[StBernard] 3 years after Katrina, St. Bernard Parish fights uphill battle

[Westley Annis]

3 years after Katrina, St. Bernard Parish fights uphill battle 

CHALMETTE, La. (AP) - Nearly three years after Hurricane Katrina, shifting
demographics and the loss of community touchstones have rendered tight-knit
St. Bernard Parish almost unrecognizable to those who cherished life here
before the storm.
By one estimate, less than half the 67,000 pre-storm population is back in
this New Orleans suburb, and residents are now poorer and more reliant on
services from the cash-strapped parish government, St. Bernard President
Craig Taffaro said.

There is no hospital, shopping options are limited, and teachers are in
short supply. Many returnees cling to the life they once knew at remnant
neighborhood hangouts.

Broken streets, concrete slabs where houses stood and abandoned strip malls
are the veneer. The unseen wrath of Katrina is its theft of the soul of St.
Bernard.

Taffaro believes the clock is ticking on St. Bernard's future. His
priorities: speeding up the pace of rebuilding homes, schools and other
infrastructure, and taking the politically risky step of proposing a smaller
habitation footprint.

"I want St. Bernard to be the hardworking, determined community it always
was," he said.

Isolated in the Mississippi River delta between the Gulf of Mexico and New
Orleans, St. Bernard always seemed a world to itself. Its residents liked it
that way.

Canary Islanders who settled fishing communities in the 1700s, white flight
to the suburbs of New Orleans in the 1950s and '60s and deep-rooted black
communities created a blue-collar independence set amid oil refineries,
alligator-infested swamps and the site of the Battle of New Orleans.

Generations of families lived within blocks of each other. They had what
they needed - shopping, ball games on Friday nights, friends and crawfish
boils.

Since Katrina, things have changed.

Henry Rodriguez Jr., longtime parish leader defeated by Taffaro last fall,
remembers when he could walk into a store and know almost everyone in it.

"That's not true today," he said as he drove his pickup along streets so
warped and broken that doing the speed limit can be risky.

Some residents, black and white, complain about Hispanic workers in the area
now, many talk about crime, and it's hard to find anyone who says rebuilding
hasn't been agonizingly slow.

"This whole entire thing is a joke," said George Tustin, who left Indiana to
settle in Meraux because of St. Bernard's reputation as a good place for
families.

At least $1 billion in federally funded infrastructure repair is being done.
Taffaro said parish leaders have made strides in penetrating the recovery
bureaucracy to get work moving on sewerage, fire stations, schools and post
offices.

But the task is enormous. On Aug. 29, 2005, flooding from Katrina came from
almost every direction. A survey showed virtually every building in St.
Bernard was damaged. As in neighboring New Orleans, trucks rumbled through
neighborhoods for weeks removing debris, and cultural and government chaos
followed.

One of the biggest challenges, as in other areas lashed by Katrina across
the Gulf Coast, is housing.

Red X's brand thousands of houses that parish leaders want demolished. The
state plans to transfer to local control thousands more bought from
homeowners who didn't want to return. Some might be renovated and attract
new residents. Others may be torn down. Taffaro said he envisions
neighborhoods with more green space and homesites with larger yards.

Few expect St. Bernard to reach its pre-storm population soon. A major
obstacle is the lack of a hospital, though efforts are underway to build
one. Parish estimates put the population at 32,000. Chief administrative
officer Dave Peralta says he'd be happy to have 45,000 by 2013.

"Will we have as many schools? No. But certainly things will be a lot better
and more progressive," he said.

Jeff Pohlmann hopes so. He's been doing a one-hour commute from north of
Lake Pontchartrain to St. Bernard to work in his restaurant, Today's Ketch
Seafood. "I hate the commute," said Pohlmann, who used to live nearby and
worries about the next hurricane despite government assurances that levees
are secure.

Pohlmann puts up with the drive because he feels a deep connection to
Chalmette.

There are signs the St. Bernard he remembers is there. Some neighborhoods
are ghostly quiet at night, but in others children play pick-up games in
their driveways. Store clerks presenting your bill still tack "baby" onto
their thank you in an unmistakable St. Bernard drawl. Softball leagues are
back, and schools are re-establishing community hubs.

Still, Taffaro fears more serious day-to-day struggles could be
overwhelming. He knows moving forward will take digging deep into St.
Bernard's emotional reserve, and getting over a sense of being forgotten.

Just up the road from St. Bernard is New Orleans' Lower 9th Ward, where
presidential candidates, volunteers, TV home repair shows and celebrities
such as actor Brad Pitt have heaped attention. Such concern, St. Bernardians
say, seems to stop at the parish line.

So they take out their frustrations by singing karaoke or shooting darts at
hangouts like the Dog House, one of 15 bars, casinos and grills the local
tourism bureau lists as nightlife. Others replant roots at the festivals
that are quintessential St. Bernard.

A spring crawfish festival drew families and friends, many out of touch
since Katrina.

Anthony Mendoza said he doesn't regret returning. He has a new neighbor, his
only one, a woman from Florida. He's running on faith now.

"This is home," he said.

Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may
not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. 

  
 
  
 

  
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