Lakeview - Part 2

Here is the Army Corps of Engineers working on the floodwall and floodgates for the 17th Street Canal (as I understand it, the purpose of the floodgates is to keep the water from getting too high in the canal). Most of the damage to the canals had been repaired by the time I took these pictures, but that's clearly not enough to protect against future flooding, since the canals weren't built properly in the first place. Also, after returning from New Orleans I read that the Metairie side of the canal is in danger - that floodwall is leaning about three inches.





This person is obviously not happy with his settlement and wants the world to know about it.





Here's the home of someone who's angry with the Army Corps of Engineers, and rightly so. The Corps was responsible for the construction and maintenance of the levees and canals in New Orleans. The floodwalls were not built on pilings extending down to bedrock, but rather were just placed in soil. As one New Orleans resident told me, even a small child would know better than this.









My guess is that the flood water weakened the mortar and eventually the wall collapsed, spilling some of the contents of the home out into the yard. Note how the pile of debris goes all the way up to the ceiling.



This is the same house as above. Mitch Landrieu was the mayoral candidate favored by the wealthier (and whiter) citizens of New Orleans. I find it interesting that the owner of this house would put up a campaign sign in his yard when the neighborhood is pretty much deserted (other than construction people working on the canal, I saw only three people in the neighborhood the day I was there, and I think one was a tourist like me).