Gulf Coast Residents: How is your life post-Katrina?

Question

I am a displaced New Orleanian now living in Central Florida. On the surface, my life here would seem to be better than my life in New Orleans: better job, better pay, better apartment, etc. Yet, there is not a single day that passes that I do not wish I was home, problems and all. At the risk of sounding cliche, I now know what it means to miss New Orleans, and it causes me real physical pain the longer I am separated from her. Every hour I work, every moment I spend in earning money is dedicated to going home.
So, I want to know, what about my fellow Gulf Coast residents? Are you better of than you were before Katrina, or are you just biding your time until you can go back home? Do you, like me, miss home and cannot wait to return & rebuild, or have you had enough & will not go back?

I ask that only Gulf Coast residents respond to this posting. In all honesty, I have no interest in the opinions or comments of those who have never lived there. You cannot understand our woe.

Answer 1

I live in Covington, LA. Since the storm some things are getting back to normal in certain areas, but some still appear to be almost untouched by clean up crews. Traffic is still heavy here since the storm, but slowly returning to pre-storm levels. Housing costs are coming down as well. A handful of casinos have returned the MS coast, but the scars are still very visible along hwy 90.

I never left. I stayed throughout the storm and the aftermath. I was fortunate not to have any flooding where I live though. I have no plans of leaving, even if it were to happen again tomorrow. This is home, and like yourself, if I were forced to leave, I would be doing everything to come back. I think we have a unique culture here and the people are awesome. I was forced to relocate, but fortunate enough to stay here in my hometown. Now that the housing market is cooling off, I am searching for another home. Hopefully we will be able to make this area even better than it was before. To me, little things are happening, that may not seem like much to others, but to the people here they are little bright spots. The Saints look promising for one, and that's a pleasant distraction, even after a year. It gives us yet another positive note.

I wish you luck in returning home.

Answer 2

I know what you mean, Vatican Lokey. I too have spent a lot of time in New Orleans, and even though I left years before Katrina destroyed our precious home in New Orleans, I still miss it every day!

Maybe when my niece is grown and out of my house, I will be able to go back home to where my late husband and I though we would live out the rest of our lives together.

Answer 3

quite some the possessions from flooded homes were too damaged to salvage. this is brilliant to be sure the style of damage water can do, rather even as a house sits and stews in poisonous water for 3 weeks. i will't answer the section about coastal sparkling-up, yet i will allow you to recognize that i develop into the following in New Orleans in the course of the hurricane. I had a toddler some days before the hurricane, born untimely. correct about the time that I knew it develop into too previous as a results of evacuate, i began to imagine that i might want to ok die over the subsequent day or 2. It develop into undesirable. even as the hurricane develop into coming by, my worry develop into probable an 8 on a scale of one million to 10. The construction i develop into in did not flood yet develop into coming aside on the seams, and debris the size of vehicles saved hitting the abode windows.