Jackson Square Fortune Teller: “I Didn’t See It Coming.”

Even more surprising than the lack of government preparedness in the face of Hurricane Katrina stands a startling fact: not one of the city’s voodoo priests nor even the famed Jackson Square fortune tellers saw the devastating storm coming.

New Orleans has long prided itself on its clairvoyants whom so many tourists and local politicians put their trust into on a daily basis, but now that trust has come into question. Today, the city council is considering the creation of a special commission to investigate what went wrong.

When asked by the press if her lack of foresight would affect revenue, local tarot card reader Madame Maureen replied, “Yeah, dis messes up ma streak fa sure. I hope nobody fines out about dis, or business’ll be sunk.”

Thomas Thibodaux, a regular patron who visits each summer before hurricane season expected better results.

“I think I had me a bad lucky dog dat day,” explained Madame Maureen. “I looked into ma ball and I tol’ him it was real cloudy in dere and dat it would be hard to tell. Na afta he gave me de extra five bucks, I checked again and it was still cloudy; so I jus’ tol’ ‘im everything was gonna work out. …On lookin’ back all dem clouds was prob’ly Katrina tryin’ ta give me a sign; but ya know, it’s sorta a trial and erra business open to interpretation.”

After being informed that Mr. Thibodaux resides in an unaffected Destrehan home Madame Maureen conceded, “What can I say? Da cards neva lie.”