Day 13: The Lower Ninth Ward and the Katrina Flooding

Our daughter Allie and a busload of her fellow students at George Washington University went to New Orleans for spring break this year to work on building a home with Habitat for Humanity in the Lower Ninth Ward, one of the areas hardest-hit by the Hurricane Katrina flooding. On Saturday evening I got a ride to see the house from Lehma, a Lyft driver who grew up across the river in the Algiers neighborhood.

The Lower Ninth Ward is east of the French Quarter and just east of the Industrial Canal that connects Lake Pontchartrain with the Mississippi River. Early on August 29, 2005, the storm surge from Katrina breached the levees on the Intracoastal Waterway just north of the Lower Ninth Ward, and then the Industrial Canal levees were overtopped, sending torrents of water into the Lower Ninth Ward. Some residents took refuge on rooftops. 

The area has gradually recovered, but the effects are still visible and the rebuilding process goes on. Many other areas of the city were also hit hard, including Lakeview, west of City Park. I had breakfast on the train on Sunday with Karen, who grew up in Lakeview and described the devastating impact of the flooding on her friends who lived there. Almost 80 percent of the city was flooded, and driving through the broad area that was affected helps you understand to some extent the scope of the damage and sympathize with the residents.

Here are several photos of the Lower Ninth Ward house that the George Washington University students helped build and the neighborhood it’s in. 

1300 Reynes Street, Lower Ninth Ward

Reynes Street