April 2006 Update

 How time flies. Seems a long time since the hurricane wiped out the area. But the area is still slow to recover. On my part, the Corps of Engineers and their contractor removed most of the debris on my lot. I was not able to be there while they did it, and the Corps guy did not do a good job overseeing the work. They did a minimum and left. There is still a fair amount they left that shouldn't be there, but that's the way it goes. Complaining won't do any good, just make the best of a bad situation.

Here are some photos comparing before, after and now.

This is the camp Sunday Aug 28, 2005, the day before Katrina. It shows the boathouse, shed, pump house and the camp with the new addition and new roof. It was  fixed up just the way I wanted. The new addition was all white inside. The floor, walls and ceiling all white. It served as a honey room with a laundry tub, dishwasher, clothes washer and dryer and a good sized pantry. Also a new stainless steel table and stainless steel stool. That weekend, I had brought with me a new sliding glass door to replace the old one that opened from the living room to the back porch. It was still in the box when I left. It got smashed by Katrina too

This was taken a couple of weeks later when I could get in the area. The boathouse roof is gone, the shed is gone, the back porch floor is on top of the pump house (behind the green barrel), the roof of the back porch is on top of the green barrel and the camp is broken. A thick layer of black mud covers the ground.

This is what it looks like now, The debris, for the most part has been cleared, a new roof is on the boathouse, the shed foundation has been cleared off awaiting a new portable building and the pump house still stands and is working. The big pine tree by the shed is gone too. The top was broken off and the Corps agreed to remove what was left. I have since taken down the satellite antenna, but it was too heavy and bulky for me to move. I will move it next time when I bring a chain with me to hook it up to the truck and haul it out to the road.

The Carolina skiff that was by the boat deck in some other pictures, was apparently used by the roofers because it is now shown at the very end of the boat deck. I put it in the water and pulled it over to the hoist cradle. It is now on the boat hoist cradle, up out of the water.

 I don't know what is in the green barrel. It is full of something, maybe diesel fuel or gasoline, or oil. Its too heavy to pick up and too badly dinged to roll. I'm going to call the EPA next time I'm down there and have them treat it as a hazardous item. The Corps left one of my window AC units by the pampas grass. All they had to do was move it a few feet further out to the road and it would have been picked up.

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