Day 4: A Picture Breaks A Thousand Hearts
note: I will attempt to post the relevant picture ASAP
I spent most of yesterday surfing the internet or watching Foxnews and the Weather Channel combing for any visuals of St. Bernard Parish. Almost all of the ariel footage gathered was of New Orleans and Jefferson Parish. The best I could find was an inaccurate reference by Bill O'Reilly that "St. Bernard didn't have that many people there so the damage wasn't as great." For the first time in two days I smirked upon hearing that erroneous comment made by the face of American cable news.
St. Bernard formerly had a population of 72,000 residents. Its parish seat of Chalmette, my home town, had a population of 36,000 making it the 14th largest city- at least last time I checked, though unincorporated, in the state of Louisiana. The city of New Orleans, though larger, did not, and for that matter never had, the 1.5 million people the networks claimed. Not that such details mattered at the moment, but I have always taken pride in my home. After all, His Majesty's army got their crimson rears' kicked in Chalmette.
The lack of visuals really annoyed me as my hunger for information grew. Sure I had heard from the sheriff's office late last night that the parish was "gone" but one always holds out hope. And then I finally got to see it for my very own eyes.
What you are looking at is the heart of Chalmette. Where those line of greenish orbs sticking out of the water are fairly tall oak trees that line Judge Perez Drive, the main thoroughfare of St. Bernard and my last personal visuals as I left at 1 AM for Louis Armstrong International Airport.
I would estimate the water to be in excess of 11 feet in this section. The roofs just barely peaking out of the water mark the Chalmette Vista, an area prone to flooding so the damage there might be more pronounced. On the bottom right are two large apartment buildings that appear much smaller than they really are.
If one looks near the top, there is a large white building. That is the the three-story St. Bernard Civic Center. To its left is the St. Bernard Government Complex, where my office used to be when I served as a councilman and my base of operations when I worked previous storms. My office was on the first floor which is totally submerged.
Most importantly, I currently have family in that building as they are essential government personnel and could not leave the parish. I think they are safe judging the sturdiness of the structure and its three-story height. Being familiar with it, I am able to dilenate the second floor even from this distant shot.
Obviously there is no electricity in all of St. Bernard nor do I imagine there is power anywhere south of St. John the Baptist Parish, though a friend of mine in Assumption Parish told me that her electricity was restored.
For what it is worth, the worst is over for St. Bernard. With the breach in the 17th Street Canal levee that is the boundary between Jefferson Parish and Orleans Parishes, New Orleans could receive the deluge aftershock as the waters of Lake Pontchatrain begin to pour threw the crevasse. What was once spared by Katrina could yet fall victim to the cursed storm's legacy.
I spent most of yesterday surfing the internet or watching Foxnews and the Weather Channel combing for any visuals of St. Bernard Parish. Almost all of the ariel footage gathered was of New Orleans and Jefferson Parish. The best I could find was an inaccurate reference by Bill O'Reilly that "St. Bernard didn't have that many people there so the damage wasn't as great." For the first time in two days I smirked upon hearing that erroneous comment made by the face of American cable news.
St. Bernard formerly had a population of 72,000 residents. Its parish seat of Chalmette, my home town, had a population of 36,000 making it the 14th largest city- at least last time I checked, though unincorporated, in the state of Louisiana. The city of New Orleans, though larger, did not, and for that matter never had, the 1.5 million people the networks claimed. Not that such details mattered at the moment, but I have always taken pride in my home. After all, His Majesty's army got their crimson rears' kicked in Chalmette.
The lack of visuals really annoyed me as my hunger for information grew. Sure I had heard from the sheriff's office late last night that the parish was "gone" but one always holds out hope. And then I finally got to see it for my very own eyes.
What you are looking at is the heart of Chalmette. Where those line of greenish orbs sticking out of the water are fairly tall oak trees that line Judge Perez Drive, the main thoroughfare of St. Bernard and my last personal visuals as I left at 1 AM for Louis Armstrong International Airport.
I would estimate the water to be in excess of 11 feet in this section. The roofs just barely peaking out of the water mark the Chalmette Vista, an area prone to flooding so the damage there might be more pronounced. On the bottom right are two large apartment buildings that appear much smaller than they really are.
If one looks near the top, there is a large white building. That is the the three-story St. Bernard Civic Center. To its left is the St. Bernard Government Complex, where my office used to be when I served as a councilman and my base of operations when I worked previous storms. My office was on the first floor which is totally submerged.
Most importantly, I currently have family in that building as they are essential government personnel and could not leave the parish. I think they are safe judging the sturdiness of the structure and its three-story height. Being familiar with it, I am able to dilenate the second floor even from this distant shot.
Obviously there is no electricity in all of St. Bernard nor do I imagine there is power anywhere south of St. John the Baptist Parish, though a friend of mine in Assumption Parish told me that her electricity was restored.
For what it is worth, the worst is over for St. Bernard. With the breach in the 17th Street Canal levee that is the boundary between Jefferson Parish and Orleans Parishes, New Orleans could receive the deluge aftershock as the waters of Lake Pontchatrain begin to pour threw the crevasse. What was once spared by Katrina could yet fall victim to the cursed storm's legacy.
posted by BourbonConservative at 3:04 PM
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