wuap's Katrina photos

[wuapinmon]

I'm always droning on and on about Katrina, and recently I decided to put all most of my more interesting photos in one thread so that people can see them together. I'll make this one public.
























These were all taken FOUR MONTHS after the storm hit.

[wuapinmon]

Notice the hole cut in the roof where the water level was at so they could be rescued by boat.




















You'll notice that that's a BARGE in someone's yard.

[wuapinmon]

The infamous "Bucket"

[wuapinmon]

Notice how the poles are all leaning away from the levee breach

[wuapinmon]

This one is in the Lower 9th Ward. Those two houses were not on their lots, and there's a pickup upside down underneath one of them. This flood happened in less than 5 mins. The Church sent me to go and find addresses and verify if the home was inhabited or not. We had this form to fill out for each one. On a few of them, my branch president instructed me to put, "Home was in the path of the Lower 9th Ward breach. If these members were at home, they most likely did not survive."

[wuapinmon]

Check these out. A friend of mine stayed behind...notice the time stamps:





Here's some of the inside of my friends' house, about 8 blocks from my house:







Here's a storm surge at an Entergy plant:

[wuapinmon]

These are some of the most haunting photos to me. Academy Drive Chapel (interior):

[wuapinmon]

Boats in the streets. Some were there for over a year before getting picked up.





This car got its ass kicked:





Brick houses were wrenched from their foundations and floated a ways until the water seeped inside and they sank. Imagine your house being buoyant.

[wuapinmon]

The breached levee at 17th St. Canal:








Superdome:





My street on September 17, 2005. 20 days after the storm. It was deserted:




My Dad and a friend who came to help.







Hardee's grease dumpster floated into my driveway. Hardee's was 8 blocks away:

[wuapinmon]

A makeshift pier:



Pine tree devastation in southern Mississippi (god's lawnmower). It was like this for 75 miles inland:



I've always liked this photo. If you're ever in NOLA, this place has the best oysters in the city:







Mold growth (strangely beautiful):





For landpoke:

[old_gregg]

wow, those are really cool. the one with the water coming over the levee makes my palms sweat.

[New Mexican Disaster]

Ho-ly shit wuap that is something you will go to your grave with.

[Jeff Lebowski]

Incredible. Thanks for posting those, wuap.

[wuapinmon]

Ho-ly shit wuap that is something you will go to your grave with.

It had a profound effect on me. I can't seem to ever stop talking about it, and sometimes, when I see video of the storm, I burst into tears, sobbing. My wife does too. Our daughter is absolutely terrified of rainstorms.


What you don't get from the photos is the silence and the smell.

For about a year, every time it rained, this mixture of diesel, sewage, death, wet dog, and sour milk would rise up from the festering piles and un-gutted houses and just permeate the air with "Katrina stink."

The first time I came back into the city (9-17-05), the place was deathly silent:

We drove on I-610 because I need to go and retrieve my car down on St. Charles Ave. and the interstate was blocked. We drove through the 9th Ward, over the Industrial Canal. The devastation was catastrophic. The city has no color anymore, just different shades of gray. The water is pitch black—the smell, like a rotten pig carcass boiled in feces and then sprinkled with vinegar and burnt hair. Strangely, I got used to the smell after a few hours. It feels like winter, most of the trees have lost their leaves, save the ever-indestructible magnolias. The only sound to be heard was the occasional helicopter overhead. Otherwise, it was like being in the country.

[CardiacCoug]

Those pictures are amazing.

After riding out Hurricane Ike two years ago (and having our roof completely stripped of shingles down to the plywood and our entire fence leveled) I resolved to NEVER go through another hurricane again no matter what.

Sitting there in the muggy darkness with no power, no cell phone service, listening to shingles being stripped off our roof and wondering when the water might start pouring in was no fun at all, especially with a bunch of little kids.