French Quarter comes through relatively unscathed

[steve2470]

http://www.kentucky.com/mld/kentucky/news/nation/12510004.htm

BY LEE HANCOCK

The Dallas Morning News



NEW ORLEANS - (KRT) - Hurricane Katrina left the French Quarter battered but still ready to party Monday, with the first bars on Bourbon Street serving up drinks by mid-afternoon, and locals and tourists venturing out in droves to gawk at what the storm left behind.

The hurricane ripped plywood from boarded-up storefronts, toppled brick walls built centuries ago into the narrow streets and sent slate-roof tiles flying as it battered the Crescent City Monday morning.

Many of the ancient magnolias shading Jackson Square were badly mangled and a lush garden behind the St. Louis Cathedral was largely toppled into Pirates' Alley. Along Esplanade Avenue, the area's northern border, live oaks that once hung like a canopy were now in the street, blocking traffic.

The residents and patrolling police voiced relief that one of the country's most eccentric and irrepressible neighborhoods and most of its famed tourist attractions survived relatively unscathed compared with other areas of New Orleans.

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[enigmatic]

1. It's really amazing that it came out in good shape

the river is right up against it and it could have been destroyed if Katrina had not shifted east at the last minute...