Wednesday, August 31, 2005

More on Katrina

A mandatory evacuation of New Orleans has been ordered -- everyone is supposed to leave. The whole city is under water, the bridges into the city are, from what I understand, down, the place is wrecked. I've been looking at pictures all morning and trying to grasp all this -- my university, the University of New Orleans, on the lakefront, it's probably gone. The library out there, certainly. The zoo? The aquarium? The art museum? Surely they packed and stored all the paintings? Surely the art is safe?

Jackson Square? All those lovely houses in Old Metairie? The Central Grocery? The Cafe Du Monde?

Mr. delagar is upset about his used record store. We got a record from it two days ago. "The last record," he mourned. The store was down on Decatur Street. It was run by an ex-Brit, and full, oh, just full, of used vinyl. The owner never wanted to sell him anything. He would beg mr. delagar not to buy records. Now they're all drowned, no doubt.

The kid says: "What about Grandma's teddy bear collection? What about the Green and White Street?"

We're all in mourning here.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Hello Delagar- I am so sorry for the tragedy that has struck New Orleans- a town I am quite fond of. I also apologize that I'm contacting you under such unfortunate circumstances, but I came across your blog online and I am a reporter for The Chronicle of Higher Education. We are currently writing about what has happened at colleges because of Katrina, and I have not had any success in reaching people at UNO. As part of the UNO community, it would be great to talk with you for our coverage. If possible, I would really appreciate the opportunity to talk with you today about your experience, and the state of UNO. Thanks so much for taking the time to read this, my contact information is listed below.
best,
Elizabeth Farrell
phone: 202.466.1060
email: elizabeth.farrell@chronicle.com