the eugene bean

New Orleans East and the Lower Ninth Ward:

Rows of FEMA trailers fill parking lots in Arabi. Humbling to imagine my mom and dad living in one. Could've easily been their house under 8 feet of water. Also pretty amazing that you'd be willing to live in one of those for months in order to live in town.

A common sight. If the houses were still standing, they were pitiful and painful to look at.

Cars of all shapes and sizes were picked up and moved as if they were Hot Wheels.

Of course, it wasn't hard at all for the water to move houses so I don't know why looking at the cars disturbed me so much.

This was the horror of New Orleans East for many, many miles. This horrible street is just one of many. You could never imagine the extent of this damage. You have to see it with your own eyes to get a true sense of it. And, it's still mind-boggling.