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While many of the city's homes were wrecked beyond salvation and clearly need to be demolished—Lentz's own historic house in the Tremé neighborhood was partially knocked over by Katrina winds and subsequently carted away—Lentz and others are becoming alarmed that so many of the city's homes in historic districts are being torn down, often with flood damage used as a pretext. It's as if New Orleans is now at risk of being ravaged by another flood—that of demolitions.
"New Orleans' incredible inventory of historical structures forms its single most valuable resource," says Richard Campanella, associate director of the Center for Bioenvironmental Research at Tulane University and author of a much-praised book, Geographies of New Orleans: Urban Fabrics Before the Storm. "Tearing them down when other options exist is a lazy, short-sighted decision that will be regretted by future generations."