Otterblog

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I am in New Orleans to fish with some good friends. The devastation in this city and region caused by Hurricane Katrina cannot be believed. We fished from a place called Shell Beach, where boats still lie stacked on top of each other. We stopped by a little general store there on the way back. The owners were unbloodied and unbowed about their future. The store is in a FEMA trailer, and before and after pictures are on the front door.

The pictures of the Ninth Ward don’t begin to tell the story of the damage to community here. There are blocks upon blocks of houses, some collapsed, others flooded beyond salvage. The flood water line is like a telltale scar across the neighborhood. Rescue graffiti tells a grim shorthand on every house. It’s the sort of place that every American needs to see for himself, either here or in Mississippi.

Ten months later, work is being done to rebuild but there is so much to do. It’s difficult to know what the answer is. Rebuilding encompasses a lot of possible outcomes, and how the Ninth Ward is rebuilt will hold the keys to the future. But for now, it just looks like a bomb went off there. As bad as the houses are, what is most unnerving is that there is no noise here. No cars backfiring on the street. No lawnmowers in the afternoon. No shrieks of children playing in the yards.

I have attached a few photos of the Lower Ninth.

ON ANOTHER NOTE: New Orleans is a great food city, and I got to indulge in two of the city’s great treats. One is a fried pie made by Hubig’s Pie Co. I’m a huge fried pie fan, and their coconut fried pie is outstanding.

The second is a Lucky Dog, sold out of these hot dog-shaped vending carts in the French Quarter. Readers of A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole will recall that Ignatius J. Reilly, the story’s main character, had an eventful experience as a lucky dog man.