Thursday, February 02, 2006

Adding Insult to Injury: Tornados Hit New Orleans

Two tornados swept through New Orleans this morning, one ripping through New Orleans’ Louis Armstrong International Airport, two more destroying sections of various New Orleans neighborhoods that had already been hit hard by Hurricane Katrina.

"Don't ever ask the question, 'What else could happen?'" said Marcia Paul Leone, a mortgage banker who was surveying the new damage outside her Katrina-flooded home. She would go no farther than the front porch of her house Thursday morning. Windows were blown out, and the building appeared to be leaning.

"I've been in the mortgage business for 20 years. I know when something's unsafe," she said.


At the airport, the storm ripped off part of a concourse roof, slammed one jet way into another, and flipped a bunch of the motorized runway luggage carts. An exhaust vent from one roof blew through a concourse window, and a metal ladder was wrapped around a light pole.

But while the damage to the airport is just another expense for a city already hurting from the expenses of a major disaster, the damage to people’s homes, and their state of mind, was the most devastating.

"I cannot believe this. We were hit twice. It's not bad enough we got 11 feet of water," said Maria Kay Chetta, a city grants manager. While her own home was not badly damaged, one across the street lost its roof and another had heavy damage to its front.


Your hearts just have to go out to these people, who have been through so much, and now get hit again. Let’s hope tomorrow is a brighter day for the people of New Orleans.

Posted by Scottage at 11:16 PM / | |