Progress

Last year when my sister and I organized the trip through Water Watch we were completely unprepared for the destruction we saw in the Lower Ninth Ward.  There were houses completely leveled leaving only a few cinderblocks and the front steps on their plot of land.  There were houses that were completely untouched after two years. 

The city itself was like a ghost town with the past wieghing down heavily.  It was completely heartbreaking to see people's lives left behind and it seemed that this town would never get back tot the way it was.  There were only a few houses that were being worked on and even fewer people living there. 

 This year the lower ninth ward was beginning to show some signs of activity.  There are many houses being worked on and people are beginning to return.  There are people that have rebuilt and live with their families in the Lower Ninth Ward.  There are still the houses the haven't been touched and empty fields near the levees where houses were completely destroyed.  There are still streets of empty houses and the parts that are completely abandoned.  But then you the houses that have been rebuilt and the houses that are being worked on.  New Orleans still has ten years of work ahead and they are nowhere near the lively and vibrant city they were.  The city however shows signs of life thanks to the wonderful volunteers who have devoted theri time and energy into helping this city. 

The first picture posted here is a house next to the lower ninth ward levee that broke during the Hurricane letting through water at 400 mph.  It was just the frame and studs.

The second picture posted is the same house a year later almost completely rebuilt.