Hurricane Katrina Aftermath (and other stuff I find interesting)

Our "Hurrication" is coming to an end, we leave today for Memphis and will be in New Orleans Saturday afternoon. Sunday, we'll attend the first regular season Saints game in Louisiana this season, and then it's back to work on Monday. Our place is not quite ready yet, we'll be staying with my folks down the bayou for a couple of weeks.

I'll be updating the blog with reports from home, so let me know if there is somewhere that you'd like me to drive by and check out.

hope to see you all soon,

Evacuee

It's a full-page PDF, so it might take a minute to download. Full page letter here

BATON ROUGE, La. - Saints fans in New Orleans will be able to watch their team's home games in Baton Rouge even if they're not sellouts.

With the Saints based in San Antonio, their fans scattered and the Superdome severely damaged by Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath, the NFL said Wednesday networks may broadcast the games as a gesture of good will.

"Due to the extraordinary circumstances that have affected the Gulf Coast region, the New Orleans Saints' home games being played in Baton Rouge this season will be televised locally regardless of their sellout status," a league statement said.

NFL spokesman Seth Palansky said the league had to consider everything. "It is unprecedented to have an NFL team playing home games in three different cities in three different states," he said.

Give me your best caption for this picture. The original is "Mayor Ray Nagin bites into a beignet", however the picture is much funnier than that line. My original thought is "Waiting to Exhale" which could only be understood by anybody who has covered their eating companion with powdered sugar before.

Somebody has to have a funnier caption than this, though. Let 'er rip!

Sorry this has been a Saints-heavy day on the blog, but there's a lot to write about right now. This is a particularly great quote:

Ironic, isn't it? In the 21st century world of professional sports, ownership often bemoans the lack of loyalty from money-hungry athletes who often jump from city to city and team to team for bigger bucks.

In at least one case — that of Tom Benson and Deuce McAllister — the owner could learn a lot about loyalty from his team's best player.

Full story here

BATON ROUGE (AP) — Superdome officials say the stadium should be largely cleaned up from Hurricane Katrina and ready for the New Orleans Saints to play at least some of their games there in 2006.

Full story here

I just talked to a friend who is in New Orleans to meet with their contractor and they said that while their neighborhood still looks like a disaster zone, that much of uptown is already back in business. They had dinner at Kyoto and lunch at the Creole Creamery, and said that most of Magazine street looks like it did before the storm.

I'm reading more about this online, such as this story which focuses on business coming back to New Orleans. A movie filming is starting with Jerry Bruckheimer as the producer and Denzel Washington as the star. The Windsor Court is open again, so that is likely where they are staying for those star-gazers out there.

Cafe du Monde is also open, which had been confirmed by my parents this weekend.

Let me know of what other businesses you know are open again, I'll of course do some more research upon my return to the city next week.

Galatoire's to open in Baton Rouge?

The City of New Orleans Office of Economic Development and the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) on October 21 announced the opening of a Business Recovery Center to support the reestablishment of New Orleans businesses. "This center will provide businesses with a one-stop experience to address all of their needs," said Don Hutchinson, Director of Economic Development for New Orleans.

The Center is located at One Canal Place, 365 Canal St., Suite 1050, and provides extensive services to businesses damaged by Hurricane Katrina. Business owners can visit the center daily from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. to access assistance from the City, the SBA, the Louisiana Department of Economic Development and Louisiana Small Business Development Centers (SBDCs).
Businesses can also contact the Center at (504) 589-6685. Representatives are on hand from City of New Orleans offices, including Economic Development, Job 1, Neighborhood 1 (the Department of Housing and Neighborhood Development), Safety and Permits and Revenue. In addition, Entergy, the Small Business Development Center, Good Work Network, and the Department of Occupational Licenses, local banks, and other private institutions also are available to help assist local business owners with their immediate needs.

Snippets from a USA Today piece. I didn't make the last part up, and you can view a bunch of stories of how the mayor of Satanonio is trying to lure the Saints away here

Tagliabue must keep Saints in New Orleans

The defining moral crisis in the NFL has nothing to do with two boats of Vikings sailing the always active waters of jock entitlement. Lake Minnetonka is not even a ripple in the ocean of sleaze that threatens to sweep the New Orleans Saints from a city of fractured levees and broken hearts, a city that should not be left to beg for the mercy of businessmen not inclined to give it.

Paul Tagliabue cannot allow one of his owners, Tom Benson, to use a great American tragedy as his ticket to ride. This isn't a fleeting commissioner's concern. This isn't David Stern fighting to get his NBA players out of throwback jerseys and into sport coats.
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The NFL likes to say it is about community, the United Way, all that jazz. Bolt New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, and nobody will take that claim seriously again.

"The NFL's commitment to public service," Tagliabue says on the league's website, "is as strong as the league itself."

Prove it. When you arrive at Sunday's Saints-Dolphins game at LSU, assure the fans their Saints aren't going anywhere. Start selling every owner in the league on the ethical imperative of returning the team to New Orleans.

Benson needs three-quarters of his fellow zillionaires to approve a permanent move to drier land and bigger luxury suites. That should be a 31-0 vote against, a crushing rebuke of a man who has hardened his standing among the worst owners in sports.

Though Benson hasn't said he's splitting for sure, he's done nothing to dismiss the belief he's as good as gone. Benson fired an executive who was all for staying put. Benson released a statement saying the Saints' future would be settled at season's end, but he'd already been unmasked by San Antonio's mayor, Phil Hardberger, the vulture circling over the thrashed Superdome shell.

Like Benson, Hardberger lives in a house with no mirrors. Either that or the dog ate his conscience. Once the gracious host with the most to offer an orphaned franchise, Hardberger is pursuing a forever commitment from the Saints with Barry Switzer zeal. His recruiting pitch?

Forget Katrina. Remember the Alamodome.
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Hey everybody, we have returned to Chicago, and it is cold! I can't imagine what this place is like when real winter gets here. The city is buzzing due to the White Sox being up 2-0 on the Astros, the next game is tomorrow.

Anyhow, I'll be posting more regularly again, please let me know if you have any news that you'd like to share!

Evacuee

I just read a few of these, and I think I'll have to find a way to mix them in to my vernacular.

Hurrication: Something like a vacation, but of course caused by the hurricane. The past few weeks have been exactly that way. You're not always working all the time, yet you can't really relax either.

Mount Trashmore: The trash piles that are popping up all around town, waiting to be hauled away

Dean Martin Drunk: Where you get to drunk that you stumble around and slur your words but no matter what, there’s going to be some singing.

Thanks to neworleans.metblogs.com for the interesting reading.

With thousands of New Orleans residents facing possible eviction, a judge on Monday temporarily blocked landlords from forcing out tenants unless hearings are held close to home.

Full story here

New Orleans Job Fair on Wednesday

Kenner holding job fair on Tuesday

Chevron to help retailers rebuild

Tenet spending "hundreds of millions of dollars" to repair hospitals and rebuild network