written by my father, John Pilgrim, on February 23, 2006.
Things look normal. Until you look carefully. All the stores are there (KFC, McDonald’s, etc. etc.) But there aren’t any cars in the parking lot. And the signs in the window advertise specials that are good through September 4. Time stopped August 29.
Stoplights don’t work in most of the city. Replaced by stop signs at many intersections. Traffic goes much more slowly when there are stop signs instead of stoplights.
Big news–Whole Foods opened last weekend. That makes a total of 3 grocery stores open, all within about a 6-block radius of one another. For a city currently of 100,000+.
Mail delivery has resumed to inhabited neighborhoods. Comes 2-3 times a week, but not on a known schedule. First class only. No magazines, packages, catalogs, or ads. You can mail things at the central post office. No packages, and cash only for stamps. Mail takes about 1 week to go from here to another address in New Orleans. Must go first to Baton Rouge to be sorted, then back to be eventually delivered.
Signs of what’s hot, what’s not: “Gutting and Debris Removal: call…..” “Mold eradication. Call….” “Litigation specialists in mold and flood damage.” “We’re Open!!”
Hundreds of abandoned cars under the I-10 Interstate. In the flooded neighborhoods, lots of parked cars in driveways, mud-encrusted, untouched for now 6 months.
Cafe du Monde. Some things never change. Great beignets, great cafe au lait, same wait staff from SE Asia, same man making balloon sculptures in front. And some things are different. About 10 tables occupied (been here all times of the day, all times of the year, NEVER seen this few people at Cafe du Monde.) Only two horse and carriages for rent in front of Jackson Square.
Riverwalk — “over 140 shopping and eating establishments.” About 10 shopping establishments open. One restaurant in the food court. Many shops completely empty. Others fully stocked, but not with sales people or customers.
Neighborhood of houses in Chalmette, the extension of the Lower 9th Ward. Middle class/upper middle class suburb of single family, one-story homes. The homes have grass and yard debris on their roof, deposited there by the floodwaters when they receded.
Every house, in every block, in neighborhood after neighborhood — walls standing, door open, house empty, unlivable. Cleaned out of debris, furniture, and everything they had. Piled on the street, then taken away.
Homes in Lower 9th Ward and Chalmette (St. Bernard Parish). Inches of muck on the floors of the home. Furniture all cleaned out and removed. Ceiling falling down, brick facing peeled off. Waiting for…..?
Volunteer work crews from around the country coming, organized by various church denominations, other non-profits. Earnest, hard-working people of all ages. All say the same thing — cannot believe what we’re seeing.
Signboard in front of a church listing the upcoming events. In July and August.
Virgin Records: closed. No sign of when (or if) it will re-open.
Boulangerie: closed. No sign of when (or if) it will open.
Stores and restaurants that are open may not be able to accept credit cards. Phone landlines aren’t available in large sections of the city.
Having a Katrina moment — when cool reason confronts raw emotion.
