A four and a half acre fire earlier today shot walls of flames high into the sky, visible for miles, as smoke filled the air of New Orleans with the potential of yet further contamination, as a big pile of refuse, made up of paper, wood, discarded clothing and furniture, as well as mechanical items, such as refrigerators, and possibly other items which held coolants and other chemicals, seems to have gone up in flames in a conspiracy of spontaneous combustion. Most of the refuse, if not all of it, originated from the areas of New Orleans, in particular the Ninth Ward, which had been heaviest hit by flooding.
Yet, George Bush, on a visit to the city yesterday, would have us believe that New Orleans has made great progress, is on the road to recovery, and is more now like, in his words, the city he used to visit (as though he ever visited the Ninth Ward). He went on to encourage other families to visit the area. As he spoke these words, however, there were no signs of Jenna and Barbara, the Bush's daughters. But to be fair, these girls are doultess not used to invitations to places that are accompanied by the notation, BYOB.
From what I've pieced together, the only parts of New Orleans that are or would be appropriate as a tourist destination, as of now, are those parts that were not greatly affected to begin with, relativly speaking. Sure, the French Quarter would doubtless be a good spot to come for the food, drink, and jazz and blues music. Unfortunatly, the accommodations are not up to the level they once were as far as availiability for large numbers of tourists, and pollution, and the prospect for contamination, is still an issue, as these problems pay no attention to geographical boundaries. At least, they can only be held in check up to a point with any degree of assurrance.
As for the residents of the Ninth Ward, and other poorer neighborhoods, they are adamant as to future plans for their respective homes and streets. One man informed Ray Nagin, the mayor, that he would protect his property with a baseball bat, if he had to. There is a great deal of controversy over tentative plans to turn certain areas into open parks, on the grounds that rebuilding in these areas would be too expensive, and innapropriate due to future safety considerations.
Of course, it could be pointed out that ensuring the levees are properly buildt and maintained, and that there should be regular tests conducted of the pumping system in order to insure any future flood waters are pumped out in a timely manner (as much a reason for the flood here was a failure of these pumps, as it was the levees failing) would be two good first steps.
On a related front, there is now a move to force a recall vote on Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco, on grounds of incompetence. Unfortunately, a successful recall drive would necessitate the collection of enough legitimate signatres to equal one third of the voting population of Louisiana. At last word, Ms. Blanco was unnavailiable for comment. She was in the Netherlands, studying flood control.
