New Orleans Part 2: Post-Katrina and the Lower 9

Warning: Downer Alert!
Atillio wanted to take us on a driving tour of the Lower 9 while we were in New Orleans so we set out on the first nice day in a week to visit the place that got hit hardest by Katrina back in 2005. The destruction is still visible and ubiquitous.

This school still had its sign up from summer '05-I guess the kids never made it back to school.

This is one of the houses newly built by Brad Pitt's organization, Make It Right NOLA. They look kind of funky but they are up on stilts in case another hurricane comes through.

Common Ground Relief, a volunteer organization in the Lower 9 which helps to rebuild. Atillio worked here for a year or so.

Common Grounds' Mascot, Tchoupitoulas and his doghouse. Clever :D

Next we went into a house that was still standing but clearly dilapidated- our first Urban Exploration. It hadn't been stripped down, cleaned or occupied since the storm and was in fact still For Sale by Owner. This is the obligatory shot of a child's toy amidst the rubble.

The Kitchen of the house

Black Mold upstairs- we booked it pretty quickly once we saw this.

Mud caked on the top stair. The water level must have been at least a storey high.

The living room

And some kind of Teddy Bear torture device we found on the floor.

This is the Levy that was rebuilt after katrina. At some point during the storm, an unmoored barge crashed into the levy and caused a ton of damge in the lower 9. There is one remaining piece of Banksy art on it. At this vantage point, it looks just like a shadow.