(Views expressed in this column are my own, and do not
necessarily reflect the views of the owner of this
publication.)
New orleans is alive. While the city does have a long
way to go before it can be considered back to normal,
the tourist section of the city is operational.
If a person desires to see the historical French
Quarter of New Orleans, now is the time to do it.
There is plenty to see and do in the French Quarter,
and there are no crowds to mar your enjoyment.
The people seem upbeat, looking to the possibilities
of the future, not the devastation of the past. The
horrors of Hurricane Katrina are still evident in the
faces of the residents, but they talk about what could
be, not what has happened.
There is still widespread evidence of Katrina’s
destruction in certain parts of the city. Coming into
the city on Interstate-10 from the east, one sees vast
residential areas that are now uninhabited. Water and
electricity have still not been restored to these
areas. Considering how other areas of New Orleans
have recovered, this is a pity.
The downtown business district still shows the wrath
of Katrina, but much progress has been made to restore
that section of town. Construction bottlenecks on
Canal Street during certain hours must be a nightmare
to traffic, but between the rush hours, traffic moves
pretty good.
My previous views of New Orleans, before Hurricane
Katrina, had been colored by the excesses of Mardi
Gras. While I have travelled extensively over the
United States, I don’t recall ever having a desire to
visit New Orleans.
Now, I have a different view of the city. It is a
beautiful city, at least in the French Quarter and the
downtown business district. I would encourage people
to have a look for themselves.
While in New Orleans on Thursday, September 7, I had
the opportunity to visit the historic St. Louis
Cathedral on Jackson Square. This Roman Catholic
basilica was erected in 1850, the third church on the
site of the original that was constructed in 1720.
Mass is still celebrated in the cathedral on Sundays.
St. Louis Cathedral provides a shining symbol to the
recovery of New Orleans. The church has recovered well
from the hurricane. Water damage to a new organ
resulted from rain seeping in through one section of
the roof.
One cannot help feeling reverent inside the church.
The beauty of the cathedral is impressive, but it is
the feelings one experiences while visiting the church
that are even more beautiful. You feel at peace with
the world, and with yourself.
Stained glass windows line the sides of the cathedral,
the artwork in those windows is very impressive.
Three smaller stained-glass windows stand above the
alter. Those three windows had previously been
plastered over at a time now forgotten. Cleanup from
Katrina brought those windows once again into the
light.
Pope John Paul once used the cathedral to offer a
prayer. The Pope did not say Mass at the cathedral,
though, the throng wishing to hear him was too
massive. Pope John Paul did preside over an open-air
mass nearby.
The cathedral is flanked by two other historic
buildings, one was where the Louisiana Purchase
documents were signed. The other is now a museum.
Jackson Square itself was almost deserted during my
visit. The square, with a statue in the center of the
square of Andrew Jackson astride a horse, is a
beautiful garden of peacefulness. Jackson Square,
along with St. Louis Cathedral, gives the impression
of being in a European city, maybe Paris or Rome.
We felt perfectly safe while walking around the French
Quarter during the day. In fact, I felt safer there
than I did during some high school basketball games in
Alabama. Parking remains a problem, though, with
commercial parking lots for the public charging eight
dollars for the first hour. If the city wants to
bring the tourists back, they will have to do
something about that. We parked on the street where
the parking meters had not been repaired. Still, we
managed to get a ticket for illegal parking.
Restaurants are still coming back to life in New
Orleans. While there were plenty of restaurants to
choose from, we dined for lunch, celebrating Jean
Price’s birthday, at Pat O’s On The River. This
charming restaurant is located in the old Jax Brewery
Millhouse overlooking the Mississippi River. We saw
several ocean-going vessels moving along the river.
The stern-wheeler ‘Natchez’ was also observed plying
the river, taking passengers on a two-hour excursion
up the river.
The riverwalk along this section of the Mississippi
was also a pleasant experience. While we were there
it was not crowded. A few joggers passed by, along
with the occasional tourist. From the riverwalk there
is a nice view of the downtown section as well as an
up-close look at the river traffic.
The recovery of that section of New Orleans was a far
cry from the towns of Perlington and Waveland. A year
after Katrina blew through, Perlington looked like a
ghost town. The only sign of live was the FEMA
trailers. The first thing you notice while driving
through is the lack of people. There was no one to be
seen on the streets.
Waveland was similar. The thing you notice most is
the lack of people moving about the streets; not one
person did we see re-building. The downtown section
of Waveland did have some businesses open. In the
residential areas, though, a large number of homes
still stand as they did in the weeks following
Katrina. Near the beach, whole houses were torn form
their foundations, the only evidence of their
existence were the driveways leading up to where these
homes once stood. One sign of hope is all we saw, a
volleyball net strung on the beach waiting for someone
to play a game.
A sad part of the waveland story must be the lack of
revenue coming into the city. With few businesses
open, and with few residents remaining in the city, no
sales tax money comes into the city coffers to help
with the rebuilding.
I saw pictures of the town of Long Beach just weeks
after Katrina. That town looked like Hiroshima after
the dropping of the atomic bomb. I am sure Waveland
and Perlington looked much the same during that time.
While New Orleans has had the bulk of publicity, towns
like Waveland and Perlington still need help. They
suffered the same, or worse, than New Orleans.
The failure of the insurance company to settle claims
fully and fairly is part of the problem why Waveland
and Perlington are so far behind New Orleans in their
recovery.
The sheer magnitude of the numbers, and the area
involved in the destruction suffered by Katrina are
another part of the problem. But south Alabama was
able to recover form the ravages of Hurricanes Ivan
and Dennis. In those instances, local entities went
to work cleaning up their own ‘backyards’ and
recovered. In Gulf Shores, that recovery took a bit
longer, but it is being accomplished. In Waveland and
Perlington, that recovery is not noticeable. They
still look like Katrina came through just a week prior
to our visit.
By george, it looks like New Orleans will recover, in
spite of her mayor. It is the people who are bringing
their city to life once again. I hope and pray that
the residents of Waveland and Perlington can do so too.
