9th Ward

This group picture was made at the site of the breach in the levee that flooded the 9th Ward. We were told that the water reached a depth of about three times our height. All the houses, in this area were totally destroyed, including Fats Domino's.

According to Google Earth, his house once stood almost directly behind where we were standing.

Go to Google Earth, and type in "Fats Domino, New Orleans, LA". The marker will be above what was left of his house.

Two intrepid members of the UUCA group (Bob and Sally) who found themselves in upper bunks. The 13 UUCA members shared one dorm. Students from Rhodes College in Memphis and Muhlenberg College in Pennsylvania lived in the other 2 dorm rooms. We shared a communal kitchen and dining area. Amazingly enough, it all worked out quite nicely. I think everyone in our group even slept reasonably well. The college students were very respectful of the 10 pm quiet time - maybe because most of them left to go out on the town then and most of us were asleep.

One work crew with Mr. Smith. This crew was made up of 6 women of a certain age and Reed, who is 18 years old and an amazing young man from UUCA. Around 30 other college students stayed in the dorms at the Unitarian Church with us. They chose to spend their spring break working in New Orleans instead of partying on the beach. With examples like Reed and those other young people, there definitely is hope for the future.

One of the crews worked on the Smith house. Here's Mrs. Smith taking a break with Charlotte. The Smith's live in a duplex and both sides had to be gutted. They paid a contractor $45,000 to do all the work. He did some and then disappeared, taking with him at least $20,000 of the Smith's money. They've been able to finish the side of the duplex they live in. We worked hard priming and painting on the side they rent out but there still is a lot of work to be done and they have no idea when it will happen.

This was taken near one of the houses we worked on. There are varying degrees of damage to neighborhoods depending on how close they are to a levee or the canal. The lower 9th ward looks like a war zone. Originally there were approximately 5500 homes there and now there are around 50. The ward residents were primarily working-class African-Americans, many of whom owned their homes. The fear is that the original houses never will be rebuilt and the city will reclaim the land and sell it to developers.

This is only a small sample of how things look in many parts of New Orleans and it isn't the worst scene by far.