Post-Katrina Explorations: An Apartment Complex
There were probably thousands of apartments in New Orleans East alone that were abandoned when Katrina hit.  Just from I-10, you could see more than a dozen complexes that sat fully abandoned.  I pulled over at this one just to get a few representative shots of the desolation from the outside, but I spotted an open apartment on the first floor.  As it turned out, most of the apartments were left wide open, presumably by the search crews.
This complex consisted of perhaps a dozen buildings like this.  As I said above, there were many such complexes along this stretch. 

This one was maybe two miles from Lake Pontchartrain.
Here's looking down the length of the complex from roughly the middle.  Not a car in sight.  Any that remained after the water receded have since been towed.
The railing blew off of this balcony as well as the one to the right (out of the frame).  Many sliding glass doors along here didn't hold up very well either.
Here's the inside of one of the apartments.  The mold marks the water line, which seems to have been roughly the same height throughout New Orleans East (an indication just how flat this part of Louisiana is).
Anyone want to crash on this couch?

Didn't think so.
A little-known phenomenon is that fan blades can be used to dowse for stagnant hurricane water.
It looks like these residents took the express plan and just took the drawers right out of the dresser.
The Malcolm X light switch plate intones everyone to get the hell out of town by any means necessary.
Continue to Part II