Hurricane Anniversary

Today was the 2nd anniversary of the hurricane of 2005, Hurricane Katrina. So indulge me as I write about this major event in my life. TV and the local newsprint is filed with stories of the before and after effects on the property and people of the area, and national broadcasters are devoting a great deal of time to the story too. The middle of the city seems crammed with media. Schools are engaged, politicians and celebrities are here (to be seen as much as anything else, being in the New Orleans rubbles is trendy now). There were endless Katrina activities and events in the city in memorial, most somber and angry. Why the fuss two years after the fact? It's because Hurricane Katrina resulted in the biggest property loss in the history of the modern world.
It's not even a close call when comparing it to other natural disasters in the world. I have some reflections that may or may not (maybe you are tired of me writing about the subject?) be of interest to you. The first is that the city was actually lucky the storm veered slightly to the left before making landfall. That took it slightly to the east of the city, preventing the storm from pushing water that surrounds the city completely over it. About 70% of the city flooded this time, but had the storm stayed on its course the estimates are about 90% would have gone under, some with as much as 20 kilometers of water. We had as much as 12 this time.
Another aspect to the storm I notice is the effect on the character of the city. It is no longer a fun-loving place, careful and an artists hang-out. There is a doom and gloom aura about the future of the city, the slow rebuilding, the rise of crime, the many undesirable people who have come here, and the possibility of another storm all make it so. Though I never worry about things I can not control, including hurricanes, this effects me by making the city a less comfortable and enjoyable place in which to live.
One of the biggest problems with the storm is that it hit the residential areas hardest. Much of the tourist areas, including the French Quarter, had little damage and no flooding because they are on the highest ground in the city. But the main business areas and residential sections were demolished. There is still a shortage of housing, and when there is no place to live residents can not return. Many have never returned to the city because they can't get back or they have found new homes in other parts of the country. It's sad to drive the city and see areas that look almost as bad as the day after the storm.
Unless people return the many businesses that rebuilt and are hanging on now will close. No customers =bankruptcy and further damage to the city. Sadly, the "mom and pop" businesses we had that made the city do unique were hit hard. They are gone forever, and this changes the personality of the city. If New Orleans were to rebuild into a city like any other city it would be a second kind of death. New Orleans was a quirky place before the storm. It did not look or feel like an Americans city (some said we were more European than American). I think we residents fear us becoming another Atlanta, Chicago or Dallas as much as another hurricane coming to throw dirt over the casket that we are now.
Sad to day I think New Orleans is not a very nice or interesting place to be anymore. We have already lost a great deal of that uniqueness and character. It is a cold, hard and uncomfortable place. This bodes badly for the tourist industry which is trying to reinvent itself every opportunity it has to do so. People ask em why I don't move. There are many reasons we can't move, one being the value of our homes has fallen so much selling would incur huge losses......if we could find a buyer, a doubtful proposition, I think. Many residents have done that, given up. They sold for whatever the buyer offered and packed and moved. Unfortunately, those tend to be the better educated and skilled citizens that are most needed here now.
The federal government, especially the dysfunctional Bush administration, sees no political advantage in helping New Orleans. There is talk and promise, but little follow-up. Our state and local government is filled with corrupt and unqualified officeholders and appointees. The result is little activity as the city gasps its last breath.
It's an emotional time for us. Today those who suffered most (I didn't) re-lived what happened and remember how scattered many they new before the storm is now. There are many relationships that are completely over and will never be rekindled. The city has been dying this slow death. In New Orleans, you can't escape it because there is bad news happening here everyday. And so it goes here on Hurricane Katrina day, and every other, for that matter.