Katrina driving tour???

Is there a printed self-driving tour of the areas that were devastated by Hurricane Katrina? I know that there's a tour bus that you can take of the areas, but I would like to drive it myself and see the areas up close.

In the last 10 years many of the homes have been rebuilt or torn down. There isn't much to see except new homes and empty lots.

Some of the worse looking buildings that you see are ones that looked like that before Katrina and are in neighborhoods that it would be best that you stayed out of.

The tours give you verbalized descriptions of what happened in each area and what has been improved and also help insure your safety.

I don't think that even the commercial tour companies still do Katrina tours. As the above poster says, even the worst-hit areas like the lower 9th Ward and St. Bernard have at least been cleaned up, and the people who have moved back into those areas don't like the idea of being part of a disaster tour.

There will be lots of news specials in the week to come marking the 10th anniversary of Katrina, and telling the story of what Katrina did to New Orleans, and how it is still recovering.

OK. Thanks guys. Will consider another tour.

Is there a printed self-driving tour of the areas that were devastated by Hurricane Katrina? I know that there's a tour bus that you can take of the areas, but I would like to drive it myself and see the areas up close.

As a local New Orleanian, I have to wonder why you would even want to take such a tour. I can't watch the specials or the videos or any of the retrospectives without breaking down in tears and my heart aching for hours afterwards.

I was always against this kind of tourist voyeurism and was very happy when it stopped. Would you take a tour of the damage in Haiti or New York/New Jersey to the see the hurricane damage there? No-one ever wants to go on a Hurricane Sandy Damage tour. Why is New Orleans special?

There is so much more to see and do in New Orleans. Personally I'd do a tour of Uptown or the French Quarter and have meals at locally owned restaurants. Come to support New Orleans not to stare at it.

As a local New Orleanian, I have to wonder why you would even want to take such a tour. I can't watch the specials or the videos or any of the retrospectives without breaking down in tears and my heart aching for hours afterwards.

 

I was always against this kind of tourist voyeurism and was very happy when it stopped. Would you take a tour of the damage in Haiti or New York/New Jersey to the see the hurricane damage there? No-one ever wants to go on a Hurricane Sandy Damage tour. Why is New Orleans special?

 

There is so much more to see and do in New Orleans. Personally I'd do a tour of Uptown or the French Quarter and have meals at locally owned restaurants. Come to support New Orleans not to stare at it.

I thought about driving around to see where it happened because I am a hurricane survivor myself! My home was completely destroyed by Hurricane Hugo in Charleston, SC! I go back there as often as I can to see how the area has recovered. New Orleans is "special", as you say, due to the extensive damage that was caused by the largest hurricane ever to hit the US, and the fact that I've never been to NO. And I HAVE been to Haiti as a relief volunteer and I know what it was like 2 weeks after that nation was devastated by that hurricane. So, yes...I would like to see how much NO has recovered from such a tragedy. I'm not into the morbid, just more of a historian with a heart that aches, more than you can imagine, for human survival. I certainly did not mean to offend anyone!

As a local New Orleanian, I have to wonder why you would even want to take such a tour. I can't watch the specials or the videos or any of the retrospectives without breaking down in tears and my heart aching for hours afterwards.

 

I was always against this kind of tourist voyeurism and was very happy when it stopped. Would you take a tour of the damage in Haiti or New York/New Jersey to the see the hurricane damage there? No-one ever wants to go on a Hurricane Sandy Damage tour. Why is New Orleans special?

 

There is so much more to see and do in New Orleans. Personally I'd do a tour of Uptown or the French Quarter and have meals at locally owned restaurants. Come to support New Orleans not to stare at it.

It also appears that tours of the devastated areas of New Orleans has not stopped as you can see here, a tour sponsored by your city itself: http://www.neworleans.com/tours/shop/hurricane-katrina-tour/

I thought about driving around to see where it happened because I am a hurricane survivor myself! My home was completely destroyed by Hurricane Hugo in Charleston, SC! I go back there as often as I can to see how the area has recovered. New Orleans is "special" due to the extensive damage that was caused by the largest hurricane ever to hit the US, and the fact that I've never been to NO. So, yes...I would like to see how much NO has recovered from such a tragedy. I'm not into the morbid, just more of a historian. I certainly did not mean to offend anyone!

If you're never been to New Orleans, how would you know whether the areas you were seeing had "recovered" or not? Honestly, if you have no Pre-Katrina reference and are basing everything on the media coverage of the event, it's just as easy to check out the before-and-after photo retrospectives around these days.

Beyond Hyman's, I have no reference to judge damage and recovery in Charleston. I have personal reference for New Orleans. Friends and family lost their houses, businesses, lives in the Lower 9th Ward, Carrollton, St. Bernard and Plaquemines Parishes. I worked as part of the legal team that defended insurance companies in the Katrina lawsuits -- I filed the legal paperwork to deny those same friends and family recovery funds. (I was lucky enough to have only lost 20% of my roof to wind damage, but was out of my house for 6 weeks.) I certainly have too strong a personal connection to be objective, but there is no way I'd want anyone I know to be the subject of tourists there only to see in person what they had seen on television. That's not helpful to anyone.

The best thing you can do for New Orleans is come, see the tourist attractions that were there long before Katrina, eat at as many local restaurants as possible, buy souvenirs from local artists. That's what helps any area hit by tragedy recover. Not tourists coming for lookee-loo.

Sorry, I'm not objective and this is a hot button issue for me.

If you're never been to New Orleans, how would you know whether the areas you were seeing had "recovered" or not? Honestly, if you have no Pre-Katrina reference and are basing everything on the media coverage of the event, it's just as easy to check out the before-and-after photo retrospectives around these days.

 

Beyond Hyman's, I have no reference to judge damage and recovery in Charleston. I have personal reference for New Orleans. Friends and family lost their houses, businesses, lives in the Lower 9th Ward, Carrollton, St. Bernard and Plaquemines Parishes. I worked as part of the legal team that defended insurance companies in the Katrina lawsuits -- I filed the legal paperwork to deny those same friends and family recovery funds. (I was lucky enough to have only lost 20% of my roof to wind damage, but was out of my house for 6 weeks.) I certainly have too strong a personal connection to be objective, but there is no way I'd want anyone I know to be the subject of tourists there only to see in person what they had seen on television. That's not helpful to anyone.

 

The best thing you can do for New Orleans is come, see the tourist attractions that were there long before Katrina, eat at as many local restaurants as possible, buy souvenirs from local artists. That's what helps any area hit by tragedy recover. Not tourists coming for lookee-loo.

 

Sorry, I'm not objective and this is a hot button issue for me.

OBVIOUSLY! End of subject!

Unlike ellieanne, I was happy to see the tour buses coming through my neighborhood (Lakeview) after Katrina. That was the only way people could actually appreciate what sitting under ten feet of flood water for four weeks could do to a city.

All of the foliage was dead, the smell was terrible, and there was debris piled several feet high (including the contents of my home). No birds, no squirrels, but lots of possums, racoons and rats feasting on the contents of the refrigerators.

Ten years later, Lakeview is a new neighborhood. It is almost completely repopulated, and thriving. It looks better than ever. Not all neighborhoods have been so lucky, of course, and the pain still lingers.

Unlike ellieanne, I was happy to see the tour buses coming through my neighborhood (Lakeview) after Katrina. That was the only way people could actually appreciate what sitting under ten feet of flood water for four weeks could do to a city.

 

All of the foliage was dead, the smell was terrible, and there was debris piled several feet high (including the contents of my home). No birds, no squirrels, but lots of possums, racoons and rats feasting on the contents of the refrigerators.

 

Ten years later, Lakeview is a new neighborhood. It is almost completely repopulated, and thriving. It looks better than ever. Not all neighborhoods have been so lucky, of course, and the pain still lingers.

I am truly happy that the city of New Orleans has "come back" as quickly as it has. I've been through a hurricane (Hugo) that completely destroyed everything that I owned, took 3 of my closest friends and changed my life in a very dramatic way. No one needs to harp on me about what I don't know about New Orleans. I WANT to know about the Crescent City! I've seen the horror of what a hurricane can do. Even though you've gone through such a horrible, horrible hurricane, you can't imagine what the devestation was like in Haiti. This poor country had hardly anything to begin with, but after their hurricane there was utter destruction. Nothing left standing at all. People had to live in tents, in complete filth for months and months. You talk about stench? And rats?

The woman that jumped on my wanting to see how the recovery in New Orleans has progressed needs to take others into consideration. I meant absolutely no ill will when I posted my question. I just wanted to see how the human spirit will overcome even the most impossible odds.

My wife and I have decided to take the city tour that will take visitors through the areas devastated by Katrina. I can only hope that some of the $49 per person that we paid to see this will go towards the rebuilding of NO. Thank you for taking the time to explain the other point of view.