New Orleans Feels Cast Adrift

A statue of the Virgin Mary lies in stagnant water among wrecked houses in New Orleans. (By Michael Williamson -- The Washington Post)

Eric Lewis, 38, a cement finisher, said: "They say the president has released money. I haven't seen any." Lewis owns several houses in the heavily ravaged Lower Ninth Ward. He was spending part of Friday checking out his Ford F-Super Duty truck. It had sat, untouched for months, among other now-junk cars and trucks and houses ruined by post-Katrina flooding.

He said he feels as abandoned as his truck: "I feel that for me and a whole lot of other people."

Burton E. Benrud Jr., one of the owners of the landmark Cafe du Monde, said, "Where are the FEMA maps?" The federally produced maps will determine what can be rebuilt and where.

"Why can't they issue those images right away so people can do what they need to do?" he asked. His voice had the tone of someone left behind by friends. "The longer they take doing it, the less chance that people will come back to the city to rebuild."

He said that "inertia and inaction" in Washington were making it impossible for many New Orleanians even to know where to start.

Bassetti said, "Why isn't everybody furious?" Furious about what? she was asked. "Furious about everything."

New Orleans has a tradition of operating independently. That isolation, said Powell, has created a distinctive culture and ethos. He added: "It's been a city born in neglect. It looks like it may expire from neglect."

Special correspondent Julia Cass contributed to this report.