Godless Mom in the Bible Belt

Here is a photo of two houses that were under water. Note the water marks on the white house on the right side of the photo. The signs in front of the homes have been posted by various people who are trying to make money off the whole deal, real estate investors, photographs for insurance purposes...That sort of thing.

Here is a home that is beginning to go through the gutting and salvage process. All the homes have these codes painted on them in orange spray paint, the codes were painted their by search and rescue personnel to indicate that they had searched the premises and tell recovery teams whether or not they had found bodies inside. Rather macabre.

A small private deli/restaurant. I don't imagine it will be open for business any time soon.

Structurally this one looks okay but it will obviously needs to be gutted. It's interesting that the flag is still hanging on the porch. All the cars are covered in this grey/brown gunk. Note the power lines laying on the ground.

There are huge piles of garbage everywhere. There is a huge median on the street by Lake Ponchatrain which is now a garbage dump. I guess they have plans to bring a garbage barge into the lake and truck it out at some point.

A big boat in the middle of the street.

This area used to be quite the happening place. There were sand volleyball courts, a bar, a great restaurant. Nothing remains except one volleyball net and a bunch of debris.

More boats sitting where boats don't belong.

All of these photos were taken in the Lakeview and Gentilly areas.

Cafe Du Monde has re-opened. They are serving soft drinks, cafe au lait and beignets and they are swamped with business. Cafe Du Monde is on Decatur near the French Quarter. Scott didn't see any souvenir shops open and many small businesses had For Sale or For Lease signs in their windows. A couple of fast food places were advertising big sign on bonuses and $10.00/hr. However, even if you get a job there you will have a really hard time finding a place to live.

Scott has agreed to be a guest blogger here at GM in the BB. He will be discussing what he saw, the feel of the place and his thoughts on what the people of New Orleans really need at this point.