Hurricane Katrina Tour

Erik and I were both a little leery about signing up for a tour in general, let alone one based on Hurricane Katrina... it just seemed a little invasive. However, we learned a lot about what really happened, and we got a true insiders point of view on the storm and the aftermath. It was truly amazing to see the devastation first-hand, and heartbreaking to see the infamous spray-painted markings on the outsides of houses. As you can see in some of the photos, the search and rescue teams used spray paint to indicate the status of the house and any people inside. The "X" has four quadrants : at the top is the date that the house was checked, at the left is the task force that searched the house, at the bottom are any hazards that may be present, and at the right is the number of dead. (Though you can't see it well in the photo, the house/duplex in the bottom picture was searched two different times. The top marking shows that it was checked on September 8 by a task force out of Arizona and they were unable to enter due to the high water level. Once the water receded enough to go in, the house was re-checked on September 24 by a Florida task force. This time, they found 2 dead in the attic on the right side. The word "hole" is written across the front door as this is where recovery teams had to look in order to recover the bodies. It apparently refers to a hole in the floor of the attic created by an axe used in the search efforts).

While we are certainly sensitive to the immeasurable human loss, it was absolutely painful to see the markings about pets. Several houses had additional information about the number and breeds of dogs found. Super sad. (The brick house, third from top, shows this with the marking "dog" on the front porch).

One final thought on the whole thing: It has been nearly 4 years, and I hardly think about Hurricane Katrina these days. I had no idea how much devastation still remains. The destroyed neighborhoods, the markings on the houses, and the general vacancy of some of the hard-hit areas left me uneasy, yet gave me a true respect for the people of this city who endured the storm and continue to rebuild their lives.