colterphoto1 Posted August 30, 2007 Share Posted August 30, 2007 Here's a few of the photos I took from New Orleans last December. This would have been some 15 months after Katrina. Sure the SuperDome was in operation, but things were far from normal. Still are. This was my first day with the Dtels and probably the most horrific thing I have ever seen in my life. These pictures don't come close to describing the mass of devestation. Many of these are of Dtel's Mother's home, which we walked through. It is just a small example of what this storm did. Imagine returning to your home after a week or so of living on the run only to find that the water level was higher than the ceiling so all drywall and insulation was caved in. The muck left behind from seawater, gas leaking from vehicles, the oil refinery nearby- all forming an indescribable quagmire or the gooiest, stickiest, slickest mud you ever stepped in. These photos show the level of mold that then grew on everyday possessions. Records, books, clothes, furniture, family photos were ruined beyond repair. There was virtually NOTHING that could be salvaged from the homes that were lucky enough to remain standing. Many were tipped over, smashed, moved off their foundations. Some in the 9th ward (?) were just never found. That's right- whole homes smashed into kindling and just GONE. I'll let Christy take over telling the story. Here are a few images I took. I finally had to put the camera down as it was useless. I just could not tell this story adequately. There was just so much of this, everywhere you looked. An entire city destroyed. The scope of destruction was just beyond words. It's all still there, much of it probably still looks like this. This part of the country will never be the same and those who lived through it will never forget it. Remember, these were taken after 15 months of clean up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colterphoto1 Posted August 30, 2007 Share Posted August 30, 2007 appliances removed from home so toxic substances could be taken out prior to demolition. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colterphoto1 Posted August 30, 2007 Share Posted August 30, 2007 crews created this code to spray paint on homes indicating number of bodies inside and other pertinent details Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colterphoto1 Posted August 30, 2007 Share Posted August 30, 2007 Imagine walking in your front door to see this! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colterphoto1 Posted August 30, 2007 Share Posted August 30, 2007 A child's doll in unspeakable filth Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colterphoto1 Posted August 30, 2007 Share Posted August 30, 2007 'A Road Less Travelled' indeed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colterphoto1 Posted August 30, 2007 Share Posted August 30, 2007 the new neighborhood FEMA trailers. many of the home lot sizes are very small in the area and the trailers wouldn't fit with all the devastation in most cases, so little 'communities' like this were set up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colterphoto1 Posted August 30, 2007 Share Posted August 30, 2007 One of the few remaining homes in this neighborhood Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colterphoto1 Posted August 30, 2007 Share Posted August 30, 2007 empty foundations, some of these homes just disappeared... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colterphoto1 Posted August 30, 2007 Share Posted August 30, 2007 This used to be an amusement park. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colterphoto1 Posted August 30, 2007 Share Posted August 30, 2007 but, hey, the Saints are back in the Dome so everything's ok in New Orleans, right? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boom3 Posted August 30, 2007 Share Posted August 30, 2007 but, hey, the Saints are back in the Dome so everything's ok in New Orleans, right? GRR! The Saints are subsidized by taxpayers money...yet some of the slugs who sit in the luxury skyboxes still whine about welfare cheats. I wish the Saints would leave and mooch off some other state. But post-K, this would be impolitic and Guvnah Blank-O doesn't have the intestinal fortitude to try that, evening being a self-professed lame duck. BTW, I had some friends who stayed in Quarter during Katrina. Some finally did evacuate, and some stayed. They avoided the National Guardsmen and other troops for fear they'd be dragged off to the Superdome or Convention center, which had become hades-ish pits of misery. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators dtel's wife Posted August 30, 2007 Author Moderators Share Posted August 30, 2007 Here's a few of the photos I took from New Orleans last December. This would have been some 15 months after Katrina. Sure the SuperDome was in operation, but things were far from normal. Still are. This was my first day with the Dtels and probably the most horrific thing I have ever seen in my life. These pictures don't come close to describing the mass of devestation. Many of these are of Dtel's aunts home, which we walked through. It is just a small example of what this storm did. Imagine returning to your home after a week or so of living on the run only to find that the water level was higher than the ceiling so all drywall and insulation was caved in. The muck left behind from seawater, gas leaking from vehicles, the oil refinery nearby- all forming an indescribable quagmire or the gooiest, stickiest, slickest mud you ever stepped in. These photos show the level of mold that then grew on everyday possessions. Records, books, clothes, furniture, family photos were ruined beyond repair. There was virtually NOTHING that could be salvaged from the homes that were lucky enough to remain standing. Many were tipped over, smashed, moved off their foundations. Some in the 9th ward (?) were just never found. That's right- whole homes smashed into kindling and just GONE. I'll let Christy take over telling the story. Here are a few images I took. I finally had to put the camera down as it was useless. I just could not tell this story adequately. There was just so much of this, everywhere you looked. An entire city destroyed. The scope of destruction was just beyond words. It's all still there, much of it probably still looks like this. This part of the country will never be the same and those who lived through it will never forget it. Remember, these were taken after 15 months of clean up. I spoke with Colter today and told him I would put some comments with each of these photographs. This first picture is heading into St. Bernard Parish, toward dtel's mother's home. A significant portion of St. Bernards citizens were/are fishermen. They fish for everything, shrimp, oysters and fish. So many boats were destroyed, this is probably one of the smaller fishing boats. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators dtel's wife Posted August 30, 2007 Author Moderators Share Posted August 30, 2007 appliances removed from home so toxic substances could be taken out prior to demolition. The second pic is actually an outside shot of dtel's family home. This is the house dtel lived in from the time he was five years old until we married. His mother and sister were living in the house when Katrina struck, but had evacuated with us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators dtel's wife Posted August 30, 2007 Author Moderators Share Posted August 30, 2007 . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators dtel's wife Posted August 30, 2007 Author Moderators Share Posted August 30, 2007 crews created this code to spray paint on homes indicating number of bodies inside and other pertinent details This is a home in the 9th Ward. It was inspected for dead bodies by two teams FL and TF1 on 9/20, 4 people lived there, 0 dead bodies were found. On ocassion there are four or five markings in each section of the X, this would indicate multiple searches of the residence. Sometimes the 0 dead bodies would be marked through and the number changed according to the number of bodies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators dtel's wife Posted August 30, 2007 Author Moderators Share Posted August 30, 2007 sorry. . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators dtel's wife Posted August 30, 2007 Author Moderators Share Posted August 30, 2007 This was the entrance/formal living room to dtel's mom's house. The door opening you see went to the kitchen. On the right wall was a glass 8' x 6' x 2' doll cabinet, which was custom built by dtel's dad. I only mention the doll cabinet because of the next pic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators dtel's wife Posted August 30, 2007 Author Moderators Share Posted August 30, 2007 This porcelain doll was one of about seventy five porcelain dolls. Dtel's sister had a porcelain doll collection that her mother started when she was a year old. Every single doll was ruined, including all of the porcelain dolls that belonged to dtel's mom. Dtel's mom always bought the girls (her daughter, my three daughters) a porcelain doll as one of thier gifts for Christmas each year. Michael, this picture made me cry all over again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators dtel's wife Posted August 30, 2007 Author Moderators Share Posted August 30, 2007 A shot from dtel's sister's bedroom! The insulation and drywall are from the ceiling collapse. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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