One half-million residents of New Orleans could return to the city if Mayor Ray Nagin gets his way. Actually some of the more popular neighborhoods (the French Quarter and Garden District) that were not heavily touched by the flood waters were reopened today.
The Associated Press reported how some residents are eager to return to the city they love:
"This is my home. I will never leave New Orleans," said Virginia Darmstadter, 75, who has lived in the Garden District since 1984. Her husband is in a nursing home in Houston.
Their home doesn't have electricity and suffered water damage, which contributed to mold. The family planned to return to Houston this weekend after cleaning up a few things.
"As soon as we get electricity and my husband is strong enough to come back, believe me, I'll be back," Darmstadter said. "I've lived long enough to know that life is a wave, you move up and down. When you are down, you have to muster the wherewithal to face it."
This is a good thing. The city is still too unsanitary to move back, but these temporary returns are a must, so people can clean their homes up and help in their small way to clean up the city and start the rebuilding process. There is no way on God's green earth that the city can ever be cleaned up if the residents do not return to start the clean up.
There is one question though that begs to be asked, and that is: What do we do with all the trash? I have heard it said that the storm left behind 15 years of trash in a short period of time. I certainly don't have the answer, but the question has to be asked. If we burn it, the EPA and environmentalists would have a field day about all the pollution from the smoke. If we bury it, where do we bury it? Tough questions have to be answered by the powers that be.
and that's the way I see it! and now for your thoughts...
----
Kevin Surbaugh, of Topeka, KS is editor at KevinsView.com and is an ordained minister who spent 2 years with the ministry of Jesus People USA, which runs Cornerstone Festival in western IL and operates Grrr Records at its headquarters in Chicago, IL.
Article comments