What Six Flags New Orleans Turned Into Post-Katrina | Abandoned (Full Episode)

foreign [Music] this is a water moccasin Louisiana water moccasin one of two deadly snakes that we we have that are native here this is what Six Flags has turned into a home for venomous snakes he's looking right at you he struck at me once so we let him go now yeah I'm gonna let him go right over here he was right in the middle of the walkway and we're just walking around with those guys oh yeah they're everywhere everywhere too that one will kill you [Music] thank you [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] [Music] I'm in New Orleans Louisiana this city more than most has had to rebuild itself many times and through that it has a strong DIY ethic and I really respect that I feel like as a skateboarder I can relate to the rebuilding because a lot of times we'll build our own skate parks and abandoned spaces kind of like this one and either the property owner or the city or whoever will come through and tear it out so I can understand that drive to just keep moving and rebuild a lot of people know about Katrina which happened about 10 years ago but outside of Katrina there's been tons of big storms here and floods and it seems to always stand up proud I want to explore that spots called titty bars because there's these cement things that look like bars I guess is [Music] [Applause] skaters would obviously be drawn to a Downtown City Corps and skate like brand new marble plazas and stuff like that but you can't you get kicked out so you go places where no one is you can do whatever you want create whatever you want make as much noise be quiet [Music] if you're looking for a skater you know for any reason go to an abandoned slab you'll find them or her or they [Music] Down River from the city in the ninth ward there's a lot of abandoned slabs [Laughter] I found some deserted concrete and a crew of skaters in no time oh yeah Bernal it's a pretty rough spot these kids are really into skating and sounds like they have a bunch of other friends that are but they don't really have anywhere to do it so they come to places like this which is really hard to skate [Applause] just stops when you land let's go somewhere oh nice safer Lou Dorsey was born in New Orleans East his family was forced out during Katrina but eventually managed to move back two years later what was it like to grow up in this neighborhood when I first moved around here I didn't really know anybody until like I came off the block yeah met some kids I wasn't really into skateboarding we used to like play football basketball play it tag yeah and I started skating then I seen some guys like doing some tricks I was like they can do that on here if I want to learn this is there anywhere to go or anything to do around here for young people no not at all there's really nothing to do we don't have like skating rinks or bowling alleys some movies all that got torn down like the storm wiped out the movies the mall we had a Six Flags but that's done and City's not doing nothing for the east it's just crazy really so like your all your amenities were wiped out with the storm yeah and nothing's been done about that for what 10 years now 10 years basically do you think it's important for people to take things into their own hands and sort of make their own places for fun yeah but it's like really hard to do that because like we built like a DIY spot and like the train company like tore it down oh really too close to the train track but then we built like first out so we had to deal with the city property right and then they tore it down struggling with poverty and violence since the 80s seemingly ignored post Katrina New Orleans East has barely bounced back New Orleans has been normal for like crime and stuff but that's just building off of that like there's really nothing like nothing to do like right that's why kids always in the streets like doing like horrible things right because they're just lost yeah when kids get in the streets it's like real bad like I feel like we have more like teen violence than anything in the city because once again there's nothing to do and like one of my friends I used to go to school with him he was supposed to graduate with us but he just got killed like what two weeks ago and like that's like that first friend I grew up but I went to school with that uh it's like the fifth one I'm sorry man yeah it's it's like I wouldn't say you get used to it but it's still crazy like like I just laughed with this guy and like [Music] oh [Music] this is life in Lou's neighborhood you're surrounded by loss and abandonment the vacant lots and anti-concrete slabs become places to fight boredom but it wasn't always this desolate here New Orleans East used to be home to the most happening spot in the city [Music] he abandoned Six Flags amusement park resting in pieces since 2005. [Music] we're driving into the swamp I mean Six Flags wow this is full-on swamp stinks this Six Flags amusement park this was abandoned after Katrina there was too much flooding and damage for it to be saved I'm assuming there's some pumps that pump out this water that are no longer on and now it's just flooding again apparently there's a whole lot of wildlife that live here too I feel like I'm on Safari [Music] I was told it's not safe to go into the old Six Flags alone so I recruited my own personal security outfit it's a frog Grabber frog gig grab frogs with it works on snakes works on anything basically Reed turgeon and Nick Baum used to hang out here as kids these days they work in Pest Control so you're going to be our animal protection Squad oh yeah oh yeah I've heard they've got a lot of pigs in here wild boars oh okay yeah I thought you just meant like pigs oh wow these are a little crazy so there's Boars in here boars Gators uh terrible everything it's wild wild turkey come like a wildlife refuge in here got what you need yeah this is all I need and I got the gun and nine millimeter Kel-Tec yeah this this will put a pig down let's scare them away at least yeah [Music] you guys used to come here as kids uh-huh yeah yeah as kids we came here I remember my first trip I came here with my uncle and my cousins yeah I didn't have any fun because it was too crowded we didn't get to ride any of the rides the worst this was crazy back then it's a shame it really is this is just nuts seeing all this the way it is man people have really ransacked this I don't even know if like Katrina did a lot of this it's like yeah yeah originally called jazzland this park opened in 2000. struggling financially it was sold to Six Flags in 2002. although in theory the park was structurally built to withstand storms it didn't now it's being swallowed by the Louisiana Wilderness so this wasn't built to look like a swamp no no this is all land that's what that's probably rotten yeah do you just fail to see the whole park from right here can't see anything now yeah it's all over ground all these trees and stuff here sends Katrina I mean this is what Katrina did yeah you could see the actual damage of what a storm can do they built it pretty well usually these are like just crappy facades I mean they they put all this money you'd see all the metal handrails all this money and they just left just dropped it there's been plans to turn this into a resort and stuff like that and people put in beds and this and that and it's just people don't want to put their money into something that needs this much upkeep yeah you know whenever you were here it's just all sunshine and everything yeah it's ghost town ghost town big sports for an official souvenir there you go souvenir from the Six Flags that's a cool pin actually there's the SpongeBob right that was sick SpongeBob had his own ride here yeah it was a movie theater and the seats would literally like lift up and move around and stuff oh so they would lift up glad that moves and stuff and then the screen would be right there yeah man this is so cool do you think the water was in here from the floods yeah usually when we got houses we got it up to about a foot above the uh where the water actually went so it looks like I mean it got to be about you know eight ten feet and it looks like I mean this could have been all underwater yeah I mean this was possibly all underwater tiny place looks like it's about to happen again yeah this is our daily storm here we go this literally happens every day here in the Summers yeah every day feels good yeah it's okay it's nice and cool yeah right after the storm it's going to be uh nice and steamy [Music] on days like this when it's really hot and rainy I'm sure there are a lot of kids in New Orleans that are missing the SpongeBob experience [Music] what used to be the Six Flags New Orleans closed down over a decade ago from the storm of all storms much of the city has fixed itself up but this massive playground has become a swampy jungle and the people who used to play here have been replaced by other creatures look alligator all right summer right for us I see some sort of a tail moving yeah it's a gator yeah see his nose yeah how close do you think he'll get he'll come right up to us probably oh yeah yeah look he's coming right for us oh yeah that's about a six footer no about a four or five footer begin to see his whole side profile now when their tail and their whole body comes out of the water it's a dominance thing they're telling us this is their like okay stayed up away from us yeah yeah there's definitely more in here too the big ones don't show their face during the day because they got him in here they have bigger ones for sure this is your typical crawfish we have down here Reid said he's going to feed it to an alligator I don't see it happening but we'll see it's on top of his nose there you go oh there he goes He got The Heading about that oh crunch crunch crunch time yeah New Orleans East we're looking at alligators yeah seriously in the city looking at alligators that is nuts but people didn't come here to bump into Gators they came here to bump into each other bumper cars wow this was a popular ride how does it feel to be here now after it's shut it's strange yeah I feel like Eerie like you're used to having all these people around and it's been loud having fun and it's like a ghost town this is the effects of uh of Katrina yeah Rita and Rita and we're still feeling it about 10 so 11 years later yeah still and there's nothing like this around anymore for the kids nothing to do not really for for anybody really around right I guess the closest place is Baton Rouge and that's blue yeah you buy you the water park that's an hour and a half away yeah right yeah yeah this was the one cool thing to do and it it just petered out what do people do around here now that this place is gone I mean I tell you the truth I don't really know there's really nothing there's not much of a kid environment no one's anymore not at all of all these kids that were tagging would probably grew up coming to this part yeah probably and then it stopped and they still wanted to come yeah they still I see that a lot like people keep going back to where they had fun even though it's abandoned yeah like keep the memories going oh yeah this is bringing back a lot of memories it feels like a Jurassic Park it's pretty deep in there can we get through there that way might be better this one got cut so you can actually fit through here look at that swamp they got to call their landscaper to come through yeah [Music] this animal I found damn this is cool it's got the whole freaking setup this is sick I'm horrified of heights deathly afraid the only thing I'm deathly afraid of is Heights I'm a good person to me so I do not think I'm gonna make it it's just a staircase yeah seriously all right oh my God I'm already unscared oh my God this is horrifying already this coming back down too afraid I do not like heights Jesus Christ [Music] for the flood the sights and sounds from up here were a lot different it was crowded and it was loud people brought life to this place [Music] now Wildlife run the show you can see the Gators from up here one there there's one that was right over here yeah this should be all cleared out and have two big ramps right here and everybody sit and watch people do all these ski jumps and all yeah that's cool everywhere around here if you're looking down is all swamped they built this entire thing on Swamp and if you just look you can see oh this is all swamped down here [Music] looking at the view from up here thinking of all the storms this place has endured I can't help but Wonder is there hope for New Orleans East on your way out here you saw all the abandoned businesses yeah people don't want to put their money into New Orleans East anymore it's sinking I mean we're still at half of what we used to be in New Orleans we used to have 450 000 500 000 people here we're only at 250 000 about no way yeah I mean it's it's drastically reduced the numbers in New Orleans right still ghost town in most of New Orleans East a decade later oh yeah it's wild it is wild and it's becoming Wilder with every passing year this amusement park sinks further into the swamp once filled with the music of joy now it's just another verse of the Katrina Blues [Music] what do you do when the biggest playground your city ever had turns into a swamp well you could always go find the crack Foundation of a demolished mental institution and make it your own I'm at this slab spot where some skaters have built some obstacles they're carrying in some supplies to build some more I'm gonna help them but I won't help them carry it because they got to learn oh any town will have a slab that you could do this at but you got to keep it real quiet this feature has been taken over by the jungle here you'd be going this way so this would represent the crumbling future whereas the past is more solid and there's some sort of Sanskrit written on there it's actually a fascinating piece I was invited here by a skate crew that called themselves forever done see these are the local dudes that have built this spot up already and uh they're about to build a new ledge so they went and got some supplies like some quick drying concrete and some trowels and some buckets and they're just gonna take it upon themselves to make a skate spot why do you feel like you have to do this build stuff here because I don't have anything else and I well like have you ever skated around New Orleans a little bit it's not ideal for skateboarding right do you know what used to be here before so this is actually an asylum like an Institute right yeah in the 80s as an Institute a mental Asylum and then uh in the 90s I believe it got torn down okay actually like a lot of OG skaters like used to skate this spot in the 90s oh really so like a couple OG skaters like I still know about this spot and like built in pool yes the legend has it somewhere in the forest there's a little in there somewhere and I believe it too like oh really yeah yeah get a weed whacker [Music] I could add a little bit of my sweat to this mix foreign [Music] it's going to take a while to dry [Music] naked girls [Music] [Applause] [Music] this is the way [Music] got a little bit of a rain delay shouldn't be too bad [Music] like a Decor Creek in the rain or something right that's all we got to talk about everything they'll be okay yeah hopefully you guys like thunder not too much but you know we gotta get used to living out here I can sleep through it that's for sure nice sometimes it becomes hard to distinguish the Thunder from the gunshots Is that real yeah that's that's some real talk you guys ever having any trouble here when you're building uh actually yeah we've been robbed twice twice yeah I think it was a it was a female and a male and they just ran out of the bushes basically one with a ski mask on one with like I think a 22 like this little revolver yeah and uh you know just asking us for our wallet so one night we were just like yeah take it just yeah leave us alone but uh the second time and sat down while we were skating so they pulled their gun out they told us to get on the ground after they pointed the gun at us yeah emptied our parkings took the car and left but we were able to catch them because my friend had his iPad under the seat they couldn't find it they were able to track it find my iPad yep find my iPhone tracking device [Music] [Applause] this is a lake now this is wake boarding [Music] skate spots like the one forever dumb is building on this concrete Wasteland don't just happen out of nowhere they're inspired by places like New Orleans best known DIY Park built from scratch under a sketchy overpass parasite skate park took years to become what it is today [Music] this parasite DIY skate park it's underneath the freeway formally just like empty space that nobody used for anything hey what's up man Adam man Rick nice to meet you good to meet you Adam had his eye on the spot for a long time he saw potential in an unused underappreciated space and he did something about it I had always had the idea to build underneath here I kept thinking you know let's get under the bridge it's hot as hell here let's you know get some shade I borrowed a trailer I borrowed a truck I got my little crew together and that's what came out of it so that was the first spot and then you built the spine yeah we did the spine which is the funnest spine in the world yeah dude I'm so stoked you like it yeah it's rad so good normally DIY parks are illegal and they get torn out but this one is now a recognized City skate park like how did that happen we knew the area was a rough area so obviously stuff like that you got a better chance for it to be able to stay the use of this space before was it was drug activity you know it was heavy heavy you know negative stuff for the city so we turned it into a healthy zone how do the people in the area here take to this being here I think at first you know people were weary they obviously wanted to know what was going on and once they realized that we were not out here destroying anything we were out here building something to help the community they got involved not all of them were super stoked but the majority of them were on side with us and the gentleman that lives on the corner he let us use his electricity and his water and if it was not from him we we wouldn't be here [Music] Adam wants to introduce me to Mr cage he lives on the corner across the street from the skate park and he really helped them build it what did you think when you first started seeing these guys over here the first attitude I take I took was oh Lord here comes some Mo and then I found out one day it took one day to find out there wasn't some old and they were really really different Mr cage I'm so thankful to you man I mean the running water and electricity that you let us use for years yeah and never would take a penny from us I mean the place would not exist man if it wasn't for you right you know how much we both want everybody to have a happy fun place right you are a big part of that man you are a adopted New Orleans skateboarder and you helped us out that much yes sir man I tell you and I was adopted by somebody who knew what they were doing do you find that in skateboarding that skaters are drawn to abandoned places yeah I mean you're looking out the window when you're driving places I mean even as a kid and you see the world different it's a beautiful thing you know we're engineers and architects in our minds from the early days of skating and uh I'll say it to everybody man don't ever be scared to get dirty it's never going to be perfect when you first do it but sooner or later you're gonna make something and you'll be proud of it and you're going to help the community out too you did a great job man beautiful place [Music] okay [Music] I could barely think right now it's so hot reclaimed overpasses derelict amusement parks empty concrete slabs there's obviously a lot more to New Orleans than that to see more I reached out to a guy who's not your typical tour guide I'm meeting up with local punk rocker D slept from the I'm gonna check out the city so where should we start Let's Take a Ride all right we're uh we're gonna pull out of the the by water up to the French Quarter where you can see this beautiful architecture too yeah New Orleans is just beautiful it seems like it has such an appreciation for style and beauty and I think you've gotten a greater appreciation since the big change you know and so you can see they've redone these streets and where all this was empty seven years ago and that brought people back in here and you know it's it's what you do if you want to be here if you want to freaking hand out go somewhere else you know we all get kicked down and life's all about New Beginnings right yeah that is the longest bridge in the world right oh this you can't see where it is serious curvature of the world that's what my brother always says yeah [Music] Dee took me to a part of the waterfront that's in a lot better shape than it was a few years ago for him it's a place that stirs up strong memories of the chaos in New Orleans during the big storm this Harbor here is full of sailboats at the casino they were all stacked up on top of each other on one end wow when we evacuated really didn't want to leave but we left across that bridge there and when we left the waves were hitting the side of the bridge we had to run our windshield wipers because the water from the lake was up really high we were the last supposedly we were the last little Convoy that went across the bridge were you worried that you could possibly get washed off no no wasn't that pissed off that we were leaving yeah I'm still pissed off that we left do a lot of people here have that mentality like I'm not leaving a lot of people people that weren't allowed they wanted to come back they weren't allowed to we'll never leave again and then other people that say I don't care seems like like out here there's a lot of good times right absolutely absolutely there's times you gotta have the best that's correct that's right if it was uh it's like a heartbeat it's like a little machine in the hospital you know yeah and uh unfortunately I've looked at too many of them but they they the good one it's going like that you know it's going up and down but it's really bad when it's just like this straight line it's just like life right yeah it's living takes ups and downs I think that means a lot to me because I always feel like my I'm always like that with everything that's I think that's where we learn yeah talking with people like Dee you get the feeling it'll take a lot more than a natural disaster to make New Orleans Flatline [Music] foreign [Music] New Orleans is mostly built on a swamp and you can't understand the swamp until you go to the Bayou that feeds it I'm in Lafitte on the Bayou just outside New Orleans and this is where D sled lives D slept was so proud of the feet and how they came back from Katrina you know all on their own that I wanted to come out here and have a look for myself [Music] [Music] we're in the swamp the jungle and the farm all at once in the bayou [Music] what's up buddy good day Mr who are you hey that's Sheba hey good to see you all right good to see you brother thanks for coming down thanks for having us so this is uh This is My Paradise yeah pretty incredible my retirement huh yeah you want to come inside for a minute yeah come on in right here all the yeah we probably had a quaalude before riding it and uh we were definitely in with the pudding man who's the pudding man Bill Cosby you know the old play lead man right I get it this is one of the neighbors Al this is the mobile this is the slot mobile Sprite do you drink a lot of soda I'm a little concerned yeah it's like too much sugar it's good for his sugar-free stuff [Music] dieselut has been traveling these Waters since he was a kid he knows them like Louisiana knows flooding how common is flooding in this area right here we flooded three times this year from South Wind just the window just the wind will flooded wind for four or five days in a row good 30 mile an hour wind so this water here would go over these Banks and then that would flood your right and so these kind of people they aren't leaving right but I mean my point is where the hell are you going to go if it's something bad doesn't happen you know right it's uh I don't think they got that place move on to different kind of troubles booties Bayou Restaurant people it doesn't get better than this so what's the story with booties we're now down in the lower Lafitte which provides a lot more in Opera La feed the kid in their family they have mortgaged their homes they have basically put everything at risk to try and keep this restaurant open because she employs four or five people here these are people who she feels great loyalty from and feels that this is something that's important to our community and a community that's just slowly dying and and a lot of people kicking and screaming that don't want it to happen pleasure pleasure to meet you Katie is one of my body Heroes right here oh this is nice up here it's really nice it was a nice area we had a cover and yeah people used to come up here and sit and eat it was really nice you could see the boats coming in with their catch all year round you think one day I could maybe come back well we've we've thought about it if we get investors we probably could right the economy right now is not at its best so we have to do what we can with what we have exactly to make do this restaurant has been flooded six times since you've been we have flooded and had damages six times and rebuilt everything and we have rebuilt and opened up every time many people of the community left because they couldn't handle it anymore right yeah but I would never leave because this is my home right I feel it was worth the investment in my personal life and in this community that's why you do it and that's why we do it is it for the community don't walk off right you know it's for everyone wow for everyone it's commendable I would never move even if the business would be destroyed personally as a resident I would never leave this community this is my home I understand and this is where I'm going to stay [Music] every time Katie's Restaurant takes a beating she builds it back up for the community with the help of people from the community like diesel are they the greatest people are what ah you're really sweet um y'all want to try and do some canals yeah the city here let's get out of town yeah [Music] all right thank you bad day out on the boat is better than a good day at the office but yes sir you know what else they say give a man a fish you're feeding per day Pizza Man the fish he sits in a boat and drinks beer all day it's in the Bible read it [Music] D comes from a do-it-yourself-minded community that is resilient and supportive which is exactly what it needs to be these floods don't seem to be slowing down and for Dee's Paradise to survive that same DIY ethic is vital [Music] at a banged up Left 4 Dead abandoned Hospital the forever dumb crew are hard at work [Music] back at the ledge spot it's cured it's ready to skate but we got all these puddles to clear out first so we've enlisted some local skaters to help and me spreading it out sun will dried up oh God It's Hard Out Here in New Orleans to be a skater you're battling the Heat your voice usually when you go to a new city you gravitate to the nicer part of town but for this show we've been going to the exact opposite of that we're going to the abandoned places The Rundown poor neighborhoods and from what I've learned you'll find really interesting things there and meet really great people doing amazing things this ledge is just a start for this place look they got a table set up over there they're gonna have a barbecue yeah we just hear skating I have a little Crawfish Boil oh you got out the bag and I gave him some beer and uh kind of just let them go loose be free we're gonna eat the rest though but he can go he's cool right now we're standing on the slab from a torn down mental institute we're surrounded by abandoned buildings and then all these kids just came here cleaning it up they're building obstacles to use and they're making this place a positive place again it's called DIY do it yourself but nobody really does it by themselves we're a community that's always stronger together and if you're willing to put in the work anywhere can be an amusement park [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] thank you foreign [Music] [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] [Applause] [Music] everywhere [Music]

Channel: VICE

Views: 1,347,094

Keywords: six flags, katrina, cyclone, america, flood, storm, amusement parks, theme park, new orleans vlog, skating, skate park, skateboarding, abandoned, documentary, documentaries, docs, interview, culture, lifestyle, world, exclusive, independent, underground, videos, journalism, vice guide, vice.com, vice, vice magazine, vice mag, vice videos, film, short films, movies, amusement park rides, new orleans six flags 2022, redevelopment, ramp, ghost town, Mississippi River, louisiana, cyclone video, swamp, wildlife

Id: ycLDz_GidbM

Length: 43min 55sec (2635 seconds)

Published: Tue Jun 20 2023