Katrina refrigerator
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![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/39/TummyHurtsFridge.jpg/220px-TummyHurtsFridge.jpg)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/FridgesPumpkins.jpg/220px-FridgesPumpkins.jpg)
Katrina refrigerators are refrigerators that were destroyed or rendered unusable during Hurricane Katrina on August 29, 2005, and their aftermath. Many were made into temporary folk art.
Description
When Hurricane Katrina hit on August 29, 2005, much of the
When they returned, they found that their refrigerators were filled with
However, the destruction throughout the region was so extensive that garbage collection was not fully restored for many weeks. Local government officials required residents to separate their garbage into daily trash,
For this reason, abandoned refrigerators sat in front of private homes for weeks. There were thousands of refrigerators lined along the streets of every neighborhood affected by the storms, usually surrounded by piles of garbage bags and other debris. Residents quickly began decorating their refrigerators with graffiti. It was at this point that the destroyed refrigerators became known as Katrina Refrigerators. At first, the graffiti featured humorous or satirical messages. The graffiti became increasingly elaborate, and soon developed into a form of art. People began photographing Katrina Refrigerators, and there were even exhibitions and books featuring these photographs. During the first Christmas after Hurricane Katrina, four months after the storm made landfall, some Katrina Refrigerators had not yet been collected. These refrigerators were decorated with festive Christmas ornaments and salutations.
By early 2006, occasional additional refrigerators continued to be hauled out to curbs as more locals gutted their houses, but as in parts of town with significant numbers of inhabitants back these were generally picked up within a week or so, as they were profitable for debris pickup teams paid by weight collected. Due to the shorter time staying curbside, the tradition of decorating the refrigerators died out.
Katrina Refrigerators set on curbs were eventually collected, the largest portion of them hauled to a scrapyard in an industrial area in back of Florida Avenue in the
For
Katrina refrigerator quotations
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/86/MailUMagots.jpg/220px-MailUMagots.jpg)
While there was much variation, there were some common themes seen frequently. Early themes included criticism of the
- "Free Food" or "Free Meal Inside"
- "Loot This!!!!"
- "Send to FEMA"
- "Great Plan, Aaron!"
- "Do Not Open: Tom Benson Inside"
- "Heck of a job, Brownie!"
Further reading
- Varisco, Tom (2005) Spoiled: The Refrigerators of New Orleans. ISBN 1424300959
External links
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg/30px-Commons-logo.svg.png)
- Gallery of Katrina refrigerators on Times-Picayune website
- Gallery of Katrina Refrigerators on people get ready blog
- Richard A. Webster (2005-11-07). "Fouled refrigerators produce legal pitfall". New Orleans City Business. New Orleans Publishing Group. Archived from the original on 2007-09-28. Retrieved 2006-10-18.
- "A putrid task: emptying New Orleans' fridges". NBC News. Associated Press. 2005-10-03.
- Cynthia Johnston (2005-10-06). "NPR Audio Report". NPR.org. NPR.
- Noah Adams (2005-10-16). "Another NPR Audio Report". NPR.org. NPR.