Radio Marigny gives New Orleans new heartbeat

Kenny Claiborne broadcasts "Radio Marigny" from speakers on his balcony for his neighbors in New Orleans. Picture / Reuters

NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana - As you round a corner in the club land district of Marigny, the silence of New Orleans is suddenly interrupted by blasting rock and bossa nova.

From a rickety wooden home, musician Kenny Claiborne and bartender Joshua Nascimento, are trying to breathe a bit of life back into a city devastated by Hurricane Katrina by turning their balcony into what they call "Radio Marigny."

Using power from a generator and the biggest speakers they could find, they have been broadcasting whatever their few remaining neighbors request or they themselves want to hear to drown out the roar of helicopters and military trucks that has replaced New Orleans' more usual sounds of jazz.

The two urge people who can't take life in the devastated city to leave if they must, saying "Remember, if you crack, evac!"

"We're not Nero. We're not partying while Rome burns," said Claiborne. "It's not like we're saying they can't evacuate us. We're just like a little heartbeat."

The Marigny neighborhood bordering the French Quarter was home to several music clubs and normally residents find it hard to sleep because of the ruckus. The hurricane changed all that.

"It was kind of quiet. It really needed some music. All I heard was helicopters and trucks," said Nascimento.

In parts of the city almost emptied of its residents, small pockets of citizens were trying to hold out.

Some angrily defy Mayor Ray Nagin's order to evacuate; others hope they can convince the authorities that they can contribute to the city's revival by staying.

In Marigny and the French Quarter, both largely untouched by the storm and the floods that at one point swamped 80 per cent of the city, several dozen residents have remained.

They have generators for power, water to flush toilets and mineral water for drinking and washing. Several neighborhood groups have organized petitions, appealing to the mayor to allow them to stay.

Claiborne and his neighbors sweep the streets, distribute ice to those who need it and try their best to keep alive the neighborhood where many of them were born.

So far their entreaties to the authorities have not been answered. Buses manned by National Guard troops move around the streets, looking for people who want to be evacuated.

Claiborne and Nascimento said they would not fight the authorities if they were ordered out. Their car is gassed up and ready to go.

"There's no reason to leave," said Nascimento, who had watched from inside his house as thugs drove around the city immediately after the storm looking for houses to rob.

"I saw anarchy first hand, I saw lawlessness first hand. We stayed up five nights just to make sure. It feels like a lifetime but it's just a week ago you know. But that's all over now."

- REUTERS