After a visit to Jackson, MS, I
headed south and spent the
afternoon in New Orleans.  Here,
I am headed East on I-10 into
downtown.  I tried to take a
picture of the rooftop damage of
the Superdome, but driving 65
M.P.H. trying to hold a camera
steady ain't easy!
This is canal street, near the French Quarter, where a
lot of construction is going on.   Looks pretty normal so
far.  I've been here many times.
This is the Mississippi River, of course.  I'm standing on
the famous Riverwalk.  That's a ferry on the left.
This picture is taken from the Riverwalk.  
Other than the Superdome, this is the 1st sign
of wind damage.  Notice the boarded up
windows at the top.
This is the French Quarter.  I ate an oyster poboy at the place on
the right (Arnaud's Remoulade).  This was on (or near) Bourbon
Street.  It was here that I learned that there was very little storm
damage done to the French Quarter.  There was no flooding and
just some rooftop damage.  That's a good thing, because other
than a Saints game, this area is about the only place worth going
to in The Big Easy.
To the left is the Aquarium and Imax Theater.
Ahhhh.............yes.  Good 'ole New Orleans.  
Maybe he used to live in that building on the left.
This building probably needed to come down
anyway.  And, yes, that's my forehead.
You may have
seen this on the
news.  These
are abandoned
cars underneath
the interstate.  I
snapped this
picture as I was
leaving town
headed East
towards
Mississippi.
This is New
Orleans-East.  I
snapped this picture
while driving along
I-10.  N.O.-East is
where the worst
damage occured.  I
didn't have time to get
off the interstate to
explore, though.
Page 2
On June 5th, 2006, I went on a mission trip to Bay Saint Louis, MS
to help with the rebuilding efforts for the week.  Bay Saint Louis is
right on the coast about an hour East of New Orleans and 15
minutes West of Gulfport, MS.

There were four of us from Northside Presbyterian Church and
about a dozen from Rivermont Presbyterian Church who made the
trip from Chattanooga.  However, there were several groups
staying at the First Presbyterian Church of Bay Saint Louis from
New Mexico all the way to Pennsylvania.  There were over 100
people all staying on the church property in tents, RVs, and
converted bedrooms.  

Each day groups were organized and dispatched to different work
sites who desperately needed help in cleanup and rebuilding.  

This was my first time to visit the gulf coast since Hurricane Katrina
and it was quite a shock.  It seemed like the storm had just swept
through over the weekend.  Although, it soon became obvious that
much progress really had been made in the last 9 months from the
stories I was told.
:: A common site ::
The Mississippi Gulf Coast 9 months later...
Bay Saint Louis, MS