New Orleans

Over one year ago, Hurricane Katrina destroyed 200,000 Gulf Coast homes, displaced about 1 million people, and killed more than 1,600 people,. It was considered the greatest national disaster in recent American history.

Prior to my trip, I lived in disbelief as I along with the world watched people suffer and die due to breached levees and rising flood waters. Who was to blame? It was easy for me to pinpoint the government for their failure to provide timely relief. I don't particularly believe in blaming government for everything, so it was time for me to step up and see things out for myself.

When I got there, the business districts and the downtown areas all looked like hurricane never hit. In the words of a local resident, "You look at some of these places and you think... Katrina who?"

As soon as we drove into the 9th ward, it looked like a ghost town. House after house remained just as they were when the floodwater receded. It was like a ghost town with open doors, displaced furniture, and walls covered with growing mold. Markings in spray-paint indicated dates and bodies; human and animal life simply etched in numbers.

Our group worked with Common Ground Relief. At the time of the Hurricane, they provided immediate assistance to the residents of New Orleans, providing food, water, and supplies. Throughout the course of the year, they have had over 10,000 volunteers from around the world. I suppose you can add me to that number.

We gutted houses. Gutting means removing everything from the house until it's left in its basic frame.

As the week went on, I'd take a break and get lost in my thoughts. They went something like this: What's the point? This feels like a lost cause. It feels empty; it feels institutional. Certain houses are so unstable that they were probably going to get bulldozed in a matter of seconds.

*SNAP*

I'd have to shake myself out of it and keep moving. I put my sweaty respirator on my face, zip up my broken Tyvek suit and got back to work.

After it was all said and done, I'm not going to romanticize the experience. It was hard, it was depressing, and it was discouraging. Thousands of people will continue to live with the damage for the rest of their lives. I leave New Orleans with fire and motivation because of the fact that not enough is being done to restore the city. I don't expect New Orleans to ever be the same as it was, it's just that not enough is being done. The bottom line is that American citizens were treated worse than animals. People aren't getting their basic needs met, and it's time that we all step up.

Click here >>>New Orleans, Louisiana. Follow my images through the Business District, French Quarter, and the Upper and Lower 9th wards.