Leslii Van Netta didn’t feel like smiling into the camera to take a picture for the newspaper.

She didn’t feel “funny” that day.

Exactly one year ago to the day, she fled from the wrath of Hurricane Katrina with very few of her personal belongings.

The last few days have been tough for Van Netta, a New Orleans transplant who just recently arrived on South Whidbey. At the one-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, she reflected on the storm that changed her hometown forever.

Twelve months after the storm, the Gulf Coast region is slowly recovering.

Only half of New Orleans has electricity. Half its hospitals are closed. Violent crime is up. Less than half the population has returned. Thousands of families still live in government trailers with no date set for a move to permanent housing. Insurance settlements arrive late, not at all, or people have to jump through bureaucratic hurdles to get money.

Like many Katrina survivors, Van Netta is disillusioned about federal help and angry at the government.

So far, Congress has approved $110 billion in hurricane aid. The Bush administration has released $77 billion to the states, reserving the rest for future needs. But $33 billion of that has not yet been spent.

Some feel abandoned and fear the aid may run out. Van Netta noted President George W. Bush’s trip to the area earlier this week for a two-day visit.

“I was amazed that Bush wasn’t shot when he went to New Orleans,” she said.

The anger about the president’s late acknowledgment of the catastrophe is deeply rooted in the population, she said.

Nationally, 67 percent of Americans disapprove of Bush’s handling of the Katrina disaster, according to an AP-Ipsos poll earlier this month.

Some of those who lived through Katrina have not forgiven the president.

“It’s possible to get anywhere in the world in a day and a half, except New Orleans,” she said with a hint of sarcasm in her voice.

One year ago, New Orleans knew something big was coming.

“You could feel it two days before,” Van Netta said. “The night before the hurricane hit, the sky looked like a box of crayons.”

She left town, thinking she would soon return.

“Like most people in New Orleans, I expected to be back after two days,” Van Netta said.

She rode out the hurricane in Alabama and returned five weeks later to a city in ruin.

“The first thing I noticed — people are usually very easygoing, smile a lot, they are friendly — they were tense,” she said.

Her home had some wind damage, but because she lived in uptown New Orleans, floodwaters never reached her home.

Even so, the artist lost her studio, her easels, materials and much of her work.

For the first few weeks after her return, there was no trash pick-up that would have helped the clean-up effort. Rats were everywhere.

“It was surreal. Very few people, lots of National Guard,” Van Netta said. “The whole city went quiet. New Orleans is never quiet.”

After about four months some normality returned to the city. Van Netta vividly recalls the first signs of life returning to the city.

“For weeks there was nothing. Then I heard them again — children,” she said.

As life went on in the destroyed city, the extremes became more visible. Some parts of the city are still destroyed and look as if the storm hit yesterday. Others are cleaned up and open for tourists.

Mardi Gras took place again, like every year.

The first Mardi Gras post-Katrina was magical, she said.

“Mardi Gras is a family affair in my part of the city,” she said.

The floats, though, reflected how people felt about the government. The celebration reflected the spirit of the locals, but also the anger.

“There was a Bush float, there was a FEMA float,” she recalled.

Much work also lies ahead for the Ninth Ward and St. Bernard’s Parish, two of the hardest hit areas. And Van Netta stressed how important it is that New Orleans residents return to the town, especially those with less money who were such a vital part of the culture. If the population is not present to put its stamp on the city during its rebirth, Van Netta believes much of its magic will be lost.

Although she survived the storm, it was Katrina’s aftermath that pushed her out.

As soon as restrictions were lifted that prohibited rent hikes, Van Netta’s landlord raised the rent.

The artist, who is disabled, could no longer afford the rent. After months of fighting the rent hike, she finally gave up and moved from New Orleans.

She left behind her beloved pets that she had rescued from the storm, except for her favorite pet chinchilla. She brought the rodent with her when she came to Whidbey Island on June 15.

Van Netta enjoys the island and is grateful for all the help she has received. She continues to paint and she makes crocheted raffia hats that she sells at Bayview Arts.

For now, South Whidbey is her home, but her heart remains in New Orleans.

“I would love to be home,” she said.

Michaela Marx Wheatley can be reached at 221-5300 or mmarxwheatley@southwhidbeyrecord.com.