So, I went to New Orleans on Thursday for Mardi Gras weekend. I just returned. I was insanely curious how the city -really- was, so I thought maybe others were too.
There are parts that look like nothing happened. We drove into town on I-10 and at one point made a wrong turn, ending up in mid-city. Suddenly, it went from normal to looking like a bomb had gone off. It was dusk and I could not see really well, but it was obvious that there were gutted houses and cars that had not been driven in a very long time. None of the street lights worked, so every major intersection was a 4-way stop.
We then hit the parades for the evening, just off Magazine street on Napoleon. From that area, it looked as if nothing had happened. The parades that night were really neat, and there was quite a crowd. I ended up at a private party for the Krewe of Muses who had P-Funk playing. Much fun.
The following day we drove into the 9th Ward, just because we had to have a look at it. It was the most horrid thing I think I have ever seen. There were houses in the middle of the street. There was no sign of life what so ever. Everything was covered in a thick layer of dust. Several houses had spray-painted "DO NOT BULLDOZE" on their ruined home, as if they were making a last ditch effort to not lose everything all together. This goes on for miles and miles, as far as you can see. My first reaction was that it looked like Falluja must, but then I decided it was worse - that it looked like nuclear warfare. Very, very depressing.
Once we hit the French Quarter later, all was normal again. Bourbon Street was crazy, and I saw many ******** There really was a good turnout. It was odd driving around, because you would hit areas where people were living, but there was an obvious water line on all of the houses. They all also had the spray-painted symbol that was painted during the searches.
Saturday we went to Lake Side, which I had heard was worse than the 9th Ward. It was bad - obviously no house could really be saved. It is an upper-middle class area, and it was obvious that work had been done. While horrible, it did not have nearly the same feeling that the 9th had.
I am not sure how to explain New Orleans as a whole. You can still go there and have a load of fun, which I did. Mardi Gras was awesome. You could take a trip there and never see hurricane damage. However, there are still large areas that need so much help. I am not sure how the media can say that everything is great so go visit, but at the same time get across that things are still really, really bad.