928 makes the federal government immune from lawsuits over flood control projects.

Excerpts from Judge Duval

"Often, when the King can do no wrong, his subjects suffer the consequences. Such is the case here. This story -- 50 years in the making -- is heart-wrenching. Millions of dollars were squandered in building a levee system with respect to these outfall canals which was known to be inadequate by the corps' own calculations."



"While the United States government is immune ... it is not free, nor should it be, from posterity's judgment concerning its failure to accomplish what was its task," Stanwood said, lamenting his inability to take further action.

"It is hopefully within the citizens of the United States' power to address the failures of our laws and agencies," he said. "If not, it is certain that another tragedy such as this will occur again."




Stanwood called the story of the Corps failure to protect New Orleans "heart-wrenching."

"Millions of dollars were squandered in building a levee system ... which was known to be inadequate by the Corps' own calculations," the ruling said. The Corps' own studies recommended upgrades that were never implemented.

Scuzzbucket of the Week

Bernel Johnson, a man described as having a history of sexual assault in an NOPD news release. This piece of shit killed 24 year old New Orleans police officer Nicola Cotton, a shy, soft-spoken and ambitious young officer patrolling some of the city's most violent corridors. She became the second female NOPD officer killed in the line of duty.
From the Times Picayune
On Monday morning, officer Nicola Cotton approached a middle-aged man sitting in the parking lot a Central City strip of stores, Police Department spokesman Sgt. Joe Narcisse said. Police Superintendent Warren Riley said the man appeared homeless.

Surveillance footage shows Cotton motioning casually about 10 a.m. for the man to come near, police said. At that point, for reasons unclear, he pounced, Narcisse said.
For seven minutes, the pair tussled on the pavement, police said. Cotton called for backup on her radio at some point during the struggle, but the man wrestled her gun away from her and shot her before help could arrive, police said.

"He fired several times," Narcisse said. "She goes down to the ground. He just stands there, over her, looking down."

He fired again, unloading her service weapon of all its bullets, Narcisse said.

Supposedly a diagnosed paranoid schizophrenic with violent tendencies Johnson's family say they have long fought a losing battle to get him mental help.

Sorry, mental illness or not, this guy's scum, one reason I believe in the death penalty.

Barkus 2008

Didn't get to go to the parade, but there are pictures here and here

Looks like a good time.