I originally posted this back in February, but I decided to rewrite it and publish it on Earth Day. I’m not a scientist, and I can’t tell you anything about global warming except that it seems to be occurring, regardless of the cause. What I do know is that the management of natural resources can play a role in saving billions of lives. Had we not dredged a canal between the Gulf of Mexico and the Mississippi River, the washout rate of Louisiana’s barrier islands would have been drastically less severe. As all residents of the United States Gulf Coast know, those barrier islands take the brunt force of all tropical and hurricane storm surges (thereby reducing inland flooding) and substantially weaken the storm’s strength (in particular, the wind). Without the barrier islands, we see great American and humanitarian disasters. We cannot let our pride or our politics hold the lives of millions worldwide hostage.
I lived in New Orleans when Hurricane Katrina devastated the Central Gulf Coast region on August 29, 2005. Rather than staying in my dorm at the time, I evacuated east to my hometown of Mobile, Alabama. When I left, I had no idea I wouldn’t be back for months. When I moved back in June 2006, I immediately took stock of what was gone, what was left, and what was being rebuilt in the city.
From UNO Lakefront Arena in New Orleans, Louisiana | June 2006
One of the first places I went was north to the University of New Orleans campus at the lakeshore. UNO didn’t flood and many of those who were stuck in their homes after the waters rose found their way to the campus. After the city drained, the parking lot of the UNO Lakefront Arena became home to hundreds of FEMA Trailers, creating what my friends and I called a FEMA Farm.
From the Lower 9th Ward in New Orleans, Louisiana | July 2006
Largely considered the most devastated neighborhood in New Orleans, the Lower 9th Ward’s condition was pretty well covered by the media. I’m still not sure how I feel about the big bus tours and disaster tourism that became the norm after Katrina. Making money from others’ destruction just doesn’t feel right. As someone who lived in the city, I did make it a point to visit the area though. My friend Doug took a few of us through the Lower 9th, where I took the photos above and below.
From Chalmette, Louisiana Near New Orleans | July 2006
The boat photos were taken in Chalmette, just downriver from the 9th Ward. Chalmette is not a part of Orleans Parish (it’s in St. Bernard Parish), but it backs up to Arabi and the Lower 9th. Water from Lake Borgne to the north topped the levees and swept the SS Dolphin into someone’s front yard. I’ll write it again: the water rose so high that a shrimping boat floated across the levee into this front yard.
by Joe Kennedy
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