Two years out and still a huge housing story

I spent much of last week in New Orleans, arriving in a downpour that felt like a hurricane, except the winds were only about 30mph instead of 130mph. Still, as the sheets of rain hit the top of the plane, you could begin to sense frustration of yet another hurricane season beginning with no end to the quagmire Katrina created two years ago.

Last Monday afternoon, I spent four hours listening to stories from the leaders of Women of the Storm, who pointed out that more members of Congress had visited Iraq than New Orleans in the aftermath of the greatest natural disasters (Katrina and Rita together) to grace our shores. They drove me around, gave me the lay of the land, and tried to explain why cascading and continuing failures of people and politics combined with what Mother Nature dished out have kept New Orleans from regaining its former glory.

But not for lack of effort on the part of the citizens who stayed or returned, and began to rebuild.

What I think escapes our collective belief is how massive the problems continue to be. The lower ninth ward was almost entirely swept away. There are a few smashed up houses that looked like Katrina punched them in the gut. When you look at this former community today, next to where the levee broke,  it appears to be nearly vacant, undeveloped land. When you get closer, you see that every few feet is a concrete driveway, a reminder that houses packed these small lots, where families lived for generations.

The question that haunted me during my week was this: A house can be a home, but what happens when a house gets rebuilt, but the community in which it stood is lost forever?

Ilyce Glink, ThinkGlink.com

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