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Katrina Christmas

Schroeder at People Get Ready has a post of wonderful pictures of NOLA homes decorated for the holidays like this one…

nola house decorated christmas 2007

But there’s also a disclaimer…

Disclaimer: Don’t get the impression that New Orleans is doing alright because people are decorating their houses for Christmas. Nothing could be farther from the truth…

To Read the rest and see the photos CLICK HERE—–

5 thoughts on “Katrina Christmas”

  1. we all hope we can survive, muddle through the next 2 years.
    georgie will be nothing in 08′ when the teevee gnews find a new monster to create.

  2. so are people keeping those rescue spray paint designations on their houses as some kind of defiant souvenir (I would) , or are they just unable to repaint? Most of these homes appear to be lived in at this time.
    Is there a name for those things other than rescue spray paint things? I assume they’ve become a permanent part of the visual culture of NOLA

  3. FEMA Urban Search & Rescue Task Force Marking System. Yeah, they’re kind of part of the landscape now. For most people, logically, painting is one of the last things you do when you rebuild, and the vast majority of people have not been able to rebuild yet because of fights with insurance companies or lack of closure on their Road Home grants.
    To understand the magnitude of the thing, take a look at this map of the entire city:
    http://www.nola.com/katrina/graphics/depths.swf
    All of the colored areas on this map have vacant houses, and in the areas that show flooding greater than 4 feet (orange, red, purple, or black) almost every residential city block is probably more than 70% vacant. Many are 100% vacant.

  4. Dang it, I hate when I do that.
    Anonymous above is me.
    Also, it should be noted that Schroeder’s photos are from *last* Christmas, and yet a year later the city doesn’t look nearly as good as those pictures suggest.

  5. I used a pressure washer to take the designations off of our home. I hated those numbers sprayed upon a place that hadn’t flooded in almost 160 years since the land was first built upon. This March should see our home raised higher and our tushies back into the place.
    As for Xmas decorations, we have the only lights for several blocks. Neighbors were questioning my doing this, and I just said it was for the kids, but in reality, it was for all of us. It brought me out of an eight month-long depression.
    Reparations for all of New Orleans!

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