I stayed at the Wyndam Bourbon Orleans at 717 Orleans Street on Monday night. When I booked the room on Orbitz, the hotel mentioned that you have to be ready for some limited services. Like most businesses, they have found creative ways to do the best they can with what they have. For example, instead of cleaning the room everyday, they do it every three. They also don't have as much service staff on hand, but everyone is doing the best they can, and with a smile.
The night I arrived I grabbed a drink at Pat O'Briens and had one of their famous Hurricanes. They would normally be serving dinner and have 20+ people on staff. This night they had a total of four. What they lacked in staff, they made up for in character. We had great conversations with Sid (operations manager) and Steve (assistant operations manager). Sid told us stories going back 70 years. One involved a 67 year employee who had never missed a day of work and worked 7 days a week for much of those 67 years. On his major anniversaries, he was given everything from a $10,000 bonus to a new Corvette. Unfortunately, since the storm, they haven't heard the whereabouts of their long time employee.
Most people you speak to have a story about being relocated after the storm. One waiter said he was finally required to evacuate after eight days. He was taken by the Army and put on a place sponsored by the Red Cross. He had no idea he was being flown to Minnesota until they were 15 minutes from landing. He said he was well-taken care of and spent a couple of weeks there. He was given some money and traveled to Florida before coming back to NO. Service workers are in very high demand. Burger King is paying a high hourly wage and a $6,000 bonus if the employees successfully stay on the job for up to a year.
My father and I spent the day touring the most flooded areas of New Orleans. Bobby Smith, the President of the SE LA Boys and Girls Club brought us to inspect two of their Clubs; The NFL Club located by the Cooper Public Housing Development and the Gretna/West Bank Club. This picture is of Bobby's Daughter Briana inside the NFL club. She joined us for the tour. Don't worry, the kids will not be allowed in until the centers are deemed completely safe.
I am proud to say that on behalf of many people and companies that contributed,
Party With Purpose was able to make a donation of $16,500 to help reopen the West Bank/Gretna Club. The money is going to be used for equipment, paint and other items which will help to welcome the kids back when they return to the center. Bobby hopes to open this center by January 1st. They only have 9 out of 80 pre-Katrina employees still on staff.
I have uploaded some pictures to a flickr photo sharing acccount. Check them out
here.
The flooding affects an amazingly large area and the impact is deep. Most of the flooded areas are ghost towns. There are flooded cars and debris everywhere. Many street lights are out, but there is a steady flow of vehicles. You see clean up crews at every 10 or 20 houses or so.
Although I heard a lot of the flooding was in the poorest areas, I did see that some wealthier areas were flooded too. The flood reached 4-6 feet in most areas.
Bourbon Street actually looks relatively unscathed. Many of the stores are open, but with limited hours. Many of the fine art galleries are still showing their art. There is a heavy law enforcement presence. The officers are LA State police, New Orleans cops, National Guard and a number of NY State Troopers.
Although it is off the front page of most national papers, everything on TV and in the paper is about the Hurricane. Commercials are all related to recovery.
The paper says almost all the Mardi Gras "krew captains" (who organize the floats) have committed to march. I heard they will be conducting Mardi Gras, but only for about half the time (6 days). They don't know if the City has the infrastrucure and police to handle the entire event. Due to the reduced schedule, some krews may not be able to march. Some think a reduced Mardi Gras sends the wrong message to the outside world. I agree. They should find a way to make Mardi Gras as "normal" as possible and run the entire time.
Not many restaurants are open, even outside the City. But, the ones that are, are packed. Many only have enough employees to staff one shift a day. I heard about 30% of the restaurants are open and Thanksgiving reservations are hard to come by. The biggest issue has been finding staff. The problem is that the employees you would normally hire aren't back in NO yet. They aren't coming back because they don't have anywhere to live.
I have many other stories and pictures. I will be updating this blog over the next few days as I upload pictures from my digital camera.
