Photo courtesy of Patrisha Walker Thirty months post Katrina and the little town of Buras finally has a watertower again. Some may recall that Buras was the first to feel the storm's power in the Gulf south region
Here's a link to a website of a Buras resident. She says Today, it is shining in the afternoon sun; the golden tower overlooks our new lives post-Katrina. In Buras there is still enormous evidence of the destruction of Aug 29th, 2005. But, there also is enormous evidence of repair and growth. Many, many are coming home to South Plaquemines. In one single morning my husband counted 4 double-wide trailers pass on highway 23 headed south. Plenty are actually building homes. And I do see growth in Buras.
It is good to be home and to have a water-tower!
Her section of town still doesn't have telephone or internet service. They may get it by the end of this month.
Last August, Charles Anderson visited Buras. In his article "Forgotton but Not Gone" he recalls being welcomed into Plaquemine parish:....a burly fisherman approaches me, reaching out one of his beefy hands..."Welcome to the bottom of the world," he booms in a playful, yet gruff voice. "Nobody comes down here. The money stops at the parish line. The government thinks we're not important enough, but we're staying."
Yeah, Forgotton but not gone. That's Buras, Louisiana. Bless them all!!!!
Spring is here at last and to me it is the finest time to enjoy the bounty offered by the Gulf Coast area. Nearly three years post K, this area's denizens have shown the strength and determination within themselves by coming back bigger and better.
Hubby and I are rabid festival-goers and this is prime time for us. It's not just the festivals we enjoy, either.
Last Saturday we ventured down to Napoleon House for lunch. The bruschetta was mouthwatering and I could eat their muffaletta every day.
By the time we finished, it was late afternoon, which proved to be a great time to snap pictures of the classic architecture of the French Quarter.
This Sunday is dubbed "Super Sunday" in NOLA. Wish I could be there to witness the Mardi Gras Indians. Hat Tip to Ashley Truely a treasure, the Indians will strut their stuff, so bring your cameras. Their artistic costumes are like nothing you've ever seen!! My hubby works on Sunday, so I'll be one of those folks enjoying the blogger reports, like Ashley's, on Monday.
About a mile from our house is the Slidell trailhead of the Tammany Trace where bikers, walkers and horseback riders have the opportunity to experience a quiet off-the-road tour of five communities along the northshore of Lake Pontchartrain St. Tammany Parish: Covington, Abita Springs, Mandeville, Lacombe, and Slidell. It's a great way to get away from your hectic week for a few hours. You have the opportunity of biking 40 miles in a few hours. Talk about burning calories!!! We've biked from the Mandeville Trailhead to the Abita Brewpub , had lunch and burned it all off by the end of our roundtrip. Now THAT'S my kind of exercise!!
Speaking of mudbugs, April 19th is the date set for the Crawfish Cook-Off - St. Tammany's Biggest Cook-Off Event at Fritchie Park in Slidell. This is the third annual cookoff and it gets bigger and better every year. 50 Teams will compete for the title of "Best Tasting Crawfish". Live Musical Entertainment Lost Bayou Ramblers,Four Unplugged and Top Cats. Money raised benefits the Fund for "End of Life" Care. Over 45,000 lbs. of Crawfish to be boiled. Tickets may be purchased prior to the event at any Northshore Whitney Bank and at the gates the day of the event.
On the weekend of April 5th the Picayune (Mississippi) semi annual street fair happens . This is a really great fair which spans for miles through one of the city's main thoroughfares. There are always plenty of assorted vendors (approximately 250) selling Antiques, Arts & Crafts, Woodwork,Plants,Iron Work, Preserves, Jewelry,Unfinished Furniture and a variety of foods. If you're a people watcher, this is a fair for you!!
The springtime is a great time to take Highway 90 to the Gulf Coast. While driving towards Biloxi, be sure to look out for the incredible carvings done on oak trees killed by Katrina along the median. Heck, pull over to get a real good look at them. The details are incredible.
Celebrating its 25th anniversary this year, it runs from Friday, April 11 through Sunday, April 13 the FQ Fest offers 250 hours of free entertainment, featuring more than 150 musical performances on fifteen stages throughout the French Quarter. Nearly 60 food and beverage booths located in Jackson Square, Woldenberg Riverfront Park, and elsewhere will make up the “World's Largest Jazz Brunch,” a signature event featuring authentic local cuisine from renowned area restaurants.
The KatrinaRitaville express, a very underreported initiative to tour the country with FEMA trailers to spread the word about criminal enterprise known as FEMA
What they're about (from their website) Several Gulf Coast organizations have purchased two FEMA trailers, which will tour the country over the next year to raise awareness of the ongoing nature of the crisis in the region, and the continued lack of coherent government action to rebuild the region, particularly to rebuild in a manner that meets the needs of its poor and minority residents.
The trailers will be used as a focus for local education and organizing, as a challenge to presidential candidates to make their plans for Gulf Coast reconstruction clear, and as a rallying point to help to mobilize the many thousands who have volunteered their time in work projects to now join in the political efforts to force meaningful government action.
Miloon Kothari of New Delhi, India, the U.N. Human Rights Council's specialist on adequate housing,
and Gay McDougall of Washington, D.C., the U.N. independent expert on minority issues, joined ranks with opponents of the demolitions already under way at the St. Bernard, C.J. Peete and B.W. Cooper complexes.
Although the duo say they released the statement to influence the U.S. Congress, the timing of their comments could have broader influence.
Here's the part that bothers me
"Yes, some people were consulted," Kothari said, "but the fact that people's property was destroyed.......
Federal and local officials reacted strongly last week to the pair's statement. Sen. David Vitter, R-La., called it "theater of the absurd."
HUD said Kothari and McDougall "are misinformed about the state of public housing in New Orleans," adding that the plans to demolish old, hurricane-damaged complexes is part of a wider effort to move to a mixed-income model that will help "minority and low-income Americans . . . live in a socially and economically integrated environment."
Still volunteering in Pearlington and the coast after 30 months, One House at a Time continues building homes for those left without anything in Hancock County, Mississippi.
From their website:
Pearlington lies in the southeast corner of Hancock County, along the Gulf of Mexico. Hurricane Katrina brought widespread devastation to the county with 40 confirmed deaths and millions of dollars of property damage. Nearly 70% of the county’s homes were left uninhabitable. The coastal communities were among the hardest hit areas. Pearlington, a small community of 2,200 people, was particularly devastated, as nearly every home was either completely destroyed or severely damaged. There is no Habitat for Humanity affiliate along this area of the Gulf Coast of Mississippi. Hundreds of residents were living in tents in the aftermath of Katrina. Many have only what they were able to salvage, and in many cases they have nothing at all. As of Feb. 2008, there are dozens of residents STILL living in FEMA trailers.
I began filming this story one month after Katrina came ashore, and I recently returned to the devastated and impoverished town of Pearlington Mississippi. Even though its several miles from the actual coast, the storm surge and the wind brought this place to the brink of its very existence. The waves that came through this town and destroyed everything in their path first had to pass through a few Chemical Plants and Oil refineries out in the Gulf of Mexico. This was not merely sea water that carried these homes away, it was a deadly stew of unknown and unreported toxins. This story follows the recovery efforts of one group that has been based in Pearlington as soon as the roads were clear enough to get in. One House At A TIme is building homes for people of Pearlington who want to stay in the place where they call home. This video tells a little of their story, but anyone who has been there will tell you, there is no video that can be shot that can express the sort of devastation that has occurred on our own soil, to our own people. So go see it for yourself, and bring a hammer.
In addition to turning away trained first responders at gunpoint, FEMA decided to throw out all the band instruments at McDonogh 15 School for the Creative Arts in the French Quarter. Did the school flood? No. Not a drop, but some “mold” was detected on a few of the instruments so out they went. (Cleaning them with bleach would fixed the problem.)........Everyone knows that FEMA knowingly kept thousands of people in trailers contaminated with formaldehyde before they admitted to the problem.
Now it’s been discovered that that just wasn’t enough, so the good folks at FEMA added an extra twist to the trailer scandal.
Used trailers returned to the criminal enterprise (also known as a government agency) were sold to the public. The funds were to be used - 100% of them - to purchase additional emergency housing.
A 2006 Congressional investigation found that the criminal enterprise invested taxpayer dollars in emergency supplies like iPods, beer-making equipment (OK, that could be a legitimate emergency) and designer jackets. Just what every emergency victim needs. Designer duds. Or do you think those ended up in employee closets?
