New Orleans is a city marked by tragedy. But don’t call locals resilient

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — She ran around in silver sparkling shoes, her faux chainmail tunic shimmering in the freezing breeze, maneuvering horses made of paper mâché, a giant green dragon, and sheep constructed from milk cartons.

Antoinette de Alteriis was preparing with hundreds of others to put on the Joan of Arc parade, a joyous, freewheeling kickoff to Carnival season.

Just a few blocks away, people wept and laid flowers and crosses at the site of a horrific truck attack that killed 14 people only six days earlier. A memorial to the dead stretched for half a block.

“That’s a hard thing. How do you reconcile that with having a parade?” de Alteriis said. “Here’s how we reconcile it: We chose hope.”

Countless times in the past week, politicians and outsiders have praised the city for its ability to bounce back. New Orleans has faced tragedy again and again, perhaps more than any other American place.

Locals wince when people praise the city’s “resilience.” They say they're exhausted at being asked to endure the systemic problems and inequities and government failures.

Mark Schettler, a veteran bartender, said he prefers to think of this parade, and all the ones that will come after it, as an act of defiance that inspires others to follow, to act. That, he said, is what the city needs most right now.

“We’re so sick and tired of having to be resilient. How about for once things just work?" Schettler said. “But as long as I have two middle fingers I will always be waving them around defiantly.”

Schettler watched the parade from the Double Club on Chartres Street, at a party reserved for people in the service industry. It was his 39th birthday -- he had a stack of dollar bills pinned to his chest, a New Orleans birthday tradition -- but there was a bittersweet tinge to the celebration.

Schettler grabbed random people at the bar and quizzed them: What’s the R word that you hate the most? Most knew the answer right away.

“Resilience?” said service industry worker Andy Pratt. “Pay us! We’re sick of being resilient.”

“It’s not fair to be judged by your ability to navigate trauma,” said Dominic Hernandez, the club’s co-owner with his wife Cierra.

“It is so dismissive,” said Cierra Hernandez.

“It’s honestly insulting,” said Rafaela Lopez, a tattoo artist and bartender.

They were given little choice but to keep moving: Bourbon Street reopened a mere 36 hours after the carnage, before all the bodies had yet been identified by the coroner. The Sugar Bowl was delayed, but by less than 24 hours. Officials, eager to move forward, plugged the upcoming Super Bowl.

Many people who work as waiters, bartenders or dancers in the French Quarter had to go back to work the day after the attack.

Still grappling with the bloodshed in their streets, some said they felt forced into a state of resiliency by leaders prioritizing those who visit the city, over locals’ need for time and space to heal. Louisiana relies on tourism, with 42.6 million visitors in 2022 generating $17.1 billion.

Lt. Gov. Billy Nungesser, who oversees Louisiana’s marketing and tourism efforts, said that while he understands the need for time to mourn, he also recognizes that the state needs tourism dollars to survive.

“Those tourism dollars are what keeps the rest of the city and the rest of the state working,” Nungesser said. “How we shine for the Super Bowl will affect tourism for years to come."

And although some view the return to normalcy as resilience, others don't share that view or see it as a compliment. It’s a forced state of being that requires nothing of anyone but the people who are hurting.

Dressed in leopard print with glitter sparkling all over her cheeks, Lopez said the only real resilience is in the support that the community has for itself.

“The only people who take care of each other is us,” Lopez said.

Someone brought out shots for the table, and they all raised a glass. They laughed and made a toast: “To resilience, y’all!”

It's been just 20 years since Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast, and in the decades since there have been more hurricanes, the BP oil spill, and spasms of violence. The city had the highest per-capita homicide rate in the nation in 2022. The numbers have decreased in the years since, but residents still say violence is so ingrained in city life, they’re often numb to it.

On New Year’s Day, just hours after the carnage on Bourbon Street, the owner of a Vietnamese supermarket was gunned down in a robbery. Thanh Vu, a mother of six and widely known as Ms. Maria, was described to the local media as a “beloved matriarch.” Two others were killed in separate shootings that same day: 19-year-old Kayron Hall and 41-year-old Percy Baytop.

“Things keep happening here — hurricanes, floods, now a terrorist attack. We’re just expected to dust ourselves off and keep going,” said New Orleans native Julie Laskay.

De Alteriis said she still has post-traumatic stress disorder from surviving Hurricane Katrina. She spent months after living in a makeshift shelter with her elderly mother, her son and two cats, and still gets pangs of fear when a bad storm rolls in, a compulsion to check in with friends – the same instinct she felt after the attack on New Year’s Day.

Some people have criticized Mayor LaToya Cantrell and Chief of Police Anne Kirkpatrick for leaving the French Quarter vulnerable on New Year’s Eve; the city was in the midst of replacing the steel barriers, leaving a security gap that gave the attacker an entry onto the street. The mayor later admitted she remains unsure if the expensive new barriers would be able to stop a similar vehicle attack.

The parade marched on. It was a motley assembly of hundreds of volunteers, smaller than in past years, from retirees who had participated for nearly two decades to twentysomethings who signed up on a whim for the first time ever.

Spectators expressed gratitude for the knights, monks, angels and others who had donned their elaborate costumes in near-freezing weather: “Thank y’all!” “Y’all look so great!” “Gorgeous!” Strangers smiled at each other, friends reconnected and hugged along the route and the warmth of the moment seemed to hold the city together.

Hannah Miller held a sign reading “I love you New Orleans”″ with little lights around it.

“Tonight felt almost like a protest or a rally,” she said. “Because love is bigger than fear.”

It felt, some said, like a light in the darkness.

Wren Misbach, a marcher dressed in a silvery tunic, viewed it as an act of service to the city she loves.

“We take care of ourselves here,” Misbach said. “We rise again, we live to fight another day, we put ourselves back together.”

Yasin Frank Southall and his friends celebrated in a most New Orleans fashion: Pouring out free hot toddies and slicing king cake for anyone who passed.

“Going back to normalcy is really important. It’s about tradition, it’s about love,” said Southall, a 42-year-old community engagement manager for a housing organization.

As the parade wound to a close, Kathleen Ford, a 56-year-old realtor draped in a pink and white coat with a bejeweled felt crown, called out to the marchers: “Pray hard!”

She had to be here tonight despite the cold, despite how tired she was of bouncing back ever since she lost her house beneath 10 feet of water after Hurricane Katrina. A former French Quarter resident, her favorite bar was just a block away from where the attack happened.

This parade, she said, isn’t about resilience. It's about the city, and what it means, its beauty, its pain, its grit.

“It’s what we do, it’s part of our DNA, my DNA,” Ford said. “It’s the soul of my heart and soul of New Orleans.”

As the parade ended before her, a procession of angels brought up the rear, their white-gloved hands clasped in prayer to the tune of Hallelujah.

They marched through a flutter of confetti and flashing blue police lights.

Galofaro reported from Louisville, KY, and Cline from Baton Rouge, La. Brook is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues. Follow Brook on the social platform X: @jack_brook96. Follow Cline on the social platform X: @SaraLCline.

Marchers in the Joan of Arc parade on Monday, Jan. 6, 2025, in New Orleans, hold aloft a banner with a quote from the French saint. (AP Photo/Jack Brook)

Antoinette de Alteriis, co-captain of the Krewe de Jeanne d'Arc, organizes volunteers before the start of the Joan of Arc parade on Monday, Jan. 6, 2025, in New Orleans. (AP Photo/Jack Brook)

Antoinette de Alteriis gathers props in preparation for the Joan of Arc parade Monday, Jan. 6, 2025, in New Orleans' French Quarter. (AP Photo/Jack Brook)

Volunteers carry a makeshift dragon through the streets of New Orleans famed French Quarter for the Joan of Arc parade kicking off the start of the city's carnival season Monday, Jan. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Jack Brook)

A marcher in the Joan of Arc parade carries a wheel symbolizing the sainthood of St. Catherine at the Joan of Arc parade on Monday, Jan. 6, 2025, in New Orleans. (AP Photo/Jack Brook)

A person dressed as Joan of Arc rides a horse during the annual Krewe de Jeanne d'Arc parade, kicking off the Mardi Gras season, in New Orleans, Monday, Jan. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Parade-goers walk during during the annual Krewe de Jeanne d'Arc parade, kicking off the Mardi Gras season, in New Orleans, Monday, Jan. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

A woman holds a torch during the annual Krewe de Jeanne d'Arc parade, kicking off the Mardi Gras season, in New Orleans, Monday, Jan. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Parade-goers dressed as angels walk during the annual Krewe de Jeanne d'Arc parade, kicking off the Mardi Gras season, in New Orleans, Monday, Jan. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

A person dressed as Joan of Arc holds a sword on-top of a horse during the annual Krewe de Jeanne d'Arc parade, kicking off the Mardi Gras season, in New Orleans, Monday, Jan. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

A person dressed as Joan of Arc holds a sword on-top of a horse during the annual Krewe de Jeanne d'Arc parade, kicking off the Mardi Gras season, in New Orleans, Monday, Jan. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Parade-goers walk during the annual Krewe de Jeanne d'Arc parade, kicking off the Mardi Gras season, in New Orleans, Monday, Jan. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Parade attendees toast to victims of the deadly New Years truck attack, during the annual Krewe de Jeanne d'Arc parade, kicking off the Mardi Gras season, in New Orleans, Monday, Jan. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

BEIJING (AP) — Rescuers in the freezing, high-altitude Tibet region in western China searched a second day for any remaining victims of a deadly earthquake that struck near a holy city for Tibetan Buddhists, before shifting their focus to resettling the survivors.

More tents, quilts, stoves and other relief items were being delivered Wednesday to people whose homes were uninhabitable or unsafe. Temperatures fall well below freezing overnight in an area with an average altitude of about 4,200 meters (13,800 feet).

In video aired by state broadcaster CCTV, workers could be seen erecting rows of tents with metal frames and stakes after nightfall Tuesday. Meant as temporary shelter, they were lined with quilted padding to keep out the cold. The workers distributed packaged food items to the shelter occupants, donning blue winter jackets over their orange uniforms.

The confirmed death toll stood at 126 with another 188 injured as of Tuesday evening, and no further updates were issued during the day on Wednesday. Hong Li, the director of Tibet's Emergency Management Department, told a late afternoon news conference that the work had shifted from search and rescue to resettlement and reconstruction.

The earthquake struck an outlying county in the city of Shigatse, the traditional seat of the Panchen Lama, the second-highest figure in Tibetan Buddhism. It was not immediately known whether he was in his Tashi Lhunpo Monastery at the time or how much damage Tibet's second largest city sustained. The epicenter was about 25 kilometers (15 miles) from the main part of the city, which is called Xigaze in Chinese and sprawls across a high altitude plain.

More than 500 aftershocks were recorded after the earthquake, which the U.S. Geological Survey said measured magnitude 7.1. China’s earthquake center recorded a magnitude of 6.8. The quake was also about 75 kilometers (50 miles) from Mount Everest and the border with Nepal, where the shaking sent people running out of their homes in the capital.

A candlelight vigil was planned on Wednesday night in Dharamsala, India, home to the Dalai Lama, Tibetan Buddhism’s highest figure, and a large Tibetan population. An announcement on the Dalai Lama’s website said he would lead a prayer ceremony in memory of the victims on Thursday.

The Dalai Lama is viewed by the Chinese government as bent on making Tibet independent of China.

Asked about the prayer ceremony, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said, “We are very clear about the separatist nature and political schemes of the Dalai Lama and remain highly vigilant.”

Guo expressed confidence that the people in the earthquake zone will be able to rebuild under “the strong leadership” of China's ruling Communist Party.

The Chinese government and followers of the Dalai Lama have feuded over who should hold the position of Panchen Lama since a boy appointed by the Dalai Lama disappeared in the mid-1990s and a Chinese-backed candidate was approved for the position. The Dalai Lama denounced the move and has refused to recognize the current Panchen Lama.

China's government says Tibet has been part of its territory for centuries, but many Tibetans say they were functionally independent for most of that time. China's People's Liberation Army invaded the territory in 1950 and the Dalai Lama fled to India nine years later during an uprising against Chinese rule, seen as eroding Tibet's unique Buddhist culture.

The death toll from the quake included at least 22 of the 222 residents of Gurum, the official Xinhua News Agency cited the village’s Communist Party chief, Tsering Phuntsog, as saying. The victims included his 74-year-old mother, and several other of his relatives remained buried in the debris.

“Even young people couldn’t run out of the houses when the earthquake hit, let alone old people and children,” Tsering Phuntsog said.

State broadcaster CCTV showed orange-suited rescue workers with sniffing search dogs clambering over huge chunks of debris in the wreckage of homes. In the hardest-hit areas, rows of houses had been reduced to rubble. Blue disaster emergency tents with bright red Chinese flags flapping in the wind had been set up nearby.

More than 3,600 houses collapsed, according to a preliminary survey, and 46,000 residents had been relocated, state media said.

Tibet is generally closed to foreign journalists over reports about the ill treatment of the population by Chinese authorities.

Chinese Vice Premier Zhang Guoqing, who visited survivors in the quake-hit area, called for the acceleration of post-disaster reconstruction to ensure they can be safe and warm this winter, Xinhua reported. Power and communications in the area have been restored, allowing smoother delivery of emergency goods, it said.

Bodeen reported from Taipei, Taiwan.

In this photo released by Xinhua News Agency, first responders perform rescue work at a village in Changsuo Township of Dingri County in Xigaze, southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region, Jan. 7, 2025 (Hu Zikui/Xinhua via AP)

In this photo released by Xinhua News Agency, rescue workers conduct search and rescue for survivors in the aftermath of an earthquake in Changsuo Township of Dingri in Xigaze, southwestern China's Tibet Autonomous Region on Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. (Liu Yousheng/Xinhua via AP)

In this photo released by Xinhua News Agency, rescue workers conduct search and rescue for survivors in the aftermath of an earthquake in Changsuo Township of Dingri in Xigaze, southwestern China's Tibet Autonomous Region on Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. (Jigme Dorje/Xinhua via AP)

In this photo released by Xinhua News Agency, medical workers treat injured people at the temporary tents set up at the People's Hospital in the aftermath of an earthquake in Dingri County in Xigaze, southwest China's Xizang Autonomous Region on Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. (Ding Ting/Xinhua via AP)

In this photo released by Xinhua News Agency, rescue workers check on an injured resident in the aftermath of an earthquake in Changsuo Township of Dingri in Xigaze, southwestern China's Tibet Autonomous Region on Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. (Liu Yousheng/Xinhua via AP)

In this photo released by Xinhua News Agency, rescuers transfer the injured at Zhacun Village of Dingri County in Xigaze, southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region, Tuesday Jan. 7, 2025. (Xinhua via AP)