Lakeview - Part 1

Two years ago I rented a car during the break between weekends and visited some of the areas that had been hardest hit by Hurricane Katrina. This year I went back to the same areas to see what had changed. On Monday, April 28 I drove to the Lakeview neighborhood near the 17th Street Canal, which is one of the canals that broke when Katrina hit. Despite all the talk we've heard about levees, all of the flooding was caused by floodwall failures along the canals. In addition to the 17th Street Canal, the London Outflow Canal and the Industrial Canal also failed. All of the failures happened to the east - that is, the floodwalls broke on the eastern side of each canal.

The 17th Street Canal runs along the border between New Orleans and Metairie (the next city over, in Jefferson Parish). Some of the worst flooding was on the New Orleans side of this canal, while on the other side there was no flooding at all. I heard one resident say two years ago that while his house had water up to his roof, someone on the other side of the canal was mowing his lawn.

I took these pictures in an area around the intersection of Fleur De Lis and Stafford Streets, which is where I went in 2006. My impression is that Lakeview is starting to recover. The debris has been cleaned away, houses that were beyond repair have been demolished, and many homes are being restored or rebuilt. Still, the neighborhood has a long way to go.

Empty lots where homes have been razed are still private property.





Here is a place that looks new. I suspect the property was sold after Katrina to a real estate developer at a low price.





Some of the new houses are being built on stilts to raise them above flood level. I'd guess that the lower area will become a garage.











Note the piles of sand and gravel. My guess is that they are landscaping material.