Post-Katrina flood pictures

Front of the house

I think the house and I feel about the same right now. We don't look that bad, but we're pretty unstable.

Flooding went just a few inches into the main floor of the house. All of the mechanical systems and the wood pier/beam foundation were submerged for about two weeks. Mold is gradually working its way up the walls. In the kitchen where the plaster is off, we can see the mold moving up the studs above where the water was.

Given our daughter's respiratory and immune problems, I'm don't think we will ever feel safe living in the house. I also don't think it makes sense to invest massive repairs on a house with obvious foundation failure. Our hope is that the insurance company will condemn it based on the structural damage so we can tear it down and rebuild. If not, we'll fix it to the extent that insurance will allow and sell it off.

You can see the whole Flickr slideshow at http://www.flickr.com/photos/nola.