PLANTS AND FLOWERS AND BEAUTY TO NEW ORLEANS New Orleans contains a famous neighborhood called the “GARDEN DISTRICT”, New Orleans abounds with lovely Flora, throughout the City’s neighborhoods and parks, the plant life of New Orleans is an essential part of the City’s atmosphere, beauty and character. Live Oaks with their twisting, dramatic gestures are one of the City’s most spectacular natural sights. These wise, old trees decorate the streetcar rides along St.Charles Avenue and Canal Street. City Parks has one of the largest collections of live Oaks in the world, including the Infamous Dueling Oaks, by which Creole gentlemen defend their honor with pistols and swords up until the end of the nineteenth century. Cascading tendrils of Spanish moss . Often centuries old , live Oaks tend to withstand storms well because their stout structure and spending roots allow them to brace against strong winds. ANIMAL LIFE IN NEW ORLEANS: Cats and dogs. In addition to Alligators, Russian Boars, and Pelicans, Cranes, Water Moccasins

LAKES AND RIVERS: Lake Pontchartrain and The Mississippi River. Lake Pontchartrain is Oval in shape, and to the north and the Gulf of Mexico to the south further enhances the city’s stature as a hub of travel, trade and recreation. The Mississippi River length is a difficult measurement to pin down because the river channel is constantly changing , but says that the Mississippi is 2,552 miles long, and between 20 and 30 feet wide . At the headwaters, the Mississippi is less than 3 feet deep, but the rivers deepest section is 200 feet deep. In New Orleans the average flow rate is 600,000 cubic feet per second. One cubic foot of water weighs about 65.4 pounds. Geographic features that perpetuate its vulnerability for centuries, the Mississippi has acted as the primary conduit for the consumer

goods, natural resources and agricultural products that make New Orleans one of the worlds greatest ports.

CUSINIES OF NEW ORLEANS: Gumbo, Classic Gumbo, Sea Food Gumbo, Jambalaya, Red Beans & Rice, Crawfish, Shrimp Creole, Muffuletta, Oysters Rockefeller, Bread Pudding, Bananas Foster, Beignets, and Creole Pralines, and many others.

FUNDING FOR NEW ORLEANS LEVEES: Congress failed to fully fund an upgrade requested during the 1990’s by the Army Corps of Engineers and funding was cut in 2003-2004 despite a 2001 study by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Warning that a Hurricane in New Orleans was one of the Country’s three most likely disasters. Raising and reforcing the levees to resist a Category 5 Hurricane might take 25 years to complete. Some estimates place the cost at about $25 billion.

HURRICANE KATRINA: When Hurricane Katrina reached Category 5 in 2005, some experts predicted that the Levee System might fail completely if the storm passed close to the city. Although Katrina weakened to a Category 3 before making Landfall on August 29th, 2005 Flooding 80% of the City of New Orleans. There are indications that the Soft earth and peat underlying Canal walls may have given way. In the weeks before Katrina.