NOLA ReBuilding - Lakeview

Even being from NOLA it still shocks me at some of the progress (or lack there of) in re-building.

I know a few people that live in the area called Lakeview that have completely re-done their homes. And have been done for quite some time. I'm not knocking anyone, I get how difficult it can be for people who are trying to fix their homes. It's hard to do a complete rebuild of your home especially if you have bad luck with contractors. I am talking about the ones that have had NOTHING done. The ones rotting on their lots.

I was driving to go meet my friends at a Festival this past weekend and was shocked at the progress. Now I was pleasantly surprised how many houses had be redone or almost completed. I was disgusted at the others. I was going along seeing all these great renovated homes, which looked so nice and hopeful and then right down the street or next door, there was one that was completely decrepit. It was quite obvious the only work done on it was it being gutted...MAYBE. The doors and windows were missing or broken and you could still see the stained waterline on the outside of the house. It looked like the hurricane just hit a week ago and people hadn't returned yet to their home. It was like this the whole way to the Festival. It wasn't a majority of the homes but it was still a good many. Some were up for sale others just falling apart there.

Now why did this bother me so much. Well lets see, its not just because it makes Lakeview look bad its because of the other problems. These homes were in water for quite sometime, saturated and molded by the flood brought on by Katrina. I know how bad this mold and rot became...I help completely gut out 3 houses in NOLA. And this was just a few months after the storm. We are going on year 3 this August 29th; almost 3 years since the flood waters receded.

Okay back to why I am so annoyed with it. You see NOLA has had a termite/rodent issue for as long as I can remember. Termites used to "swarm" for a few weeks late spring/early summer. Nothing spectacular, you'd just see some flying around lights, especially at outdoor parks and stuff like that. Nothing like what I saw this weekend. I was sitting at the Festival and at around 8PM the termites came out of the woodwork...literally! It wasn't just a small group. I mean this was a MASSIVE swarm, it looked like something out of a horror movie. They were everywhere. All around the lights, electronics, diving into peoples food and drinks, landing in hair etc etc etc. It was like a freaking cloud of termites hovering above the crowd. Then I started thinking, they are probably devouring the blighted houses in the area, multiplying like crazy and putting the new developments in danger of becoming infested. Plus these were just the ones that "came out to play" imagine how many more there are underground and hiding out in homes around the area. Makes my skin crawl. Then I started thinking, if termites are making homes out of the abandoned ones just think what else is living in there. I keep hearing about cat sized rats running around (and no I am not talking about Nutria). I think I would die if I saw one, a rat...and I'm not really scared of rodents but a rat that big...

Like I said I really don't like to judge people, pest control is expensive especially termite treatment but my goodness if you could have seen this you would have felt the same...I think. I just kept thinking, why even try to sell the dilapidated houses, just knock them down and sell the land... I know I don't fully understand everything and its not just that easy...knocking down a house but I just had to say something.

I keep wondering what we are doing here in NOLA. Don't we want people to move back and come visit? Doesn't having an insane termite and rodent problem make people NOT want to come around here. Shouldn't there be a time limit on how long a blighted house can just sit there...I mean I thought this was in place (a time frame to gut/rebuild) but from what I saw I am not sure. And this is in a "good/decent" part of town...I can only imagine what is going on in poorer areas. Can anyone shed some light on this? I love my city and hate to see ANY part of it like this.