Katrina Update #57Katrina Update #57It's a short update this week, as Janis and I are preparing to leave New Orleans tomorrow to work in the MacSpeech booth at Macworld expo in San Francisco. This is always a busy time for us, as Macworld is the biggest Macintosh-based trade show in the US, and always provides a good boost for MacSpeech right at the start of the New Year.
Speaking of the New Year, we spent New Year's Eve at Coop's Place and just before midnight headed over to the Moonwalk, which is a promenade on top of the Mississippi River levee next to the French Quarter. (It was named after former mayor Moon Landrieu, who was primarily responsible for keeping Interstate I-10 from going along the river.) For the second year in a row, however, the fireworks were "fogged out" as it was too foggy to see them. That was ashame, since they were rumored to be the biggest in New Orleans' history.
As if to show both resilience and defiance at once, however, many locals took it upon themselves to fire off their own fireworks right off the levee. In a way this smaller, more intimate display was better than the larger one, as it represented the unbridled spirit of those in New Orleans who intend to persevere.
Janis and I will be in California for two weeks, as I will be doing presentations at the Apple retail stores in the Bay area the week after Macworld. It will be interesting to see how the rest of the world sees New Orleans during this trip. Although Janis left for a week in October to do work at MacSpeech's home office in New Hampshire, she really didn't interact with many people outside of those who we already knew, so this will really be the first time out of New Orleans for the both of us since we returned after the storm. I am especially interested in talking to others about what their perceptions are of New Orleans, since this web site has pretty much been one way: from me to you.
I'd like to thank those of you who purchased books from my reading list. In case you missed them, you can see them in last week's update. I'll update the donations page when Amazon issues the referral fees, which I guess they do monthly, so it probably won't be for a few more weeks.
Last night was January 6th, or twelfth night, or 12 days from Christmas and the official start of the Carnival season in New Orleans. The night is typically celebrated by costumed revelry, and the tradition of the "Phunny Phorty Phellows" riding the streetcar up and down St. Charles Avenue, playing carnival music and throwing beads to anyone who will catch them. This year, with the St. Charles streetcars down, the group rode the Riverfront and Canal street lines. Just to be clear, not much happens between now and the middle of February when the first parades start to roll, but it is another welcome sign that New Orleans' spirit will not be thwarted in the wake of Katrina.
- Kathleen "Mama" Barrow continues to improve. She is receiving physical therapy several times a day and can now wiggle the fingers on her left hand, move her wrist, raise her arm (although she can't hold it up yet), and there is movement in her left leg as well. She is learning to walk with a walker, and will remain in the rehab facility until she is better able to move around on her own.
- Kathleen's daughter Kattai, her daughter Ariel, and boyfriend Allan have returned permanently from their exile in Florida and are looking for a four bedroom place to rent with at least one bedroom on the ground floor for Kathleen.
- The big news this week is that the westbound part of the I-10 twin spans east of New Orleans opened for traffic yesterday, 8 days ahead of schedule. This is a temporary fix, with a steel deck. Also, the federal government approved a $600 million expenditure to permanently rebuild the spans 25 feet above the water. The current spans are only 10 feet above the water, and were torn apart like kindling by the 16 foot storm surge brought in by Katrina.
- Barry Cowsill, bassist for the family pop group of the 1960's was found dead along a New Orleans' wharf last month. He had been missing since September 1 (he was living in New Orleans at the time). His death is believed to be related to the Hurricane. You can read the complete story here. His body wasn't discovered until 12/27/05, and they identified him through dental records.
- A New Orleans court put a hold on scheduled demolitions of the worst-damaged houses. They will determine if the case belongs in federal court on January 19th. As I have mentioned previously, there is a catch-22 going on regarding many of these homes. Most are in the devasted 9th ward, where most of the city's poor lived. These people were evacuated out of New Orleans by the government, and at the government's expense. These people are now not being brought back to New Orelans at the government's expense, and do not have sufficient resources to get here on their own. So they are not being afforded the opportunity of salvaging what they can from their homes. In the meantime, the homes are a hazard Some are even sitting in the middle of streets.
HOME | UPDATES | DONATE | GALLERIES | PEOPLE | STORIES | LESSONS | LINKS