As troops begin to arrive, slowly, and people continue to be evacuated, slowly, I really wonder what comes next? Rebuild, yes, but how? Perhaps they should raze the most vulnerable, lowest lying, most destroyed areas and just turn them into greenspace, re-do the levies for cat 5, and restore the CBD, French Quarter, Garden District and whatever is "dry" right now. I don't know.
I am tired of hearing over-criticism of President W right now: Things are fucked up and I think he is doing the best he can considering the screwy state of FEMA and very bad decisions made by him and his administration that contributed to this. Past administrations have not done much better in funding, planning, etc. for this. Not that I mind that all this mess may contribute to getting the Dems back into power, but hey, fair is fair.
All I know is that I am so saddened by all of this.
At last, the last of the people I know personally in NOLA have been accounted for. Thank God. Or whoever is in charge right now. Now it's only Machelle and her tribe that are still there.
Here are some pictures from a happier time, and my mask that hangs in my study from KdV 2004, which is now a constant reminder of this disaster.
Machelle
