mike.callac.com

Remnants of Hurricane Katrina

On August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina ripped apart the Gulf Coast. My hometown, Slidell, LA, was one of those places severely hit. I was finally able to return home for Thanksgiving, 2 and a half months later. This is what I saw.

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123 Lakeview Dr. This is where my grandmother's camp was. The two items protruding from the water are actually bathtubs. I've got pictures of those in my Slidell section. One of my grandmother's bathtubs (we think it's hers) ended about 400 feet inland).
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Gone...
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This was the pier to her house. The house itself was set back about 250 feet from the shoreline.
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There used to be houses on all of these pilings.
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A condo across the street. The water literally ripped through it.
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This blue chair used to be in my grandmother's living room. It's now 500 feet away. The rest of her house seems to have ended up another 200 feet from this.
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Another condo across the street, totally destroyed.
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A house in the Lakewood subdivision in New Orleans. This is very close to where the levee broke. The neon X with the numbers indicates how many survivors (or deceased) were found in the house. This one indicates that nobody was found.
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This is where the levee actually broke. It turns out that residents in the area had been complaining for over a year that the levee was leaking.
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Another home across from the levee break.
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No parking.
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You can clearly see the water line on this house. No telling how many weeks the water sat inside.
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This is my aunt's basement in New Orleans. The flood waters actually discolored (or cleaned) the paint on the wood. Look how far it came up. Don't worry that the hinges are rusted. Since the house is sinking, this door has sheared through the concrete floor of the basement, and won't be opening anytime in the future.
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Fort Pike, a pre Civil War defense for Lake Pontchartrain.
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This wall was fine before the hurricane.
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As was this one. And notice the upturned boat.
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This was a house in the Rigolets area just outside of Slidell. Notice the home office.
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The canal is full of debris 2 and a half months later. Half of it is scorched from a fire.
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Breakfast anyone?
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This camp looks like it must have floated across the highway. It used to be on the other side of the road.
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Trucks generally don't belong in the marsh.
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This was either someone's house, or a boat house. Either way, it's neither now.
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This one was someone's house.
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As far as I'm concerned, this is an unnatural view. There should be houses on all of the pilings.
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The condos across the street from where my grandmother's house was. My brother and aunt have found some things in the rubble (pictures, toys, and a clock) from the house.
shack
I think this was a shack outside of Slidell. Nobody will be using it anytime soon.
marsh-boat
Boat + Water = True Boat + Island = False
twinspan-view
Another unnatural view. The twin span bridge has never been visible from this vantagepoint in my lifetime.
gone
Gone...
diningroom
...
gone2
...
gone3
...
© 2010 by Mike Callac. All rights reserved.