Lower Ninth Ward struggles 4 years later

NEW ORLEANS - Before the tidal surge of Hurricane Katrina turned the Lower Ninth Ward into a deadly bowl of muddy water four years ago today, Doloris Wells loved to sit on the steps in front of her neat wood home on Dauphine Street and chat with her neighbors. Four years later, Wells is back on the steps, but there are no neighbors she can talk to.

"It's a lonely life," she said, gazing at the perfect blue August sky, but she won't complain: "At least I have a place to live." Whenever a car passes, she waves, and gladly smiles when the driver honks in return.

With other hard-hit but more affluent New Orleans neighborhoods staging remarkable comebacks, the traditionally poor and predominantly African American Lower Ninth Ward remains in limbo. Nobody knows whether it is headed toward revival or ultimate collapse.

New Orleans has regained roughly 75 percent of its pre-Katrina population. For the Lower Ninth Ward, 20 percent of its former 14,000 inhabitants would be a generous estimate.

"Those most in need have the hardest time to make their way back," said Wells, whose house restoration has been an ongoing project.

In the Lower Ninth Ward, chest-high weeds separate the foundations of houses smashed by the waters or demolished afterward. Street numbers of long-gone houses are spray-painted on curbs. The few still standing bear the fading tattoos left by rescue teams after the great deluge.

Katrina, a Category 3 storm, made landfall south of New Orleans in the early hours of Aug. 29, 2005. Water breached key levees and flooded almost 80 percent of the city. In the whole region along the Louisiana and Mississippi Gulf Coast, 1,800 people were killed and hundreds of thousands displaced.

Today, New Orleans marks the fourth anniversary of the horrors of Katrina with various ceremonies. At the New Orleans Museum of Arts, the names of all Katrina victims will be read. The bells of historic St. Louis Cathedral on Jackson Square will be rung in honor of the dead.

Remembrances will be more low-key than in previous years. People here are somewhat disappointed that President Obama, who came to New Orleans five times as a senator, won't come for today's anniversary. But Obama, in his weekly address today, was expected to say he would visit later this year.

A report released Tuesday by GCR & Associates Inc., an urban-planning and consulting firm in New Orleans, says the city's recovery has been "stronger than anticipated."

Its economy appears to be thriving, and unemployment, 7.4 percent in July, is lower than the national average. New Orleans public schools, among the worst in the nation before the storm, have been subject to a thorough restructuring, with promising results so far.

"There is no silver lining in Katrina, but it did expose some of our most severe problems," City Council President Arnie Fielkow, a possible mayoral contender in 2010, said in an interview. "The current situation allows us to honestly address many social ills like poverty and corruption. I'm extremely optimistic."

But, cautioned the Rev. Tom Watson, a black community leader, "not everyone shares equally in the progress made."

Although tourists will notice only a trace of destruction in the French Quarter, Watson said, many onetime residents still cannot afford to move back. In his ministry, he said, he encounters many Katrina survivors with mental-health issues who are not getting help.

Moreover, some analysts warn that once the tens of billions of dollars in federal rebuilding aid are spent, economic stability could be unsustainable.

In any case, dissatisfaction with the speed of the recovery is palpable. Outgoing Mayor Ray Nagin faces scandal over a Hawaiian vacation allegedly paid for by a city contractor, accusations of lacking transparency, and the worst approval ratings ever recorded for a New Orleans mayor, about 25 percent. Souvenir shops in the French Quarter sell bumper stickers saying: "May 31, 2010: Nagin's Last Day. Proud to See Him Gone."

With Nagin barred from seeking a third term, the race to succeed him is wide open.

"This election is key to the future of the city," Wells said from her steps in the Lower Ninth Ward. "We better get it right this time."

Just two blocks from Wells' place, toward the Mississippi River, a cluster of functional, built-to-last brick-and-wood houses with solar panels nurtures the hope of a full recovery. The Make It Right Foundation, headed by actor Brad Pitt, is at work there.

Such charitable efforts, the constant presence of volunteers from all over the country, and the tireless work of neighborhood associations are the best source of hope Wells can think of.

"This place might come back one day," said Wells, who is 69, "but I'm afraid I will not live to see it."