lifeasdaddy - So, what's happening in New Orleans post-Katrina?

The National Geographic has got a feature in the current issue on post-Katrina reconstruction.

There's a great series of photographs here.

A couple of quotes from the captions:

Last year the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said it had restored New Orleans’ levees and floodwalls to pre-Katrina strength. But this spring engineer Bob Bea of the University of California, Berkeley, identified potential weak spots. Built on soft soil, this floodwall is sinking and buckling; repairs with steel pilings may be inadequate.

and this piece of idiocy:

In spite of the disaster, parish officials exempted residents who applied for a building permit by June 4 from a new federal requirement to raise rebuilt houses by at least three feet (one meter) for flood protection. According to the New Orleans Times-Picayune, the owners of all but 6,500 homes applied in time to get an exemption, meaning the majority of structures in St. Bernard Parish will not be elevated for protection against the next storm.

but there is joy:

“What we do in New Orleans you can’t find anyplace else,” says Terry. “The jazz we play comes from the soul.”

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