Are there
more ghosts in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina?
My trip to Louisiana in late January 2006 was different from what I'd expected.
The French Quarter is a little quieter, but
generally the same as always. By contrast, the city of New Orleans was hit far harder than I anticipated.
Metairie Cemeteries
Driving in to New Orleans, there is evidence of wind and water damage, but it generally looks fairly
normal from I-10.
Once you get off the highway at Metairie, things change in a hurry.
Greenwood Cemetery--shown at right--looks the same as alway, with minimal damage. If I didn't know
that a hurricane and flooding had occurred there, I'd say that nothing was different. Being very familiar
with Greenwood, I saw only minor signs of damage, mostly slightly displaced headstones.
Nearby Cypress Grove Cemetery--shown at left--has
always been a bit less tidy, and there's far more evidence of flooding. As seen in the photo, some of the brickwork
on the crypts is being repaired.
When I visited, three workmen were busy improving the cemetery. But, Cypress Grove
has always been the Metairie-area cemetery that I've referred to in "Fall of the House of Usher" terms. It's less tidy
than Greenwood, and--in my opinion--it has a more personal character.
I've also seen odd, huge canine footprints in the mud at Cypress Grove, suggesting that something very
unusual and perhaps paranormal--not a ghost--has
walked there.
I'm not sure if the crypts at the Metairie cemeteries were responsible for the coffins that I heard about. According
to the concierge at one French Quarter hotel, tents were set up after Katrina's waters receded.
Coffins had floated loose, and were stored in tents, waiting to be identified and replaced in the cemeteries.
The tents are gone now, or at least moved away from public view. And, except for obvious damage, such as shown in the
photo above, there's no way to guess how many graves had serious problems.
New Orleans' Neighborhoods
During late winter 2006, I cannot recommend driving around New Orleans. No electricity in many
neighborhoods means no traffic lights. Also, some streets are still covered with shards of glass and whatever
else was not scooped up by backhoes that cleared the rubble off the major roads.
If you want to see the massive devastation from the hurricane
and its aftermath, take a tour bus from the French Quarter.
In the photo at right, you can see one of the better (less damaged) homes. Most buildings have
a clear water line, inside and out. That's not the highest level that the water reached, but where the water sat for the longest
amount of time, after Hurricane Katrina.
These houses may look okay at first glance, but
the wood has rotted. Many homes will have to be torn down and rebuilt. And, in other neighborhoods,
all that's left is rubble... massive piles of soggy wood, broken furniture, and mildewed belongings too black
to identify. Oddly, the odor isn't too bad.
Among some of the poor who've remained in New Orleans, there was a frightening level of desperation when
I drove around in January 2006.
They seem to emerge from nowhere--at first, all I could think was "Night of the Living Dead"--when a Red Cross
truck announces over a loudspeaker that they're delivering free meals and water for those who need them.
There will be active and residual energy hauntings throughout New Orleans for many years to come. At this point,
it's too early to tell how severe the hauntings will be, but even during the daytime, there's very eerie
energy in these neighborhoods.
By contrast, the French Quarter looks almost the same as it did a year ago, with almost no damage. And,
it is far more haunted than before. See my next article,
Ghost Hunting in the French Quarter after Katrina
