Wednesday, August 29, 2007

Two year Anniversary



As some houses are rebulit and repaired, some remain in

the same state of disrepair. Ninth Ward, August 2007, Michael J. Sax www.flickr.com/photos/michaelsax/sets/72157601639387493/

Two years ago today Hurricane Katrina, the costliest and one of the deadliest hurricanes in the history of the US, made la
ndfall in the Gulf. The most severe loss of life and property damage occurred in New Orleans when the levee system failed catastrophically hours after the storm moved inland.

The system failed in 53 different places. Nearly every levee in metro New Orleans breached as Hurricane Katrina passed east of the city, subsequently flooding 80% of it. Much of the city and many area of neighboring parishes were underwater for weeks.


Two weeks after Katrina, President Bush, in Jackson Square, pledged to the nation a massive reconstruction. "Bureaucracy", he said "is not going to stand in the way of getting the job done for the people". Now two years later a bureaucratic stranglehold is choking off its recovery. Huge amounts of money have gone to waste, while so called leaders are mired in scandal, corruption, and fighting all the way down the line.

In the past year as all the fai
lures have come to light Bush visited New Orleans twice and didn't even mention the great city in the State of the Union address last January.

Much of New Orleans still looks like a wasteland, with businesses shuttered and houses abandoned. Basic services such as schools, libraries, public transportation and childcare are at half their original levels and only two-thirds of the region's licensed hospitals are open. Workers are often scarce. Rents have skyrocketed. Crime is rampant.


I am shocked, I am dismayed. That this country's leadership is so bankrupt and has strayed so far that the welfare if its own people has become unimportant. To be willing to throw away the cultural richness and human dignity of a once great city is beyond my comprehension.

It is my mission and my goal to help bring some humanity back by connecting to this terrible tragedy through art.




The Lost World-There are no trailers, no signs of FEMA,
no construction crews or anyone around at all. This is the Lost World.
New Orleans, May 2007 www.flickr.com/photos/9735372@N03

ONLINE GALLERY
The address for the online gallery where I will be posting artwork during and after the New Orleans trip will be
www.bluezeppelin.com/gallery/yikesstudio

Till the next blog...
~Suzanne