In a message dated 4/13/2006 8:56:40 A.M. Central Daylight Time,  
[log in to unmask] writes:

Julip
 
How y'all doin' Down Theah, Missy?
 
Ralph 



Life is good down heah! It's getting hotter by the day, however, and it  
seems to be getting a lot buggier. There's a reason why they call the mosquito  
the state bird. I never leave my car without a dose of Essence de Cutter's. 
 
After working on Long Term Community Recovery for 2 months, I am spending  
the last month doing HP reviews for the funding applications for storm damage  
repairs. They are flooding into the pipeline at this point. Debris pickups are  
still going full tilt - there are mountains of debris growing in central  
collection points around SWLA. Woody debris and building debris going in one  
place, hazmat being disposed of elsewhere, not sure where. I go out on field  
checks of proposed demolitions  where falling trees have  pulverized structures - 
they say that some areas have lost 50-60% of  their canopy - to see if they 
are NR eligible. Not much integrity left, in most  cases. Then we get 
concurrence from the SHPO before the demo crews can do their  work. 
 
In order to process the hundreds of sites, there are all sorts of agreed  
upon guides for archaeology and historic preservation - low impact  demolitions, 
which have minimal soil disturbance, "root ball" guidance which  limits ground 
disturbance (50% above ground you can remove it; if 50% below  ground, you 
pop it back into the soil and cut off the exposed trunk and grind  the remainder 
to grade). Trailers and mobile homes are written off (sorry, Pam)  - the ones 
scheduled for demo have usually had their metal panels peeled away,  windows 
broken, became totally water soaked and filled with mold. Some  are nothing 
but rusting hulks, with curtain shreds still blowing at the  empty window frames.
 
Little by little, the hundreds of tall highway signs for McDonalds,  Days 
Inn, and the like are being repaired - in February, 90% of them were still  blown 
out, with only the frame left and shards of colored plastic around  the rim. 
Now some are back up. We thought maybe that the delay was caused by the  
franchises trying to redesign their logo signs to be more storm resistant, but  no 
.... the new ones look exactly the same.
 
Some bits of green are returning to areas of the freshwater marshland in  
Cameron Parish, where the storm surge from Rita carried salt water from the Gulf  
some 30 miles inland. Still there are few birds singing - many were lost in 
the  storm and their habitat destroyed. Much of the thousands of square miles 
of  marshland remain brackish and a dead brown color. As you drive along the 
road to  the coast into the surge areas you can see miles of light colored 
specks dotting  the landscape - these are the refrigerators, armchairs, cars, oil 
and propane  tanks, boats, and other detritus swept inland by the water rushing 
in. No  one knows how they will ever get that mess cleaned up.
 
It's awesome, the power of this storm. It will take years for this area to  
recover. 
 
The people here are incredible - they are working so hard towards  "Rebirth." 
They are kind, gracious, and amazingly strong in the face of these  
challenges. I was so fortunate to have the opportunity to work alongside  them.
 
Next week, I return home to NJ. Spring is well underway there with  flowers, 
and birds, and green grass. My house is as I left it - safe,  secure, and 
filled with our family photos, well loved furniture, and a  garden to dig in. I 
will never take it for granted again after these last few  months in Louisiana. 
 
Julip
 
 
 

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