Susie's Field Notes

The lower ninth ward is a unique neighborhood filled with culture and love. The neighborhood was hit extremely hard by Hurricane Katrina and suffered great losses, but there seems to be hope left and the people care about their beloved neighborhood.

We drove through the lower ninth ward around 9:45 in the morning, so there weren’t many people out and about. We were, however, able to drive around and look at the houses and buildings. The houses located close to the levee were destroyed the most from the storm. Entire houses were ripped to pieces and there was a lot of land that used to be full of houses, but is now simply grass. Some of the grass had grown tall and wilderness like, while others had been mowed and taken care of. It seems that if the people don’t take care of their land even if there is no house then the city will take it away from them. Some houses were being rebuilt by Brad Pitt’s organization, Make It Right. They were interesting to look at and they were all “green”, meaning environmental friendly. The remaining houses were farther apart from each other because the storm destroyed most of them, and they hadn’t rebuilt many yet. In addition to these new houses, there were tons of abandoned, destroyed houses. These houses had shattered windows, broken down doors, and broken roofs. The majority of the houses had no one living in them and was not boarded up. This seemed to be a problem in the neighborhood because anyone could go inside and do whatever they wanted. It allows for more crime and I imagine there were homeless people and such living in these abandoned houses; it does not constitute a safe environment.

Many of the businesses, schools, and church buildings were also destroyed from the storm. There didn’t seem to be anything open; they had all been shut down because there are not many people around to have good enough business. The school we saw also seemed closed, and there may have been temporary trailers where school was being held, but it was difficult to tell. Even though some of the church buildings were damaged, church seemed to be an important aspect of people’s lives in the lower ninth ward. There were a few outdoor tents where church would be held in parking lots. There was one church that we drove by that was still working and there was a large amount of people there for Sunday morning services. Church and religion is something that those people can always rely on and will help them through the difficult times.

People from the lower ninth ward were clearly hurt by the storm and lost almost everything. The majority of the people living there that we saw were blacks ranging from all different ages. It was a neighborhood with families, but many of them left after the storm and it seems that they have not come back. All of the houses had little front porches and a common activity seemed to be sitting on the porch talking with family and friends; there were a few children playing in the yard as the parents watched. The neighborhood has been through a lot from the hurricane. Almost all of the houses are damaged and not many of them are being rebuilt at the moment. The people that used to live there have gone away and have not returned. The remaining families are trying to rebuild their lives and have made some progress. Overall the neighborhood still needs a lot of work done and people are starting to lend a hand. There seems to be a great amount of hope and love for the lower ninth ward because if people didn’t care that much then they wouldn’t be doing this.