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By Daily Mississippian
Posted: 11/9/05 Section: News
(U-WIRE) OXFORD, Miss. - The intersection of Mirabeau Avenue and Warrington Drive in the Gentilly section of New Orleans was still different from almost every area of the city 45 days after Hurricane Katrina hit.
Although floodwater from the breached levees had subsided, many neighborhoods were empty. Water and rubble inundated Warrington and made it impassable so the thoroughfare looked like a cul-de-sac. A house washed away from its foundation into the middle of the street had turned Warrington Drive into a dead end. People gathered on the edge of Warrington Drive were visible from Mirabeau Avenue as cars passed.
"You can take a picture of it if you want, for $5," someone from the group jokingly yelled. "Wanna talk to the owner, here he is right here."
Tom Lee, owner of the displaced house, had lived in the neighborhood for more than 24 years. The London Avenue Canal ran directly behind his home. When its levees broke, it caused his house - still on the slab - to turn 180 degrees into the street. Sandbags were placed along the road because the levee continued to leak despite city workers' efforts to repair it.
Hurricane Katrina caused Lee, a man in his mid-80s, to evacuate to Amite, La., his birthplace he left 40 years ago for New Orleans, but he maintained a positive disposition even after the hurricane.
As he stepped out of a truck where he had been waiting for his insurance agent, Lee smiled as he viewed his home for the first time since the storm. He retrieved his shoes and the wedding dress of his deceased wife that had been stored in the attic.
"Only thing that stop (the house) from going on down the street (was) that tree right there," Lee said. "It ain't no use cryin'. I'm living. I'm still alive and everything, yes indeed. (I'm going to) make it. Like I said, it ain't no use cryin'."
Lee heard the news of his home from his former neighbor, Reginald Lewis, of the New Orleans Fire Department.
"See my neighbor, he's a fireman, he ... told me about the house," Lee said. "I called him one day. 'I hate to tell you this, but your house (is) out there in the middle of the street,' said Lewis. I said, 'Reggie, you got to be kidding.'"
- Kasimu L. Harris
Lee walked toward his home, stepping over wires from telephone poles and other debris. After he walked a block he reached his home and stood over the water on a piece of wood. Agile for a man of his age, Lee balanced himself and tried to pry a window open.
Then his old neighbor walked up to the home.
"Watch your step in there!" Reginald Lewis said. "What'cha need, I got boots on."
"The pair of boots you give me," Lee started to reply, but before he finished his sentence Lewis cut him off.
"Yeah I know, I gave you two pairs of boots," Lewis said.
"(They're) in the garage," Lee said. "(I) don't know where the garage is."
Both men laughed out loud.
A retired widower, Lee said he still has plans to rebuild his home in its rightful place on Warrington Drive.
Although floodwater from the breached levees had subsided, many neighborhoods were empty. Water and rubble inundated Warrington and made it impassable so the thoroughfare looked like a cul-de-sac. A house washed away from its foundation into the middle of the street had turned Warrington Drive into a dead end. People gathered on the edge of Warrington Drive were visible from Mirabeau Avenue as cars passed.
"You can take a picture of it if you want, for $5," someone from the group jokingly yelled. "Wanna talk to the owner, here he is right here."
Tom Lee, owner of the displaced house, had lived in the neighborhood for more than 24 years. The London Avenue Canal ran directly behind his home. When its levees broke, it caused his house - still on the slab - to turn 180 degrees into the street. Sandbags were placed along the road because the levee continued to leak despite city workers' efforts to repair it.
Hurricane Katrina caused Lee, a man in his mid-80s, to evacuate to Amite, La., his birthplace he left 40 years ago for New Orleans, but he maintained a positive disposition even after the hurricane.
As he stepped out of a truck where he had been waiting for his insurance agent, Lee smiled as he viewed his home for the first time since the storm. He retrieved his shoes and the wedding dress of his deceased wife that had been stored in the attic.
"Only thing that stop (the house) from going on down the street (was) that tree right there," Lee said. "It ain't no use cryin'. I'm living. I'm still alive and everything, yes indeed. (I'm going to) make it. Like I said, it ain't no use cryin'."
Lee heard the news of his home from his former neighbor, Reginald Lewis, of the New Orleans Fire Department.
"See my neighbor, he's a fireman, he ... told me about the house," Lee said. "I called him one day. 'I hate to tell you this, but your house (is) out there in the middle of the street,' said Lewis. I said, 'Reggie, you got to be kidding.'"
- Kasimu L. Harris
Lee walked toward his home, stepping over wires from telephone poles and other debris. After he walked a block he reached his home and stood over the water on a piece of wood. Agile for a man of his age, Lee balanced himself and tried to pry a window open.
Then his old neighbor walked up to the home.
"Watch your step in there!" Reginald Lewis said. "What'cha need, I got boots on."
"The pair of boots you give me," Lee started to reply, but before he finished his sentence Lewis cut him off.
"Yeah I know, I gave you two pairs of boots," Lewis said.
"(They're) in the garage," Lee said. "(I) don't know where the garage is."
Both men laughed out loud.
A retired widower, Lee said he still has plans to rebuild his home in its rightful place on Warrington Drive.
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