Day 2.
When I glanced at the packing list and saw N-95 masks, it didn't occur to me that we would actually need them - that the air would actually make us sick if we inhaled it. I just imagined that these masks would be one more extra safety precaution, but today, as soon as I walked into the house we were going to gut, I realized just how necessary they were.
As we took a first walk-through in the house, I was immediately overwhelmed by the mud, slime, and seemingly toxic stench of the mess. Our leader had told us that the water moved everything around, and that the lightest items in the house rose to the top when the water flooded the rooms. In this house, the water had knocked the refrigerator over and ripped the other large pieces of furniture apart. A thin layer of sludge coated the floor and made not only walking, but breathing, difficult. The rooms in the back of the house had little light, and it became easy for me to understand why many homeowners cannot handle the task of gutting their houses.
Even though these people may never return due to financial constraints, emotional pain, or other reasons, the houses still need to be cleaned and gutted. As I type this, Amanda and Whitney are discussing the seeming futility of working on these houses but they recognize that the cleaning is a necessary task, and that someday, people WILL return to New Orleans. So, for those people who may live here someday, and for those who lived here before the storm, gutting is a necessary task. It's the first step for restoring hope both for those who have left and for the entire neighborhood. Our leader had explained that gutting seems too daunting a task for homeowners to do themselves and that our gutting work relieves them of a huge burden.
After working on this one house, a small duplex, I just began to understand the enormous task New Orleans faces. Many houses remain untouched, and it's shocking that 16 months after Katrina, so much of New Orleans seems dead, almost as if it were a ghost town. I can't imagine working here full time, much less living here. Because I had no idea of the current state of New Orleans, I wish so many more people could learn about the personal side of the destruction-the people, their damaged possesions, their lost memories, their stories-and the horrendous stench inside the houses and the complete destruction and the overwhelming feeling of depression in the city and all the other consequences of Katrina that can't be explained with words.
As we took a first walk-through in the house, I was immediately overwhelmed by the mud, slime, and seemingly toxic stench of the mess. Our leader had told us that the water moved everything around, and that the lightest items in the house rose to the top when the water flooded the rooms. In this house, the water had knocked the refrigerator over and ripped the other large pieces of furniture apart. A thin layer of sludge coated the floor and made not only walking, but breathing, difficult. The rooms in the back of the house had little light, and it became easy for me to understand why many homeowners cannot handle the task of gutting their houses.
Even though these people may never return due to financial constraints, emotional pain, or other reasons, the houses still need to be cleaned and gutted. As I type this, Amanda and Whitney are discussing the seeming futility of working on these houses but they recognize that the cleaning is a necessary task, and that someday, people WILL return to New Orleans. So, for those people who may live here someday, and for those who lived here before the storm, gutting is a necessary task. It's the first step for restoring hope both for those who have left and for the entire neighborhood. Our leader had explained that gutting seems too daunting a task for homeowners to do themselves and that our gutting work relieves them of a huge burden.
After working on this one house, a small duplex, I just began to understand the enormous task New Orleans faces. Many houses remain untouched, and it's shocking that 16 months after Katrina, so much of New Orleans seems dead, almost as if it were a ghost town. I can't imagine working here full time, much less living here. Because I had no idea of the current state of New Orleans, I wish so many more people could learn about the personal side of the destruction-the people, their damaged possesions, their lost memories, their stories-and the horrendous stench inside the houses and the complete destruction and the overwhelming feeling of depression in the city and all the other consequences of Katrina that can't be explained with words.
posted by Annie @ 8:07 PM
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