Even New Orleans elite suffer Katrina reversal

METAIRIE, Louisiana, Dec 26 (Reuters) The Christmas wreath is on the door and the brass mail slot is newly polished, but this stately home simply cannot keep up appearances.

Step inside and everything from waist level down is a mess of chipped plaster, exposed wiring and water stains. Above, hand-sculpted friezes and elegant archways denote the former glory of the Richmond residence.

''We were fine with the hurricane,'' said Robin Richmond, 82, who evacuated with her husband Randolph before Katrina made landfall. ''But then the water came across the golf course lickety, lickety, with such force that it was almost like a tsunami wave, our neighbors said.'' Their exclusive New Orleans neighborhood, Metairie Club Gardens, was one of the few wealthy areas to suffer major damage after levees broke and flooded 80 percent of the city in August 2005.

Putrid waters filled with sewage and oil poured in and stayed for eight weeks, destroying the ground floors of some of the grandest residences in New Orleans, including real estate mogul Joseph Canizaro's newly built palace, reported to be worth 12 million dollar.

It is a story seldom told in New Orleans, as the Ninth Ward, the low-lying black neighborhood that came to symbolize the storm's devastation, and other poor areas monopolized headlines and still do.

But for all their wealth, even these privileged residents are struggling to recover after 16 months and move on from the storm they never prepared for.

Mansion after mansion on elegant, curving oak tree-lined streets lie empty, awaiting money for rebuilding or sale at markedly reduced prices. Several families are living on their second floors, while some prime lots are empty after homes that could not be salvaged were torn down.

PRICES SLASHED ''You don't feel as sorry for the wealthy people,'' said John Bullard, director of the New Orleans Museum of Art. ''But to lose a lifetime of treasures, memories and photographs, everyone goes through trauma.'' Bullard entered the Richmonds' home six weeks after the storm to retrieve valuable art, including a collection of Chinese ceramics, Pre-Columbian artifacts and European and American paintings.

The vandals who had been plying the waters by boat and looted the nearby golf club had no interest in art, he said.

The Richmonds lost to the water a wine collection worth 60,000 dollar and a Jaguar in the garage, while their English furniture and Oriental rugs suffered costly damage.

''It was a show place before and we had many parties,'' said Randolph Richmond, 84, evoking rooms filled with music, clinking glasses and interesting guests.

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