New Orleans may celebrate some semblance of Mardi Gras in 2006; however the 2006 New Orleans Mardi Gras celebration will not be featured on Spillway Review. 

The picture above provides a partial explanation. Thousands of New Orleans residents remain displaced from their homes.  Many have lost everything.  Some lost their lives.  The celebration of Mardi Gras in New Orleans this year sends the message that everything is alright down here.  That is not so.  There is still no commitment from the federal government for the building of levees capable of withstanding the severest hurricanes  (Category 5).  The healthcare system is in a shambles.  There is widespread environmental and property damage.  Many homeowners relied on the levee system and did not have adequate flood insurance.  Due the cap on flood insurance, many homeowners can neither repair nor pay off the mortgages on their uninhabitable homes, and Congress failed to pass the Baker Bill, which would have helped thousands of New Orleans homeowners avoid bankruptcy. 

If you would like to help, please email or call your congressmen and senators and tell them you support Category 5 levees for the New Orleans region as well as Congressman Richard Baker’s bill to assist New
Orleans area homeowners.

Recent photos of conditions in New Orleans (coming soon)

Mardi Gras in towns other than New Orleans (more coming soon)