It’s Raining in New Orleans

Summer in New Orleans.  It’s hurricane season, which doesn’t bother New Orleanians much.  We are used to it.  We live here.  Despite what you see on the Weather Channel, the streets flood here 2-3 times a year.  We take it in stride.  It’s raining in New Orleans.  In summer it rains just about every day, at least somewhere in the city for about 20 minutes a day.  Yesterday was different but it wasn’t unusual.  Floods don’t much bother us much in New Orleans.  It is a way of life, something to work around.

Here is a view from our front porch yesterday morning:

It rained for about three hours yesterday morning.  The Central Business District got 11 inches.  That’s a lot of rain.  As a city, most of New Orleans is paved.  There is nowhere for the water to go.  It pools in the streets and the water can get deep.

This is a view of La Belle Esplanade this morning, after yesterday’s rains:

Most days are like this.  All sunshine and breezes.  It is remarkably cool today.  There is always a taste of pleasantness in the air before the next storm.

IT’S RAINING IN NEW ORLEANS.

Rain in New Orleans isn’t news.  Flooded streets aren’t news.  The streets are graded so that the middle of a street is higher than at its edges, where the sidewalks, the gutters, and the storm drains are.  The thing is, when the rain falls hard and fast, there isn’t enough capacity in the sewers for it all to disappear instantaneously.  We live in the sub-tropics.  Hard summer rain is a given.  At least it isn’t cold.  That’s what I always remind myself when it rains hard: at least it isn’t snowing.

Most people I know aren’t freaking out about the tropical storm that is supposed to land in Louisiana on Saturday.  No one knows what the future will bring but New Orleans is resilient.  If the city could rebuild after Hurricane Katrina, it can rebuild again.  New Orleans is resilient.  No one thinks another Katrina is going to happen this weekend.  It will rain.  It will rain and rain and rain.  The streets will flood.  Life will go on.

No one is wishing a Katrina-level disaster in New Orleans.  The levees protect the city and if they hold all will be well, the way it usually.  Getting wet is a New Orleans way of life.  In a New Orleans state of mind, everything turns out for the best.  Every day is a pleasant adventure, even when things turn to the worst, it will all turn out all right.

DON’T LET NEW ORLEANS RAIN STOP YOU.

Let a smile be your umbrella.  Rain doesn’t stop anyone who lives in New Orleans from living their lives to their fullest and making good memories every day, regardless of the weather.  Don’t let the threat of rain stop you.  New Orleans will be here when you are ready to visit.  New Orleans will be here.  La Belle Esplanade will be here, too.  Frau Schmitt, who is the better half of this operation, and I, your humble narrator, will be here to welcome you to this wonderful city we call home and we are happy to share what it is like to live here.  There is only one New Orleans.  When this city was founded, they broke the mold.  New Orleans will be here for you.  So will La Belle Esplanade, the #1 place to stay in New Orleans (and the #2 small hotel in the United States, AND the #16 small hotel in the world, as I never get tired of repeating.  If you want to make a reservation, this handy link will send you to our calendar.  Get yourself into an authentic New Orleans state of mind.  You won’t regret.  We’ll bet you are resilient, too.

A PRAYER AGAINST NEW ORLEANS RAIN

Every day in every Roman Catholic Church within the Archdiocese of New Orleans, the assembled recite a version of this prayer:

Our Father in Heaven through the intercession of Our Lady of Prompt Succor, spare us during this Hurricane season from all harm. Protect us and our homes from all disasters of nature. Our Lady of Prompt Succor, hasten to help us. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Our Lady of Prompt Succor is the patron of New Orleans and of all of Louisiana.  People of all denominations pray to escape the damages nature may work against our city.  Even agnostics.  Even atheists, in their own way.

Everyone in New Orleans carries a song in their hearts.  They love New Orleans for what it is, a magical city full of surprises, full of joy and of woe.  Every New Orleanian has faith that this city will survive and thrive no matter what the weather may toss its way.  New Orleans is resilient.  New Orleans perseveres.  Come see for yourself.  Be not afraid.

If you are worried about getting your feet wet, you can always buy a pair of shrimp boots.

Stay dry, friends.  When you are ready to visit New Orleans, you know where to find us.

Your pals at

—La Belle Esplanade

Thursday, June 11, 2019.  Today’s photo is of a sign on a telephone pole that appeared in our neighborhood recently.  It seems apropos for the subject of today’s post.

“I like your heat-shaped belly button.”