A Local's Perspective
(by James Ferguson, my friend living in New Orleans)
Nine months. Garbage lining the streets. Houses collapsed. Businesses
closed. Homes vacant. 60% of the population displaced. Levees fallen…
The New New Orleans.
Is anything back to normal? Yes. Crime. Murders. Drugs. 40% of the
population has maintained 100% of the murder rate… The Old New
Orleans.
The (almost inconceivably) slow pace of recovery has allowed for those
displaced to not return home. It has allowed for vacant buildings to
dot the neighborhoods – in some cases, to comprise a neighborhood.
Vacant buildings attract drugs and gangs. Neighborhoods are falling.
Those remaining fight to find their neighbors and bring them back.
Reoccupy the homes. But, alas - No help. No money. No organization…
The old and new. The eternal.
Electricity? Water? Not yet. Not everywhere. - Garbage? Pollution?
Rampant. - Government Aid? Insufficient. Ineffective. – Small
Businesses? Mostly closed. - Red lights? Sparse. Accidents? Plenty. –
Hospitals? Not quite. – Schools? Not many. – Police? Not enough. -
More Hurricanes? I hope not. - Strong communities? Charity groups?
Nonprofits? Perhaps our only help.
