The below is an update from the head of the New Orleans Convention and Visitors Bureau. It is a city government agency, (virtually all US cities have a CVB) in charge of all tourism and business-tourism matters pertaining to the city. As such it coordinates and acts as a central clearing house for information and arrangements in an in-depth network of all hotel, convention, public transportation, restaurant, nightlife, cultural, religious and civic organizations, in both the for profit and not for profit sectors. So this is a take on the situation from the inside of the city bureaucracy that you aren't normally going to hear in the media.
I think you will find the tone and some of the details very enheartening.
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New Orleans Metropolitan Convention and Visitors Bureau Update
As of 9 A.M. Tuesday, September 6, 2005
J. Stephen Perry - President/CEO
We offer the deepest and most profound thank you to governments, individuals, trade organizations, and especially our clients, customers and long-time tourist visitors for the overwhelming show of support and affection for our city and people. You have touched our hearts. Your offers of assistance and your heartfelt expressions of eagerness to return to our city when we are on our feet has moved us beyond words. We love our city and your communication of your love for our New Orleans has buoyed our spirits.
America 's most romantic, walkable, historic city is no longer herself. We hope it will only be for a matter of months. Only time will tell the duration. The birthplace of jazz, home of unique French and Spanish architecture and the originator of the most renowned cuisine on the planet has taken a terrible hit. But, its government, business and tourism industry leaders are pledging that beginning over the next few months, the city will begin its efforts to be reborn better than ever.
Right now, however, we are in a mode of rescuing our citizens who are still trapped and without food, water, and healthcare. They are our first priority.
Among the scores of heroic stories are those of hoteliers who have remained on site protecting guests, tourists and locals in their properties, with no regard for their own safety.
Some of the officers of the Convention Center bravely stayed behind to be of assistance to the property and those in need when the situation at the Center was unstable. They made it through the very difficult circumstances and are assisting the National Guard units in clearing and reclaiming the damaged building. The Center may serve as a key location for FEMA operations in the near future. Those decisions, however, have not yet been made by authorities. The Center has power partially restored and is free of evacuees and those small numbers who posed danger to the Center and the evacuees.
Thousands more National Guard troops are entering the city to provide stability.
The Governor and Mayor now believe that the death total will rise into the thousands. Some have estimated deaths will reach between 10,000 to 20,000 by the time the city is drained and all bodies are recovered.
Amtrak trains carrying 1,500 passengers a day out of New Orleans are now running.
Three Carnival Cruise Line Ships have been marshaled by the federal government to move to New Orleans to serve as housing.
The Mayor estimates that 40,000-50,000 people remain of the 450,000 residents. Many of those remaining refuse to leave their homes, believing the waters will recede shortly. Authorities are attempting to dissuade them.
The historic French Quarter and nearly the entire hospitality infrastructure survived, though battered. The amazing historic texture and fabric of this unique city...all of those things that draw millions of visitors from around the world resiliently remain.
Several bars have now opened in the Quarter as a gathering spot for locals to visit and share stories, though they have nothing to sell. A lone artist living on Pirates Alley, next to the St. Louis Cathedral, hung his paintings on the Jackson Square fence just like normal, in a symbolic gesture for others that the New Orleans French Quarter culture would absolutely rebound.
Though we will be down for a period, there is a sense already forming among our leaders and the people that we will successfully be able to preserve all of those things which have made us world famous and that we will be able to rebuild an even more welcoming, vibrant city in which to live, work and do business. It will require all of us to unite. The work will be hard but gratifying. The challenges are immense. We are up to the task.
The tourism leadership is committed to helping lead the greatest urban rebuilding project in our nation's history. We have a historic opportunity to be a living laboratory for taking disaster, infrastructure degradation and social ills and rebuilding a new city that remains historic and unique, but is a model for rebirth socially and structurally.
It may be quite a while...but one day the riffs of jazz trumpets, the indescribable tempting smells wafting from the kitchens of our great chefs, the aroma of cafe-au-lait and beignets, the buzz of great conventions, that foot-wide magnetic smile of the front bellman, and the romantic strolls through the Quarter will be commonplace again. The spirit of the multicultural people of New Orleans is indefatigable, and though we may be bowed and emotionally stretched, we cannot be defeated and cannot wait to rebuild the world's most authentic city.