"Lock the doors and close the blinds -- we're going for a ride..."

I didn't get too many shots of houses from the bus -- and I was too engrossed in a conversation with one of our guides to get off and take pictures in a house that had been destroyed.  The thing is -- this was a relatively nice part of town. Big houses -- just abandoned and overgrown and gutted.  Very weird to see.





We saw quite a few houses with the same "X" on the door and the codes listed around them.  This house was checked (by a squad which consisted of local police and rescue, National Guard and FEMA) on 9/21 -- a full three weeks after the storm. Zero people were found in the house at that time.  There was a lot of work to be done...



This is the old Congregation Beth Israel Orthodox synagogue which is no longer in use. Those stripes represent the water-lines at which the building was submerged. The yellowish one is the one that stands out the most -- the stagnant flood waters were at that height for quite a while.



It's a pity -- the synagogue itself was grand and beautiful. But there wasn't much left salvageable inside.



A very blurry picture through one of the glass doors. Most of them had been boarded up.



The inscription over the synagogue -- any of our Hebrew scholars want to take a stab at it? (Hint: Exodus 25.)

======

Part III will get into our first day of work at the Habitat for Humanity site in the Upper Ninth Ward.