You Have To See It for Yourself.

I've been back home now for almost a month. As part of my new duties, I have to work on sites in Chalmette proper, as well as in lower Saint Bernard Parish, right between Regio and Delicroix. We lost the site in lower Saint Bernard, which has been rebuild, and the one in Chalmette got a couple of inches of water.

I thought I was prepared to see the devistation, but all the TV coverage, the posted pictures, and the stories told to me didn't prepare me for what's still out there. I've now taken the route that was a daily commute for me when I lived in the metro back in the early and mid 90's about a half dozen times. As you head down Claiborne you see things get worse until you get to the top of the Judge Sieber bridge, then it looks like some drunk went insane with a bulldozer. Pleaces I remember since I was a child, just gone.

Then you get down into chalmette, and see the businesses just completely washed out, and house after house gutted, abandoned, and debris piled 15 to 20 feet high in the front yard. I made the trek to our old apartment. The once crowded streets around it are a ghost town. I neighborhood that used to house hundreds of families, all gone except for the occaisional sherrif's deputy. My old apartment building has shifted. My old apartment completely gutted, and the door left open. Someone had gone through the entire area ripping open every mailbox.

Then I made my way down to the lower part of the parish. The further south I went, the more my jaw dropped. Katrina packed one hell of a punch. Buildings completely flattened. Houses missing, with the only thing left in sight is the piers the house used to be perched on 10 to 15 feet off the ground. The amount of cars, boats, containers, and debris scattered about like tinker toys just puts you in shock.

I've taken time to visit my friends and families homes in Lakeview, Gentilly, and on the northshore. Some are almost finished renovations, praying that life will somehow return to "normal", while most are just getting started, or even sitting around waiting for FEMA to get a clue.

Being away from home for a decade, I've noticed that even after all that has happened, most people are still the friendly, hospitible, yats I grew up with.

My thoughts and prayers go out to everyone still working to put the pieces together. This area will come back.