Right about now was when the ship started to shift in her moorings and the water reached the top of the levee. It was also the point that everyone packed up and left.
A disaster junkie may have stuck around longer, but no one was ready to take that chance. In the end the pumps did get the water level down. I think we were all standing there reflecting on what had been happening in the same spot 3 years before and the fact that hundreds died right behind where we were standing.
Coincidentally (or not), I finished this narration one May 1st 2020. We are now exactly a month from the start of this years hurricane season. There is a habit in New Orleans of ignoring something until we are under the water, literally. I can't help but wonder what happens if a killer storm comes along this year. There won't be any mass evacuations. Who would have us when our population is one of the top virus epicenters in the country?
I won't fool myself into thinking that the levees are so much better than they were then. They are stronger in places, but for every levee that's fixed there is one that desperately needs attention. We don't want to talk about. We don't want to think about it. But all of us here in New Orleans wonder every day if this is the end for this beautiful city or will we go on for another year?
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