The museum gets stormy

I got to be at the opening of the Living with Hurricanes: Katrina and Beyond exhibit at the LA State Museum a couple of weeks ago, but my time was limited so I knew I'd have to go back to actually take in some of the displays.  After spending a couple hours there this weekend, I can officially recommend it to others.  As its location at the Presbytere (right next to St. Louis Cathedral) is perfect for catching all the tourist traffic through Jackson Square, its in prime position to get a lot of visitors.

Over the last three and a half years I've gotten to hear a lot of first hand accounts of the storm.  Those accumulated histories come together to create an understanding of the event's impact that can't really be reproduced in a few news reports.  The museum does a good job of communicating that message to people that haven't had to live in a "post storm" environment.  Even the most hard of heart can't help but be moved by the films and pictures and objects that do so much to tell this story.  It's a visit well worth the six bucks to get in.

A mention of The storm

It seems fitting that the fifth anniversary of Katrina has been accompanied by two days of constant rain. I can only imagine that the memories of the event are enhanced by the gloomy skies and ponds slowly filling the streets. I wanted to post a few pictures that I've collected from various trips around the city, but I don't feel qualified to say much else about this. I came to New Orleans a year and a half after Katrina, so I don't have any first person experiences of the storm itself. All the locals that lived through the event have their own stories; each unique and bordering on unbelievability. I could attempt to recount the stories I heard about houses pulled off their foundations, the herd of cows that drowned, the guy that had to swim half a mile to an overpass, the grandmother that returned to her home to find that the inventory of an adult novelty shop had floated its way into her attic. It wouldn't be the same coming from me. If you're really interested in hearing these stories, it's not hard to find examples from the locals that were here and can speak about things in the first person.