New Orleans: A City Left Unprotected, by Kriss Wells

Kriss Wells of Le Claire, Pa., is a participant in the Katrina Relief JustWorks camp in New Orleans.

Today, I helped gut a house. Our group went into a house that has been sitting empty since the flood after the levees broke. The place was a horrible mess. The toxic waters invaded everything. There was still food in the microwave. A rat jumped out of the food cupboard.

We carried all the furniture, appliances, clothes, etc., out to the street. Everything was ruined by the toxic water, all the industrial waste that has washed for years into the Gulf. The nastiest stuff you can imagine has soaked into this house. We were protected today from the toxins by wearing respirators and coveralls and goggles and gloves.

After emptying the house, we proceeded to dismantle the plaster walls down to the studs. We carried all the plaster and lath out to the street. It feels good to start this house on its road to recovery.

Every day since we have arrived in New Orleans, the subject of loss has found its way into my conversations. Thousands of people here have loss on top of loss on top of loss: family, friends, neighbors, even their churches are gone. Some people barely recognize the street that they live on. Of course, over a thousand have lost their lives. And it wasn't Katrina that killed them.

Those people died because the levees that were built to protect New Orleans were not built strong enough. Why was this city left unprotected?