You're On Your Own

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To avoid being caught again "with our britches down," Meffert says, he not only has Plans A and B for emergency communications but also Plans C, D, E and F. He has moved the backup generators to higher ground; installed a wi-fi system downtown and backed up "hot spots" like city hall, emergency operations and the police command center with solar chargers; brought in wi-fi-compliant phones that allow emergency management to text message as well as make calls; and wrangled four vans with satellite uplinks in the event all else fails. Finally, he got what he jokingly refers to as "footballs," suitcases like the one that contains the President's supersecret nuclear codes, except Meffert's provide superportable communication with the outside world. Total cost: less than $5 million. The weak link remains the 911 system, he says. All three stations were flooded by Katrina, and a new structure capable of surviving a Category 4 storm is still under construction. For now, New Orleans 911 is operating out of a temporary trailer, relying on landlines that could be downed by high winds.

Out in Broadmoor, Alicia Hansen is feeling pretty satisfied that she took $30,000 in flood-insurance money and raised her house. She has taken all the funds Red Cross offered and plans to use a tax credit on her new solar paneling. Neighbors now want to raise their houses too but find prices for the job have skyrocketed 50% in the past few months. Hansen added another story as she repaired the house. "And below, it's all patio--party city," she says.

Some days Hansen admits getting depressed after arguing with the city over her request for an electric permit, which was turned down because her brother, who is not licensed in Louisiana, wired the house. She doesn't have air-conditioning or a refrigerator. When friends e-mail her pictures of the giant steel structures protecting London and Amsterdam, she gets riled, contemplating the "crappy" earthen mounds that shield her own city. But she's staying put. Her husband has a great job as an underwater diver in the Gulf, and she loves her friends and her work as a music librarian. "We didn't want to cop out. This is history. This is a great city." She's facing storm season, ready or not.