Moderators dtel's wife Posted August 30, 2007 Author Moderators Share Posted August 30, 2007 Another 9th Ward home about 4 or 5 blocks from the break in the levee. 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 These houses literally disappeared. They weren't torn down or bulldozed, they were just wiped from the face of the Earth. These houses were directly across the street from the levee break. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark1101 Posted August 30, 2007 Share Posted August 30, 2007 I heard on the news last night that 60% of the people in New Orleans that were displaced have now returned.......after 2 years. I have a hunch that the rest may never return....or like was mentioned......maybe in 10-15 years. Just horrible. 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 Most of us residing in this area believe those estimates are high. Some of the more heavily populated areas New Orleans remain almost as they were the day after Katrina. The 9th Ward has seen very little repopulating. New Orleans East has sporadic rebuilding and the same can be said of the Lakeview area of New Orleans. A large portion of the area leading to Jefferson Parish has been cleaned up and its citizens for the most part have returned. This area only had about a foot of water. I suspect approximately 20% of the 60% figure for New Orleans includes the folks still residing in FEMA trailer parks. One issue with rebuilding is the red tape, as well as lack of funding. Most of these people were not insured. Some apartment complexes are being constructed but the price of rental property has almost doubled. With the dwindling property tax base in New Orleans, the city was faced with MASSIVE tax increases to cover the cost of continuing city services. In addition, insurance has increased significantly. Example: We live in Picayune, MS (located in Pearl River County) which is about an hour from New Orleans and an hour from the Mississippi Gulf Coast. Seven counties in MS suffered extreme damage. The south end of Pearl River County was probably the hardest hit area for our county. Our home owner's insurance premium quadrupled, even though we had no damage to our home. Our taxes thus far have not changed. We also have a lot of new residents in Pearl River County due to the mass exodus from Louisiana and the Mississippi Gulf Coast. Our tax base has risen. The average price of a 3 bedroom 2 bath rental house in New Orleans doubled. This was necessary just to cover the increase in taxes and insurance. Average rental price pre-Katrina, approximately $1000 per month...post Katrina....$1850 per month. You can locate lower priced housing, but you are risking your life living in some of the neighborhoods in New Orleans. With only a handful of residents in these areas the crime has risen dramatically and things are "out of control". St. Bernard Parish, which is not considered part of New Orleans has only seen about 40% if its population return. Most of those areas throughout the city are crime ridden and infested with wild animals of all kind. The number of dead snakes and alligators along I-10 leading to New Orleans has remained steady since Katrina, probably due to the toxicity of the marsh in that area. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbsl Posted August 30, 2007 Share Posted August 30, 2007 My sister and I stayed in the French Quarter back in May. The woman at the hotel counter said she had lost her house and her sister also lost her house and now they have to live together to survive the high cost of living. When leaving on East I-10 it was a very strange feeling driving by miles of subdivisions empty and all the business around them gone. When I was in the Air Force stationed at Fort Walton Beach Florida we had 3 huricanes hit in 2 1/2 years but they landed at other points so there was not extreme damage. After that I decided living on the ocean was not for me. Now all I have to worry a bout is tornados or flooding. The best way to support not just NO but the whole coast area hit is to go on vacation and support their economies. There is soo much history, and natural beauty that I did not know was there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dflip Posted August 31, 2007 Share Posted August 31, 2007 Christy, thank you for the comments that went with the pictures. The lack of house with the concrete foundation was very significant to me because that was all that was left. On a personal basis, the destruction of the porcelain dolls from all the years of collection was tragic. The love of collecting and over and the extended period of time is so frustrating on so many levels. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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