Hurricane Katrina-Two Years Out

[fuzzis]

From Salon...

Hurricane Recovery, Republican Style (http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2007/08/29/gulf_coast/index.html)

...Two years later, some of these areas are still distressed. One reason for the lack of attention paid to the Gulf Coast may be the massive investments made in the region by casino, hotel and real estate interests. That has created the appearance of a recovery that business promoters say has brought, and will continue to bring, enormous growth to the area. But many locals say that the casino-led development has done little to alleviate post-disaster conditions for most residents, including the 37 percent of the population -- approximately a half million people -- who earn below what federal guidelines deem low to moderate income. Moreover, maneuvering in Washington by the state's Republican leaders has diverted aid money away from some of the people who need it the most....

and

...The developers "want to make the place so inundated with casinos that Biloxi becomes a little Las Vegas," says Jackie Washington, an East Biloxi resident who lost her home in the storm. "All the way around the water, they're trying to box us in." Like her, many of East Biloxi's other residents have chosen to stay and have banded together with local environmental activists, clergy and Vietnamese citizens' groups to seek a more balanced approach to recovery. They have found a champion in Stallworth....


It Ain't Easy in the Big Easy (http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2007/08/28/katrina_anniversary/index.html)

...Erosion of our coastal wetlands may have paved the way for the natural disaster that hammered this city. But the least-mentioned aspect of the resulting devastation -- the erosion of what ethnographer Michael P. Smith once called "America's cultural wetlands" -- should be of primary concern. The resilient African-American cultural traditions of New Orleans, famously seminal to everything from jazz to rock to funk to Southern rap, also contain seeds of protest and solidarity that guard against storm surges of a man-made variety. Erasure of these wetlands exposes many to the types of ill winds that shatter souls.

Landrieu's forum gathered wisdom from many local and national experts on cultural programming, funding and studies, and it attracted officials from some 20 foreign nations. At one point, Denis G. Antoine, ambassador to the U.S. from Grenada, said, "If we're taking about rebuilding New Orleans, we have to ask: Which New Orleans are we talking about? We have to talk about social values and an ancestral past. There is an anthropological aspect to the nurturing of a new New Orleans and this will help direct what is appropriate and what is not." ...

[ComputerDude]

In short. (and I mean no disrespect to any of you who live or lived on the gulf coast) I'd rather see big businesses built along the coast, instead of residential. That way when the next hurricane hits the loss of life will be a lot less compared to that of Katrina.

[fuzzis]

I'm thinking about submitting an op-ed piece to the NYT...as I looked through their Katrina coverage, there was one (1) article about Mississippi. One. Nineteen (19) about New Orleans.

There is this interesting series (http://www.nytimes.com/ref/us/road_index.html) from a year ago, which is a trip west along Highway 90.

[ComputerDude]

I'm thinking about submitting an op-ed piece to the NYT...as I looked through their Katrina coverage, there was one (1) article about Mississippi. One. Nineteen (19) about New Orleans.

There is this interesting series (http://www.nytimes.com/ref/us/road_index.html) from a year ago, which is a trip west along Highway 90.
I share your frustration. This morning on CNN they were talking about Katrina, when they started the story they said "two years ago today Katrina SLAMMED into New Orleans and the Mississippi Gulf Coast".
She was trailing off by the time she said "Mississippi Gulf Coast".
If I remember correctly, Katrina SLAMMED into the Gulf Coast and side-swiped New Orleans.

[jmb]

I share your frustration. This morning on CNN they were talking about Katrina, when they started the story they said "two years ago today Katrina SLAMMED into New Orleans and the Mississippi Gulf Coast".
She was trailing off by the time she said "Mississippi Gulf Coast".
If I remember correctly, Katrina SLAMMED into the Gulf Coast and side-swiped New Orleans.

Mine was on NBC and they said New Orleans took a direct hit from Katrina. :smt103

[jmb]

I'm thinking about submitting an op-ed piece to the NYT...as I looked through their Katrina coverage, there was one (1) article about Mississippi. One. Nineteen (19) about New Orleans.

There is this interesting series (http://www.nytimes.com/ref/us/road_index.html) from a year ago, which is a trip west along Highway 90.

Go for it, Fuzz. You tell 'em how it really is. :clap:

[Maggie-Doodle]

Yeah, it seems that it is just about always "Katrina hit N.O." Mississipi is an after thought at best. Makes me furious...IMO alot of what happened to them was their fault to an extent. IF their politicans would have spent all the money they have been getting to fix the levees, instead of other things including lining their pockets I really don't think their damage would even be an issue for the most part. With that said I have to wonder why they are stupid enuf to keep re-electing crooks time after time after time.

[jessi_s]

You should say something Fuzzis.... it's ridiculous how they say that Katrina directly hit N.O. when this is not true. I wonder if it has anything to do with the fact that N.O is a big city and is therefore getting more publicity. I was reading people magazine yesterday and of course I know it's people, but still. There was an article in there about Brad Pitt.... ugh.... helping with some global green group to build a really nice expensive home back down there. He said, "Katrina was a manmade disaster and this is a man made solution." That kind of caught my attention. How is it a man made disaster. Unless hes' talking about the levees breaking... idk

[fuzzis]

There's this op-ed piece (http://blogs.usatoday.com/oped/2007/08/our-view-on-coa.html#more) in the USA-Today about Gene Taylor's plan to expand the Federal Flood Insurance Program.

...In theory, Taylor's measure would require the government to charge rates based on "accepted actuarial principles." But the history of flood insurance, as well as other government programs, shows that political expedience, rather than actuarial soundness, is its chief principle in setting rates.

Even after the Katrina shortfall, for example, lawmakers are considering only a modest 10%-15% hike in federal flood insurance rates, while increasing the amount of coverage offered. Private policies covering wind damage have gone up as much as fourfold.

Gulf Coast residents deserve the nation's sympathy and assistance in putting their lives back together. But the answers lie elsewhere: in new kinds of construction and innovative building codes that reduce risk; in returning vulnerable seashore to a natural state; and in aid to the thousands still displaced by the storm.

Subsidizing everything to be as it once was, or inviting reckless development, will only ensure a new catastrophe with the arrival of the next great storm.

[CircusRide]

From Salon...

Hurricane Recovery, Republican Style (http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2007/08/29/gulf_coast/index.html)



and




It Ain't Easy in the Big Easy (http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2007/08/28/katrina_anniversary/index.html)

Republican Style???? Not sure that has anything to do with it. Our Republican Gov. ran circles around the Democratic Gov in LA. Things were handled much better in MS.

[fuzzis]

You should say something Fuzzis.... it's ridiculous how they say that Katrina directly hit N.O. when this is not true. I wonder if it has anything to do with the fact that N.O is a big city and is therefore getting more publicity. I was reading people magazine yesterday and of course I know it's people, but still. There was an article in there about Brad Pitt.... ugh.... helping with some global green group to build a really nice expensive home back down there. He said, "Katrina was a manmade disaster and this is a man made solution." That kind of caught my attention. How is it a man made disaster. Unless hes' talking about the levees breaking... idk

The devastation of New Orleans was a man-made disaster. It was folly and avarice and indecision that led to tragedy.

I love New Orleans (need to go back here in a couple of weeks), and I want to see her take advantage of all the opportunities that are open to her right now.

I'd just like a little balance.

[ComputerDude]

Somebody needs to say something to these news organizations. If we all have to pitch in to make a point then lets do it. I'm sick and tired of our state being considered the after-thought in the wake of the disaster.

[fuzzis]

Difficult to find coverage of Mississippi in the Washington Post, although there is this article about the short-changing of Gulf Coast schools (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/29/AR2007082900839.html). It's not solely focused on Mississippi, but it is interesting information that I haven't seen before. (note that it took some digging to find the article :confused: think you might have to register with the site)

...The foundation analyzed government data, school records and private surveys to estimate the scale of damage and displacement after Katrina struck the Gulf Coast on Aug. 29, 2005.

Among its findings:

_ Only 2 percent of the federal government's hurricane-related funding went toward education recovery.

_ The costs of hurricane destruction in K-12 and higher education were estimated at $6.2 billion, but only $1.2 billion in federal funding had been committed to restoring physical structures and property. Some rebuilding funds have come from the local and state levels and insurance, but several projects are unfinished.

_ Displaced students re-enrolled in schools in 49 states, but a lack of adequate federal funding meant that schools with the greatest number of displaced students had insufficient classrooms, staff and supplies to support them. The report found that as many as 15,000 K-12 public school students and 35,000 college students in Louisiana and Mississippi missed school last year due to lingering problems associated with Katrina.

_ Nearly one out of every six students in Louisiana's public colleges and universities dropped out for the 2005-06 school year. In the 2006-07 school year, more than 26,000 students from Louisiana public colleges and almost 9,000 Mississippi college students remained out of school....

[jessi_s]

The devastation of New Orleans was a man-made disaster. It was folly and avarice and indecision that led to tragedy.

I love New Orleans (need to go back here in a couple of weeks), and I want to see her take advantage of all the opportunities that are open to her right now.

I'd just like a little balance.

Yeah, that would be nice, and I said I didn't get it unless that is what they were referring to, was the levees breaking. I worked at the Corps of Engineers for over 4 years, and when Katrina hit, we were crazy busy. Everyone felt horrible in our district, and we were trying our best to handle it the way we should. We still have people going down there to help. I want to go to N.O soon, tommy_s hasn't been for pleasure, he got sent there for hurricane relief stuff. I want to show him around, and I haven't even been in forever. We will have to go soon since we are a lot closer here than we were in Vicksburg.

[ComputerDude]

Anybody ready to get angry again?
Read this (http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D8RAP0PO0&show_article=1)

I'll highlight my favorite part.
The front page of The Times-Picayune advertised a scathing editorial above the masthead: "Treat us fairly, Mr. President." It chided the Bush administration for giving Republican-dominated Mississippi a share of federal money disproportionate to the lesser impact the storm had there than in largely Democratic Louisiana. "We ought to get no less help from our govenrment than any other vicitims of this diaster," it said.(I dig the spelling mistakes in the article)

[RGDoherty]

The fact of the matter is more structural damage took place in Mississippi, where the eye and the NE quadrant (the strongest portion of the storm) came in. New Orleans sustained more loss of life due to people's refusal or lack of ability to evacuate. The loss of life is by far more horrid than structures, because structures can be rebuilt, when a life is lost, it's gone.

The money sent is to rebuild infastructure, not to individuals due to their losses. Mismanagement ran rampant after the storm, and thankfully some of thos that misused Government funds are being prosecuted.

When my house was damaged from the storm it was up to me or my insurance company to take care of my private dwelling, not the government's responsibility to make or pay for any repairs.

As I said in a previous post, my neighbors and I cared for each other and the community for days after the storm. The afternoon of the storm, we were clearing roads in our area and checking on each other. We formed neighborhood watches.

Trying to make a Natural Disaster a Political issue does not work, as people from all spectrums of politics were affected by the storm. It's how the community works as a whole that determines the outcome two years later.

Thank you lord, for the grace of placing me in the Pine Belt.

[jojobeans1120]

I share your frustration. This morning on CNN they were talking about Katrina, when they started the story they said "two years ago today Katrina SLAMMED into New Orleans and the Mississippi Gulf Coast".
She was trailing off by the time she said "Mississippi Gulf Coast".
If I remember correctly, Katrina SLAMMED into the Gulf Coast and side-swiped New Orleans.

Mine was on NBC and they said New Orleans took a direct hit from Katrina. :smt103


Things were much the same on FNC this morning. The only difference...
They talked about Hurricane Katrina hitting New Orleans and the "GULF COAST"
They made no mention whatsoever about Mississippi having been hit. The gulf coast area is broad... I don't recall Florida or Texas having the devastation from Katrina that MS experienced. I'm well aware that New Orleans and its people have suffered great losses from the effects of an improperly built levee system, but they were not NAILED by Hurricane Katrina in the same manner that the Mississippi Coast was. Who knows, had they properly spent the funds that had been previously provided for the levee systems, they might not have had the destruction they currently are still facing in their beloved city...
:smt102

[jojobeans1120]

Whoa! What in the heck happened to that post? LOL