X, Marks, the Spot

It’s strange to be back home in New Orleans. Well, technically, it’s strange to be back home in Harahan, which is far enough out of the city to have suffered little damage. But tonight my sister took me on a tour of the Lakefront area, which got hit really hard—-it was right near one of the crucial levee breaches.

The first thing she pointed out was the Xs on the houses—-each and every one. The “X” meant that the house had been searched by rescue (well, recovery) teams. Each X marked four quadrants. In the top one is the date of the search. In the two side ones are the initials indicating which team searched. At the bottom is a number—-the number of bodies found in the home. Luckily, I only saw zeroes, though many, many house must have had numbers. The Xs are in all places—-ornate glass doors, windows, bricks. They’re everywhere. I hope someone thinks to preserve some of them. They seem to me an important mark of history.

Speaking of marks, my sister also pointed out the waterline marks on all the houses. We were driving at night, in areas that are mostly still without power, and at first I thought these vertical marks were just shadows of some sort. But, no, they indicate how far the water rose. As we drove along they seemed, in their uniform application across all the houses, like some obscene racing stripes.

As for “the spot,” it’s in front of people’s houses, in FEMA trailers. You’ll drive along and see these little mobile trailers in front of homes. Each is provided by FEMA, hooked up to power, water, and gas. Each is now someone’s spot to call home, right outside their houses.

So, yeah, things are still bad in New Orleans. If you think about it, find some way to contribute to Katrina relief efforts, still.