taken on August 10, 2007 in the Venetian Isles and Lake Catherine areas just east of New Orleans. This may be a first of several posts of this area, as hubby and I are voracious photographers.
In August of 2007 - two years post Katrina -
We took LA434 into Lake Catherine to witness the status of the new Rigolets Bridge.
A lot wider than the current span, I look forward to its opening!
After nearly two years, the debris pickup in Lake Catherine is in full swing.
I've been seeing this boat along side Hwy 90 forever.
The construction activity in this area is on the upswing, too.
Other places sit silently, awaiting insurance settlements or new buyers.
This boat has caught our eye for some time now, so we decided to check it out
We saw the name "Mary W" in the rusted metal.
All of the properties surrounding this lonely boat look like this
What's left of the home of the Mary W's owners. Pretty sad, huh?
Further down Hwy 90, closer to Venetian Isles is the church where Father Ginart, better known as Father Red lost his life.
Over the Chef Pass Bridge is Ft. Macomb and the newly demolished boat launch.
Quite a difference from what we saw in March of this year.
The Lake Catherine Community Center still sits silently by the bridge.
They're FINALLY demolishing the firehouse in Venetian Isles, which looked like this for the longest time
On Bayou Sauvage: the Life and Death of Jeanfreaux’s Fishermen’s Rest
Those familiar with "The Chef" might remember Jeanfreaux's right past Power's Junction.
This is a short story about Jeanfreaux's and its owners, penned by Miss Claire's grandson.
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This website will detail the rebirth of both Chef Highway and Highway 11, which travels into Slidell.
Post Katrina it is almost a ghost town. There are still the commuters and the Vietnamese are coming back and reopening businesses, but the Bayou Sauvage has taken a beating.
Here's a great post about one man's trip into N.O. east for some good eats. Good pictures.
I've moved my photos of Venetian Isles and Lake Catherine to this website
New Orleans Camps dot com
HELP STOP NOLA EAST LANDFILL LINK
New Orleans East dot com
Perhaps the beginning of restoration:
If the task force agrees, as expected, the federal Natural Resources Conservation Service
Live Oak - still alive after Katrina - Hwy 90, aka Chef Hwy - June 2006
Thanks, Ray.
Update January 2007. I took Hwy 90 home from work one beautiful afternoon to see what's been going on since my last trip.
Well, the big boats in front of Textron Marine are still where they landed almost 17 months ago.
And Fort Pike Pictures can now be found here
A fascinating website that details the history of lake front camps in the New Orleans area
Click here
A community-based think-tank to rebuild the community
A $19.6 million proposal may be the first among four projects recommended for approval
by the Breaux Act Task Force at its Oct. 18 meeting.
and the state Department of Natural Resources would choose a contractor and oversee the work
to rebuild a land bridge, sandwiched between Lake Pontchartrain and Lake Borgne in an area known as Alligator Bend (see red star on map below),
the contractor would mine about 3 million cubic yards of sediment from Lake Borgne to fill in 410 acres of open water, in part created by Hurricane Katrina.
The project also includes planting vegetation along 7 1/4 miles of the Lake Borgne shoreline, which retreated 5 feet during the storm.
Update, March 2007
Click here to view the
Louisiana Department of Natural Resources' list of wetland enhancement projects.
The Coastal Wetlands Planning, Protection and Restoration Act (CWPPRA) was
passed by congress in 1990. It funds wetland enhancement projects nationwide, designating approximately $60 million annually for work in Louisiana.
This report gives an overview and status of coastal efforts to protect, conserve, restore, and improve the state's coastal wetlands. The Barrier Island Status Report is included in the report as mandated by the
2006 Regular Legislative Session. The report is subdivided into four primary sections by region and also includes information on project location, features, acreage, costs, and funding sources.
Project List
The CWPPRA Task Force annually develops a list of high-priority projects to be constructed. To date, sixteen such priority lists have been formulated. The projects funded by CWPPRA all focus on marsh creation, restoration, protection or enhancement.
From the levee on Hwy. 90, this picture shows New Orleans looking across the disappearing wetlands.
Taken in February '07, it appears that cleanup activity is finally coming to this part of New Orleans.
These huge boats were washed OVER the levee and still sit here, 17 months after the storm.
To get their kicks, the ne'er do wells like to steal vehicles and when they're done with them, the burn them to kill any evidence. I'm not sure how long this truck's been sitting on the other side of the levee.
Seen on the levee between Chef Hwy and Lake Borgne (Sept '06)
Ninth Re-Ward
From the Village Voice, an article about the enterprising Vietnames in "The East"
Along Highway 11, driving through Bayou Sauvage Wildlife Refuge, there still many dead trees
Click here for a story regarding the slow recovery process for this once beautiful refuge
a href ="http://onthescene.msnbc.com/hurricanes/2005/09/bayou_savage_na.html"> MSNBC visited Bayou Sauvage in September 2005 and did this video on how it made it through the hurricane.
More than a year after Katrina, many boats are still orphans. Click here for the documentary.
My Katrina blog which helps me work through the whirlwind of emotions that impact me every day as I drive through Katrina's leavings in my daily commute to work.
Chef Menteur Landfill - New Orleans East
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Here's an article
on DEQ's disagreement with the decision to close landfill, but promises to follow
New Orleans' wishes.
Update 8/2/06
The waterline showing on the trees made me think that it was at least 20 feet. Here a fridge sits in a tree.
Look how high that life preserver is. This picture taken my my 6 foot husband.
The White Kitchen Nature Preserve
This is Hwy 90 (aka Chef Hwy). The trees on the left hand side of the road were killed by saltwater intrusion caused by MRGO
Here's the walkway out onto Bayou Sauvage. We're in a drought and this shows it.
The trees along the swamp were killed by the saltwater intrusion. It apparently made it across Hwy 90
Mayor Nagin and the Louisiana DEQ allowed this landfill to be built to handle construction and demolition debris. However, it is between the Bayou Sauvage Wildlife Reserve and a Vietnamese community in the far reaches of New Orleans East. Currently closed for testing, if allowed to reopen, there is no telling what kind of pollution will be dumped there. This cannot happen. Where the hell is the EPA?????
Click here for an article that discusses the closing of a landfill that abuts this Wildlife Preserve.
Dammit!!! Waste Management - who originally railroaded the opening of this landfill, is suing L.A. DEQ to keep it open
Photographic Realities dot com has a pictoral essay taken a few weeks after Katrina in Irish Bayou
Links to blogs detailing life after Katrina:
Editor B
The Garden of Irks and Delights
The American Zombie
Tin Can Trailer Trash
Hurricane Archive dot org
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Ashley Morris' blog
Humid City
Gentilly Girl
Dangermond.org
Charley Varley,
Ernie the Attorney
Your Right Hand Thief
Hurricane Katrina dot org
People Get Ready
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Thanks, Katrina
Venetian Isles & Lake Catherine
New webpage!!!
The Tammany Trace Pictures
Dauphin Island
A Woman's Retreat
A tribute to children
Need some inspiration? Go here
My Quit Smoking Links
Herb/vitamin page
My page dedicated to pets
Patriotic thoughts
My favorite quotes
Thanks for stopping by. 
Irish Bayou - June 2006
In Irish Bayou, north of Hwy 90, there are several boats that survived Katrina 
I believe this is the only house on the lake side of Rat's Nest Road to survive.
The Soul of New Orleans blogspot
Here's an excellent blog that discusses the many aspects of how the city of NOLA is coping in the wake of the storm
A young New Orleans couple, living in their flooded home, taking it one day at a time.
WetBank Guide
Remembering Katrina, Envisioning New Orleans (excellent writing)
The G Bitch Spot
a mad black woman rants about New Orleans, insomnia, teaching, various -isms and anything else involving a bitch, a spot or the letter g
A blog of a New Orleans girl trying to navigate the pits and snares of post-hurricane life here, where nothing is easy and everything has changed.
NOLA RISES
New Orleans Site detailing post-Katrina status and news
Commentary on life in Post K New Orleans
Musings on living in a FEMA trailer and other Katrina related toughts
Many pictures from post Hurricane Katrina
Click here for a New Orleans' blog that is down to earth
Information, Culture and Opinion from Post-K New Orleans . . . . . Get Wired, Rebuild!
Thoughts and dreams of a New Orleans native
A personal account of life in NOLA in the wake of Katrina
A British photographer who's creating Disaster and Recovery: A Year in the Life of New Orleans: A photographic journal of New Orleans from the day Hurricane Katrina devastated the city
Excellent pix!! Thanks, Charley!
Flood and Loathing,
a New Orleans blog detailing Post K life in the Big Easy
Surviving Katrina in Pascagoula, Mississippi
Great reading here, detailing what it's like to put your life back together after your house takes on 8 feet of water
Northwest Carrollton
Northwest Carrollton Civic Association, New Orleans
Some interesting stuff
Maitri's Pictures
Great website reporting on the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and its impact in the New Orleans area. Daily updates from and for residents and friends of the Crescent City.
METROBLOGGING
New Orleans Site containing a group of bloggers detailing daily life in a Post K world.
Lauging off hard truths in New Orleans
A blog created the night before Katrina hit, this site is chock full of important links and intelligent writing on life after a catastrophe. Excellent link.
Poppy Z. Brite
Well written journal detailing recovery from Katrina in NOLA
Post Katrina news and experiences.
Make levees, not war
Katrina's Aftermath
A page detailing what Hurricane Katrina did to Slidell and the surrounding gulf coast
My blog helping me deal with my Post K feelings
Following their recovery post Katrina
Inspired by New Orleans Mayor C. Ray Nagin. Click here to go there
Pictures of scenes from the Tammany Trace, a 31 mile rails-to-trails bikepath I love biking on
Pictures from the little piece of paradise we experience once a year
A place I've set up to celebrate
women
They grow so fast!!
I've created this page to remember how sweet and pure children
really are.
Writings that have inspired me and
help me when I'm feeling blue
Links to places I've found
that have helped me "keep the quit" for over 10 years now.....
Information on the nutritional and
medicinal uses for a variety of herbs. Links, too
Readings to help you deal with
the grief of losing a pet and other thought provoking pet stuff
Something I started right after 9-11-01 and want to continue to add to...
Bayou Liberty
Pictures from the scenic Bayou Liberty, near Slidell
Quotes from all over about all
aspects of life
