My sister, Anna Belle, had never toured the devastation of New Orleans so today we took a four hour tour which did not even get us to the Ninth Ward. Here she is looking at where she used to sit in a restaurant that is no longer on Lake Pontchartrain, but somewhere in it. When Katrina struck, Anna thought she was very secure on the fifth floor of her Retirement building. Two days after Katrina she was on her balcony waving a white pillowcase at helicopters to rescue the 150 of them who had no electricity and were surrounded by water. From there she went to the Airport then transported to Texas in a Military Transport plane, known as a "gooney bird", then to a hospital, to another evacuation center, and finally to Lackland Air Force base where family found her and took her to Arkansas. She had just completed treatment of chemotherapy and radiation for breast cancer in July. She was interviewed on CNN when she attempted to get help for her 150 friends with her. I did not see her because we had no electricity and am trying to get the tape. She is one tough lady.
This is where the 17th Street Canal enters Lake Pontchartrain. The Engineers installed the first floodgate today which will hopefully keep the storm surge from the Lake from entering the Canal.