Amazing Survival Stories

I discovered the Hurricane Digital Memory Bank a few days ago. I remembered Adam from Georgetown told me about it when we talked at the Camp Algiers laundry tent. Here are a few excerpts and link.

Looting and Lawlessness in the Bywater
"Now we dont have enough water and no food to eat. So yes,I looted-I shopped all that I could.Im not ashamed. I grabbed that cheese that I always wanted to try,canned food,orange juice,napkins,bactine,face masks,rubber gloves,bleach,trashbags."

Restaurant Owner Screwed by FEMA
"They evacuated, but ran out of gas just outside of town and rode the rest of the way to Houston in the back of a pick-up truck. Days, weeks pass; FEMA finally calls her to say they are sending an inspector to inspect her house, surely to be found flooded and re-flooded. So Pam, being the badass she is, rented a car in Dallas to drive straight through to Kenner in order to be there to meet the inspector. She spent two nights in that car, by herself parked in front of the ruins of her home of 17 years, no electricity anywhere for miles and the inspector never showed."

NOLA Native Remembers Home
"This is a disaster of international proportions. Not since WWII have so many people been displaced by the wholesale destruction of a city. It will be years for native New Orleanians to recover what they've lost. I hope that until then, it will not remain a city that care forgot."

Expatriot Fears the WorstI am horrified by what I see on tv. I wonder if my mother is in any of these crowds. I wonder if any of my loved ones that I have not come in contact with yet or either suffering or dead.

Quasi Military Guy Helps Deploy WiFi at the Hyatt
"There, we 'liberated' a couple of boxes of Starbucks coffee, a coffee maker, and several cups and glasses. There had been other scroungers there before us, but since there was no power, no one else took the things we decided to relocate to room 605. We figured that as long as we had to be subjected to the conditions which existed in the Hyatt at that time, we might as well be as comfortable as possible."

A Kid Tells His Story
"My stepdad went down to New Orleans to get stuff when he found out that our house might be bulldozed.Now im in Metairie,living in Harrahan,and going to my same school.My mom lives in Texas and I only see her for a few days about every two months.that is my story."

Bobbie Jean Moreau's survival story defies description
"My legs felt like jello, I staggered, my daughter screamed, 'Mama what is wrong', I knew at that moment we were going to die. And in and instant survival kicked in, I tore the canopy off the top of the bed, and began tying knots in it, I knew we needed something to hold on to each other with, then I grabbed a belt and tied the baby in a life jacket, she was so small."

Wastin' Away Again in Femaville

We saw a lot of amazing things during our week in New Orleans, but something we saw very seldom was FEMA Trailers. Every inch of every neighborhood we saw flooded, and yet tralers delivered for victims to live in were the exception rather than the rule. I take that back--on the interstate north of Slidel, LA we did see a lot of trailers--hundreds--but it didn't look like they were set up to live in.

As it turns out, tens of thousands of these trailers are parked in Hope, AK because--are you ready for this--they cannot be set up in a flood plain. Hello, the whole city of New Orleans is below friggin' sea level! That's right, your Federal government has spent your tax money on trailers that they now say they cannot set up.

Now a lot of people are suggesting another approach to housing returning Katrina victims in New Orleans. Architect Marianne Cusato has designed a prefab home called a "Katrina Cottage" that is more hurricane-proof, more attractive, and cheaper than the trailers they've been buying but not setting up. Many builders, homeowners, politicians (and I'd say accountants) prefer the cottages to the travel trailers. But here's another fly in the ointment of recovery in New Orleans: A Federal law prevents FEMA funds from being spent on permanent housing.

Look, I'm just a guy who pays his taxes and votes, but I think Senator Harry Reid is right to be ashamed of our government over this. Reid has partnered with Senator Mark Pryor of Arkansas to ask Bush to sign an executive order allowing trailers to be delivered and set up. If Bush had bothered to talk to the tens of thousands of displaced residents of New Orleans, maybe he would have figured this out. Instead he limousined through the ruins and blamed Congress for slowing things down.

And here's an idea, Mr. Bush: A temporary federal program to train homeowners in basic construction techniques like hanging drywall and installing flooring. Residents should be able to set up simple cooperatives to pool labor with Federally paid contractors available for training and broad oversight.

House Addresses and Clickable Maps

Beverly Burdette helped sort out these locations by shooting photos of the house numbers and street signs when we were in New Orleans. I figured out a couple and Dennis helped by remembering a cross street as well. I've added a brief description so you can match it to photos, and there are clickable addresses that take you to a Google map of each house site.

house 1: Lamanche and Villere (corner white house with concrete block fence) 3701 N Villere St, New Orleans, LA 70117

house 2: 1716 Feliciana near Derbigny (the stinky house) 1716 Feliciana St New Orleans, LA 70117

house 3: 2132 Feliciana near N. Miro (Yellow house with side garage) 2132 Feliciana St New Orleans, LA 70117

house 4: 3215 St. Bernard Ave. (where we took out the hardwood floors) 3215 St Bernard Ave New Orleans, LA 70119

house 5: 1526 St Maurice Ave. (just off North Claiborne -- Where we made the "George" sign) 1526 St Maurice Ave New Orleans, LA 70117

house 6: Jourdan Ave & N Robertson (The brick house near the levee. Dennis helped me figure this one out.) Jourdan Ave & N Robertson New Orleans, LA 70117

house 7: Brick Duplex on Erin Dr.and Karen Lane The other side of the duplex was number 7601. 7601 Erin Dr New Orleans, LA 70117

Email from a Survivor

I just sat down at my Mac at home to check my email and got a great message from a New Orleans woman whose story has been reported on a lot on NPR news. Here is Sharon's email:

yes iam the sharon white on npr radio im so very pleased to know that you volunteered to help out in new orleans recently, may God bless you in all of your effords. I have just had my home gutted i was not lucky enough to have my home gutted by the many volunteers that have bestoved upon the city i had to pay for the service, but what must be done must be done . My home is now gutted and i see a wonderment of possibilities that i can do to it. (such as the expandsioning of my kitchen and bathroom area to the walk in closets i have dreamed of since i brought my home.) So there may be a light at end of the tunnel for my home. I would like to appauld you for your effords in the restoration of new orleans. I continue to do my story to let the american public know that Katrina may be long gone but her after effects are still very much still on going. I would like you to tell as many of your friends and colleages the truth about the devistation that katrina brought upon the citizens of new orleans and tell them that what they see in papers or on tv can not compare to an in person visit . I know that it is people like yurself that will keep this nations most devistational tragedy alive because you cared and shared.
THANK YOU
SHARON
a survivior

I found a series of great radio interviews with Sharon White in NPR's archives. I was able to listen to the interviews and hear her talk about her situation over several months. This woman had worked her way out of the projects, bought her own home, and then lost everything including her mom. Still she managed to keep her sense of optimism and determination. I got her email address from a photo. Her house is on Bonita Drive in the neighborhood where we gutted our very last house on Karen Street.

Sharon White Stories
Sep-07-2005, Katrina Survivors Contemplate Whether to Go Home
Sep-08-2005, Listener Letters
Sep-29-2005, Revisiting New Orleans Evacuee Sharon White
Oct-05-2005, Katrina: Finding What's Left of Home in New Orleans
Oct-06-2005, Listeners Letters
Nov-22-2005, Sharon White: Not Home Yet
Jan-12-2006, Sharon White: Rebuilding Uncertain
Jan-19-2006, Listeners Letters
Mar-03-2006, Sharon White Regains Her Determination to Rebuild
Mar-03-2006, Reporter's Notebook: Sharon White's Resolve

Send Sharon an email to tell her we are rooting for her and everybody in New Orleans.

Advice for Other Volunteers

If you or your group is considering volunteering for hurricane recovery work, you should definitely do it. For me and most of my students it was one of the most rewarding times in our lives. Here is some simple advice to make your trip go smoothly

If you're fit and healthy, you should be fine Many people worry about the health effects, but nobody in our group had any illness. If you are asthmatic or have mold allergies bring some meds and your own high-quality respirator. The dust masks we got were pretty basic. Nevertheless, our volunteers only had mild scratches and pokes from nails. There is a medical building at Camp Algiers. Get a tetanus shot if you haven't had one in awhile--they are free at the camp.

Work with a reliable agency. Volunteers more than anything want to do helpful, meaningful work. We worked with ACORN --a great organization. They are well-organized, are doing house gutting for needy homeowners, and they provide everything you need except a few items in italics in the packing list.

Arrange for room and board. You don't want to come home from an exhausting day gutting houses to peanut butter and jelly and a pup tent. We stayed in a well-run FEMA camp in Algiers, just across the river from downtown. I cannot say enough about the great job that Deployed Resources does running this camp. It's like summer camp but better, with hot meals, wifi internet access, packed lunches, free laundry, and air-conditioned dorm tents. The only limitation is a restriction against minors in the camp. It's strictly 18 and over.

A packing listPack lightly in a single bag.

• work clothes
  
• heavy boots
  
• toiletries in a small bag
  
• stuff sack for clean clothes on trips to showers
  
• flip flops
  
• sunscreen
  
• bug repellent
  
• leather work gloves
  
• laptop and digital camera
  
• play clothes
  
• a first aid kit

A tool list If you are providing your own tools (we did not need to) here what you need to gut houses in a team of 15-20 people:

• 6 claw hammers (straight and curved claws)
  
• 3 large crowbars
  
• 1 large sledgehammer
  
• 4 solid-tire heavy wheelbarrows
  
• 2 household brooms
  
• 2 large shop brooms
  
• 1 pair lock cutters for cutting copper pipe, wiring, and water supply tubing.

Gorillas

Karen had been planning on new cabinets in our kitchen, so yesterday morning my neighbor Ethan and I took the old ones out. Our galley-style kitchen is much roomier now, showing the scars of old flooring and wall paint where the cabinets were. Hopefully the plumber and new cabinets will show up on time.

We got the cabinets out by lunchtime, and then I tackled hanging a chandelier in the stairwell. I made my trip to Home Depot and crawled into the attic to attach the electrical box. The spot is near the eaves though, and I cursed and struggled to get a flashlight, drill, and my big head into the tiny sloped space near the eaves. After some choice cursing with my face pressed into the ceiling joists, I decided to let the electrician handle this project.

After a shower, Karen and I drove to her parents for dinner. I took my laptop full of New Orleans trip photos. Karen's extended family was visiting her dad, who had a serious car accident December 27 and is still recovering. He's lost weight and looks good, though he's trying to get himself off of his pain medication.

Before dinner, I set up my Mac in the kitchen and was showing a slideshow of the photos. Amid the expected comments of sympathy and discussion of the tragedy, a family member made the chilling comment that "They ought to just barricade that place off and leave it alone." I said I'd met a lot of good people there, and he responded that the only good people down there are probably missionaries. I hear comments sometimes that are negative, but these floored me. Later I heard him repeat it all to the rest of the family. I think he meant not only should the city not be rebuilt, but that victims should not have been rescued.

Back home in a depressed mood, I was channel surfing and saw some video footage of the young boy that fell into a British zoo's gorillas exhibit. The male gorilla scoots forward to investigate and strokes the boy's back as he lay unconscious right below the horrified onlookers. It's fascinating how most animals show empathy with other creatures who have been hurt. Most, but not all, apparently. Sigh.

I've been readjusting to regular life this week. I'm going to meetings, catching up with mountains of grading, and chatting with friends and acquaintances. But I find myself returning to New Orleans in my mind almost constantly. My students say the same thing. I want that feeling of achievement and--I'll go ahead and say it--goodness--that comes from working together on a project like we did for a week. I'm fortunate to be able to tear out my kitchen cabinets because I want and can afford nicer ones, and to wedge myself into a dark corner of my attic by choice, and not for survival. After shoveling up so much of other people's stuff, I'm still planning to get rid of more of my own.

College Volunteers

"If it wasn't for God and the hearts of these young people, nothing would get done," he said as he watched the students haul to the curb moldy books and appliances. "I know it's not easy work. It's dirty, and I'm amazed. They're smiling, like they're glad to do it."

Beverly sent me a copy of this article from the Houston Chronicle that someone had forwarded to her. Sounds like these students were doing the same thing we were. Some schools are even offering credit for the trip. I was impressed by the number of college groups we saw in New Orleans, and it sounds like there are many more in other Gulf Coast areas.

I'd like to somehow pass along some of the energy we have from our trip. I saw some of Melissa's video yesterday, and it looks promising. I've been thinking about putting together a slide show and talking to other schools and civic groups to encourage volunteering. We could get together and talk the whole trip over, which we never really did during the trip itself.

I'll see if I can email most of the Krewe this weekend. I miss the people and the experience of the trip. As exhausted as I was when I got home, I'd go again if I could. I can see how disaster work can be addictive.

Lower Ninth Residents Clean-up School Themselves

Residents of the Lower Ninth combined forces with Common Ground Collective volunteers and a group from Howard University to start cleaning out a school yesterday, according to this blog article. The school is right on Claiborne, so we drove past it during our visit.

As we saw, there are almost no children in the Ninth Ward, partly because there are no schools for them to return to. It is imperative that schools be refurbished and faculty and staff be in place soon if there is to be any hope of return for homeowners and citizens of the Ninth.

In the Name of Who?

I'm listening to an NPR interview with Louisiana State medical examiner Louis Cataldie, who is responsible for identifying the remains of Katrina victims in the city. He talks about a few chaplains he dealt with who appeared to be there for themselves rather than for the victims and family members.

I met a minister like that on our first day gutting houses. A shiny king cab pickup drove up the street we were working on, pulling a large trailer. A tall guy got out and asked if we needed anything. I thought it was a strange question, but I laughed and said "a cold beer!" The guy then introduced himself as a minister.

A few minutes later I realized the church folks were passing out gloves, and that many of our volunteers did not have any. I walked back down the street and asked if I could get some gloves for our volunteers. The minister said I could have one pair "as long as I accepted them in the name of Christ."

Now don't get me wrong--faith based groups are doing the city of New Orleans a huge service. We saw hundreds of Catholic and Protestant church and school groups at Camp Algiers, and I'm sure they were gutting houses like we were. Our own Clayton Taucher said he'd volunteered for religious reasons. But disasters draw all kinds, and some of them may not be there to help their fellow man without strings attached.

Fats Domino: Alive and Kickin'

We saw Fats Domino's yellow and black house in the Ninth Ward, and listened to his 50s tune "Walkin' to New Orleans" on the way down from Knoxville. Today he was interviewed on National Public Radio. He has a great new album called "Alive and Kickin'" Click on the links in the story to listen to four of his tracks, including two from the new album. He's donating the proceeds to the Tipitina's Foundation to help NOLA musicians displaced by Katrina. Click here to read the NPR story.

Taking It to the Streets: How to Gut a House

Gutting a house is not pretty or careful work. It requires little skill--in fact, too much skill can slow you down. With a hardworking crew of 10-14 you can gut an average house in a day. The goal is to strip the interior to the wood frame and haul everything to the curb, dumping it in long piles for the waste haulers to pick up. It all goes---everything. Paint, insecticide, and strong cleaners go in a separate pile for hazardous waste haulers. Large appliances go in another pile. Once you get over the sadness of seeing people's possessions to to the street, it can be fun to see so much destruction go so fast. Our krewe swarms over a house like army ants in paper suits and dust masks. We actually stripped a two-bedtroom condo in just a couple of hours.

Find the place. ACORN takes hundreds of applications. Construction workers get an address and should scout the place before taking volunteers. We would have avooided lots of snafus if they had always done this.

Case the joint. Where are the exits? Can some items be tossed out windows? Is the furniture still inside? Make ramps out of doors. Check that all power and water is shut off.

Clear the decks. Get all loose items out of the house. Start by clearing a path to the doors, then haul out furniture, clothes, and personal items. Avoid water-filled items until last.The stink of spilled "granny juice" is unbearable.

demo walls and ceilings Start by removing trim with a c rowbar. Then knock holes at waist height. Tear out drywall in large pieces where possible.

Appliances and fixtures Use lock cutters to cut all hoses, copper lines, and wires. Kick over toilets and carry out. Use dolly to get appliances or "white goods" out. Put near road for separate pick-up. Built in tubs are tougher. Start by breaking out walls to get at rim. Bend and break plumbing. Pound large crowbar down into drain to break pipe. Sledgehammer tile when needed. Roll out tub with 2-4 guys, tilt it up on end, and dolly it out.

Day Eight: Heading Home

It's almost 6 a.m. as I type in the dining tent here at Camp Algiers. The Tennessee Crowbar Krewe has worked hard for six days cleaning out seven houses. Now that we have made a small contribution to rebuilding after the worst natural disaster in American history, we are heading home. We'll take home sore muscles, some beads, and a lot of memories of this great American city and the beautiful people here.

Among the mountains of rubble hauled into the street this week I found two photo I.D. badges. Samantha Slack worked at New Orleans Christian Academy at 122 N. Dorgenois Street in the Ninth Ward with her husband and four children. Susan Alexander lived in a condo on Karen Street in New Orleans East. She worked on a cruise ship and owned a beautiful carved mahogany bed that by now is on its way to the Gentilly Landfill. I try to imagine these people we didn't meet but tried to help in some small way.

As we drive north from the Crescent City to our safe homes and comfortable beds, I hope that the scattered citizens of New Orleans will return, rebuild, and have a little more normalcy in their lives.

Day Seven: Our Last House

On Friday we returned to the house by the levee, where Marcia Gold shot this photo on Thursday. We finished our cleanout there, but getting through the maze of destroyed houses on the downriver side of the Industrial Canal was a challenge, so we ended up parking our cars in front of a rubble pile in the middle of the street and walking the last few yards.

After completing that house by 11 a.m., we drove west on Claiborne, North on Elysian Fields, and east into New Orleans East. That neighborhoood is located between Ponchartrain and the Intracoastal Waterway. This neighborhood feels solidly middle class, with newer homes and more mainstream development.

The last cleanout for our krewe was a condo at Erin Dr.and Karen Lane We didn't get the number, but other side of the duplex was number 7601. It was small but neat, with an attached garage that we made quick work of. The place was uncluttered, without the piles of books and clothing on the floor that has made some projects take so long.

We said goodbye to Tony and his crew at about 1 p.m. He told us he enjoyed working with us and Nga, one of his crew members, said that it was "cool" the way we got the work done and cooperated. We sat in the driveway and talked about how much we'd enjoyed the experience. It's hard to imagine missing putrid refrigerators and moldy drywall, but we will. I guess what we will really miss is working together to help people.

Day Six: Ground Zero

After finishing the Slack family's home, today we drove back to ground zero. As usual we got cut off by houses in the street and had to turn around several times. We were giving up on finding a house in that neighborhood that was salvageable, but then we saw house number six. It was a hip-roofed brick rancher built on a slab. Amazingly, this house was still straight and on its foundation when every house in sight looked like tinkertoys.

The house was at the corner of Jourdan Ave & N Robertson, one block from the Industrial Canal levee break, and we could see the work going on, with several cranes, large trucks, and a pile driver knocking the sheet metal piles deeper in the Louisiana mud. Hopefully deeply enough to hold this time.

This house had been partly gutted by a previous crew, and we had to move two refuse piles from just outside the picture windows to the street where they could be picked up. It took a long time. There were lots of dressed-up people driving by and rubbernecking. A crew was removing a house from a street while we were there.

Dennis: Through the 9th ward

Riding through the lower ninth ward today might be the strangest moment a person could ever experience. The sight of a totally demolished one way street makes the heart beat faster as the vehicle turns on to a road with no sign. The trials and hardships of the people affected by hurricanes Katrina and Rita are realized when the neighborhood reveals its self as no more than a garbage heap of wood planks, rusty metal and littered remnants of the materials that are normally found inside a home. The homes that are recognizable, lay scattered along the road ten to twenty feet away from their original foundation. In this area ,It seems, there is no place that has not been severely ripped apart by the crashing waters.

In the background of this scene, a reconstruction team rebuilds and repairs the broken levies. Still it doesn't stop the feeling of helplessness against the mighty Mississippi river just behind the broken levies. In the lower ninth ward it is not hard to imagine powerful thirty-foot waves crashing down on the street. The destruction that is left visually tells the whole story.

Despite its disasters, New Orleans is a beautiful place. The city is filled with Music, history and many different cultures. The city still carries on with swinging jazz, local bands, hot clubs and beautiful scenery. The people of the city are thankful that so many volunteers are helping rebuild their communities. Water damaged houses need a lot of work and cleanup crews are trying their best to gut houses, move debris and rebuild this great city.

The crowbar crew of Pellessippi State, TN continues to swing away as our last day approaches. Every day we clean the local houses in hopes that they will be saved. I hope the work I’ve done here will help families of the ninth ward to rebuild their lives. I truly feel this great experience will forever stay with us all.

Day Five: Bees, Bush, and the Slack Family

Today we got out of camp with everyone in a car. You have no idea what an accomplishment that is. So we got to the Acorn office where we parked. The place looked like a corner in LA swarming with Hispanic day laborers, except these were mostly white college kids with iPods, laptops and cell phones. I jumped out out and Tony informed me our crew organizers had just left. Fast forward through ten minutes of trying to find them.

After a comedy of errors we found ourselves following the Asian woman I call "bossy girl" way east into St. Bernard Parish. She finally made a U turn, turned onto a side street stops, got out, apologized, and points at the house. But as we walked up to it though, she pointed out bees swarming above the door of this sixties rancher. We've cleaned out stanky nasty, bacteria-laced and rat-infested dwellings without blinking an eye, but today we can't work because of bees. She called Tony, who came to take us to a new house.

While we waited, I crank up the stereo and we had an impromptu swing dance lesson. It was the most surreal moment of the trip, dancing between flood-damaged houses in the Ninth Ward. One-and-two-and rock step.

Eventually we find the house. It's at 1526 St. Maurice,--the former home of Samantha Slack, her husband and three children. They of course are not there, but all their stuff is, so we jumped right in hauling things out. By the end of the day we had made a rubble pile six feet high and a hundred feet long. There were appliances, clothes, toys, furniture, dishes--everything that made up this family's material life. We are dragging out much of what the Slacks had worked and saved for.

We found an undamaged family photo album and made a collage of small personal items on the mailbox. They have beautiful children. They had a Christmas tree and gifts. On Valentine's Day, the husband drew a bubblebath and sprinkled it with rose petals for his wife. Then one day the TV told them to pack what they could fit in their car and run for their lives. When the levee broke and their home was flooded, they probably became exiles.

Wherever they are, I hope the Slacks are coming back and rebuilding. I hope they can get the life back that is in that photo album.

In the middle of all the hauling and gutting today, we discovered that President Bush was supposed to be in the Ninth Ward. For awhile we even thought that our drivers hauling water couldn't get across the canal because the bridges had been closed by the Secret Service. Jerry decided to make a sign for the President. It said "Where've U Been George?" Then Ann wrote "Make Levees, Not War" on the backs of several of our Hazmat paper suits. We got lots of horn honks and thumbs up signs from drivers passing through on Claiborne. We also got a lot of appreciation from a flatbed driver who drove through on St Maurice. Making connections with people and doing useful work are what this trip is all about.

Update I found out later the president had helicoptered in from the airport to the river and limousined to 5509 N. Rampart where he looked at a damaged home. That way he came in contact with as few New Orleanians as possible. He also looked over the levee construction on the Industrial Canal, and stopped at Stewart's Diner at 3403 N. Claiborne for red beans and rice to go. In a speech at the levee, he urged the House Appropriations Committee to allow him to earmark over $4 billion for housing recovery in Louisiana. Of course if we were out of Iraq we wouldn't have to be so stingy about helping rebuild an American city after a natural disaster. Read the story here.

Day Four: Good Karma

This morning we went to finish house number 3 from yesterday, and we did some light demolition on house number 4, a nice yellow house that had a lot of stuff. It was an easy, smooth day filled with good karma, mostly.

The only bad thing came when Clayton was nowhere to be found when we left this morning. Considering that Ashlee, Brittani, Amy, and Jessica were MIA yesterday, I figured this was an improvement. Later I missed his call on my cell phone, and by the time I realized he'd called four times and answered his next call, he'd taken a bus and was in a panic trying to find house number 3 when we'd moved to house number 4. I suggested he go back to the camp, and he spent the rest of his money on a cab to get back. Sigh. Getting college kids to be at the same place at the same time has been frustrating, but I can't imagine a group of more enthusiastic home wreckers.

The good karma started near the end of gutting house number 3, at 2132 Feliciana near N. Miro. I walked behind a house to pee (working in a neighborhood with no water has a few drawbacks) and saw a woman on the sidewalk on my way back. I asked her if she was looking at her house and she said yes. Her house was already gutted, and she had come down from where she was staying near Chicago to think about the next step. She told us about the neighborhood, about the families she grew up around who are now scattered across the country. But she expected most to return and rebuild. As she smiled and spoke, our video student Melissa asked for and interview and set up her camera. She got over an hour of great footage.

The next nice surprise was meeting Reverend Stevens, the owner of house number 4. He was working on his house just off St. Bernard Avenue where they have water and power, when we arrived. He showed me the work--removing some panelling and warped oak flooring from his lovely 60s ranch home. He showed me around and said he had done the trim and drywall before and he would again. After gutting houses that looked they were a long way from restoration, it was encouraging to see a house already being worked on. I left him some paper Christmas ornaments my students had made on New Orleans themes. Maybe his family will put them on their tree.

There were other little good karma moments making connections with the locals. There was the skinny asian kid who gave me half his Oyster Po Boy and macked on our college girls, saying, "I may be small, but I'm big on the inside." There was Tony's casual comment that we "were helping people that need it." And my favorite was the gay bar owner who, after hearing we'd been gutting houses all day, told the girls with us, "I own this bar. What do you want?" They got some free Abitas out of that deal. The people down here are great--very warm and friendly.

Day Three: The Funky Nasty Stank House

Yesterday after we finished gutting our first house, we got an early start on the second one. The ACORN guys told us the second house had furniture can personal property inside, which would take longer. Moldy furniture? No Problem. Clutter? Bring it on. We were feeling confident and ready for anything. We had absolutely no clue.

House 2 was at 1716 Feliciana near DerbignyWE opened the front door and saw junk everywhere. Some of it had floated around in the flood I guess, but it was pretty cluttered anyway. We wrestled out a sofa to the street and started shoveling the small junk it wheelbarrows to dump on the sidewalk. Hauling off personal stuff takes some getting used to. There was clothing in the closets, medicine in the bathroom, and family photos scattered around.

The house was small and narrow, so I got the back door open to get a second front in the battle against the flood damage. About that time people in the kitchen started squealing over a rat. Then someone did the unthinkable and opened the fridge. The reek that rolled out is impossible to describe. We called this the "stinky house," but that's not strong enough. By the time we spilled stagnant, putrid liquid from two refrigerators, several plastic totes, an electric fryer, and a dishwasher throughout the house, this stench was everywhere. We went back this morning to gut the walls and the funk was still there. In fact, it had thrown open the doors, had a party, and invited its stanky friends. Eventually the smell it invaded our pores so deeply only a hot shower with antibacterial soap would get rid of it.

While we were working, Jerry got a text message that a dead body was found today by cadaver dogs.

Work Hard, Play Hard

Here we are in the French Quarter on Sunday night after gutting our first house: Lydia, Ann, Brittani, Cory, Teela, Ashleigh, Amy, John, Todd, and Jessica. We took the Algiers Ferry and walked to Bourbon Street from Harrah's. Later that week they blew up the Algiers Ferry to film for Deja Vu. We walked down to Lafitte's, had a couple there, and walked all the way back to Jackson Square. We'd missed the last ferry, so we had coffee and beignets at Cafe Du Monde.

Day Two: Our First House

The weather today is clear, the birds are singing, and Louisiana hot sauce was on the breakfast table. I can't get over how well set up the camp is here. They have steel shipping containers set up with hot showers. There is a movie tent. There were even people singing Christian songs last night. The harmonies sounded nice, and it was cool to here a group of college kids doing it. We seem to be the only group not part of a church.

Today we will see our first glimpse of the Ninth Ward.

Update: After a great hot breakfast in the dining tent, we caravanned to the ACORN office for our first work assignment. There I met Tony, our foreman. He's a muscular asian guy who stood in the median of Elesiuand Fields and shouted assignments at people and into his cell phone. After a few minutes we dashed after his van to the first house.

We drove through the devastation of the Lower Ninth, just below the levee break on the downriver side of the Industrial Canal. We were at Ground Zero, where many people lost their lives. Houses were gone from their foundations, swept away in the deluge. We wound through this ghost town, staring at houses on top of cars, houses in the middle of streets, and houses with holes broken in the roofs where residents had climbed into their attics to escape the rising water and then had to kick their way out through the old plank roof decking.

Each house we looked at was structurally unsafe. Finally we found a small house on the corner of Lamanche and Villere farther from the levee that looked safe to enter. This would be our first job. We parked and suited up in Haz Mat suits and dust masks. Tools were passed out and we started gutting. In a few hours it was done. That was just a warm-up for what would follow.

Day One: The Hurricane Hilton

This morning we met up at Pellissippi and after some confusion and car-swapping we rollled out around 9 a.m. The trip was uneventful, though it took a little practice to play follow the leader on the interstate. We drove though the rolling hills around Chatanooga, then down I-59 across Alabama and though the pine scrub flatlands of Southern Miassissippi. Julian and Lydia and I talked about music and graphic design on the way down and listened to each other's iPods on the Honda stereo system. They napped. I drove. Clayton played his Gameboy and read.

We sailed through the landscape, five carloads of folks on an odd mission to haul soggy refuse out of the homes of strangers, and become connnected to a drama we'd only experienced through the media.

We made our first stop fdor lunch, then made our last pit stop at Slidell, Louisiana before crossing Lake Ponchartrain in the dusk. The lights of New Orleans seemed surprisingly normal, like nothing has gone terribly wrong here. We know better though, and would see for ouselves in the morning.

We found Camp Algiers and got name badges, maps, and a tasty dinner. This place is incredibly neat and well-run, though it would be interesting to sleep on army "racks" with 200 other people. The camp is set up in a city park under spreading Live Oak trees draped with Spanish moss. We saw an owl in a tree right across from the guest services trailer.

Rise and Shine!

On our last day before we get up early to roll south with 25 people, it's really great to feel it all coming together. Yesterday I talked to Teela, Lydia, and Julian about the trip. They are bringing walkie talkies to communicate between cars.

This morning Jayson Mullen came by with an update on the t-shirts. He designed a great rooster / crowbar logo for our krewe, and got a friend in the t-shirt business to print and donate t-shirts.

Another student, Melissa Dos Santos, has baked 4 dozen cookies that I found in my office this morning!

Our local public radio station WOUT is interviewing me for broadcast during All Things Considered at 4 today. Tune it at 91.9 FM, or listen online here.

President Bush Knew the Levees Could Fail

Yesterday the Associated Press released video of a videoconference held to discuss Katrina on August 28, the day before the storm hit the Gulf Coast. In the video, FEMA director Michael Brown clearly states concern about the storm’s seriousness and the danger to the Superdome. He call it “the big one.”

Next Hurricane Center Director Max Mayfield says the storm is as powerful as Andrew but much larger, and adds that “I don’t think anyone can tell you with any confidence right now whether the levees will be topped or not.”

Finally the president speaks from his ranch in Crawford. He asks no questions. He makes no decisions. He says, “I want to assure the folks at the state level that we are fully prepared to not only help you during the storm, but we will move in whatever resources and assets we have at our disposal to help you deal with the loss of property, and we pray for no loss of life of course.”

The next day the storm came ashore, the surge broke the levees, thousands perished, and New Orleans was thrown into chaos. The next day on Good Morning America the president said, “I don’t think anybody anticipated the breeching of the levees.”

Clearly that was false and the president knew it.

We Have Three More Slots for the Trip!

I posted this on the old blog before setting up this one. Here's the basic information gain for last-minute sign-ups.

We’ve got accommodations for Knoxville area volunteers who want to go to New Orleans over spring to help rebuild from Katrina in the 9th Ward. This is an opportunity to help save working class homes in a great American city. Read about ACORN's work here.

We will leave Saturday, March 4 and return Saturday, March 11. Volunteers will need to sign some forms and have $30 cash to cover gas expenses and personal spending on the road. This is not an official Pellissippi trip. Oh, and there will be a student video crew to immortalize you as you swing a crowbar like a pro!

We will stay in the four-star accommodations at Camp Algiers and work with ACORN, an organization that is fighting big developers to rebuild local neighborhoods so homeowners can return. We’ll sightsee in the nearby French Quarter and possibly other parts of the city. “What will we be doing” you ask? Gutting houses. You’ll be decked out in fashionable paper suits, removing everything (in the house I mean) down to the studs so they can be dried out and demolded before reconstruction. Sexy!

Want to go? Email me, fill out the forms, and meet us on time at 8 a.m. at the front parking lot at Pellissippi’s main campus by the lake.