Zoo animals safe

Audubon Park, situated in uptown New Orleans between the Mississippi River and Tulane University, is home to the Audubon Zoo, which sits on some of the city's highest ground. Water came up to the entrance, but the zoo was spared. Almost all the 1,500 animals survived. Dan Maloney, general curator, has not left his post in the crisis. A couple of river otters died, and some waterfowl are missing. "And one alligator," Maloney told The Washington Post, "but I think it's just in another lagoon."

Who fared better?

Maloney let his animals stay outside. "We figured it was less risky to leave them out to hunker down on their own and find their own safe places, rather than shove them into a small box somewhere."

"And that, of course, is a pretty good description of what happened to as many as 45,000 of the human beings who lived here, most of them African-Americans and most of them poor and not terribly lucky in the first instance," wrote Christie Blatchford, columnist, in The Globe and Mail of Toronto.

Animal rescue

	Dave Martin, Associated Press A dog peers out through the burglar bars in a flooded home in the 9th Ward in New Orleans. Click photo for larger image.

Blatchford, on the scene in New Orleans, encountered many people who rode out Katrina at home, because they wouldn't leave their dogs. Maloney's wife, Laura, is executive director of the local SPCA. She is leading the effort to save abandoned animals. Memorial Medical Mercy Baptist Hospital functioned as a refuge center, and many brought their pets with them. The animals were sent to a separate part of the hospital, so medical personnel could take care of people first. Buy now it's the pets' turn. Rescue crews are checking out addresses given by worried pet owners and listening for the sound of crying animals. The animals are triaged and bathed, then taken to a shelter and reunited with their owners.

Blatchford: "If this all sounds like foolishness, this effort to save pets where people have died and lost so much, it isn't, I don't think. Caring for the vulnerable -- and animals are in their way as vulnerable as the very old and the very young -- is one of the distinguishing and most noble of human characteristics. As Mr. Maloney said, 'There's no question the wild world can be brutal and unforgiving at times, but there's no malice in animals. Oh, they can hold grudges, and they get their feelings hurt, but there's nothing nefarious about them.' "

Help from Pittsburgh

From www.nola.com, Web site of the New Orleans Times-Picayune, which has forums for those offering help or seeking information on a loved one.

"We need you!!! Want to play high school football? We need you in Pittsburgh, PA. Section 8, 3 bdrm 1.5 bath, newly remodeled house available near high school and elementary school. Pittsburgh has been voted, 'The Most Livable City.' Why not come join us! There are many people waiting to welcome you."

"I am a well known artist/designer who heads an artists co-op in Pittsburgh. I have living and work/studio space available that would be perfect for an artist(s) and family trying to recover from Katrina and be able to start/continue their work again. We are able to take people for up to 6 months. Our specialty is geared towards costume/fibrearts/theatre/music so we have lots of equipment/space here. We also have computers and office space, as we run a website for our art. (You can see our work at www.IBelieveinfaeries.com)We have 3 bedrooms open in the same building as the work space. We are pet friendly. Please feel free to contact us even if you think we are full, as I am contacting others in the arts community here to find more space. I can help arrange transportation. Kristin Minzey, DreamWeaver productions

Famous places

The French Quarter, home to Bourbon Street, the epicenter of the most drunken revelry, escaped much of the flooding. Still standing: Cafe du Monde, best known for its cafe au lait and beignets -- crispy, square doughnuts; Galatoire's, the tiled and mirrored restaurant famous for Creole classics;Preservation Hall, the famed jazz club located in an unassuming building; St. Louis Cathedral, said to be the oldest continuously active cathedral in the country.

Garden District: The St. Charles Streetcar ran down the historic street with mansions and sprawling gardens, shaded by majestic oak trees layered in Spanish moss. Much wind damage; many of the trees were splintered. Commander's Palace: A restaurant known for its turtle soup had its turquoise-and-white facade partially destroyed.

Fair Grounds: Home of the New Orleans Jazz Festival. Roof torn off.

(From the Associated Press)

Jazz rundown

The city's music clubs, including Snug Harbor, the Palm Court and Tipitina's, are -- as is everything else in New Orleans -- closed indefinitely. Jazz archives at Tulane University and at various museums appear to be safe. But other clubs, theaters and historical sites throughout the city, including the orphanage where Louis Armstrong learned to play the cornet, may not fare as well. "This is one of the great cultural cities of the world," Wynton Marsalis, the New Orleans trumpeter, told the Washington Post. "Through the music, New Orleans spoke to the soul of the nation. That's why this is a national crisis."