I came back yesterday from a weekend trip to New Orleans to celebrate my friend Linda's impending marriage. New Orleans is quite the city, and it was not my run-of-the-mill weekend.
It all started with the plane, where the New Orleans native next to me told me stories about Katrina. Apparently this guy decided to go back into the city 8 days after the storm, and called his friend who was on a SWAT team to know how to get back in the city without getting turned away. He snuck back in through some back way, and found his house in tact, except for the roof which had completely blown off.
He proceeded to put on a respirator and clean out his rotting fridge, when National Guard troops came into his house, guns pointed at him, as a suspected looter. They were not happy when he announced he was back to stay. Apparently over the next few weeks the sergeant in charge of the company came back to make sure he was safe three times a day, as he was the only civilian in the entire district the troops were working in. Each time the sergeant visited this guy he would ask him to leave in his most commanding military voice, and each time he would not. But despite his disapproval, the troops brought a steady supply of water and food.
The second week back, the guy met a friend down on Bourbon street for a beer. Power had not yet been restored and the city was still in dire chaos, but apparently this one bar had not shut down at all, the entire storm. Anyway, so this guy and his friend are drinking warm beers outside this bar when a New Orleans police cruiser comes by and stops in the middle of the street. The guys watch while the police open the back of the SUV and start bringing in cases of liquor to the bar. A few minutes later, a fire truck stops in the middle of the street in front of the same bar. Firefighters jump out and start opening the auxillary compartments of their ladder truck to reveal bag after bag of ice, which they proceed to bring into the restaurant.
The guy turned to his friend and said "New Orleans is back."
More to come about New Orleans later....
