Noland didn't just leave her markings up she had them redone when the house was recently painted. New Orleans writer Pamela Davis-Noland rests her hand on the lower quadrant of an X, denoting no one died in the house, at the Bywater Bed & Breakfast she manages. Even if people want to say it's cursed." She laughed. We got proof that this house was blessed, that it's still standing… reminder of how blessed we are, this city is. "I think spiritually and historically it should never be removed." To her, "this house was protected, we got proof that no one died here. Her FEMA marking is right above the doorbell. Noland lives at the Bywater Bed & Breakfast on Clouet Street, a business she manages.
So I decided to talk to people about the markings.įEMA markings by Texas Task Force 1 dated September 6 denote no issues during search and rescue of this Bywater house. They mean something to people like me, too, who arrived years later, who didn't know what they meant until someone explained them. They stick out to people born and raised here, the people who were here for the storm, who have seen the city grow around the damage like a vine up an old tree. Roch, and Gentilly, there are markings everywhere. From the Lower Ninth Ward to Lakeview, St. Despite being spray-painted on the exteriors of houses, and despite the resurgence parts of New Orleans have seen since, the Xs are still visible around town. The markings were drawn by task forces deployed to New Orleans in the aftermath of the levee breach. But sometimes, the block contains two numbers, one with an A ("alive"), another with a D ("dead").Ī bungalow bears an X and high water mark across the doorway in Lakeview near the Lake Pontchartrain levee. Often, the solitary number counts those who have died. The bottom block records how many people were found in the house. In the right quadrant are special instructions, anything from "Gas Off" to "F/W" (food and water left) to any pets or other issues the houses might have had.
The left block is signed by the task force that inspected the house. The top block shows the date that the house was checked. The FEMA markings form an X shape, with four blocks to be written in. She had a retort ready: "Baby, you know that's never coming down." She was talking about the FEMA markings placed on New Orleans houses weeks, and sometimes months, after the levees broke. I was talking to my neighbor, local writer and woman-about-town Pamela Davis-Noland, when someone leaving her house asked her this question. Here, writer Christopher Romaguera and photographer Michael Winters on the FEMA markings left on New Orleans houses. To mark the 10th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, this week Curbed is looking at how the housing, architecture, and neighborhoods of New Orleans have changed since the storm.