Homes and businesses along the main drag in Chalmette, La., are still gutted one year after Katrina submerged this community. Some restaurants have reopened but can only serve food outside in their parking lots, including Dominos Pizza since many dining rooms are still unusable and have no utilities.
It's tough to tell how much progress has been made in Chalmette over the last year. Driving in from the north, the New Orleans suburb, east of the city, is still wrecked.
Nunez Community College still has unrepaired damage exposing the inside of the building to the elements. Broken windows still line the outside of the campus.
Next door a trailer has a sign that says "Capital One Branch and ATM opening soon!"
The new looking Shell gas station food mart store at Paris Road and Judge Perez Drive is still boarded up. Across the street, the parking lot is crowded, as it is one of the few stores open.
Traffic lights are still inoperable at some intersections.
Walgreens is one of the few stores open in this part of Chalmette. Judging by the number of cars and trucks in its parking lot, business is good right now.
Signs litter the intersections and shoulders of the road advertising labor for hire, carpenters, drywall workers, and building supply materials.
You get a sense little has been done here.
