A strong line of storms predicted for New Orleans on Saturday has led to the cancellation of this month’s Freret Market, organizers said. Continue reading »
May 102013
Apr 242013
A large elm lays across Pine Street near Cohn on Wednesday afternoon after a strong storm passed through New Orleans. (Robert Morris, UptownMessenger.com)
A large uprooted tree leans against a house on Sycamore between Fern and Short streets after the storm. (Photo courtesy of Annie Bleecker)
The storm also proved the final blow to a number of large trees around the east Carrollton neighborhood. Continue reading »
Mar 062013
The national Society for Neuroscience used to rotate its the location of its annual conference among New Orleans, San Diego and Washington D.C., but cancelled in 2006 and 2009 because of hurricane concerns, returned in October 2012 but experienced “a few inconveniences related to Hurricane Isaac,” and finally dropped New Orleans from the rotation altogether, writes Barri Bronston of the Tulane New Wave university news service. Now, Tulane neuroscience chair Jeffrey Tasker is protesting the decision with a petition that has already gathered 865 signatures, Bronston reports.
The conference this year will be held Nov. 9, according to the Society for Neuroscience website.
Feb 252013
Nearly 10 years ago, Joseph Street resident Roy Fausset came home to find a hole from the roof of his home through the second and first floors, at the bottom of which were fragments of a 45-pound, bowling-ball-sized rock that tests by Tulane professor Steve Nelson confirmed to be a meteorite, according to a report by Scott Satchfield of our partners at WWL-TV.
Feb 102013
With thunderstorms expected across New Orleans from Sunday morning until Fat Tuesday, many of the remaining parades will strive for earlier start times, officials announced Saturday afternoon. Continue reading »
Jan 282013
Freret resident Andy Brott, hydrologist W. Scott Lincoln and meteorologist Tim Erickson inspect a rain gauge on top of Brott’s house in mid January. (Robert Morris, UptownMessenger.com)
For many New Orleanians, Hurricane Isaac will be remembered for the long week without power and the maddening uncertainty as to when it would return.
But for a group of National Weather Service researchers, Isaac has proven interesting for what did not happen — street flooding — despite their discovery of what appears to have been a band of abnormally heavy rainfall right across Uptown New Orleans.
“Our biggest question is, ‘Where did the water go?’” said emergency-response meteorologist Tim Erickson during a recent trip to Freret Street to investigate. Continue reading »
Nov 222012
Allan Katz and Danae Columbus
We will never get out of our minds the picture of then-U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Dennis Hastert in the wake of Hurricane Katrina asking of New Orleans, “Why would anyone want to rebuild there?” He later apologized but we thought the question marked Hastert as forever an idiot. Continue reading »
Nov 092012
Christy Lorio (photo by Leslie Almeida)
Growing up here in the New Orleans area, you’d think I’m accustomed to mild winters. Fall down here is just a quaint notion, one that comes from a brain soaked with humidity in desperate need of some crisp cool air. I’m not one to obsess over the weather, but I get antsy in anticipation of consistently nippy days. Unfortunately, we all know drinking pumpkin spice lattes while wearing shorts is inevitable, but with a little careful planning you can make sure you are dressed for Mother Nature’s most erratic behavior by planning ahead on a daily basis. Continue reading »
Nov 052012
Owen Courreges
The word of the day is “Schadenfreude,” a loanword of Germanic origin that refers to satisfaction received from the misfortunes of others.
Oh, I should use it in a sentence? OK. “I felt a warm feeling of Schadenfreude when the man who stole my bicycle was struck by lightning, died in intense pain, and then a swarm of rats appeared and urinated on his remains.” (Note to readers: I really hate bike thieves).
Following Hurricane Sandy, regrettably if understandably, many New Orleanians felt a whiff of Schadenfreude. We had been told so many times by so many people after Hurricane Katrina that we were poor, stupid, and our city had been built in the wrong place. People asked if we should bother rebuilding New Orleans, as if we were all just going to pack up our bags and move. Continue reading »
Sep 182012
Tulane University architecture professor John Klingman lives in a century-old Garden District home without air conditioning by choice, controlling the flow of air through the house with shutters, screened windows and constantly fans. After Hurricane Isaac’s power outages prompted widespread reflection on the role of air conditioning in the city, Klingman’s decision and others like him recently drew the interest of Times-Picayune reporter John Pope in an article about the lifestyle.
Sep 182012
Streets marked in red had their “first pass” completed by Monday, and the purple-shaded zones indicate Monday’s deployment. (via city of New Orleans)
A map of debris collection since Hurricane Isaac released by the city Monday shows strong progress in Uptown’s university area, Broadmoor, parts of Central City, and on either side of Magazine Street between Jefferson and Napoleon. In other many neighborhoods from the Lower Garden District to Audubon Park, however, the map indicates that debris contractors have yet to make their “first pass.” Continue reading »
Sep 142012
“We’re not moving as aggressively, as we had hoped that we would have finished the entire first pass and most of the second pass by now,” New Orleans Deputy Mayor of Operations Michelle Thomas told reporter Tania Dall and our partners at WWL-TV in a report about Uptown residents’ frustrations at the slow pace of removal of Hurricane Isaac debris. “But we are confident that we’re going to get it done in the next couple of days.”
Sep 112012
Vizard’s restaurant on Magazine Street has relaunched itself as a casual eatery called “Hevin,” while Upperline restaurant hopes to reopen Thursday after Hurricane Isaac tore off part of its roof. Continue reading »
Sep 112012
The new Lycée Français de la Nouvelle Orléans sign at the Patton Street campus.
“It’s been two weeks of school,” said board chair Jean Montes about running the new campus. “We’re very new at the process, but we’re happy with it.” Continue reading »
Sep 082012
Craig Giesecke
If your house is like ours, there are still a few items in your cupboard or maybe your fridge that appeared during our recent storm and now you’re looking at them and wondering, “Why?”
At one point, our Irish Channel house hosted seven adults and two little girls. Our friends arrived with bedding and toys, along with the usual we-might-need-extra items such as flashlights, ice, toilet paper, bottled water and batteries. Of course, there being seven adults, there was an adequate supply of alcoholic beverages. Or at least you think it’s adequate until the kids are asleep and everyone else is setting around with no power and nothing to do but drink. Continue reading »
Sep 072012
Christy Lorio (photo by Leslie Almeida)
“Expect the worst and you won’t be disappointed” was the most solid piece of advice my dad ever gave me. I find my dad’s words of wisdom oddly comforting in the most dire of situations, including the panic felt when dealing with named storms.
With Hurricane Isaac whipping through town, there was nary a household saved from the massive power outages. And while we were charging our phones in the car, checking our Twitter feeds, and complaining about Entergy not doing it’s job, I have to admit I chuckled a bit as to how spoiled we’ve become. Continue reading »
Sep 062012
Linemen from Illinois replace a broken electrical pole on Napoleon Avenue in Broadmoor on Friday, Aug. 31, amid widespread outages following Hurricane Isaac. (Robert Morris, UptownMessenger.com)
Allan Katz and Danae Columbus
Now that the winds of Hurricane Isaac have blown through our lives, as we fill out insurance claims and apply for recovery funds, we should also look back at the performances of public officials and private companies such as Entergy during the storm. Continue reading »
Sep 052012
Jean-Paul Villere
We might all agree the digital world is awesome till the power goes out. Suddenly you’re missing out on your next play on Words With Friends, status updates, tweets or what have you, but go ahead and scream because you’re miles from where anyone with a MacGyver-like sensibility (MacGyvine? maybe?) or open Radio Shack might hear you. No sir, the DTs of the smart phone come down ain’t nothin’ pretty, and at press time the Betty Ford clinic ain’t servin’ the likes o’ you. Continue reading »
Sep 042012
A utility worker makes repairs Monday from a bucket truck on Tchoupitoulas between Henry Clay and Calhoun. (photo courtesy of Nicole Williamson, via Twitter)
Sep 042012
Residents of St. Mary Street near Prytania in the Lower Garden District smile and celebrate with an Entergy worker after power is restored Monday around a major tree that fell. (Robert Morris, UptownMessenger.com)
After restoring electricity to the last large neighborhood tracts Sunday evening, Entergy workers spent Monday focusing on individual, block- or address-level outages, and reported more than 94 percent of customers in the city had been restored by Monday evening. Continue reading »