We took a drive down the east side of the Mississippi River. We were told this area had been hit hard by Hurricane Isaac in August 2012 and most of the damaged homes had not been repaired yet. It was a shocking drive. Most of the homes had their doors and windows blown out. The soggy contents of the homes were piled by the road to be hauled away.  Less than 10% of the homes were being repaired. Less than 1% were even occupied. And it wasn’t just older, smaller homes. Million dollar mansions stood empty. There were still storm tossed homes and boats piled on the levee!

 

This area received only minor damage when Hurricane Katrina came through.  But Hurricane Isaac was a severe, slow-moving Category 1 hurricane that produced  heavy rain and a 12 foot storm surge.  Unfortunately, the levees in Plaquemines and St. Bernard Parish are only 8 foot high (the Federal levee along the Mississippi  is 12 feet high.)  The storm surge topped the levee and caused flooding almost 12 feet deep.  Even though it’s been  more than 6 months, Plaquemines Parish is still under a state of emergency.

This area actually experienced damage much worse than New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina.  From the looks of things it will be a long time before things return to normal.