NEW ORLEANS, LA -- In preparation for a long, hard winter (I consider most winters long and hard here in Central New York, some longer and harder than others), my wife and I decided to get away for a few days in October. We flew south, but instead of making a beeline directly for Florida, we headed to Louisiana for a few days, then made our way to Florida.

Being a meteorologist, and since we eventually had to drive from Louisiana to Florida, I thought this trip would be especially interesting as I got to explore southern Louisiana including downtown New Orleans and see for myself the battleground that was where Hurricane Katrina came ashore three years ago and then again grazed by Hurricane Gustav just a few months ago. After New Orleans, we would drive east with stops in Gulfport, Mississippi (another well known spot for tropical system landfalls), drive another 20 miles east and stop in Biloxi, the pinpoint of powerful Hurricane Camille back in 1969, and eventually make our way to Fort Walton Beach, Florida. This is why I called this my “Hurricane Devastation" tour!

In no way am I making light of what happened along the Gulf Coast three years ago, or back in 1969 with Camille by referring to my trip as the “Hurricane Devastation” tour, as frankly, this is exactly what it was. Along Route 10 from New Orleans to the panhandle of Florida are remnants of hurricanes past, from open lots where homes previously stood to large holes in the ground where trees previously stood. Piles of debris lining many roadways, yet to be hauled away from when Katrina hit in 2005, and even a Hurricane Camille memorial in downtown Biloxi for the 143 people who perished when the storm came ashore. I have included a photo of the Camille Memorial with this story.

I could go on forever about what I saw in the deep south on this trip, but I won’t bore you with that. Instead, let me zero in on a few specific items. The first two are interesting, but the third item I will talk about falls into the “unbelieveable and incredible” category. NOTE that I am saving this last “unbelievable and incredible” item for the end of my Hurricane Disaster Tour story

First, for the plain old “interesting”, we have Lake Ponchartrain, which is north of New Orleans. The eye of Katrina came ashore on the eastern end of this very large lake, much larger than Oneida Lake. With Katrina’s track, this produced an easterly wind across the lake, helping to drive water in from the northern Gulf of Mexico and the Intracoastal Waterway.  We biked along the north shore of Lake Ponchartrain, peddling our way on Gulf Shore Drive, I guess two or three feet above the lake water level. The lake level must have risen at least seven or eight feet as several folks told me this whole roadway was under five feet of water. Speaking with several businesses located inland, I was told the lake water level subsided to “just” one foot deep about eight miles inland. Many (but not all homes) right along the lake shore were built up one floor level on concrete stilts (no wooden stilts like you see on the Outer Banks of North Carolina ). This protected the living area from flooding, but there was a great amount of obvious wind damage, and even a couple of homes in the process of roofs being replaced… three years later. Other homes were abandoned and still in need of major repair, and in between the houses left standing, I noticed several empty lots where homes had been, then were blown down, and for whatever reason, not being rebuilt, at least not yet.

Side note: Did you know that the bridge crossing north to south across the center of lake Ponchartrain is the second longest bridge in the world? That’s right. The Lake Ponchartrain Causeway is 24 miles long. What is the longest bridge on earth? Check this web site: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_bridges_by_length

Here is a live web cam of the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway: http://www.thecauseway.com/

Also, while in the New Orleans area, we decided to do something totally different and signed up for Dr. Paul Wagner’s Honey Island Swamp Alligator Tour. Check out http://www.honeyislandswamp.com/index.html.

Talk about something fun and different! We spent two hours in a boat being guided through the Louisiana swamps and getting up close with 15 foot alligators, and a variety of other less threatening wildlife. A side note on the gators - although I was told they have a brain the size of a marble, I found it incredible how well they have been trained. When these guide boats with visitors come through the swamplands, the guide makes a sort of clucking noise with his mouth, and out of the deep grass on the shoreline or up from under the water come the gators, swimming directly towards the boat knowing the guide has treats for them. In most cases, the “treats” are marshmallows or a hot dog on a stick. The gators, sometimes 1,000 pounds worth, are within arm's reach alongside the boat, waiting for these treats to be handed out. Amazing!

What was also amazing on the gator swamp tour was seeing the remnants of high water from Hurricane Katrina. Even 5 to 15 miles inland where we were, we could see just how high the water levels had risen. Swamp camps along the shore of the West Pearl River near Slidell were aplenty, but many had major damage from flooding, and many were completely destroyed. Most of these camps had a lot of debris such as trees, plants, leaves and yes, even furniture on their roofs. Did I say furniture and trees on the roofs?  Yes!  Because that’s where these items of debris were deposited, on the camp roofs, as the water levels subsided, and keep in mind, these roof tops were one and two story structures, maybe 20-25 feet above the ground. Think about that for a minute. These camps were literally under water when Katrina came ashore. This was a more amazing site than the alligators.

Check back next week for part two of Wayne's "hurricane disaster tour" when Wayne describes his visit to Biloxi, Mississippi.