Aerial Views of What Katrina Did

[Trae]

I was looking at mapquest, and their images are only six months old. Take a look at New Orleans:

New Orleans

It is actually real nice, because you can see major reconstruction, and areas waiting for the reconstruction.

[NCB]

Very interesting, Trae, thanks for posting.

The changes in some parts of New Orleans are really amazing, in some ways. Just the other day I was driving through a pretty heavily flooded part of Mid-City, and I was driving by thinking how nice it was to see people back everywhere, houses being raised, people out on their porches, kids playing in the street, etc. And I can remember driving through that same neighborhood in early March, and seeing absolutely nothing. The same thing is happening in many parts of New Orleans, and it really is great to see.

And of course, it's so nice to look at satelite images that are a few months old, and remember that the Superdome is fixed, open, and literally better than ever. When you look at satelite images of New Orleans, the first thing you see from just about any altitude or angle is the Superdome, and seeing it with its roof ripped off was just so depressing, and was a very negative symbol for New Orleans. It was a symbol of destruction, suffering, and death. And while it is very important to remember all of those things that occured during Katrina, it is just as important to have something as large, important, and powerful as the Louisiana Superdome as a symbol of recovery, and happiness, which it is now that it has been brought back better than ever.

[Trae]

I think you can see some people working on the Superdome roof in the aerial images.

[SlidellWX]

The complete deforestation in New Orleans East around the I-510 interchange is amazing. There is not a single tree left standing. We measured 130 mph winds at NASA Michoud...and you can definitely see what it did to the forest. I never realized there were homes and apartments back there until after the storm when it was like looking across a field in the Midwest due to the all of the trees being blown down.

[NCB]

I never realized there were homes and apartments back there until after the storm when it was like looking across a field in the Midwest due to the all of the trees being blown down.