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 Gulf Coast Blog: Getting connected againEditor's note: The Gulf Coast Blog, compiled by the reporters and producers in CNN's Gulf Coast Bureau, tracks the post-Katrina recovery effort as residents rebuild their lives. Tell us what you think. Send e-mail to the Gulf Coast Blog.  Maggie Carroll checks her e-mail from the sidewalk. BLOG ARCHIVESPECIAL REPORT
• Rebuilding: Vital signs
• Gallery: Landmarks over time
• Storm & Flood: Making history
• I-Report: Share your photos
Tuesday, October 18; Posted 4:49 p.m. ET There is a strange phenomenon cropping up around New Orleans. From time to time you pass groups of industrious residents, young and old, sitting on the sidewalks hunched over laptops. We passed CC's Cafe on Magazine and Jefferson earlier today and met Maggie, Tim and Ann. The cafe was closed but the WiFi seeping out from under the door and through the windows attracts computer users hungry to check their e-mail and upload their work. Tim is an artist who moved back to the city several weeks ago -- he uploads his work to clients around the country. Maggie and her chocolate Labrador come down to CC's to stay in touch with the world since there's no cable or telephone at home. Ann is a teacher and also part of a group working to rebuild the city. Her job is in Baton Rouge but she refuses to move so she brings her lawn chair down to the sidewalk three days a week and grades her 63 online students from there. Unfortunately there's not yet coffee to go with their Google but it's another sign that New Orleans is coming back to life. People are getting connected again -- even if it is only until their laptop battery dies. The buzz about WilmaTuesday, October 18; Posted 1:52 p.m. ET All the buzz Monday night was about the new weather system forming in the Gulf. From this city's point of view it is scary. A direct strike or even near miss could be catastrophic for New Orleans. For CNN staff members it would feel like a personal affront by Mother Nature. Everybody from the news desk in Atlanta to the crews in field has worked more hours than they care to remember these last two months. Another hurricane would throw us right back into it just as we thought it was calming down. The Futures Desk in Atlanta is almost certainly preparing a plan to cover a "major" hurricane. Most of the exhausted personnel in New Orleans suspect that their names are on it and it could mean ramping yet another monumental effort. That said, if we are unfortunate enough to get hit again then CNN will be there and covering it in full force. No one would want to miss the story if it happened; we just hope that this one never does. It also seems an unfortunate coincidence that 90 percent of CNN's Miami Bureau has arrived in New Orleans Monday just as Wilma took aim at Florida. There's probably no point in even unpacking! Mountain of trashTuesday, October 18; Posted 11:16 a.m. ET Monday was garbage day for our team. The Army Corps of Engineers estimated that there were 22 million tons of garbage, debris and waste that needed to be removed from the city -- enough to fill the Empire State Building 44 times. I joined CNN's Dallas crew, fronted by Ed Lavandera, for a tour with Army Corps of Engineers contractors. We started out with a refrigerator collection crew. Refrigerators may seem like a small problem when thousands of houses are potentially damaged beyond repair but they take this very seriously. I was dubious about why people were throwing out fully functioning refrigerators. Insurance fraud? Laziness? Surely you can clean them up. A trip to "refrigerator graveyard" at the Gentilly Landfill quickly changed my mind. There was a field of appliances as far as the eye could see and a stench that made the scent of the French Quarter seem like potpourri. When food is left in a refrigerator for three weeks in the heat and humidity of New Orleans you will never get the smell out -- never! 
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