"New Orleans, Two Months Later"

From Counter Punch

"But there is another New Orleans, less than a mile away. I made a point of seeing both. By day, Lakeview buzzes with construction workers, most of whom wear masks to protect against the dust. The whole area is brown and dusty. Streets were never smooth in Lakeview, thanks to a habit of shoddy construction and the rapid subsidence of the soft soil--the same soil, it turns out, that was used to construct the levees which, it turns out, did not protect the city. Now driving is downright hazardous, with household debris and tree branches complementing the uneven roads. We have country roads in the city.

It wasn't entirely clear to me what the construction workers in Lakeview were doing, but it seemed like their primary job was just to clear the debris from roads and from homes. There are literally mountains of it: the highest point in the city is now somewhere in the middle of West End Boulevard, where a steady stream of dump trucks deposits people's sheet rock, furniture and memorabilia. I imagine my stuff will end up there, too." more