it's over.....

after just over three months and nearly 600 inspections, the trip has come to an end. i met some great people, and had some unforgettable experiences. will i do it again? i guess i'll have to wait till the phone rings and see how i feel then.

please scroll down to see the last of the photos before you go.... (click on 'em, they get bigger...use your 'back' button to return to the blog)

it was good to be able to help poeple who for various reasons could not help themselves. in a disaster of this scale, people can't turn to friends and family, because in most cases they are all in the same boat. (no pun intended)

i hope that the people who need help, get help. i hope that those who return are willing to work very hard to get their homes, their community, and their lives back to normal. the government will eventually fix the roads, bridges, infrastructure stuff..... it takes a lot of work to put a community back together.

i met a few who are already doing just that......

carl mack, entertainer
http://www.carlmack.com/
---i met carl three days after landing in new orleans, and was very lucky to do so....his kindness and generosity were welcome and greatly appreciated. (carl, i still owe you fax toner and a ream or two of paper....!!)



kenneth and melba ferdinand
Cafe Rose Nicaud
(504) 949-3300
634 Frenchmen St New Orleans, LA 70116
---great cafe, great people.


christopher
Marigny Perks cafe
2401 burgundy st
new orleans, la 70117
---medium mocha every morning for nearly 2 months......thanks, cristopher


all the 'J' ladies at
Ochsner Main Campus & Hospital
1514 Jefferson HighwayNew Orleans, LA(504) 842-4000
---especially Judy, who makes some damn good chocolate chip cookies!!


anyway, best of luck to you all....

-brock

houses

your friendly fema inspectors...tim, joe, mike, alan, myself...

signs

cars

boats

thanksgiving

We've all seen the man at the liquor store beggin' for your change...
The hair on his face is dirty, dreadlocked and full of mange.
He asks the man for what he could spare with shame in his eyes
Get a job you fuckin' slob, is all he replies

God forbid you ever had to walk a mile in his shoes,
'Cause then you really might know what it's like to sing the blues

Then you really might know what it's like

I've seen a rich man beg,
I've seen a good man sin,
I've seen a tough man cry...

I've seen a loser win,
I've seen a sad man grin,
I've heard an honest man lie...

I've heard 400 stories any one of which could just break your heart.
where it ends, you know, it usually depends on where you start...



still in nawlins


-brock

day 29- a man's home is his castle

this is a mans home.

he lived in the van in the center of his property for 20 years, and decided when the flood waters came that 20 years wasn't quite long enough

he did what any man would do..... if all that man had was a van, 40 feet of heavy chain, a 5 gallon water cooler and three empty beer kegs. simple enough: chain the beer kegs and water cooler together, and chain the whole lot to the back doors of the van. stay first in the van, then on the van, then board the 'keg raft' and hang on for dear life.

the problem wasn't one of bouyancy....the keg raft kept the man afloat just fine. the problem was the length of chain between the raft and the anchor point (van doors). that, and the strucural integrity of the hinges which held the van doors to the van itself.

after a day or so surviving clinging to his raft, anchored 'securely' to his van, the water level rose to a depth greater than the length of his anchor chain and the van doors were ripped off....sending him adrift. not too far, just to his property line where the doors snagged his chain link fence and held. held for 3 more days, while he held on to the raft for all he was worth, until he was finally rescued.

the man couldn't swim.



i seems that, sometimes, god gives you beer kegs. (see story way down below)





still in nawlins- where tim, joe, mike and i will remain for an as yet undetermined length of time.

-brock

day 29- nothing, where houses should be

'if it keeps on rainin', the levy's gonna break'

this neighborhood is (was) right next to the levy. the barge in the pictures below broke through the levy, along with the millions of gallons of water that caused this destruction. whole neighborhood blocks were washed away nearest the break.

further away, houses were lifted from foundations and pushed into other houses. some came down on top of cars when the water receded. some came to rest on other houses. everything is caked with mud.

the area is cordoned off by the military. armed checkpoints, barricades keep everyone out. tour buses with police escort vehicles bring residents in small groups to see if their homes survived. not many did. cadaver dog teams are still searching.