A year and a half after Hurricane Katrina rattled New Orleans, the city is still working to bring life back to its once-vibrant streets. The city that used to house millions during its annual Mardi Gras celebration was able to bring in only 700,000 tourists last Mardi Gras. This year looked to be the same, but SMU students did their best to help bring the party back.
Sophomore Francesca Fernandez caravanned the eight-hour drive along with fellow Delta Gamma sisters in order to enjoy her second Mardi Gras. Fernandez and four of her friends left “early Friday morning in order to make it there in time for the parades Friday night.” Many students like Fernandez planned to sleep in their cars or stay with friends who attend school at Tulane or Loyola universities.
Students from many universities traveled to New Orleans to celebrate the event. Many natives returned home for yet another weekend of friends and parties. University of Miami student Jeffery Lyles hosted a Mardi Gras bash at his home located on the parade route.
“It will be the place to be,” Lyles said before the Mardi Gras celebrations. “We will be cooking around 250 pounds of meat as well as crawfish. It is going to be a typical New Orleans party with friends and family.”
Hotels in the animated French Quarter and downtown areas were still available with less than a week until the big parties began. The New York Times interviewed Kelly Schultz of the New Orleans Convention and Visitors Bureau, who said that while many of the hotels had sold out a week before the festivities, the city was at 90-percent occupancy.
Blain Kern, owner of Kern Studios (one of the companies that creates the floats for the parades) told CNN that he thinks the local strength coming back this season could start the ball rolling toward the original magnitude of the weekend.
“It’s going to be good. Last year, we got it done. But this year, it’s coming back with a vengeance,” Kern said.
The lack of visitors can be explained by some of the stories that have come out of New Orleans recently. Last year, there were 161 homicides, and by the beginning of this month there had already been 18. These numbers make New Orleans the nation’s per capita murder capital. Before Katrina, the city had many murders as well, but since the hurricane the lack of policemen and teenage discipline has brought more violence.
“I am a little worried about the safety issue, but since it is a huge tourist attraction I hope there will be a lot of police around to keep me and my friends safe,” Fernandez stated.
Every year the New Orleans Police Department roams the Uptown parade route on horse, an easy and efficient way to patrol the area. Uptown New Orleans houses young families and college students. The very popular Bourbon Street is always crowded with tourists and locals, giving it a very active night life.
