Today, was the first day in which the ASB Gulf Coast team got to see the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina first hand. It has been a long weekend as we had some trouble with our flight yesterday (it was delayed, then canceled, and finally rebooked), but our group kept their morale up and we eventually made it to our destination. Today, we went to New Orleans and ate at the Acme Oyster House in the French Quarter. On the way up, we saw some of the homes in the 9th ward, but nothing could prepare us for the closer look we received later in the day. However, the French Quarter is beautiful and Jackson Square is perhaps the best part about it. Next, we went to Slidell, LA for an Airboat Swamp Boat tour so that we could get a gulf coast cultural experience. It was AMAZING! (I’m sure many of my team mates will blog about this later, but I’ll preface it by saying that the tour guide was especially thankful to us volunteers). Finally, we checked out the 9th ward and the devastation was heartbreaking. It is still very clear that Hurricane Katrina wreaked so much havoc. There were porches that stood alone and all that was left of many of the homes were the foundations. Often, people would place a trailer home in front of their destroyed home so that they could still live on the lot. They were especially loyal to their home. Truth be told, it’s late… approaching 12am. We’ve had a long day and so I’m going to head to bed to prepare for the first day of construction tomorrow. Thanks for reading!