On Friday, we decided to survey for ourselves some of the damage. After some brief mental prep, we borrowed Cade’s car and headed out to Lakeview, where over 10 feet of water had stood in many places due to the breached levy. And the damage was every bit as bad as we’ve heard on the television. For the most part, it is still a ghost town, save for some demolition crews and electric company workers. The large neutral grounds (medians) are used as makeshift landfills, piled high with debris and downed trees. High waterlines are evident on every house, there is almost no vegetation, and, again, no people.
Driving around Lakeview, up by St. Dominic’s Church and then around to the shores of Lake Pontchatrain. Boats still smashed up on shore or on top of each other were prevalent. Joe’s Crab Shack and the Acme Oyster House were almost completely demolished. Some houses and restaurants were literally leaning into the lake.
Leaving the lakefront, we drove back to Veterans’ and over the canal. Talk about night and day. On the one side, complete devastation. On the other, a bustling suburb with stores open, minivans aplenty and seemingly life as usual (though, of course, it really isn’t, but the contrast is truly stark).
Other observations of interest: the need for workers is truly evident. Every fast-food restaurant or retail store advertises great benefits – Burger King had a $5,000 signing bonus and was paying $12/hour. Wendy’s offered $125 weekly bonuses and around the same hourly wage. McDonald’s was open from 7 a.m. until 3 p.m. The grocery store closed at 8 p.m. Most sit-down restaurants were open for lunch or dinner, but probably not both. As I mentioned earlier, the 24-hour Wal-Mart was no longer 24-hours.
